Airtel Receives Approval To Operate As Super Agent

Airtel Africa Plc has received final approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to operate as a super agent.

Gatekeepers News reports that Airtel, while disclosing this known in a statement on Tuesday, said the CBN awarded its subsidiary, Airtel Mobile Commerce Nigeria, with the full super agent licence.

Super agents are companies approved by the apex bank to recruit agents for agency banking, such as financial services within communities on behalf of banks to deepen financial inclusion.

This development is coming five months after Airtel was granted approval-in-principle.

Airtel earlier received the apex bank’s nod to operate a Payment Service Bank (PSB) via Smartcash Payment Service Bank Limited.

The telecom company added that the final approval of the super agent licence was subject to the group satisfying certain standard conditions.

According to the CBN’s regulatory framework, super agents are responsible for monitoring and supervising the activities of agents, including the volume and value of transactions for each type of service they offer, as well as monitoring effective compliance with set limits.

The statement read, “Further to our announcement of 15 November 2021, Airtel Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries across Africa, today confirms that the Central Bank of Nigeria (‘CBN’) has awarded its subsidiary, Airtel Mobile Commerce Nigeria Ltd, with a full super agent licence.

“The licence allows us to create an agency network that can service the customers of licenced Nigerian banks, payment service banks, and licenced mobile money operators in Nigeria.”