Humanitarian Ministry begins training beneficiaries for Mobile Money Transactions

Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development has commenced the training of Mobile Money Agents.

The Life Skills and Entrepreneurship Development Training was launched by the Minister, Sadiya Umar Farouq, in Abuja for beneficiaries from the North-central geopolitical Zone and the FCT.

Speaking at the event, she said the programme was introduced to overcome the failings of the past and to shift Nigerians from poverty through capacity building, investment and direct support.

She said the Federal Government is paying more attention to promoting the plight of the poor and vulnerable in the country which she said informed the decision to initiate the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) as a strategy for enhancing social inclusion.

“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 competences to successfully start and manage mobile money businesses.

“Upon completion of the training, the target beneficiaries will be registered with the Shared Agency Network Expansion Facility (SANEF) as Mobile Money Agents and will be provided with Start-up Kits that 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”, she noted

The Minister also commended the efforts of the Shared Agent Network Expansion Facilities, SANEF for their partnership and contributions to the programme.

“This will enable the registration and onboarding of target beneficiaries upon completion of the training. We also deeply appreciate the support of other stakeholders and their contributions to the realization of Mr. President’s vision to lift Nigerians out of poverty.

“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”. 

The Minister later made a presentation of POS machines, Umbrellas, Finger print scanners, furniture and a twenty thousand Naira starting capital to some of the beneficiaries.

For her part, the Chief Executive Officer of SANEF Limited, Ronke Kuye thanked the Minister for the partnership, noting that the partnership with the Ministry will act as a strong elixir to further deepen and expand Financial Inclusion through Agent Banking to the underserved and unserved.

“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 of”, she added

The programme is expected to provide job opportunities for 1,850 youths selected from the 36 States and the FCT as well as promote financial inclusion, by providing financial services to Nigerians.

The 4-day training is expected to be duplicated in all the geopolitical across zones across the country.

The Mobile Money Agents Programme was introduced in 2020 under the National Social Investment Programme N-SIP to sustain the social inclusion agenda of President Buhari of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.

Bilkisu Pai