- The Nigerian government has stated that it intends to implement the services of PoS operators for its social intervention scheme.
- The scheme will involve the transfer of $800 million to poor and vulnerable Nigerians.
- Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, said the scheme will take off after approval by the National Assembly.
The Nigerian government plans to deploy the services of point-of-sale operators, popularly known as point-of-sale agents, for cash transfers during the expansion of the national safety net program.
This was revealed in Abuja by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, while hosting the Executive Director, Angola, Nigeria and South Africa World Cup Constituency, Ayanda Dlodlo.
Source: Getty Images
Program estimated at $800 million
The Minister said that the total cost of the program has been estimated at $800 million and will start in 2023 with the approval of the National Assembly.
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According to Ahmed, the federal government is working to expand the rapid response registry, including working with the network of agents in the banking and financial services industry for the cash transfer scheme.
He noted that the government is working to establish all the required databases and that an expanded response registry has been established.
According to Ahmed, there is also a channel for agent networks to establish and work with the banking industry and financial institutions that will help in the implementation of the scheme as soon as it is approved by the National Assembly.
Punch reports that agents will be deployed to reach unbanked rural communities.
The $800 million plan will be implemented by the Federal Ministry for Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.
CBN reveals the number of PoS terminals in Nigeria
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicates that there are around 1.41 million agents in Nigeria and 1.04 million active PoS terminals as of September 2022.
According to CBN data, almost one in two adults does not own or use formal financial services.
About 47.6 million Nigerians have bank accounts, says CBN, adding that about 38.1 million are financially excluded.
The number of poor households in Nigeria is growing
Nigeria has about 12.06 million poor and vulnerable households, including 49.81 million people in the National Social Safety Net Coordination Office database.
The National Social Safety Net Coordination Office was established in 2016 by the Nigerian government in partnership with the World Bank to support social safety nets and the social protection system in the country to help end poverty. extreme and drive shared prosperity.
The World Bank provided a $500 million line of credit to support the social safety net initiative which ended in June 2022.
FG to end the December conditional cash transfer, benefit millions
Remember that legit.ng reported that the Nigerian government has said it will end conditional cash transfers to the vulnerable and underprivileged in December.
One of the flagship policies of the Buhari administration, the federal government, stated that since the Scheme was launched in 2016, 2 million Nigerians have benefited.
The head of the National Cash Transfer Office (NCTO), Ibrahim Adam, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the Virtual International Financial Conference in Abuja on Thursday.
Source: Legit.ng
