Western Union has set up its offices at the Rue du Dr. Crozet, Immeuble XL, Abidjan Plateaur in Ivory Coast. Though the service has been available in the country since 1995, this is the first time it is having a brick and mortar office in the West African nation.
The move to set up an office in the country is informed by the statistics which shows Ivory Coast is increasingly getting remittances from the diaspora. Thus they need to take customer services closer to the potential clients in Ivory Coast who will be receiving remittances from abroad.
The money transfer service is now looking to offer a customer service that is more one-on-one alongside boosting its public relations within the country.
“Western Union is committed to Ivory Coast. We are uniquely positioned at the intersection of digital and retail and are proud to be investing our resources to support and serve the local economy and customer base. This office will serve as the regional hub for West Africa,” said Odilion Almeida, the President of Western Union Global Money Transfer.
The World Bank ranks Ivory Coast as one of Africa’s most robust economy. That coupled with the fact that a growing number of West African migrants now keep seeking investment opportunities in the emerging economies in Africa, such as Ivory Coast.
“Over the years we have connected Ivorian diaspora to their families and loved ones. Ivory Coast is a flourishing economy, and in line with our strategy to connect digital with the physical, combining our online presence with our retail distribution network, we are very pleased to be setting up our office in-market, affirming our commitment to the Ivorian community and our agents,” said Almeida.
The money transfer service has been operating in Africa for more than 20 years now. Over that time it has grown its African network to include 40,000 agent locations, some in remote and hard to reach areas. It has payout capabilities running into billions to local bank accounts and mobile wallets across the world.
