E-Financial
Stakeholders Seeks Mobile Technology Driven Out-Bound Remittance Operators
Remittance and payment stakeholders have urged central bank of Nigeria (CBN) to expand the licensing of out-bound money transfer operation to accommodate mobile technology driven operators.
They said this has become necessary in view of inconveniences and stress Nigerians face in transferring of money out of the country, which today are done by only three foreign remittance operators.
They spoke at the 7th Remittance and Payment Expo held in Lagos earlier this week.
Opeyemi Odeyale, co-founder and chief operating officer, Ping Express, said that the CBN is not giving any indigenous company the license to move money out of Nigeria allowing monopoly by foreign remittance operators, which include Western Union, Moneygram and Riyadh who are moving money out of Nigeria every day.
“These operators system require you to go to banking hall, why don’t you let us use technology and drive it. It is very expensive now because people have to go to the banking hall fill form with other inconvenient documentations.
“The only way to bring down that cost is to use technology; a lot of us make money with our mobile phones, why don’t we do the same to get money out of Nigeria; do the transaction on your mobile phone. We have the technology to handle the compliance; we have the technology to handle all the regulatory requirements in sending money out of the country. Just give us the license let’s do it.
“To send $100 into Nigeria through Western Union you pay $11, but, with technology powered system such as Ping Express, to send $100 you only pay $3 this is a fraction of what traditional operators charge.
“That is what we want to do for Nigerians as well, if you want to send money out it does not have to be stressful, it doesn’t have to be expensive, and we can do it cheaper than the foreign operators. Why don’t CBN give us the license let’s do it.
“If we are able to get license from CBN to operate from 32 countries in North America and Europe, why do you think we are not capable of handling or holding a license with CBN for out-bound remittance.
“Is it that the regulator is doing something wrong or they are not paying attention to the fact that we have demonstrated that capability? We just need a license and we will make life easy for Nigerians.
“Indigenous companies having license to move money out of Nigeria will add to the economy as we have staff in the country, we pay taxes but the foreign operators don’t pay taxes, some of them don’t have staff in the country.
“Whether we like it or not the digital operators are disrupting that market it is better we streamline it by licensing indigenous operators. We need to empower ourselves,” he said.
Corroborating Odeyale, Yves Lauent Ewoune, manager, Information System project, MTN Cameroon, said that out-bound remittance from Africa using mobile technology provides a huge market opportunity.
He noted that MTN Cameroon started the service sometime last year and witnessed 150 percent growth within few months only for the regulatory authority in the country to stop it.
By 8 am on July 9, GTCO Holdings is set to commence trading on the London Stock Exchange.
As the group is set to list all its shares on the London Stock Exchange, becoming the first Nigerian banking entity to do so.
This is as the group launches a public offer of new ordinary shares to raise approximately $100 million on the London Stock Exchange.
The equity offering, which is an accelerated bookbuild and managed by Citigroup, began on July 2 and is to last until July 31.
On July 31, the group announced that it would cancel the listing of its Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) on the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Official List.
It will also cancel their admission to trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE)’s main market.
In place of the GDRs, the group will list all its ordinary shares directly.
aims to admit all its shares to the equity shares category for international commercial companies under a secondary listing on the FCA’s Official List.
The shares will also begin trading on the LSE’s main market for listed securities.
According to a regulatory filing on the London Stock Exchange, the net proceeds from the offering will be used to recapitalize GTBank Nigeria.
Based on the prevailing exchange rate of N1,540 to the US dollar, the targeted $100 million equates to approximately N154 billion.
This capital raise is expected to position the Group to fully meet the N500 billion minimum paid-up share capital required by regulators for banks with international licenses.
As of now, both Zenith Bank and Access Holdings have already met—and exceeded—this threshold.
The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has handed over new licenses to SanlamAllianz Life and General Insurance Nigeria Ltd at brief ceremony held in Abuja.
Olusegun Omosehin, commissioner for Insurance emphasized the Commission’s commitment to supporting the growth of insurance entities in the country, while ensuring strict compliance with regulatory requirements. He urged the companies to prioritize good corporate governance, stability, and timely claims settlement processes.
The Commissioner reiterated NAICOM’s dedication to removing unnecessary bottlenecks and improving the insurance industry’s overall performance. He expressed confidence that the merger would enhance the companies’ capabilities and contribute to the industry’s growth.
SanlamAllianz recently launched its operations in Nigeria, marking a significant step in the company’s Pan-African expansion.
The launch follows the merger of Sanlam and Allianz’s Nigerian operations, creating a new entity named SanlamAllianz Nigeria.
This joint venture aims to transform the Nigerian insurance landscape by offering enhanced customer experiences, innovative solutions, and improved financial inclusion.
World Bank has approved an additional $65 million loan for Nigeria to support the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental, and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) project, increasing the total financing for the initiative to $145 million.
The approval was granted on June 24, 2025, according to details posted on the World Bank’s website, which also indicates that the project’s status has moved to “active” following the approval.
The SPESSE project, initially launched with an $80 million loan approved in February 2020, aims to strengthen institutional capacity for managing procurement, environmental, and social standards in both the public and private sectors across Nigeria.
The World Bank described the project’s development objective as the establishment of sustainable capacity in these areas.
This latest approval is part of a broader wave of financing expected from the World Bank to Nigeria in 2025.
The bank is scheduled to approve loans totalling $1.61 billion over the coming months, supporting various development initiatives.
Among these is a $300 million loan for the ‘Solutions for the Internally Displaced and Host Communities Project,’ expected to be finalised by the end of July.
This project aims to improve access to basic services and economic opportunities for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities in selected local government areas in northern Nigeria.
In September, the World Bank plans to approve four additional loans: a $10.5 million facility to support technical assistance for the Central Bank of Nigeria, a $300 million Health Security Program targeting Western and Central Africa (Nigeria – Phase IV), a $500 million project for building resilient digital infrastructure (BRIDGE), and a $500 million loan under the Nigeria Sustainable Agricultural Value-Chains for Growth project aimed at promoting sustainable growth and job creation within key agricultural sectors.
Earlier in March 2025, the bank approved three financing requests amounting to $1.13 billion.
These funds are directed towards projects focused on enhancing quality education, boosting household and community resilience, and improving nutrition.
Among the approved loans were $80 million for the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria 2.0 project, $552 million for the HOPE for Quality Basic Education for All programme, and $500 million for the Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus Programme.
In February, the Nigerian government announced expectations of new World Bank loans totalling $2.2 billion for six different projects in 2025. This follows a $1.5 billion loan disbursed in 2024 aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s economic stability and resource mobilisation efforts.
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