CBN grants Airtel Nigeria super-agent licence

Airtel Africa has announced that its subsidiary, Airtel Mobile Commerce Nigeria Limited, has been granted approval in principle by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to operate as a super-agent in Nigeria.

The Group Company Secretary of Airtel Africa, Simon O’Hara, confirmed this in a statement filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), which reads: “Airtel Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries across Africa, today announces that its subsidiary Airtel Mobile Commerce Nigeria Ltd has been granted approval in principle by the Central Bank of Nigeria to operate as a super-agent in Nigeria.’’

The Airtel Africa representative further clarified that the super-agent licence is different from the payment service bank (PSB) licence which the telecommunications firm had earlier secured.

According to him, the PSB licence is required for Airtel to be able to provide financial services in Nigeria such as accepting cash deposits and carrying out payments and remittances, issuing debit and prepaid cards, operating electronic wallets and rendering other financial services.

“On the other hand, the super-agent licence will enable the teleco giant to create an agent network that can service the customers of licensed Nigerian banks, Payment service banks and licenced mobile money operators in Nigeria.”