Victor EzejaAS part of its social investment programme, Federal Government has through the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, launched a Mobile Money Agent training programme.
The programme which will be for training of 1,850 beneficiaries in Nigeria, was on Thursday in Abuja, flagged off by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar Farouq, with commencement of a four-day training of Mobile money agents in North central zone.
The Programme, according to Farouq was designed to empower unemployed youths and develop their skills and competencies to operate as registered mobile money agents.
Minister said it was part of efforts by the Federal Government through the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) to lift many Nigerians out of poverty as promised by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Minister who stated that the beneficiaries would be drawn from across the 36 states in the country, said it is hoped that the programme would create more job opportunities for Nigerians.
She said, “The programme is designed to provide toolkits for unemployed youths and develop their competencies to operate as registered mobile money agents.
“The training we are starting today will enable target beneficiaries to meet the minimum technical and business requirements for becoming mobile money agents and enhance their entrepreneurial competencies to successfully start and manage mobile money businesses.
Farouq said that upon completing the training programme, the beneficiaries would be registered with Shared Agency Network Expansion Facility (SANEF) as Mobile Money Agents.
She added that the beneficiaries would be provided with Start-up Kits which include “a Point-of-Sale (POS) Machine, Fingerprint Scanner and Furniture (chairs, tables and umbrellas) as well as a modest capital of N20,000.00.”
SANEF is an initiative of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), incorporated in 2019 and supported by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) and Licensed Mobile Money Operators/Shared Agents. It has the objective of promoting financial inclusion through financial literacy campaigns aimed at increasing access to finance by many low and unbanked Nigerians.
The Federal Government has a partnership with SANEF to help onboard over 200 exited N-power Batch A and B beneficiaries as a job creation strategy for them promised by the government.
Farouq applauded SANEF for their partnership and contributions to the programme, stating that their input would enable the registration and onboarding of target beneficiaries upon completion of the training.
She said, “We hope that It will also enhance the integration of NSIP by enabling target beneficiaries to join the network of agents providing financial-related services under other components of NSIP, especially the conditional cash transfer and the grant for vulnerable groups, as well as in the enumeration and enrollment of target beneficiaries.”
Chief Executive Officer of SANEF, Mrs Ronke Kuye the purpose of the SANEF is an intervention programme to help empower the citizens across the federation to be gainfully employed and have access to finance.
“This partnership with the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development will act as a strong elixir to further deepen and expand Financial Inclusion through Agent Banking to the underserved and unserved, as well as a last-mile distribution to hinterlands hitherto reached.
“Our role in providing Financial Literacy Training and Awareness for participants during this programme before they are on-boarded as Agents is vital as this will allow the participants to learn the rudiments and dynamics of what they are about to become a critical part.”
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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