Nigeria, no doubt, remains the biggest market for mobile phones in Africa, with over 90 million mobile lines and still counting, a new opportunity beckons: Mobile Money, which allows cash to travel as quickly as a text (SMS) message. Across Nigeria, corner shops are where people buy vouchers (recharge cards) to top up their calling credit. Mobile money services allow these small retailers to act rather like bank branches. They can take your cash, and (by sending a special kind of text message) credit it to your mobile money account. You can then transfer money (again, via text message) to other registered users, who can withdraw it by visiting their own local corner shops. You can even send money to people who are not registered users but have mobile phones and they receive a text message with a Secret Code that can be redeemed for cash. By far the most successful example of mobile money in Africa is M-PESA, a joint venture between multinational giant Vodafone and Kenya’s largest mobile phone company and Vodafone affiliate Safaricom.
The Nigerian counterpart is Paga. With 44855 and counting users, it is obvious that Nigerians are welcoming this pleasant development.
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