International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, says it has signed an advisory services agreement with Firstmonie, a subsidiary of First Bank Nigeria Limited, to expand mobile financial services and agent banking in the country.

The IFC said the development would boost the supply of affordable financial services to low-income individuals and small-scale entrepreneurs.

“The IFC will provide Firstmonie with technical assistance in financial modelling, agent management and customer activation, to a value of $550,000, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,” a statement by IFC said.

The statement further quoted the Managing Director of Pridar Systems (wholly owned by FirstBank), the owners of Firstmonie, Mr. Mike Ogbalu, as saying, “We are committed to expanding mobile financial services to the under-banked and low-income communities.

“With the advisory support from the IFC, we hope to achieve our goal of boosting financial inclusion through our product offerings and decrease the population of the unbanked and under-banked in Nigeria.”

The country has a low rate of financial inclusion, with only 43 per cent of the adult population having access to formal financial services.

The Central Bank of Nigeria had in 2010 issued licences to mobile money operators but adoption and usage have been slow due to high costs, poor agent network management and low awareness among the populace.

The Manager, IFC Access to Finance, sub-Saharan Africa, Mr. David Crush, was quoted in the statement as saying, “Firstmonie and IFC aim to develop a best practice mobile money operation that will demonstrate the sustainable business case for affordable financial services in one of Africa’s most important economies. This is a step towards reaching full financial inclusion in Nigeria.”

Firstmonie mobile money service is an innovative product that enables customers to access financial and other value-added services through their mobile phones.