MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Mobile Money Service Paga Receives $2m Grant from Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) to Promote Financial Inclusion in Nigeria

Nigerian mobile financial services platform Paga has received a USD 2 million grant from Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA), a development organization based in Nigeria, to develop low-cost financial products and distribute them through Paga’s agent network. Paga currently offers money transfer, deposit, withdrawal and payment services through mobile phones and the firm’s agent network.

Mr Tayo Oviosu, CEO and founder of Paga, said, “…we will be working with partners such as Diamond Bank, LAPO – Nigeria’s largest Micro-Finance Institution, ADIC and GT Assur to develop and deliver low cost financial services to all Nigerians at our agents. The EFInA grant will fund our work in this area and the much needed public education required for success. Our goal is to bring financial services to over 40 million Nigerians by 2015 – with this grant our objectives will be even more achievable.”

Modupe Ladipo, executive director of EFInA, said, “With over 59 million unbanked adults, finding new ways of reaching out to this market and bringing low cost financial services is a major challenge we aim to address….We have chosen Paga for this grant because of the robustness of their plans and strength of their team. We are confident that by working together we can achieve our mutual goal of universal access to financial services for Nigerians.”

Paga has approximately 57,900 subscribers as of March 2012. EFInA is funded by theUKgovernment’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the US-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

By Kristha Abores, Research Associate

About Paga:

Paga was founded in Nigeriain 2009 with the mission of delivering universal access to innovative financial services inAfrica. Paga received its provincial license to operate from the Central Bank ofNigeriain November 2010 and launched a mobile money service in February 2011. Paga’s mobile money service operates in partnership with the nationwide network of DStv, a television service provider, to offer financial services such as cash transfers, mobile airtime credits purchases and bill payment via mobile phones and the Internet. Paga has approximately 57,900 subscribers as of March 2012. Financial information is not currently available for Paga.

About Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA):

Established in 2007, Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) is a nonprofit financial sector development organization funded by the UK government’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the US-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It seeks to promote financial inclusion in Nigeria through research, innovation and advocacy. Financial information on the organization is not available via the US-based Microfinance Information Exchange or otherwise.

Sources and Additional Resources:

[1] Press section of Paga website: “Paga Recieves US$2m Grant from Efina to Bring Low Cost Financial Services to Every Community in Nigeria,” https://www.mypaga.com/paga-web/start.paga#

MicroCapital.org article, May 9, 2011, “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Goodwell West Africa Invests in Nigerian Mobile Money Service, Paga,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-goodwell-west-africa-inve…

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Paga, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Paga

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA), https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Enhancing+Financial+Innovation+and+Access+%28EFInA%29

Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki at: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/

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