MTN Nigeria Communications Plc on Friday said it had obtained a
super-agent licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria through its
subsidiary, Y’ello Digital Financial Services Limited.
The licence issued on Thursday, July 25, 2019, according to the
company, will enable it to join the league of financial technology
companies that are accelerating financial inclusion in the country
through an agent network.
The Chief Executive Officer, MTNN, Ferdi Moolman, confirmed this
in the company’s 2019 half-year interim financial report published
on Friday.
“We are pleased with obtaining a super-agent licence from the
Central Bank of Nigeria, which will enable us to build an agent
network and accelerate the growth of our fintech business,” Moolman
said in the report.
The company also said it would continue to work towards
obtaining a Payment Service Banking licence it applied for in
2018.
MTN said it invested N50m in Y’ello Digital Financial Services
Limited in the first half of the year, with respect to the minimum
shareholding requirement stipulated by the CBN for a super-agent
licence.
MTN, together with Airtel, Globacom, 9mobile and ntel, had
pledged to deepen financial inclusion in 30 months by collectively
reaching 90 million Nigerians through the deployment of over one
million airtime agents as mobile money agents.
Some of the telecom operators are already offering mobile money
services in collaboration with Deposit Money Banks but are now
seeking to offer financial services independently.
The Payment Service Banks, when approved by the CBN, would
provide access to financial services such as deposits and savings,
Peer-to-Peer payments, merchant payments and utility payments to
the Nigerian population.
Meanwhile, MTN reported double-digit growth in service revenue,
12.2 per cent, which was largely driven by growth in voice (11.4
per cent) and data revenue (31.7 per cent) and improving the margin
on earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and
amortisation.
It said the voice revenue growth stemmed from an increase in the
number of subscribers, stable tariffs and its focus on pro-consumer
activities.
It said the double-digit growth in data revenue was driven by
increased number of smartphones on the network, greater data usage
and growth in the number of active data users, adding that its
fintech business grew by 21.2 per cent in revenue year-on-year.
Moolman, said, “In May, MTN Nigeria was successfully listed on
the Nigerian Stock Exchange, making us the first mobile network
operator to list on the NSE. The listing demonstrates our
commitment to the Nigerian market and provides local investors with
an opportunity to participate in and benefit from the company’s
growth prospects.”