All point-of-sale operators are required by the Central Bank of Nigeria to route transactions through authorised payment terminal service aggregators. The steps were taken to improve the nation’s electronic transaction tracking and management, according to a circular that was issued by the CBN.

“As part of efforts to mitigate the concerns regarding channelling all Point of Sale transactions through a single aggregator, the CBN on April 19, 2024, granted a second PTSA licence to Unified Payment Services Limited.

“In furtherance of the above, the CBN with this directs as follows: 1 Acquirers are henceforth required to route all transactions from PoS terminals at merchant and agent locations, whether on physical or electronic PoS terminals, through any CBN-licensed Payment Terminal Service Aggregator PTSAs are required to send PoS transactions to only Processors certified by the relevant Payment Scheme, nominated by the Acquirer and licensed by CBN,” the apex bank noted.

It was mentioned that a PTSA licence was given to Nigeria Interbank Settlement System Plc in 2011 so that it could manage the aggregate of PoS transactions.

Earlier this year in April, Unified Payment Services Limited was awarded a second PTSA licence by the CBN in response to concerns regarding the routing of all transactions through a single aggregator.

“To achieve the objective of tracking electronic transactions in Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria in August 2011, granted a Payment Terminal Service Aggregator licence to Nigeria Interbank Settlement System Plc. As part of efforts to mitigate the concerns regarding channelling all Point of Sale transactions through a single aggregator, the CBN on April 19, 2024, granted a second PTSA licence to Unified Payment Services Limited.”

All acquirers—the organisations in charge of handling payments from PoS terminals—must route transactions through one of the two authorised aggregators, under the directive of the CBN.

To provide acquirers with the freedom to select their preferred service providers, licensed processors must also connect with both PTSAs.

It was mentioned that payment terminal service providers, who are in charge of setting up and maintaining PoS terminals, have to make sure their hardware and software are set up to function with any PTSA that the acquirers select.

The CBN states that PTSPs must also provide monthly reports to the CBN that include information on the number of agents and merchants they oversee, as well as the PTSA services that are utilised.

In a similar vein, all PTSAs are required by CBN to submit monthly reports detailing all transactions that are conducted through their systems.

The director of the Payments System Management Department must receive the reports, per the apex bank, within seven days of the end of each month.

The CBN had threatened to take necessary action if any PSPs did not regularise their operations with the PTSAs within 30 days after issuing the instruction.

Recall that on July 7, the Corporate Affairs Commission declared that all Point of Sale providers in the nation needed to register with them by September 5 at the latest.

Kenya’s efforts to revitalise the Kisumu port’s multimodal transport system to serve East and Central Africa are paying off, as Uganda has committed to using the facility for its oil and loose cargo beginning this month.

Nairobi, which spent millions of dollars renovating the ageing infrastructure and the cargo ship MV Uhuru, set the date for the port’s operationalisation after the corresponding facilities in Uganda. Nairobi anticipates handling more goods through the port this year.

With the potential to generate $60 billion in trade annually, the Kisumu port is a part of the East African Community (EAC) infrastructure development plan. However, at the moment, only approximately 10% of this traffic is coming into the three major EAC economies—Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.

Compared to 60,910 tonnes during the same period the previous year, Kenya’s principal port on Lake Victoria handled 125,503 tonnes.

Charles Kitur, the manager of Kisumu Port, credited the operation’s success to important renovations that allowed the building to accommodate bulk cargo.

The purchase of vital machinery including a reach stacker, grove mobile crane, forklifts, trailers, and marine boats has increased the inland port’s effectiveness after being ignored for almost thirty years.

“The upgraded facilities have improved the performance of the port and improved trade with the neighbouring countries like Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and those in the Great Lakes Region,” Mr Kitur told journalists.

In the six months leading up to June 2024, the lake port handled 125,503 metric tonnes of cargo, comprising 1,288 metric tonnes of commodities imported into the nation and 124,214 metric tonnes of exports, according to the most recent report from the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA).

The port saw a rise of 122,072.1 metric tonnes in comparison to the meagre 3,431 metric tonnes reported in the 2017 total cargo throughput report.

KPA forecasts indicate that the port’s overall cargo flow will exceed 200,000 metric tonnes by 2024. During this time, goods such as gas oil (26,186.9 tonnes), ceramic tiles (3,603.8 tonnes), steel billets (3,217.5 tonnes) and bagged fertiliser (1,367 tonnes) were supplied to other East African markets.

However, the border manager stated that Kenya only imported iron sheets.

Mr. Kitur added that more ships are stopping at the port, which has had a significant makeover since 2019, and that the renovated port has revived the marine transit corridor.