Category: e-Business

Migrant workers on the continent send remittances in excess of $14billion yearly. Remittances are expected to go up fuelled by an increase in mobile penetration and agent networks, writes LUCAS AJANAKU.

 

Online international money transfer firm, WorldRemit, said this year will be the year of intra-African remittances.

It said the World Bank has estimated that migrant workers within Africa send remittances in excess of $14-billion each year, and in 2018 intra-African remittances represented 20 per cent of global remittance flows according to Ecobank Group.

To give context, according to WorldRemit, the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) agreement (which promotes intra-African trade and regional integration) is fuelling intra-continental movement of people.

“Migrant workers are no longer just traveling to developed nations for work (traditional south to north migration patterns), opportunities lie closer to home.

Between 2015 and 2019, intra-African migrants grew from 16 million to 19 million. During the same period, migration out of the African continent only increased from 16 to 17 million,” the money transfer firm said.

This new trend of south to south migration does not change the desire to send money home, yet the vast majority of remittances are still sent ‘offline’.

This informal remittance industry in Africa is estimated to be between two and ten times the size of the formal market, it added.

“Money is taken to, and collected from a physical agent which can be inconvenient and usually subject to high fees. Africa has the highest costs for remittances globally, averaging nine per cent for $200 transaction compared to the global average of seven per cent. This is far from the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of three per cent by 2030.

“However, with over 122 million users of mobile money services in Africa, and smartphone connections forecasted to grow to 636 million in 2022, hitting the SDG is likely to depend on building the right infrastructure to support an increasingly mobile population,” WorldRemit explained.

According to iTWebAfrica, the international money transfer service has partnered with Vodacom Tanzania, Wizall of Senegal and Tigo in Ghana to reinforce its network.

In early last month, Business Wire news service reported that WorldRemit had partnered with Wizall to launch the service in Senegal.

“The new partnership with Wizall Money enables WorldRemit customers in over 50 countries, including France, Spain and the US, to send money home instantly to over 60 000 mobile money accounts in Senegal.

Recipients can then store their funds, pay for bills or pay for goods in shops directly from their Wizall Money account. In addition to the new mobile money service, WorldRemit also offers bank transfer, cash pickup and mobile airtime top-up services to Senegal, so customers can choose the pay-out option that suits their receiver best.

“Estimates suggest that the Senegalese diaspora community is almost 560,000-people strong, and the money they send home makes a huge difference to the lives of thousands of families.

Senegal is estimated to have received almost $2.5billion in remittances in 2019, accounting for 10 per cent of the country’s GDP,” an excerpt from the report read.

Read Also: Banks, FinTechs struggle for banking space

 

Meanwhile, Africa focused mobile transfer firm Mukuru said an increase in mobile penetration and agent networks is reshaping the remittance sector throughout the continent.

According to the firm, traditionally financially under-serviced migrants living in South Africa resorted to using informal channels to send money home to family and friends.

These mostly include the bus and taxi system, where people travelling from South Africa to other African countries would physically carry the funds with them on behalf of migrants working in South Africa.

This picture has changed in recent years, with mobile penetration making even bigger strides into sub-Saharan Africa.

It said in early 2018, data showed that nearly 70per cent of cross-border remittances were via informal channels with this figure expected to have decreased since.

“The increase in migrants using formal channels to send money home is not attributed to the growth in mobile penetration alone.

By establishing strategic relationships with banks, mobile network operators (MNOs) and other pay-out partners through Southern African countries which disburse remittances,” the company stated.

Mukuru says research by the World Bank supports this notion, with the organisation recently reporting that remittances to African countries will grow to $47billion last year.

In African markets, FinTech has disrupted the payments ecosystem, resulting in more consumers choosing digital and mobile transfers over cash, for several reasons including safety and convenience, the company added.

The Chief Executive Officer, Mukuru,  Andy Jury, said: “Cash is still king within Africa, mainly due to a reliance on cash for payments and transactions coupled with low levels of financial inclusion.

What is needed is enhanced financial inclusion and the building of consumer trust and awareness of new digital and mobile channels.

This will encourage access and usage of transaction accounts and e-wallets, to broaden digital and mobile payment use cases beyond person to person money transfers.”

Our Reporter

 

It would be nice to rake in some cash without having to lift a finger, and even if you do, not much is demanded to have some money flowing into your account.

In recent years, passive income has risen as a common way to see this option come to life. The growth of these jobs is propelled by the dwindling nature of white-collar jobs that dominate the workforce.

These jobs have been made possible by the entry of the internet about two decades ago and have created niches that would otherwise not exist offline or would be hard to get to. The popularity is further driven by the use of smartphones, tablets, and other computers that are configured to access the web.

