Networks able to apply for mobile money licences 'very soon'
Despite MTN’s deep troubles in Nigeria, the operator’s hopes of having a mobile money licence in its biggest market could finally see the light of day. Indications are that network operators in Nigeria will "very soon" be able to apply for mobile money licences, according to Umar Garba Danbatta, the head of the Nigerian Communications Commission. Nigeria’s mobile money market is currently bank-led, which means network operators are only allowed limited participation in the industry via tie-ups with financial institutions. MTN has 24-million active mobile money users in 14 markets, though less than 10% of those are in Nigeria despite the country being its biggest overall market. It has 55.2-million subscribers in the West African nation and generates a third of its earnings there.
MTN has been trying for some time to win a mobile money operator licence in Nigeria, but analysts have cautioned that those efforts could be placed on ice after the Central Bank of Nigeria demanded th...
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