Category: Money

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has granted a non-interest banking licence to Lotus Bank Limited.

Its Managing Director, Mrs. Kafilat Araoye, said the bank’s focus and guiding principle is ‘to deliver an alternative option to interest-based banking and to cater to the needs of not only the banked but also the underbanked and unbanked.

She said the bank is  creating value and growth for all through digital innovation and best-in-class customer experience for Nigerians.

“Our values are deeply rooted in partnership. A critical component of our mission is the provision of innovative solutions that drive ethical prosperity for all stakeholders. We pride ourselves on digital solutions that provide our customers with the convenience of unlimited access to our services and products.

“Non-Interest Banking is geared towards supporting the real sector and Lotus Bank aims to improve financial inclusion in the country.  In addition, the bank will operate transparent pricing models as is the norm in non-interest banking, Mrs Araoye added.

According to its founder & chairperson by Mrs. Hajara Adeola, also the founder and Managing Director of Lotus Capital (the pioneers of non-interest finance in Nigeria), the bank is starting its operations on a solid foundation of experienced leadership and a strong Advisory Council of Experts (ACE).

Lotus Bank is managed by a team of seasoned professionals and financial experts led by Mrs. Araoye, who has over 25 years’ commercial banking experience.

She further stated, “Our products and service offerings will include non-interest Business Financing, Deposit Products (current, savings and investment accounts) and personal financing. The bank aims to be a socially responsible organisation that will satisfy its customers across all touch-points.”

With its flagship branch located at Adetokunbo Ademola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, the bank will open its doors to customers from July 2021.

 

Scrap Bank Africa (SBA) is providing funding support to the recycling industry for the efficiency and sustainability of their operations.

Speaking on the values of the organisation, its Operations Manager, Yemi Nofiu, said the company’s plan is to end poverty, empower women and girls, and combat climate change and its impacts.

“All these are crucial issues we are dealing with globally, and particularly, in Nigeria today,” he said.

According to him, the organisation is on-boarding waste collectors and aggregators and that it also  offers competitive rates, storage facilities, logistics and technology.

He said small businesses in the waste management industry could also benefit by accessing financial aid, with flexible and unconventional payment plans.

“Scrap Bank Africa enables unprecedented efficiency and cost reduction in supply chain, providing visibility , delivering scraps and recycled products safely, on time and in full. It is a business of The Greenable Company Limited, an investee company of Seeder & Ash Capital,” the company said.

A new entrant into the waste management industry, SBA is  setting new standards by providing solutions for a healthier planet, thereby empowering Nigerians.

The company’s services go beyond  recycling. It also supports waste collectors and aggregators in warehousing, logistics, technology infrastructure and financing.

 

TeamApt, a financial technology (Fintech) company,  processed $16 billion transactions between April 2020 and April 2021, with  68 million transactions.

It promised to cemented its leadership position in providing access to financial services in Africa.

According to the company, its last month’s value of transactions stood at $3.5 billion, N1.4 trillion, which was higher than $2.4 billion (over over N1 trillion ) transactions in March.

Speaking during a media parley  in Lagos on the company’s plans  to transform financial services in Africa, TeamApt CEO and founder, Tosin Eniolorunda said the company has in less than two years  grown its agency banking network to over 100,000 agents.

He said the company remains a leader in agency banking industry, providing financial services for the underserved mass market through Moniepoint – its financial access product, and Monnify, which is its payment gateway infrastructure.

He said the company, which was founded in 2015, started out by building infrastructure for Tier 1 financial institutions, a testament to its technology prowess.

Eniolorunda said: “To achieve our mission of providing financial happiness for all, we started out by building working infrastructure and distributing this in every of Nigeria’s 36 states. So far, Moniepoint has served over 25 per cent of the 48 million banked Nigerians, previously underserved by the financial system. This is a great feat but we still have a lot of work to do. Many Nigerians are still underserved, and with this pain not exclusive to Nigeria but shared among Africans, we intend to scale into more regions of the continent.

