The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the nation's apex bank, has officially awarded Airtel Mobile Commerce Nigeria Ltd, a subsidiary of Airtel Africa, a full super-agent license. This crucial authorization enables Airtel to operate an extensive agency network throughout Nigeria. The announcement was formally made today by Simon O’Hara, Airtel’s Company Secretary, confirming the final approval which follows an earlier approval-in-principle granted by the CBN in November 2021.

This development comes two weeks after MTN Nigeria secured its own final approval from the CBN to function as a Payment Service Bank (PSB). Both initiatives are part of the CBN's concerted efforts to significantly boost financial inclusion across Nigeria, aiming to expand access to banking and financial services for a broader segment of the population.

It is important to understand the distinction between a super-agent license and a PSB license. A super agent, like Airtel Mobile Commerce Nigeria Ltd, is primarily authorized to recruit and manage agents who will provide agency banking services. In contrast, Payment Service Banks possess a wider scope, permitted to offer end-to-end financial services to individuals and small businesses. This includes accepting deposits, facilitating payment and remittance services within Nigeria, issuing debit and prepaid cards, operating electronic purses, and conducting other activities as prescribed by the CBN.

For a company to obtain a super-agent license in Nigeria, specific minimum requirements must be met, including possessing a minimum shareholders’ fund, unimpaired by losses, of N50 million. Airtel Africa has articulated its strategy to utilize this license by establishing an agency network designed to deliver financial services to registered customers of existing banks and various mobile money operators across the country. While the company expressed its intent to commence operations as soon as possible, a definitive start date was not specified.

The granting of these licenses signifies a significant evolution in Nigeria's financial services landscape. The Nigerian government first expressed its willingness to issue Payment Service Bank (PSB) licenses in 2018, paving the way for telecommunication companies and other non-bank entities to enter a sector previously dominated by traditional banks. Prior to this regulatory shift, telcos such as MTN and Airtel were constrained from launching independent mobile money operations in Nigeria due to regulatory hurdles that excluded non-bank players, often necessitating collaborations with established banks to facilitate such services.

The success of mobile money services in other African countries, notably mPesa in Kenya, has long inspired Nigerian telcos. MTN, for instance, has actively pursued the launch of mobile money operations in Nigeria since 2018, having successfully deployed similar services through its subsidiaries in Ghana and Uganda. The introduction of both super-agent and PSB licenses is expected to play a crucial role in Nigeria's ongoing financial inclusion drive, providing substantial support to small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) business owners and significantly widening their access to diverse financial alternatives.