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sub-Saharan Africa Topics specific to sub-Saharan Africa. (Includes all countries South of 17 degrees latitude)
Photo by Andy Miller, UK, Taking a rest, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Andy Miller, UK,
Taking a rest,
Jokulsarlon, Iceland



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  #1  
Old 4 Jun 2004
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sending cash to west africa
Hi,

Does anyone have experinece in sending money to West Africa using Western Union?

I guess they should be pretty reliable/swift in Europe, but what about in West Africa?


Thanks,
José
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  #2  
Old 4 Jun 2004
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Not to West Africa but to Sudan and Ethiopia where it worked very effectively and efficiently. You need to find where there is a genuine Western Union office - loads of places display big signs outside but blatently aren't, they have no electronics such as computers or even telephones to be able to process the transactions. The signs seem to be put up to show that they can exchange currency, not actually do western union transfers. There should be proper offices in the capitals.
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  #3  
Old 4 Jun 2004
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Western Union are everywhere in West Africa. Ive used them to send cash in both directions. Fast, reliable but not very cheap.
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  #4  
Old 4 Jun 2004
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A couple of other thoughts: You can also only receive local currency (you cant get them to send EUR or USD) and you need someone back home to initiate the transfer.

Pretty efficient system though.
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  #5  
Old 4 Jun 2004
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Thanks for all the tips!


Thanks,
José
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  #6  
Old 13 Jun 2004
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In Ghana u will have access to both Barclays and Standard Chartered, so might be worth your while setting up an account and checking how easily you can access your when you arrive. Also, drawing money on a credit card is not a problem, though not sure how high the transaction costs are.
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  #7  
Old 15 Jun 2004
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I transferred money through Western Union to Sierra Leone and Gambia several times without problems. It is quick and reliable but not really cheap. Western Union offices are not hard to find as it is very common to transfer money this way.
Rainer

[This message has been edited by rainerr100gs (edited 15 June 2004).]
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  #8  
Old 24 Jul 2006
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just used it last week to Senegal. They took a 10% commission but the money was picked up in 2 hours. It is by far more popular than bank transfers.
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  #9  
Old 24 Jul 2006
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Cool
I'm expecting to receive approximately $19m from Dr. Usman Bello who asked me to cash one of his cheques on behalf of an exiled Diplomat. He promised to use Western Union - am I likely to see this cash??

Talking Cool
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  #10  
Old 24 Jul 2006
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gregorius
I'm expecting to receive approximately $19m from Dr. Usman Bello who asked me to cash one of his cheques on behalf of an exiled Diplomat. He promised to use Western Union - am I likely to see this cash??

Talking Cool
............................ You too
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  #11  
Old 31 Jul 2006
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WU in Accra, Ghana
I used WU in Accra, Ghana last December. I hanged the phone after my...er...mum confirmed the transfer, took a taxi to WU's office and there it was. Only issue was that the deposit was made in Us dollars and the transfer was paid in local currency. Not too much of a problem, but apart from losing some due to transfer charges I lost some more when changing local currency back to USD before heading on to the next country.

cheers. pium.
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