Latest news with #Malians
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
TerraPay teams up with Wave Mobile Money for cross-border remittances
TerraPay, a company specialising in global money transfers, has joined forces with Wave Mobile Money to support cross-border remittance services. The move allows Malians to receive international remittances into their Wave mobile wallets, streamlining the process of accessing funds from abroad. The collaboration integrates TerraPay's global payment network with remittance flows from Money Transfer Operators across North America and Europe into Mali. This integration is designed to provide instant receipt of funds for Wave users in Mali, aiming to strengthen financial inclusion and present a secure alternative to informal remittance channels. The partnership leverages the TerraPay's payments infrastructure and the remittance service expertise of Orabank Mali, in conjunction with Wave Money's mobile platform. Wave Mobile Money business development regional head Karamokho Badiane said: 'We are excited to join forces with Orabank Mali and TerraPay to revolutionise payment solutions and enhance financial accessibility for our customers. 'Our shared commitment to financial inclusion will help break down barriers and offer more accessible solutions for individuals across the country. With TerraPay's cutting-edge technology ensuring safe and reliable money transfers, we are confident that this initiative will play a crucial role in fostering economic growth and financial empowerment.' TerraPay Sub Sahara Africa vice president Willie Kanyeki stated: 'Our partnership with Wave Mobile Money marks a significant milestone in our mission to power borderless money movement. By enabling instant, cost-effective, and fully compliant remittances from key markets like the US, Canada, and Europe, we are simplifying financial access and driving financial inclusion in Mali.' Last month, TerraPay partnered with PayPal to offer real-time fund transfer capabilities to customers in the Middle East and Africa. "TerraPay teams up with Wave Mobile Money for cross-border remittances " was originally created and published by Electronic Payments International, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Cision Canada
6 days ago
- Business
- Cision Canada
TerraPay and Wave Mobile Money Partner to Enable Remittances to 2.5 Mn Active Digital Wallet Users
BAMAKO, Mali, May 29, 2025 /CNW/ -- In a strategic move to enhance cross-border remittance services in West Africa, TerraPay, a global money movement company, has partnered with Wave Mobile Money, one of the country's leading mobile money providers. This partnership enables Malians to receive money from family and friends abroad directly into their Wave mobile wallets, creating a faster, more accessible, and cost-effective way to access international remittances. Through this collaboration, TerraPay's global payment network now facilitates remittance flows from multiple Money Transfer Operators (MTOs) across the US, Canada, and Europe to Mali, all through a single streamlined integration. This unique model ensures that all Wave users in Mali can instantly receive funds, further strengthen financial inclusion and offer a secure alternative to informal remittance channels. Over 80% of Mali's population uses mobile phones, with many using them for mobile money and digital wallets. In the region, digital wallets are an essential tool for financial inclusion, providing access to financial services for millions of people, especially those who are unbanked. With mobile money platforms leading the way, the landscape is evolving rapidly. Speaking on this partnership, Karamokho Badiane, Regional Head of Business Development at Wave Mobile Money, said: "We are excited to join forces with Orabank Mali and TerraPay to revolutionize payment solutions and enhance financial accessibility for our customers. This strategic collaboration allows us to harness TerraPay's global payments infrastructure alongside Orabank Mali's deep expertise in remittance services, empowering us to expand our reach and provide even greater value to our users. Our shared commitment to financial inclusion will help break down barriers and offer more accessible solutions for individuals across the country. With TerraPay's cutting-edge technology ensuring safe and reliable money transfers, we are confident that this initiative will play a crucial role in fostering economic growth and financial empowerment." Willie Kanyeki, Vice President - Sub Sahara Africa at TerraPay, echoed this sentiment, saying, "Our partnership with Wave Mobile Money marks a significant milestone in our mission to power borderless money movement. By enabling instant, cost-effective, and fully compliant remittances from key markets like the US, Canada, and Europe, we are simplifying financial access and driving financial inclusion in Mali." With this partnership, TerraPay and Wave Mobile Money are making it easier than ever for Malians abroad to support their families back home, reinforcing the role of digital financial services in shaping the future of remittances in West Africa. About Wave Mobile Money in Mali: Wave Mobile Money is a fintech company founded in 2018, now leading mobile money services provider in West Africa operating in seven countries (Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Uganda, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Mali and Burkina Faso). Wave's mission is to promote financial inclusion by building a radically inclusive and extremely affordable financial network. Operating in Mali since 2021, Wave has the ambition of making Africa the first cashless continent, using technology to develop services that facilitate daily transactions and payments for millions of users across the continent. Our services include domestic and cross-border transfers, bill payments, business services. TerraPay simplifies global money movement, providing a single connection to one of the most expansive cross-border payment networks regulated in over 30 global markets. The platform enables payments to 150+ receiving countries, 210+ sending countries, over 3.7 billion mobile wallets, 7.5 billion bank accounts, and more than 12 billion cards. TerraPay is on a mission to create a borderless financial world, making money transfers instant, reliable, transparent, and fully compliant. Founded in 2014, TerraPay has built the global digital wallet interoperable network, driving financial inclusion even in the most remote markets. TerraPay is headquartered in London, with offices in cities like Nairobi, Bangalore, Dubai, Bogota, Dar es Salaam, Kampala, and Singapore. Backed by leading investors including the IFC (World Bank), Prime Ventures, Partech Africa, and Visa, TerraPay continues its rapid global expansion.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Children among seven dead as migrant boat capsizes
