Airtel Nigeria gets approval to provide financial services

Airtel Africa has secured the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s approval 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) on Monday.

According to the statement, the company’s subsidiary, Airtel Mobile Commerce Nigeria, will operate the agent banking licence.

The statement read: ‘’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 Limited has been granted approval in principle by the Central Bank of Nigeria to operate as a super-agent in Nigeria.

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“The super-agent license is distinct from the Payment Service Bank (PSB) license for which it received approval in principle on November 4, 2021.”

The approval to operate as a super-agent will strengthen Airtel’s efforts to establish a presence in Nigeria’s financial industry.

It would be recalled that Airtel only a week ago got the CBN approval to operate PSB through Smartcash Payment Service Bank Limited.

The PSB license is required for Airtel to be able to provide financial services including acceptance of cash deposits and carrying out payments and remittances, issuing debit and prepaid cards, among other financial services.