Airtel, with over 57.6 million subscribers recorded in May this year, is the second-largest telecom operator in Nigeria, according to data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
However, significant delays in receiving the required licences may have prevented some of Nigeria’s unbanked population – around 36% of an adult population of approximately 106 million people – from accessing financial services, especially when financial inclusion targets are high on the government’s agenda.
Any regulatory hurdles, however, should be reframed as the CBN, “protecting the country and safeguarding its economy“, says Muyiwa Ebitanmi, CEO and MD of SmartCash Airtel Africa’s mobile money subsidiary, adding that the company works with all regulators in Nigeria to ensure that the business complies with all regulatory guidelines.
Although Ebitanmi paints a picture of collaboration and mutual
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