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FinTech

Fintech Specialist MFS Africa Bolsters Team

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MFS Africa, the fintech company that is aggregating mobile money transactions across Africa, has further added to the depth and experience of its management team.

The company, which enables inter-network m-finance transactions between different mobile money applications, has appointed Arthur Kirsten as Head of Risk and Compliance. Kirsten was previously acting Compliance Director for Sub-Saharan Africa at financial transfer services specialist MoneyGram.

He will be tasked with ensuring that MFS Africa's compliance systems, Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) practices "surpass industry standards." MFS Africa currently enables 120 million m-commerce users across Africa to make transactions across network and geographic borders by hooking up with multiple local specialists, including major m-commerce players such as Vodafone (M-PESA), Orange (Orange Money), MTN (MTN Mobile Money), Millicom (Tigo Cash) and more across more than 20 countries. (Significantly, MFS Africa does not yet have any agreements with m-commerce players in South Africa.)

"MFS Africa is truly at the forefront of the industry by bringing interoperability and scale to digital payments in Africa," stated Kirsten in a prepared statement. "This means it is crucial for us to stay ahead of compliance requirements and lead the industry in terms of risks management solutions and it's my job to keep it here," he added.

Kirsten's appointment follows the recent news that experienced mobile industry executive Michael Joseph, who helped to launch the M-PESA mobile finance service in Kenya, has joined the company as a non-executive director. (See Boardroom Boost for Fintech Specialist MFS Africa.)

— Ray Le Maistre, Follow me on TwitterVisit my LinkedIn profile, International Group Editor, Light Reading for Connecting Africa.

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