With this knowledge, passive income is defined as a way to make money with little to no effort being applied. Usually, to get to this point, some options demand the input of a lot of work before becoming an infinite money stream.

In other cases, it is linked to practices that demand continuous commitment so that they can become an income stream as well. Passive income is also related to some practices that require little effort to no effort with immediate or continuous results. If you are looking to set yourself up using this route, here are fifteen options that you can pay attention to:

• Dividend-paying investments

This option has been tried and tested by millions around the world as a way to rake in some serious cash passively. This mode of earning money does require one to invest before they can receive any profits, but they can be used to make more than one thousand dollars per month.

People with fat bank accounts can put in a significant amount of money at a go, and they can expect massive dividend checks in return. However, consistent pumping of cash can also work to amass a good profit over time if putting in a lot at a go proves too much for your finances.

Read Also: Stockbrokers optimistic on multiple streams of incomes

 

Dividend-paying investments require you to perform a lot of research before putting your money in any stock basket. Other areas aside from the stock market prove helpful in making money in this manner like ETFs and online platforms like Lending Club.

No work is demanded on your part at all – only your money. Choose investments that are likely to score returns of more than 15% per year to get your money’s worth, and ensure you are willing to abide by the course until its time to reap returns.

• Rental properties

The real estate market is growing consistently in many parts of the globe, which makes it an ideal industry to invest in for passive income. After you go through the trouble of putting up a property, you can sit back and wait for monthly income to flow in from renting it out.

You can make this option entirely passive by employing the services of a property management firm to handle any issues with the property on your behalf for a commission.

The online platform makes it easier for anyone to invest in rentals if you do not have the capital to raise a building or don’t want to sit through the process.

Assess your interests in the industry and how much money you are willing to pump into the venture. You can also choose to be one of many partners owning a building or purchase one on your own.

• Invest in a Business

Businesses have the potential to rake in millions, and you can be part of the team sharing the spoils if you invest in one. You do not have to be involved in the running of the business actively.

Instead, you would pump in some cash to help the venture take off, and then wait to enjoy the profits generated as a silent partner.

 

Women are taking advantage of opportunities in the leather and creative industry to contribute to economic growth. They have been able to unleash their creativity and talent in this booming sector and generating incomes, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

 

The leather and creative industries hold a very prominent place in the economy. It provides employment to many people in the country and a yearlly turnover  in excess of N100 million yearly.

The leather industry is the second major earner of foreign exchange after oil. It contributes about 25 per cent of the total agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The industry generates between $600 million and $800 million from exports yearly. There is a huge potential for growth of the industry if proper measures are put in place by the government.

The Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), in its report projects that the local leather industry can generate over $1 billion by 2025. Already, the textile and clothing industry is driving industrial transformation and creating  jobs. Demand for Nigerian textiles and garments are increasing globally, and indigenous patterns are gaining recognition as truly fashionable.

The sector is huge with local producers   involved in the design of dress, shoes, casuals, moccasins, sandals, ballerinas, and booties. Products range from designer collections to personal accessories.  The striking thing is that many women have made foray into the industry and today are success stories.

One of them is the Chief Executive Officer, Olubukola Asafa. Even with a degree, Bukola is proud that she is a leather works designer.

Her  passion for creating a proudly ‘Made-in-Nigeria’ luxury accessory brand, led her into the manufacturing of handmade handbags, sandals, shoes and other leather goods with a culture of fine craftsmanship, design and innovation.

Her brand OBA couture also offers bespoke made to measure shoes and sandals that ensure it fits perfectly. Oba Couture is a luxury brand founded in 2011.

She used to make linen tops to sell not too long after she graduated from university. But after National Youthh Service Corps (NYSC) programme, she went into  employment and then went for post-graduate. After her studies, she knew that she would no longer wanted to go back to office job.

When she just started her firm, she won a grant from the Federal Government. It was called the YouWin grant where she won N8.2 million. That was very instrumental to the growth of her business.  She was privileged to have taken courses in Florence, Italy and London, United Kingdom where she learnt the craft of shoe making and handbag making.

Read Also: ‘Govt will explore cotton, textile, garment industry for growth’

 

She studied shoe making in Academia- Riaci in Florence, Italy, where she was taught by one of the best shoemakers in Florence.

Her first training of handbag making was online “howtomakeadesignerhandbag.com” She learnt from Richard Manigault and his wife Linda, and afterwards took the advanced handbag making course in Prescott and Mackay, London, United Kingdom.

Another successful entrepreneur is Mrs Femi Olayebi. She is founder, Femi O Handbags. She is also the convener, Lagos Leather Fair, that has created a platform to contribute to driving the enormous potential of the leather industry.

