Linking identity system to infrastructures will enable a lot of trading activities – CEO, AfriGo
…Lauds NIMC's achievements
By Matthew Denis
Dr. Ebehijie Momoh, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of AfriGOPay Financial Services Limited (AFSL) has disclosed that linking the identity system to infrastructures will enable a lot of trading activities locally and globally.
She made the disclosure in an exclusive interview with Newsdirect Business Desk at the National Day of Identity 2025 event in Abuja.
Dr. Ebehijie who moderated first panel session at the event on the topic "Crossboarder Trades for Africa" stressed that identity is very important because it's about trust for business purposes.
She said " First of all identity is enabling a lot of things especially the topic we just discussed and it is really significant because identity is about trust. If you're thinking about doing trade with somebody who is not within your border but across the border what you need is to know whom you're dealing with. That person should identify himself or herself.
"Using the identity system and linking it to the infrastructures that we have will enable a lot of these trades going on outside the country.
"But ofourse it is not just the identity, the capability, platforms and the system that when payments are being made you are sure that you get from the other side."
The AfriGo MD who was formerly the Senior Vice President and Country Head of West Africa at MasterCard underscored the existence of multiple currencies in Africa which identity has a vital roles in uniting this transactions.
She said " We talked about the currency, we have multiple currencies across the 54 Nations that we have African today so that most of the things we need is identity which is the bedrock. It is more than a tool but an enabler and I think what National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) under the leadership of Dr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote
is doing today is wonderful.
"Let us even look at e-country today what NIMC has done with over 123 million Nigerians enrollment for their National Identity Number (NIN) is significant, meaning that they're enabling financial inclusion.
"We can say today that by the time NIMC works with the new banks and the Microfinance Banks irrespective of which body they are working with them what happens is that it will provide that opportunity to identify that woman in the village and the man there who nobody knows about him to carry out their businesses.
Dr. Ebehijie stressed that AfriGo is working with NIMC as the national domestic card scheme as they're riding on their shoulders to ensure that every identity number they give to an individual the payment is enabled.
"There are two things that happens to that payment we can begin to see transparency in the payment today as interventions are being given by government and you have this identity and these cards we can send money to those cards and therefore that person is able to use it. Accountability becomes clearer because we know where the money is going, we know who is using it and how is being spent.
"The second thing is that beyond all of these we are solving real issues at AfriGo which is the domestic card scheme in Nigeria today we are the first to introduce what we called the 'instant credit' what it means is that when you take our AfriGo card and you go to a merchant POS and as you put the card in the POS instantly the merchant gets credit which implies that mama Nduka can collect her money quickly and go back to the market.
"We are expanding working capital making it easy for people to collect their funds immediately. Another thing we have just done is that we discover that Africans especially Nigerians have their own unique issues to solve and we realize that nobody is coming from outside to solve it for us.
"Recently, we have partnered with cowry card which in Lagos state they're enabling close look payment of funds using their own cards to make transportation easy for the people. Entering trains, buses and the waterways transport. We innovated with them in such a way that the same card can be use for transaction to buy you a meat pie and drinks at the station as you don't need to carry two cards.
The AfriGo CEO lauded NIMC's effort by calling on Nigerians to key into the registration scheme provided for their NIN to make identification seamless.
She said " my first message to Nigerians is go and get your AfriGo card from your bank which is the first time in this country that we have a card that is 100 percent domestic and why we introduced this card is to solve problems for Nigerians.
"We realized that there are lots of problems so for everywhere you are, you have the ability to solve your financial issues with AfriGo card ".