CBN grants Airtel Africa approval for super agent

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has granted Airtel Mobile Commerce Nigeria Ltd., a subsidiary of Airtel Africa, approval in principle to operate as a super agent.

This is contained in a notice signed by the Group Company Secretary, Airtel Africa, Simon O’Hara, and posted on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Ltd. website on Monday in Lagos.

According to the notice, the super agent licence is distinct from the Payment Service Bank (PSB) licence, for which the company received approval in principle on Nov. 4.

It said the PSB licence was required for Airtel to be able to provide financial services in Nigeria.

The notice listed the services as cash deposits, payments and remittances, issuing debit and prepaid cards, electronic wallet and other financial services.

“Under the super agent licence, we would be able to create an agent network that can service the customers of licensed Nigerian banks, payment service banks and licenced mobile money operators in Nigeria,” said the notice.

It said the final approval of the super agent licence was subject to the group satisfying certain standard conditions.