Need To Send Money To Nigeria? Now You Can ‘Just Paga It’ Via Western Union

International money transfers via Western Union can now be received through Paga, the largest mobile payment service in Nigeria with over 1.2 million users, thanks to a new collaboration between both companies.

According to a statement by Western Union, Paga users now have the option of receiving a Western Union Money Transfer directly into their Paga account, upon receipt of the Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN) from the sender. Then, customers can withdraw the money by sending it to a

bank account, withdrawing from an ATM or through Paga’s over 4,000 agent network across the country. This news is very significant as Nigeria recorded more than US$21 billion in migrant remittance inflows during 2012, representing approximately 9% of the country’s gross domestic product and 67% of total remittance inflows to the Sub-Saharan Africa region, according to the World Bank.

While the collaboration seems one-sided, as in, Paga users only able to receive payments via Western Union, one wonders if Paga users would be able to send money through Western Union in the future.