WITH the licensing of about 11 operators by the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2011 to commence the mobile money scheme in the country, experts have stressed the need to remove hurdles that could hinder the operation in the country.
According to experts, poor access channels, inadequate distribution or agency networks, lack of proper awareness and poor mass education among others were possible major hindrances to the burgeoning industry.
Already, Financial Analysts have estimated Nigeria's mobile money market to worth N150 billion, adding that with right policies in place and the industry well managed, the industry could grow to N300 billion soon.
Specifically, the Principal Associate, Mobile Money Africa, Mr. Emmanuel Okoegwale, on Monday in Lagos, said that mobile money was a mass-market product that would require mass access channels to reach all market segments.
According to him, some mobile network operators were yet to open up mass access channels like Subscriber Identification Module toolkit and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data for mobile money providers.
He explained that mobile money is the transfer of monetary value via the mobile phone, which fundamentally rode on mobile networks.
Okoegwale said that without opening up of the access channels by network operators, "it will be an uphill task to reach the masses and provide an easy and convenient means to access the service."
According to him, mobile money should be a service that the urban and simple rural folks should be able to understand easily and use.
He lamented further that the distribution or agency network was a major problem in leapfrogging the mobile money revolution in the country.
Corroborating the need for an expansive agent network, Chief Executive Officer of Fortis Mobile, one of the mobile money operator, Mr. Henry Nwawuba, during their signing in agreement with MTN Nigeria in Lagos in December, said that the importance of rapid agent network, could not be overemphasised if the service must succeed.
"Without the agent network, mobile money will not work. In Lagos, we have about 420 agents. In Abuja, we have about 1000 while in Port Harcourt we have activated 200 agents," he said.
Explaining the services that were available to Nigerians on the network, the managing director of Fortis said that the company would provide basic mobile financial services such as fund transfer, deposit and withdrawal from the bank account, which could be done at an agent location in the community. Before a customer could access to these services, such a customer must have opened a mobile account.
Experts also argued that the country required over 50,000 agents, who will serve as human banks and engaging in cash-in and cash-out across the country for the over 60 million financially excluded Nigerians to significantly feel the impact of the mobile money revolution.
Furthermore, at the launch of Paga in Lagos, the Chief Executive Officer, Paga Tech, Mr. Tayo Oviosu, had said that the country's mobile money industry had the potential to grow to over $1billion in the next five years, stressing that if this must be explored adequately, major infrastructure including access channels, wide agent networks must be on ground.
According to him, Paga has about 5000 agents in major cities of Nigeria, including Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt among others.
In view of this, Okoegwale said that while all providers were struggling to roll out their own agent networks to serve the subscribers, the challenge would be to develop a well-connected and positioned agency network.
He said: "It is possible but it will require significant resources and budget to actualise. It may also take some time to reach every nook and cranny of Nigeria.
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