Money Transfer Firm Wave Acquires €90 Million From IFC to Promote Financial Inclusion in Senegal & Cote d’Ivoire

Wave Mobile Money, which operates in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire to cut costs and increase services in the area, has received money from the IFC, a division of the World Bank, to promote financial inclusion and assist economic growth in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire.

With the support of financing from IFC and other lenders, Wave will be able to significantly expand its operations in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire, broaden its product line and increase the number of people who use its high-quality payment services and mobile money accounts.

IFC arranged a €90 million financing package, which included a €25 million loan from IFC’s own account, B Loans from Symbiotics, Blue Orchard, responsAbility, and Lendable totaling €41 million, parallel loans from Finnfund and Norfund of €24 million, and other loans totaling €90 million.

The COVID-19 dilemma and other factors, including the increasing demand for mobile money and digital payments in West Africa, have contributed to IFC’s engagement with Wave. With only 24% of active mobile money accounts in the region as of 2020 compared to 34% in East Africa, access to digital financial services is still scarce in the area.

According to Coura Sene, regional director for Wave Mobile Money in the West African Economic and Monetary Union, “Wave’s aim of making Africa the first cashless continent, by providing inexpensive and user-centric solutions, fits IFC’s ambitions of universal financial inclusion” (WAEMU). The IFC and other lenders’ support “helps us offer a choice of financial products, encouraging customers to remain within the formal banking sector, improving financial inclusion in the region.”

Aliou Maiga, IFC’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa, declared that assisting low-income, unbanked populations in gaining access to financial services was a top goal for the organization. In addition to supporting inclusive finance, “our investment in Wave will greatly enhance digital economy solutions in West Africa.”

IFC’s funding will aid in creating a mobile money environment where clients may transact more frequently due to a straightforward fee structure and lower transaction costs, in addition to aiding in financing the companies’ operations. This will encourage more frequent transactions, novel payment methods, and an increase in the aggregate value of payments handled by users, especially among customers with lower incomes.

IFC and Partech Africa each contributed $5 million to Wave Mobile Money Holdings Inc.’s Series A funding round in September 2021.

Over the past six years, IFC has invested or mobilized more than $1.25 billion in the African technology ecosystem.