‘Mobile Money Transaction, key to Financial Inclusion’

• ‘Mobile Money Transaction, key to Financial Inclusion’

The Association of Mobile Money Agents in Nigeria has said that mobile money transaction remained the key to drive financial inclusion and reduce the unbanked population in Nigeria.

The group stated that proper management, data harmonisation and right policy framework would address the challenges of mobile money transactions across Nigeria and help the country to attain its targeted 500,000 mobile money agents by 2020.

This, they added, would reduce the financially excluded population of the country as projected by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

In his welcome address at the third annual conference of the association in Lagos, the President, AMMAN, Mr Victor Olojo, said the aim was to set an agenda to accelerate the financial inclusion goal of the CBN for mobile money transactions.

Olojo described the gathering as an opportunity to review and discuss problems of mutual interests with delegates, stakeholders, agents, operators, regulators and team of experts from across the country.

Speaking on theme, ‘Driving inclusion: Exploring agency banking with shared network,’ Olojo explained that the conference aimed at presenting opportunities to re-evaluate and examine the association’s approach to the Shared Agent Network Expansion Scheme.

In the main, he stated that this would help members to gain new knowledge and insights of the best approach to achieving financial inclusion through the SANEF initiative of the CBN.

While speaking at the sidelines of the event, Olojo highlighted the need for the participants to be better equipped with the new trends in the digital financial markets and many opportunities opened to them across the country.

He said, “We are committed to ensuring that financial inclusion is deepened in Nigeria and this we do through the inauguration and commencement of the AMMAN Financial Inclusion Force, a body of aggregators drawn from across the country aimed at delivering value to Nigeria’s financially vulnerable and excluded population.

“This programme had helped us to interact, network, connect and gain insightful knowledge which would be useful in our operational activities.”

One of the panellists, the Managing Director, Intermarc Consulting, Ms Jacqueline Jumah, said deliberate efforts should be geared towards mitigating financial fraud which, according to her,is on the increase globally even as technology is evolving at a fast rate.

Panelists drawn from various sectors of the industry such as financial experts, bank executives, stakeholders, Nigerian Police shared and discussed ideas and challenges in the sector.