The Head of TapTap Send Africa, Daryl Mawutor Abraham has made a bold declaration that the company is committed to reversing capital flight by ensuring that every dollar taken out of Africa is returned through remittances.
He made the declaration at a media engagement to announce the resumption of its operations in Ghana after a one-month pause due to a sanction by the Bank of Ghana.
The sanction was because TapTap Send operated a cedi-based wallet abroad, to enable Ghanaians in the diaspora to store money in cedis for easy transfer to Ghana. The Bank of Ghana said the product fuels speculation and violates the foreign exchange and banking laws of Ghana.
TapTap Send has since December 4, resumed operations in Ghana and is currently running a promotion dubbed TapTap Sanbra Promo to encourage customers to return to using the platform for money transfers.
Mawutor Abraham noted that remittances to Ghana from the diaspora is about US$5 billion every year and TapTap Send alone moves more than a quarter of that amount, which is about US$1.5 billion.
This amount, he said is far higher than the foreign direct investment (FDI) that comes to Ghana through the state channels every year. Per records from the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, in 2023, total FDI was US$663 million, and this year it dropped to an abysmal US$367 million.
So, clearly, remittance contributes way more significantly to the Ghanaian economy than FDI; and remittances go directly to families, communities, small businesses, individuals and private organizations to address issues of education, health, shelter plus more, and also supports fintech firms, content creators and others.
“Remittance is far more important to the Ghanaian economy than FDI is,” Mawutor Abraham said, adding “Remittances are far more important than what government is sourcing from USA, China, UK and all of its other development partners.”
He stated that TaTap Send is currently the biggest international money transfer company in terms of remittances to Ghana, and as the lead for the African market, his vision is to ensure that every dollar he can find in the diaspora is transferred to Africa to support the development of the continent.
“We are driven by a commitment to reverse capital flight by ensuring that every dollar we find anywhere in the world is transferred to Africa. This is why we enable free transfers to Africa, then we focus on making money from margins on foreign exchange trading,” he said.
Currently, the company seats up to 120 call centre staff in Ghana and is working on growing that number going forward.
Mawutor Abraham said TapTap send will continue to invest in Ghana to support businesses, families and communities directly, and also to provide jobs.
He noted that the regulatory environment currently is a good one, particularly with the interoperability system in the digital finance space, but it could improve with better engagement with industry players like TapTap Send and others who are bring in the much needed remittances to support the Ghanaian economy.
Touching on the diaspora-based Cedi wallet that led to the sanction, he said even though the company has regulatory approval for the product in the UK and Europe, the product has been suspended, pending a clear and unambiguous approval from BoG before reintroducing it.
TapTap Sanbra Promo and Charity
In the meantime, the company has also launched a promo, dubbed TapTap Sanbra Promo, geared towards bringing customers back. Per the promo, customers in the diaspora stand to win return air tickets to Ghana and cash prizes when they send money via TapTap Send, and receivers in Ghana also stand a chance of winning cash prizes of up to GHS100,000.
The company has also introduced a charity package in the app, under which it promises to march every dollar sent to qualifying charities in Ghana. Currently there are two charities on the platform, and the offer is up to GHS1 million per charity.
Apart from being a major source of revenue for some leading fintech firms in Ghana, TapTap Send also supports some 40 content creators and influencers in Ghana on the regular, and also provides a platform where hundreds of Ghanaians in the diaspora connect on Zoom to socialize and get medical, legal, immigration and other forms of help based on their needs.
The company also supports Ghanaian-based events in the diaspora on the regular and also supports tech-related events and programs such as Tech In Ghana, Ghana Fintech Awards and Child In Tech.
