Nigerian mobile money company Paga signed an agreement with remittance service provider MFS Africa to allow customers to transfer and receive money from other African countries.

According to MFS Africa, which provides cross-border money transfer services for operators, $21 billion worth of remittances were sent to Nigeria in 2016, with a significant proportion coming from other African nations.

Paga said the agreement would help meet demand for the service, pointing to the volume of transactions made from Nigerian communities in nearby countries.

“People typically think of remittances into Nigeria in terms of flows from Europe and the Americas, but there’s over $3 billion a year coming in just from the Nigerian communities in Benin, Niger and Cameroon – countries that are right next door to Nigeria,” said Jay Alabraba, co-founder of Paga.

“By joining the MFS hub, we make it easier for Nigerians in the diaspora to send money back home and we also enable them to pay directly for utility bills, goods and services in Nigeria,” Alabraba added.

Paga is one of the largest mobile money companies in Nigeria, offering transfer and payment services through feature and smartphones, with 6.4 million users and 12,000 agents in the country.