Airtel Africa has announced that its subsidiary Airtel Mobile Commerce Nigeria Ltd has been issued a super agent license in Nigeria by the Central Bank of Nigeria today, November 15, 2021. Airtel Africa is one of Africa’s major telecom providers and one of the top three in Nigeria.
Following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s issuance of a Payment Service Bank license on the 4th of November, Airtel Africa clarifies that the Payment Service Bank license is distinct from the Super agent license.
“The super-agent license is distinct from the Payment Service Bank (‘PSB’) license, for which we received approval in principle on 4 November 2021. The PSB license 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.
Under the super-agent license, we would be able to create an agent network that can service the customers of licensed Nigerian banks, Payment service banks, and licensed mobile money operators in Nigeria – Airtel Africa.”
However, the super-agent license has just been approved preliminary. The final approval will be granted once the company meets the Central Bank of Nigeria’s standard conditions. These are the bare minimums that every applicant for a super-agent license must meet.
This can be seen as CBN’s strategy for boosting financial inclusion revolving around economic development for the underprivileged population and providing an array of formal financial services that will serve Nigerians at an affordable cost.
