In 2012, Etisalat Nigeria rolled out fully interoperable, industrial grade, open loop mobile commerce in Nigeria with leading licensed providers in Nigeria.The scope of the service includes p2p, merchants and utility payments. It can also interface with existing Bank accounts of licensed providers in Nigeria.
The innovative sim application which had the highest nomination for the Kalahari mobile money awards is built and developed as the foundation for future innovative services across different channels. The Sim tool kit is currently available in Nigeria as the Eazywallet product in active collaboration of licensed providers by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
MobileMoney firms from neighboring West African Nations are also topping the charts in numbers of nominations for the Kalahari awards that will recognize innovations and exceptional commitment to mobile financial services around Africa. With more than seven different award categories, Tigo cash and MicroEnsure are currently leading with numbers of nominations with the mobilemoney based family insurance product which promotes use of mobile money for micro-insurance services for the bottom on the pyramid while GlifeGhana has highest nomination for use of mobile money for micro-finance services.
The award will be the highlight of the event that will hold during the 3RD MobileMoney Expo on Feb 6th and 7th in Lagos,Nigeria with expected participation from 14 countries. Coffey International,an international development organization will also moderate a panel that will examine the challenges of the mobile money in Nigeria with leading providers in Nigeria and proffering the way forward, during the two day event.
It is expected that some Nigerian firms will also be recognized for their efforts in the mobile money ecosystem but it should be noted that Mobilemoney is still a fledgling industry in Nigeria and unlike East Africa and other parts of West Africa. However, recognition will be given to Mobile Network operators, financial institutions and independent providers that are actively showing signs of future impacts in the mobile financial ecosystem. Stanbic MobileMoney and Paga are also leading their categories nominations.
According to the organizers of the event, the 2013 edition will be focused on the promoting interoperability.
[Source: mobilemoneyafrica]