Her products line include conference bags and folders to laptop bags and sleeves, tablet cases, and promotional gifts that are tailored to specific client needs. All the pieces were handcrafted at her facility in Ibadan, Oyo State.

It all started in 1992, when she went shopping for baby things before her first baby was born. When it was time to buy a baby bag, she discovered that not only could she not afford the ones she found in the market; she didn’t even like any of the ones on offer.

Being a restless soul with a creative streak  lurking inside, she decided to learn how to sew. She made a few handbags and friends saw and appreciated them. They started placing orders. Following increased patronage she went on to register a company.

For someone with no traditional business or fashion background, she leaped into her venture with a astonishing self-confidence. Bolstered by a strong desire to set an example of how to do business, she was unfazed about entering a market as saturated as the handbag industry.

She described herself as the accidental entrepreneur as nothing in her background had prepared her for the business world. She got thrust in headlong without a plan.

A great percentage of her customers are expatriates who seemed to better appreciate the value of ‘hand-made’.

Today, her business is based in Ikoyi, Lagos. The store is home to the latest handbag and accessories collections of the Femi Handbags brand.  Olayebi is striving to create a top experience for customers who are excited to see a fuller range of beautiful handbags and accessories in one location.

Fatima Babakura is another young entrepreneur pushing a luxury women’s handbag brand. She is the founder of Timabee.

She started  the company because she  wanted  to put an African name at the forefront of luxury accessories world. To achieve  success, she makes efforts to ensure impeccable craftsmanship and pays  attention to detail that goes into each bag. So far, she has put in a lot to build a luxury lifestyle brand.

Another entrepreneur is the founder  Design for Love, Wunmi Amokeodo. Her company designs and manufactures female apparel and accessories – specifically dressy casuals and business casuals using Ankara and other fabrics that are more synonymous with the Nigerian and the African market.

She was looking for a side hustle to start selling fabrics when she established the business. Being a creative person, she would sketch designs for her clients who bought her fabrics. However, she got constant complaints from her clients about how hard it was to find a good tailor to interpret her designs, so she took the brave step to start DfL.

Today, DfL is a success story having successfully maintained its integrity over 14 years .She is looking at how they can expand beyond Nigeria to have more people stocking DfL products in retail stores across West Africa.

The Chief Executive/Creative Director, Banke Kuku Textiles, Banke Kuku, is celebrated as a producer of bespoke woven and printed fabrics for the fashion and interior industry.

Her interest in textiles began when she was young. She started knitting at five and would always pick the floral dresses and draw patterns on everything with a tip of the pen.

So it was a very natural and easy decision for her. Her designs – a fusion of African and western culture has been featured in a number of international fashion shows in Milan, New York and Paris as well as the world famous UK store – Selfridges.

Our Reporter

Media specialist,  Instinct Wave, is set to hold the third Africa Human Resources Innovation Awards (AHRIA).

The awards, which was Ghana Human Resources Innovation Awards, was rebranded to Africa Human Resource Innovation Awards to cover the sub-region and bring together great minds across Africa.

According to the organisers, the event will take place at Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra, Ghana on  March 27.

“AHRIA in its third year will honour leading HR Professionals, organisations with top notch HR models and practices and executives who have made sterling contributions to the corporate sector over the years. AHRIA will also unveil Top 50 HR Leaders across verticals in the sub region,” the organisers said.

InstinctWave CEO, Mr. Akin Naphtal said this year is indeed shaping up to be a truly generation-defining across the spectrum – from politics, to science, to the business world and beyond.

Read Also: What you need to know about the 2020 Grammy Awards

 

Indeed the year heralds a new focus for business leaders. “As Africa’s premium B2B event & media specialist, we are expanding some of our award schemes to cover the sub region as well as catch up with the new wave in the business sector. This is the reason behind the rebranding of the awards scheme to AHRIA.

“We are also glad to have the Fair Wages Commission on Board as a partner and a jury of AHRIA 2020.” Naphtal said AHRIA 2020 is in partnership with the Ghana’s Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, a reputable government institution.

Fair Wages Commission CEO, Dr. Edward Kwapong expressed his excitement about partnering InstinctWave. He said the award scheme will raise the bench mark of excellence in the Industry.

 

 

Our Reporter

 

The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta has advised the Federal Government to leverage telecoms and information communications technology (ICT) resources to fight insurgency and to contain other emergencies.

He said empirical knowledge of what ICTs can do in tackling numerous challenges explained Commission’s insistence on compliance by all stakeholders to the guidelines on SIM registration, and the efforts in getting the Emergency Communication Centres (ECC) ready all over the country as directed by the Federal Government.

