Online money transfer service WorldRemit today launched instant mobile funds transfers to Burundi, according to a press release. WorldRemit claims it's the first company to extend such a service to the African nation. 

WorldRemit's mobile-to-mobile remittance service already enables people to send funds direct to mobile money wallets in countries across Africa, Asia and Oceania. 
 
Econet's EcoCash mobile wallet is available to the two million feature phone and smartphone connections in Burundi. With only 7 percent of the adult population of Burundi population banked, there are now more mobile money accounts than bank accounts in Burundi, according to the announcement.
 
Remittances are estimated to have contributed $51 million to Burundi's economy in 2014, according to the World Bank. Western countries such as the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France, Belgium, Sweden and Australia all have significant Burundian communities. 
 
Alix Murphy, senior mobile analyst at WorldRemit comments: "Ninety-three percent of adults in Burundi are unbanked, severely limiting financial security, job prospects and economic freedom. Mobile money services such as EcoCash enable people to access financial services through their mobile phones, making the unbanked for the very first time the mobile banked.