Airtel Africa's SmartCash subsidiary commences operations in Nigeria

Airtel Africa stated SmartCash services would initially be available at selected retail touchpoints, with operations set to be expanded gradually across the country over the coming months.

Chief executive Segun Ogunsanya said: "This is the beginning of our journey to revolutionise the financial services landscape in the country. To help further digitise the economy, and most importantly to help bank the unbanked by reaching the millions of Nigerians who do not currently have access to financial services by delivering current and savings accounts, payment and remittance services, debit and prepayment cards, and more sophisticated services."

As of 0830 BST, Airtel shares were up 1.96% at 145.80p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com