Danbatta spoke at the induction of the Commission to the membership of Forum of Spokespersons of Security and Response Agencies (FOSSRA).

A Principal Manager at the Commission’s Special Duties Department, Bassey Uket,  is NCC’s representative at the Forum.

Read Also:‘Sack of service chiefs, not solution to end insurgency’

 

Danbatta recalled the collaboration between NCC and the security and other emergency response agencies, especially at the ECCs and suggested that many of the multi-faceted challenges can be addressed with scaling up the degree of deployment of electronic strategies.

To underscore the imperative of electronic and digital communication systems in managing the nation’s security challenges, Danbatta said: “As we are addressing the situation in one part of the country, you find escalation in another part of the country.”

Air Commodore Yusuf Anas (ret), the Executive Secretary of Crisis Communication Centre (CCC), also spoke about the efforts of FOSSRA, in rallying information and communication stakeholders to ensure appropriate crisis communication management.

Commodore Anas expressed the gratitude of the Centre and other partners to NCC for the vital roles the Commission had played in enhancing the management of the Nation’s security communication programmes.

Despite the uncertainties that marked the e-commerce sector as a result of investor apathy, it continues to breathe as tech start-ups raise $2.02billion, writes LUCAS AJANAKU.

 

Despite the enormous depth in internet penetraion in the country and improved access to affordable smartphones, the  e-commerce landscape is still challenged, particularly in the areas of logistics and infrastructure.

But the Co-Chief Executive Officer, Prince Nnamdi Ekeh, said Konga has restored investor and customer confidence in the e-commerce sector.

He said Konga, which has undergone a remarkable transformation since it was acquired by the Zinox Group, has been a refreshingly positive source of delightful innovations, and sound corporate governance which have helped it to go through the dark clouds.

Meanwhile, last year, 243 tech start-ups from Nigeria raised $2.02billion in equity through 250 rounds, representing a 74 per cent growth year-on-year.

This, according to Partech Africa, which published its yearly report on venture capital (VC) funding for African start-ups.

The report showed that last year was another year of breaking records and achieving new milestones for the dynamic and fast-growing tech investment ecosystem in Africa.

The report, which is the fourth the team has produced, is based on the same methodology as the previous years – it covers equity deals in the tech and digital spaces, as well as funding rounds higher than $200, 000. It covers disclosed and undisclosed deals.

Eke attributed the progress made by the company to its tradition of ethical conduct and realistic business model which have kept Konga at the apex of the e-commerce industry in the country.

Indeed, huge question marks had emerged on the credibility of players in the continent’s e-commerce sector.

Analysts believe the development may have hampered the efforts and chances of other prospective players on the e-commerce scene in attracting critical investment and winning over a highly sceptical consumer base.

Ekeh said Konga has become a source of hope and pride in the sector.

‘‘Konga is, undoubtedly, one of the miracles of the Nigerian e-commerce sector. We have not only shown our qualities as a shining light in the industry; but our track record of ethical behaviour, landmark innovations and sound business practices were critical factors that restored investor and customer confidence in the Nigerian e-commerce market in 2019,’’ he said.

‘‘We were not only able to grow revenue by eight times in 2019 but we have also been able to reduce our costs by 65per cent. That is a significant figure. Also, our flagship year-end promotion, Konga Yakata, lived up to its billing as the biggest sales event of the year, offering access to tons of genuine products delivered swiftly at the best prices for millions of Nigerians nationwide.’’

Read Also:‘Konga has grown eight times after acquisition’

 

Ekeh said Konga is in the middle of an impressive nationwide roll-out of stores to reach more of Nigeria’s unreached and under-served population. He noted that the company has also recorded significant adoption of Konga Pay, its internally-owned and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) licensed mobile money platform.

In addition, he said through Kxpress, an in-house logistics platform, which handles last mile deliveries to customers as well as external parties, Konga is creatively resolving the thorny challenge of logistics which has hobbled other players in the market.

Equally important, he said the roll-out of thriving subsidiaries such as Konga Travel, which he says, has grown nearly 25 per cent on a year-on-year basis, among other upcoming business units.

‘‘We have also invested significantly in state-of-the-art regional warehousing facilities which enables us retain inventory in diverse states and locations in Nigeria; which, aligned with our growing network of over 30 retail stores dotting Nigeria’s landscape, makes us closest to the people,’’he said.

He added that in spite of the many strides recorded, the company is not resting on its oars.

‘‘It is no surprise that Konga has been listed as one of the top 20 brands to watch in 2020. This is proof of the significant achievements and strides we recorded in 2019.

But we have not even unveiled a quarter of what we have in stock for the market. There are many more exciting things to come this year,’’ he said.