"Initiative Africa" trophy 2004: three women rewarded for their initiative in Benin, Botswana and DRC; Western Union supports African ingenuous development in Africa.

Paris, December 1st 2004--Western Union Financial Services Inc., a worldwide leader in money transfer services today announced the winners of its "Initiative Africa" Trophy 2004.

The "Initiative Africa" interactive television program was launched in May 2003 to television viewers in 34 countries in Africa. The program is broadcast twice a month and highlights local development projects focused on environment, health, culture and education. After each broadcast, viewers are invited to vote for their favourite report.

To date, six winners of the trophy have been annouced including those listed below.

This year, Western Union has doubled the prize fund to $25,000 USD. The fund will be distributed to the winner and two runners up as follows:

First prize: $12,000 USD

(approx. 6,300,000 F CFA)

Second prize: $8,000 USD

(approx. 4,200,000 F CFA)

Third prize: $5,000 USD

(approx. 2,600,000 F CFA)

The winner and runners-up are as follows:

1st: Kgalalelo Ntsepe Miss HIV (Botswana)

Kgalalelo Ntsepe dedicates her action in her own country to people suffering from Aids reaching 35% of the population to fight against prejudice, enabling them to have a better standard of living. She is represented by Kesego Basha-Mupeli, CEYOHO founder.

2nd: Mama Balagizi brings back hope (Congo Kinshasa)

Mama Balagizi, the DRC "Mother Theresa", for over the past 22 years fights daily in her country in order to bring back hope to the most powerless, unprotected and helpless people.

3rd: Grace Dotou, for environment solutions (Benin)

Grace Dotou is a pioneer in environmental actions and is an advocate of recycling in the community. She dedicates a lot of her time to the running of a women's home that helps women integrate into the workplace.

"Western Union is deeply committed to supporting the communities we serve around the world. We don't just provide services; we aspire to give something back to the communities which have welcomed us in," said Dominique Stulens, Western Union Marketing Director for Africa. "Today we are looking forward to greeting the winners of our Initiative Africa to show how much we value their work within the community."

The three winning initiatives have been pre-selected by the jury listed below:

Komlavi Francisco Seddoh -- Manager in charge of coordination (BFC) within UNESCO.

Bernard Petit -- Political and Sectorial Investigations Manager within the European Community.

Princess Esther Kamatari -- "The Orphans Mother", President of the Association of the Burundese in France and winner of "Initiative Africa" Trophy 2003.

The "Initiative Africa" 2004 Trophy was broadcast during the last week of the year 2004.

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Western Union Financial Services, Inc. and First Data Western Union Financial Services, Inc., a subsidiary of First Data Corp.(NYSE: FDC), is an international leader in consumer money transfer services. Consumers can quickly and reliably pay bills and transfer money around the globe using the company's proprietary money transfer network. Western Union and its subsidiary, Orlandi Valuta, together make up one of the world's largest money transfer networks with approximately 202,000 agent locations in more than 195 countries and territories. Famous for its pioneering telegraph service, the original Western Union dates back to 1851 and introduced electronic money transfer services in 1871. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.westernunion.com. First Data Corp., with global headquarters in Denver, helps power the global economy. Serving approximately 3.5 million merchant locations, 1,400 card issuers and millions of consumers, First Data makes it easy, fast and secure for people and businesses to buy goods and services, using virtually any form of payment: credit, debit, smart card, stored-value card or check at the point-of-sale, over the Internet or by money transfer. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.firstdata.com

WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER

www.initiative-africa.com