Opay will begin charging customers a N50 levy on electronic transfers of N10,000 and above paid into their accounts from September 9, 2024.

The fintech revealed this in a message to customers titled ‘FGN Electronic Money Transfer levy’, which started making rounds on Saturday.

The company said, “Please be informed that starting September 9th 2024, a one-time fee of N50 will be applied to electronic transfers of N10,000 and above paid into your personal or business account, in compliance with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) regulations.

The fintech noted that it would not benefit from this charge as it is directly paid to the Federal Government. The fintech already charges customers N10 after their third transfer to other banks in a day.

EMTL, introduced in the Finance Act 2020, was an amendment to the Stamp Duty Act to tap into the growth of electronic transfers. It is a one-off charge of N50 on electronic receipt or transfer of money deposited in any deposit bank or financial institution on any type of account for sums of N10,000 and above.

In 2023, the Federal government made N180.31 billion from EMTL, a 29.45 percent increase from its N136.35 billion target. Revenue from EMTL is shared among the three tiers of government. The growth in EMTL revenue is expected to be fuelled by further increases in cashless transactions in the country, especially with the Central Bank of Nigeria anticipating a slowdown in cash usage by 2025.

By the end of 2023, cashless transactions surged to over N600 trillion from N395.38 trillion in 2022 as more Nigerians embraced digital payment channels. This trend continued in 2024, with transactions growing by 88.09 percent to N237 trillion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024.

However, revenues from EMTL have not reflected this growth. According to experts’ micro transactions, defined as transfers below N10,000, and their platforms, such as Opay and Palmpay, are powering Nigeria’s electronic payment (e-payment) boom.

Opay, which has over 30 million customers, was one of the winners of the 2023 Central Bank of Nigeria’s botched naira redesign and cashless policy when it demonstrated resilience during the naira cash shortage that exposed vulnerabilities in many traditional banking platforms.

“Payment methods have become easier, faster, and better, and people are using them for everyday things,” said Adedeji Olowe, founder of Lendsqr.

Ever since it launched in August 2013, Telegram has been an exceptionally popular social media platform and messaging app, thanks to its utility and focus on privacy.

Telegram’s strong growth continued well into 2024. Finbold’s research found that, between April 10 and July 22, the platform added more than 485,000 monthly active users (MoU) every day.

The growth ensured that, by the middle of the summer, Telegram’s user base stood at 950 million – meaning that approximately one-eighth of humanity was using the app.

While coming just 50 million shy of 1 billion users is a major milestone, it is interesting to note that the social media platform has, at times, boasted even stronger growth. For example, in July 2023, the CEO and founder, Pavel Durov, revealed that 2.5 million people signed up to Telegram daily.

EU’s shadow over Telegram

Despite Telegram’s popularity and momentum, the platform has been gaining a different kind of attention since August 24 when the French police arrested Durov at an airport near Paris.

Though President Emmanuel Macron and his government maintain that the arrest was not politically motivated, it has nonetheless sparked a strong backlash, with many interpreting it as a crackdown on privacy and free speech.

Indeed, even the allegations of poor moderation and failure to prevent illicit activity are founded, they, nonetheless, raise important questions in the debate on the balance between privacy, surveillance, and national security.

As Andreja Stojanovic, a co-author of the research, noted “Even if genuine and undisputable illicit activity on Telegram was detected, the arrest is still likely to make many question if, by the same logic, the entire police force of a nation should be prosecuted whenever any illegal activity takes place in a private home or a hotel room.”

Nonetheless, there are no guarantees the arrest will have a profound impact on Telegram itself and, indeed, the platform has already shown significant resilience to government pressure during the Russian 2018 ban.

The Mastercard Foundation will host two pivotal events at the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 79) on September 22, 2024.

Both gatherings will address the critical issues of girls’ education and women’s economic empowerment in Africa and will be held at the Millenium Hilton New York, One UN Plaza Hotel.

Under the themes “Powering Parity—Inclusive Education for a Sustainable Future” and “Invincible: Empowering Women, Transforming Africa,” the events will showcase successful educational models and explore solutions to create a more equitable economic landscape for women in Africa.

“Powering Parity—Inclusive Education for a Sustainable Future” will focus on effective strategies and programs to improve young African women’s learning access, outcomes, and transitions to and from secondary education. The session will also include an important announcement on the expansion of a key Mastercard Foundation partnership focused on initiatives for girls and young women.

Additionally, it will explore the pivotal role of education technology in fostering resilient and inclusive learning in Africa. The Mastercard Foundation is committed to accelerating access to dignified and fulfilling work for 21 million young women in Africa by 2030 as part of its Young Africa Works strategy.

“The Foundation is proud to collaborate with exceptional institutions to co-create and scale solutions that drive meaningful impact for communities. Our approach resonates strongly with the UNGA 79 general debate theme of leaving no one behind,” said Tina Muparadzi, Executive Director of Education & Transitions at the Mastercard Foundation.

Various stakeholders, including education ministries, multilateral institutions, and donors, are expected to use the key approaches highlighted at the events to accelerate impact and scale-proven solutions.

Confirmed attendees include Dr. Haja Ramatulai Wurie, Minister of Technical and Higher Education for Sierra Leone; Prof. Birhanu Nega, Minister of Education for Ethiopia; and Hon Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy for Nigeria.

Reeta Roy, President and CEO of the Mastercard Foundation, noted the importance of this work given the reality that in Sub-Saharan Africa 101M young people between the ages of six and 18 are excluded from formal education.

“Yet, we have every reason to be optimistic, thanks to the extraordinary African educators and innovators, who have created solutions and are delivering quality education to young people,” says Roy.

“Expanding access to all has been at the heart of the Foundation’s work. At these events, education champions will be sharing insights about successful policies and programs from across Africa with each other. Working together, we can scale these solutions and remove barriers for all, especially for girls and young women.”

Held in collaboration with ALADI – African Leadership and Dialogue Institute, the panel discussion “Invincible: Empowering Women, Transforming Africa” will spotlight the unrivalled impact of Africa’s young women in driving economic transformation and propose bold strategies to bolster their access to equitable and affordable financing. This will be driven by a presentation of insights from the Mastercard Foundation’s landmark gender report, “Young Women in Africa: Agents of Economic Growth and Transformation by 2030.”

Panelists will include leading experts in finance, policy, and development, including the Hon. Dr. Jamila Bio Ibrahim, the Honourable Minister for Youth Development in Nigeria, and Deniece Laurent-Mantey, Executive Director of the POTUS Africa Diaspora Advisory Council at the White House, who will drive discussions on transforming financial systems to benefit women.

Both events underscore the Mastercard Foundation’s commitment to releasing the full potential of Africa’s women and fueling a prosperous and inclusive future for the continent.