The Central Bank of Somalia (CBS) has announced the issuance of the first-ever mobile money licence to a telco. This is as the country looks to integrate its payment systems with the global financial one.

According to CBS, the licence was awarded to Hormuud Telecom, the country’s largest telecom service provider to operate electronic voucher cards (EVC) Plus.

EVC Plus is a mobile money service that is used by three million subscribers in Somalia.

Start off your week with tech news recap and trending conversations in your inbox

Enter valid email-id

Subscribe

I prefer it on Telegram

In a statement revealing all this, the bank’s governor Abdirahman Abdullahi Mohamed said, “The Central Bank of Somalia issued today Mobile Money licence to Hormuud Telecom under the provision of mobile money service within the Federal Republic of Somalia.”

Mr Mohammed went further to state that this move has been a vital priority for the Central Bank of Somalia as it seeks to ensure financial inclusion, consumer protection and financial stability.

Approximately 155 millions transactions worth $2.7 billion are recorded per month in Somalia, as reported by the World Bank in 2018.

“In formalising our existing digital payments infrastructure, we are accelerating the integration of Somalia’s financial system into the global economy,”

On the other hand, Hormuud Telecom stated that it will carry on providing critical services to its customer to help increase financial inclusion for the Somali people.

Somali’s has been reported to gradually morphing as banks, money transfer, education, airline, media and government departments start to depend on the internet to provide their services.

It will certainly be interesting to see how much interest the move by the financial regulator attracts from not just local but also foreign parties.