Alibaba’s payment app Alipay unveiled the latest step in its global expansion strategy Monday. The platform is to launch in South Africa with the intention of servicing Chinese tourists.
Rita Liu, head of Alipay EMEA, told CNBC’s Street Signs that the firm would work with tour bus operator City Sightseeing, facilitated by its partner ACI Worldwide and local company Peach Payments “to enable Chinese tourists to purchase tourists more conveniently from City Sightseeing buses.”
“We see big potential in Africa,” Liu added, saying that Alipay was actively looking for further areas of expansion across the world “where we see a Chinese footprint.”
Alipay has had its eyes on markets further afield than the Middle Kingdom for a while, aggressively acquiring and investing overseas. Alibaba bought Singapore-based payments platform helloPay in April this year, and made a $1.2 billion bid for U.S. firm Moneygram that same month. Earlier in March, the Chinese behemoth invested $177 milllion in Paytm, India’s biggest mobile commerce platform.
