Hikmet Ersek, Western Union Executive Vice President and Managing Director for Western Union Europe, Middle East, Africa and South Asia, and Western Union Executives for Africa recently conducted a successful tour through Ghana, Gabon, Senegal and Tunisia to meet and engage with Western Union's Agents, key stakeholders and the press. Western Union has consolidated co-operations with major banking groups and postal operators across Africa, and in these four countries in particular have expanded its money transfer services network to further enhance its reach and offering to its customers. Western Union's Agents in Senegal, Ghana, Gabon and Tunisia have been instrumental in building the company's brand and footprint in the region.
The brand of Western Union, with its familiar and friendly yellow and black logo, has a substantial presence across 48 countries in Africa, operating at more than 10,000 locations.
"Africa is a key market for the Western Union business. Together with our Agents we have built a very strong brand, and from customer feedback we know that we are providing a service that they can rely on and trust. The aim of the tour was to further develop the excellent relationships we have built over the 11 years we have been present in Africa," says Ersek.
Western Union provides money transfer services in more than 400 locations in Senegal. Key Senegalese relationships include cooperation agreements with African banking groups Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), Bank of Africa (BOA) and Banque Régionale de Solidarité (BRS). In Ghana, Western Union's services are available in more than 300 locations through Agricultural Development Bank, Ecobank, Standard Chartered Bank, Trustbank and Barcleys. ADB, Western Union's historical Agent has been instrumental in raising awareness in Ghana of the Money Transfer category. In Gabon, Western Union cooperates with BGFIBANK, BICIG and La Poste Gabonnaise in over 50 locations, in a successful bid to make Western Union® Money Transfer services easily accessible whenever and wherever they are needed. Western Union has an extensive presence in Tunisia with more than 1,300 locations. Western Union cooperations in the country include international banking groups -UIB, UBCI, African banking groups- Attijari Bank, the Arab International Bank of Tunisia (BIAT), and the Tunisian Post.
"In Africa, our customers can send and receive money with piece of mind through our ongoing service, product enhancements and increased convenience. Cooperations are central to our work in order to continue to serve our customers wherever they need us." says Khalid Fellahi, Regional Vice President for Africa.
"We were immensely proud to see and experience the prominence of the Western Union brand at our Agent locations in these four countries. We also saw many best practices from a service quality perspective which are testament to the passion and support of our Agents and the value they place on our brand", says Fellahi
Western Union is determined to continue to foster and expand these relationships and looks forward to many decades of fruitful cooperations in Africa.
About Western Union
The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a leading provider of global money transfer services. Together with its affiliates, Orlandi Valuta and Vigo, Western Union provides consumers with fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around the world, as well as send payments and purchase money orders. The Western Union Company, together with its affiliates operates through a network of approximately 300,000 Agent locations in over 200 countries and territories. Famous for its pioneering telegraph services, the original Western Union dates back to 1851. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com.
