Kenya bank to boost WeChat Pay, Alipay presence in Africa

Kenyan-based regional financial institution Equity Bank plans to boost presence of WeChat Pay and Alipay in Africa, a banker said on Monday.

Signs accepting WeChat Pay and AliPay are displayed at a shop in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. [File Photo: VCG]

Jack Ngare, managing director of Finserve Africa, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Equity Bank, told Xinhua in Nairobi that they have already made the Chinese financial technology service available in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.

"We are currently at advanced stages of rolling out WeChat Pay and Alipay to merchants in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by the end of the year and thereafter to additional Africa markets," said Ngare.

Equity Bank has subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan and DRC.

Ngare said that its payment gateway service will allow merchants in east and central Africa to accept payments from users of WeChat and Alipay.

He added that the aim of the fintech service is to boost foreign exchange inflows into Africa.

"We are also planning to leverage on the growing Sino-Africa trade and make bilateral trade to become more digital-based and reduce need to carry cash," he revealed.