Sustainable business models for the creation of mobile financial services in Nigeria

Despite Nigeria's huge population, huge consumer market and the vast number of mobile money operators (MMOs), the uptake of mobile money services has been the lowest in Africa. The introduction of mobile money services into the market after an elaborate licensing and regulatory process by the Central Bank of Nigeria was expected to accelerate financial inclusion and increase the overall number of transactions in the country. This was however not the case as the expected result of increased financial inclusion was not achieved. Although various reasons have been suggested as the cause of this, the paper argues that the lack of sustainable business models for the creation of mobile money services has been one of the greatest hindrances. Existing business models for mobile money services have proven to be unsustainable and unprofitable. Through case studies of existing mobile money operators, this paper investigates the reasons for unsuccessful deployment of mobile money services by MMOs in Nigeria and proceeds to develop a framework for sustainable business models for this market. Results of this study suggest that MMOs should pay close attention to all aspects of the business models they deploy in the creation of mobile money services with particular emphasis on the value proposition, customer segments and scale.