Alipay parent Ant Financial signed a multi-country African agreement with Nigeria-based CoralPay, the latest move towards worldwide acceptance for the popular Chinese payment platform.

The deal is the first publicly announced for Alipay acceptance on the continent outside of South Africa and was revealed by the pair in Nigeria newspaper ThisDay.

CoralPay said it sealed partnerships with a number of banks and point of sale terminal providers to widen support for Alipay users outside of its existing merchant network. The service will be initially available in Nigeria before being expanded to other, unspecified, markets.

Frequently cited as a world leader, Alipay dominates China’s exploding mobile payments ecosystem alongside brands offered by rival Tencent. After creating a commanding position domestically both companies have set their sights on serving existing customers overseas.

Alipay has already struck agreements with payment processors, retailers and merchant groups across the world including other parts of Asia, North America and Europe.

Earlier in 2018, the company added its first market in the Middle East following a tie-up with Israel-based credit card company CAL.