In a market already teeming with remittance startups promising instant, low-cost cross-border payments, Nigeria’s state-owned postal service has entered the fray — armed with decades-old infrastructure, a rejuvenated set of licenses, and the kind of optimism that only government-backed institutions can muster.

Earlier this month, the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) revealed that it had dusted off its long-dormant International Money Transfer Operator (IMTO) license, renewed its Super Agent authorization, and was now fully primed to deliver financial services “across Nigeria and beyond.” The announcement came during a television interview with NIPOST’s Postmaster General, Tola Odeyemi, who also disclosed that the service had “paid off all the fines” and was ready to relaunch after an eight-year hiatus.

“NIPOST has two licenses,” Odeyemi said in a recent statement, “a Super Agents license as well as an International Money Transfer Operator license. Unfortunately, something had happened with that IMTO license, and it was shut down for about seven, eight years. But last year, we were able to pay off all the fines, and it’s now back up.”

With this, NIPOST is positioning itself not just as a logistics provider, but as a player in Nigeria’s sprawling and fiercely competitive remittance market — a sector where even the most nimble fintechs face narrow margins and shifting regulatory sands.

Legacy Meets Market Saturation

If NIPOST’s timing seems curious, that’s because it is. Nigeria’s remittance industry is already brimming with private sector operators — local startups, diaspora-focused neobanks, and international firms — all jockeying for a share of what is fast becoming one of Africa’s most contested financial corridors.

According to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), remittance inflows through official IMTOs surged to $4.73 billion in 2024, a 43.5% jump from $3.30 billion in 2023. The figure, released as part of the CBN’s Balance of Payments report, marks the strongest performance in three years — helped in part by the unification of Nigeria’s exchange rates and the lifting of pricing restrictions for money transfer firms.

Encouraged by the rebound in diaspora flows and the central bank’s more market-friendly stance, a number of previously dormant IMTOs have returned to the fold. But few expected the government’s mailman — last known for struggling with basic parcel delivery — to throw its hat into this increasingly high-tech arena.

“The $10 billion we made last year is a scratch,” Odeyemi said, referring to NIPOST’s recent annual revenue. “We actually surpassed it just by digitizing some of our processes and plugging leakages.”

Modest revenue goals aside, NIPOST’s entry signals a rare — if belated — attempt by a state institution to monetize one of its few remaining comparative advantages: physical reach. With over 1,000 post offices across Nigeria and a presence in semi-rural communities often ignored by digital-first platforms, NIPOST hopes to do what it arguably should have done a decade ago — evolve.

E-Commerce, Crimefighting, and Cross-Border Payments

Beyond remittances, NIPOST is also aiming to reinvent itself as a backbone for Nigeria’s digital economy. That includes integrations with e-commerce platforms, digitizing last-mile delivery, and even providing financial inclusion tools like PostMoni, a mobile money platform with ambitions that exceed its adoption figures.

Odeyemi also championed NIPOST’s underutilized National Addressing System, proposing that it could aid everything from crime prevention to emergency response — a claim that might resonate more had the country’s street mapping been more consistent than its broadband coverage.

And in what might be its most serious move, NIPOST has begun signing bilateral agreements with African neighbors to smooth cross-border remittances. So far, deals have been inked with Benin and Togo, with others in the pipeline — including one currently meandering through Nigeria’s judicial system.

“Sending money from Cameroon to Nigeria is harder than sending money from the U.S. to Nigeria,” Odeyemi said, echoing what diaspora families have known for years. Whether a state-run entity can resolve such frictions where startups have floundered remains to be seen.

A National Champion in a Crowded Ring

There’s a certain irony in NIPOST’s reawakening. For years, Nigeria’s remittance narrative has been driven by private innovation — platforms like Flutterwave, Chipper Cash, and LemFi — each promising to lower the cost and friction of sending money home. The CBN, meanwhile, has gradually dismantled barriers to entry, liberalized margins, and cleaned up regulatory ambiguities, all in the hope of attracting both diaspora dollars and investor confidence.

That a legacy institution with a chequered history and a bureaucratic pedigree now wants to compete in this arena is either a bold reimagining or an overdue capitulation to market forces.

Some analysts, with dry understatement, have welcomed the move as “interesting.”

“Public-private competition can sometimes lead to innovation,” said a Lagos-based payments consultant who requested anonymity. “But it can also lead to confusion — especially when roles overlap and the market becomes too fragmented.”

Indeed, while the central bank’s liberalized regime has brought more transparency to IMTO flows, the sector remains vulnerable to over-saturation. New entrants often undercut each other in pricing wars, and informal channels — still dominant in rural and border communities — continue to siphon off a large chunk of actual remittance volume.

According to the World Bank, Nigeria’s total personal remittances — including informal transfers — stood at $20.93 billion in 2024, making them one of the most stable foreign exchange sources for the country. But formal channels still lag behind the informal economy, despite CBN’s reforms.

The Bottom Line

For all its ambitions, NIPOST’s return to financial services is as much a story of state reinvention as it is one of institutional nostalgia. In a sector obsessed with velocity, digital onboarding, and real-time settlements, the postal service is betting that its legacy infrastructure — combined with renewed licenses and a more commercial mindset — can carve out a niche.

Whether it will compete effectively, or merely clutter an already saturated field, remains an open question. But if nothing else, NIPOST’s revival may finally answer a question that has lingered since Nigeria’s digital leap began: can old dogs learn fintech tricks?

In this new era of regulated remittances, the answer might just arrive — however belatedly — in the mail.