Credit: Reuters Two five-year-old girls were among seven people killed when a migrant boat capsized as it reached a port in Spain's Canary Islands. The victims drowned after migrants waiting to disembark the overcrowded boat accidentally capsized it by crowding on one side in what was the latest tragedy on the perilous route, emergency services said. Juan Miguel Padron, the mayor of El Pinar municipality, told local television that around 150 people were on the boat. It was being escorted by a rescue ship to La Restinga harbour on El Hierro, the archipelago's smallest island, when tragedy struck. As it neared the port, the vessel tipped over and some of the migrants 'were trapped in the boat and others died while being saved', Mr Padron added. Four women, two girls aged five and another girl aged 16, were killed. A three-year-old boy and a third five-year-old girl almost drowned before being transported by helicopter to a hospital in Tenerife, the emergency services wrote on X. Two three-month-old babies, a pregnant woman and three minors were in hospital on El Hierro, they said. RTVE, the Spanish public broadcaster, aired footage of rescuers throwing lifebuoys to people clinging onto an overturned boat and treading water off El Hierro. Spain's maritime rescue service told AFP in a statement that a rescue ship had found the boat that morning and accompanied it to La Restinga. 'During the disembarkation, some of the people travelling on the boat crowded on one of the sides, which caused it to tilt and capsize,' the service said. 'The transfer of people is the most delicate moment of the operation and, with the vessels being overloaded and with precarious security conditions, the difficulty increases notably.' Alpidio Armas, the head of El Hierro's local government, questioned how the migrants could be saved on the high seas but die in the apparent safety of a port. 'We are doing something wrong,' he told reporters. Each year, Spain takes in tens of thousands of Europe-bound migrants who arrive in the Canary Islands from West Africa, with Malians, Senegalese and Moroccans the most common nationalities. Strong ocean currents and ramshackle vessels make the long crossing dangerous. According to Caminando Fronteras, an NGO, at least 10,457 migrants died or disappeared while trying to reach Spain by sea between Jan 1 and Dec 5 last year. Anselmo Pestana, the central government's representative in the archipelago, explained that the migrants' fatigue complicated the emergency response in the water. 'If the rescue was not immediate, they probably sank very quickly,' he told journalists. Local authorities have consistently warned of unsustainable pressure on their resources and complained about a lack of solidarity. 'We ask for decisive action from the European Union,' Fernando Clavijo Batlle, the Canary Islands' regional leader, told reporters in La Restinga. 'This is unfortunately what we experience... those who are very far away in offices are incapable of understanding it.' Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish prime minister, wrote on X that the deaths 'should move us all'. 'Lives lost in a desperate attempt to find a better future. We must rise to the occasion. It's a question of humanity,' he said. Almost 47,000 irregular arrivals reached the archipelago last year, breaking the annual record for the second year running, as tighter controls in the Mediterranean pushed migrants to attempt the Atlantic route. But numbers are down so far this year, dropping 34.4 per cent between Jan 1 and May 15 compared with the same period in 2024, according to the latest interior ministry figures. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Migrant bodies found in boat washed ashore on Caribbean island
The bodies of 11 people believed to have been migrants have been found inside a boat washed onto the shores of the Caribbean island of Canouan, which forms part of St Vincent and the Grenadines. The identities of those on board remain unclear, a police official said, but several passports found at the scene suggest they were from Mali, a land-locked country in western Africa more than 6,000km (3,800 miles) away. The boat, measuring 45ft (14m) in length, 12ft in width and 6ft in depth, was found grounded in Little Bay, on Monday. The discovery comes just months after a boat with 13 dead bodies - some of whom also had Malian documents - was found washed ashore in St Kitts and Nevis. Authorities in St Vincent and the Grenadines said they were alerted to the boat with the 11 deceased migrants on Monday. Eujin Byun, the UN Refugee Agency's global spokesperson, told the BBC the migrants - believed to be from Mali - had probably planned to go to the Canary Islands. Given the small size of the boat recovered in St Vincent and the Grenadines, Ms Byun said it was "highly unlikely" those on board would have been attempting to reach the Caribbean. She added: "We cannot talk on behalf of those who have passed away, but our best guess is that they wanted to take the Atlantic route to get to the Canary Islands" Hundreds of thousands of people have been internally displaced inside Mali, whose central and northern regions have known little stability since independence from France in September 1960, and many others have fled abroad. Around 6.4 million people in the country are in need of humanitarian aid, according to the European Commission, and more than 1.5 million people require emergency food assistance. Ms Buyn explained that Mali had experienced "a cycle of violence" since 2012, when the Tuareg rebellion in northern Mali triggered a military coup and Islamist groups that helped defeat the government captured several towns. Access to services in the west African country had been "severely restricted" and Malians were crossing the border in search for better livelihoods, she added. But when refugees cross the border to neighbouring countries in the Sahel region, they are often confronted with a similar landscape, Ms Byun said, which leads them to seek refuge further afield. "Desperate people make desperate decisions," she concluded. The UN official worries that the Atlantic route from Africa to Europe is not getting as much attention as the Mediterranean route, and "smugglers are taking advantage of this". The region with more 'terror deaths' than rest of world combined
