The Central Bank of Somalia (CBS) has announced it has awarded the country’s first mobile money licence to Hormuud Telecom (HorTel). The licensing and regulation of mobile money service providers has been a key priority area for the CBS, as it seeks to ensure financial inclusion, consumer protection and financial stability. The move follows months of engagements and consultations between mobile money service providers and the CBS to establish internationally recognised regulatory frameworks for mobile financial services, as part of a wider reforms and the formalisation of the financial sector by the CBS.
‘We are pleased to issue Hormuud Telecom the first ever mobile money licence granted by the CBS. Over the past six years, we have worked tirelessly to develop an internationally recognised regulatory framework for the financial ecosystem,’ commented Abdirahman Abdulllahi Mohamed, Governor of the CBS, adding: ‘We started with formalising and licensing the commercial banks and money transfer businesses, now we are adding mobile money services, which make a significant part of the financial sector. In formalising our existing digital payments infrastructure, we are accelerating the integration of Somalia’s financial system into the global economy and reduce the risk associated with an unregulated market.’