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UAE Exchange eyes Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa

In 2013, UAE Exchange handled US$25.4bn in remittances, 6.1 per cent share of the global volume, and nearly half of that came from the UAE where it has its largest network of branches. (Image source: UAE Exchange)

Money transfer and foreign exchange company UAE Exchange is looking to expand its operations in Africa to include markets like Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa

According to Sudhir Kumar Shetty, COO of global operations at Abu Dhabi-based UAE Exchange, the firm is present in eight African countries, including Kenya, Uganda and Zambia, and a presence in every GCC markets except Saudi Arabia. The business has 135 branches in the UAE, and in all has more than 725 branches in 32 countries.

“When we put up our plan for expansion, we always look at the most active remittance corridors. India is the largest recipient of foreign remittance, but we are now also focusing on Africa because there is a lot of remittance there: inbound, outbound, and domestic,” Shetty added.

As for product expansion, the company is looking into new channels of remittance such as online remittance and telephone remittance, and are open to working with multiple banks.

“The charges for money transfer vary depending on the corridor and various other factors. If online money transfer is introduced, we don’t see any major difference in the prices except for some convenience fee, normally charged for any such online transaction,” the COO added.