The Hindu
21-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
USAID funding cuts hit local language learning programme in Mali that empowered thousands
For Aminata Doumbia, an 18-year-old Malian, the 'Shifin ni Tagne' project was a path for her life dreams. A phrase meaning 'our future' in the country's main local language, it refers to a yearslong programme aimed at teaching around 20,000 young Malians to read and write in their local languages. Backed by $25 million in funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, over five years, the project has now shut down following the Trump administration's decision to cut 90% of the agency's foreign aid. 'The joy I felt when I was selected for this project has been replaced by sadness,' said Ms. Doumbia in Mali's capital, Bamako. She had hoped to take advantage of the empowerment programme to train as a pastry chef. 'I don't have any hope of realising my dream [again],' Ms. Doumbia said. Poverty and illiteracy Ms. Doumbia is among thousands of people who now find themselves stranded in Mali, a country ravaged by high poverty and insecurity levels and where 70% of the population of at least 22 million people haven't had the opportunity to learn to read and write, according to Sylla Fatoumata Cisse, director of a government agency focusing on non-formal education and national languages in Mali. The USAID funding cut also came at a time when Mali's other development partners in Europe have withdrawn their support in the aftermath of the 2021 coup, which brought the current junta leader, Assimi Goita, to power. A path to empowerment For many, the literacy project was the only path to literacy and empowerment. Once literate, programme beneficiaries move on to the next stage, which involves the acquisition of vocational skills like hairdressing, carpentry, sewing, welding, and pastry-making, according to Modibo Sissoko, literacy supervisor at the Malian Association for Survival in the Sahel nonprofit involved in the 'Shifin ni Tagne' project. 'These skills enable the economically disadvantaged to create jobs for themselves, earn a living or support their families,' Mr. Sissoko said. Local languages vs French 'With the teaching of mother tongues, it's possible to move quickly towards mass literacy among the population,' said Issiaka Ballo, a professor and researcher in native languages at Mali's University of Bamako. On the other hand, 'only 30% of the population has been educated in French', the common language in the country, he added. Mali's ruling junta appoints Abdoulaye Maiga as PM USAID's involvement in Mali had made it the primary development partner of the government. The abrupt end of its assistance hit not only the literacy programmes, but also others designed to increase adult education and expand the literacy project to public schools. The Gaoussou Dabo School in the Malian capital, Bamako, is among 1,000 schools that benefited from mother-tongue education thanks to funding from USAID. Teachers trained for the programme last year continue to teach, but the monitoring and evaluation aspect of the programme has been withdrawn. The funding cut was 'a big shock for us,' said Amadi Ba, a counsellor at the Pedagogical Animation Centre, which is in charge of the school in Bamako. In a country where local language-education relies solely on funding from Mali's development partners with little to no help from the government, concerns exceed its immediate impact on the education of children. In 2023, Mali's military government decided to make the country's native tongues the official languages in place of French, which then became the 'working language.' Official documents, including the constitution, the mining code and other texts, were then translated into the national languages. The USAID cut will 'certainly have a negative impact on the development of mother-tongue education, especially since it came in the middle of the school year,' Ms. Cisse said. 'We haven't even had time to think about a mechanism to cushion the blow,' she added. Training improves a farming business While it lasted, the programme was beneficial to many in various ways. Oumou Traore, a mother of two who grows onions and eggplants for a living, recalled how the training improved her farming business, particularly in pricing her goods in Bamako's Mountougoula district. 'Since I learned to calculate the weight of my onions and keep my accounts in my mother tongue, I've started selling my onions myself,' said Ms. Traore (29). 'I now earn $95 instead of the $60 I used to get. This has encouraged me to grow other vegetables.' A turn toward Russia The 2021 coup resulted in the country turning to Russia as a key ally after severing ties with the West, including the U.S., which at some point was Mali's leading foreign aid donor. While some experts have said the withdrawal of U.S. aid may open the door for rivals such as Russia, whose mercenaries have been accused of human rights abuses and extrajudicial killings in the country, some say USAID has left a hole too large to be filled by others. 'It will be difficult to find takers for the projects left behind by USAID,' said Fatimata Toure, a development specialist and director of the Research, Study and Training Group civic group in Mali.
