MTN Nigeria announced on Monday that it would launch mobile money services throughout the country in August, with the aim of bring its more than 40 million users into the program. The country's largest telecom operator added that the move coincides with the take-off date scheduled for the national mobile money being implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The company said in a press release that mobile money “will harness and document the identities, resources and financial transactions of hoarders and unbanked Nigerians and bring them into the formal economy.” The goal of mobile money, the Central Bank has said is to help create a cashless society and reduce the cost and dangers associated with traditional transactions in the country. The move is seen as a positive by analysts, who have reported that less than one in five Nigerians have bank accounts and the country's 24 commercial banks have a network of less than 4,000 branches nationwide. It comes as move than 90 million of Nigeria's 140 million citizens have active mobile phones. “Mobile money is a facility that enables people to use their cell phones and other hand held devices as electronic purses from which to effect financial transactions, including receiving and effecting payments,” MTN Nigeria stated. To date, Kenya has the most effective mobile money scheme in Africa. BM