“We remain focused on innovating, and we expect that in the future, through Moniepoint, we will reach more people across Africa and build their trust in the financial system and processes.We look forward to empowering our agents with the facilities to offer other financial services directly to customers, beyond deposits and withdrawals.

Since its launch in 2019, Moniepoint by TeamApt has gained ground as Nigeria’s largest agency banking platform with about 100,000 agents across the nation. Report from Shared Agent Network Expansion Facilities (SANEF), an initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governing agent banking, confirms that TeamApt accounts for 74 per cent of the agent banking industry based on the volume of transactions processed monthly.

A period of crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic is not the best time for countries to expect diaspora remittances. Although remittances were initially stalled by the pandemic, the World Bank report says the flows later rebounded to play crucial role in supporting economic activities across nations. The ‘Naira for Dollar’ initiative in Nigeria, Roshan Digital Account in Pakistan, or two per cent cash incentive in Bangladesh have yielded significant benefits to the countries, writes COLLINS NWEZE.

At the onset of the COVID-19  pandemic, funding and sending diaspora remittances became almost impossible for Nigerians abroad and citizens of other nations across the globe.

Job losses and severe curfews needed to curb the spread of the illness resulted in reduced incomes, restricted mobility, and disrupted operations of service providers in many countries.

Remittance services were not deemed essential, and many were forced to close. Even those who managed to continue providing services faced higher costs and unexpected expenses to meet the requirements of “the new normal.”

But the new World Bank report by Oya Ardic, Senior Financial Sector Specialist of the bank,  says remittance flows later rebounded and have played a crucial role in supporting economic activities as countries developed new policies to keep them coming.

For example, the introduction of the Roshan Digital Account in Pakistan,   the ‘Naira for Dollar’ initiative in Nigeria or the two per cent cash incentive in Bangladesh seems to have yielded benefits in the short run.

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele said the bank’s ‘Naira for Dollar’ initiative gives N5 incentive for every $1 sent from the diaspora. The policy also means that the cost of transferring $1 is reduced by about N5.

The global bank report says the role of digital financial services in helping the remittance industry  navigate through the disruptions and risks of the crisis underscores the importance for authorities and donors to prioritise legal reform and market interventions.

The report explained that in recognition of the important role that remittances play as an enabler of  growth and prosperity, the World Bank inaugurated weekly pulse surveys and pricing analyses to monitor the situation in the international remittances market in April and May, last year, with the objective of identifying challenges and making recommendations to address the crisis.

Another contributor to the report, Senior Payment Systems Specialist,  World Bank, Hemant Baijal, explained that despite the odds and initial projections, remittance flows rebounded quickly after a sharp decline at the start of the pandemic. By the end of last year, remittance flows were down by only 1.6 per cent globally from early in the year, far less than what was projected at the start of the pandemic, and less than the decline in volumes experienced during the financial crisis of 2008.

According to the World Bank, the resilience of remittance flows came as a result of migrants drawing on their savings to send money home, of shifting flows from unregulated channels, such as hand-carrying, to regulated remittance channels where accessible, and of migrants receiving cash transfers offered by host country governments where available.

The bank said despite the temporary rise on remittances’ costs that service providers experienced at the start of the COVID-19 crisis, these much-needed flows reached their recipients at reduced costs.

“The pandemic has fundamentally affected the way in which remittances are sent, the business models, the behaviour of remittance senders and receivers, their trust in the regulated financial institutions as well as their financial and digital literacy,” he said.

Similarly, countries with higher use levels of digital financial services saw bigger drops in remittance costs and smaller declines in service availability. Government initiatives to promote and incentivise the use of regulated financial services, particularly digital ones, have made a difference for some economies in boosting the inflow of remittances.

By Collins Nweze

The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) has trained over 200,000 entrepreneurs in core business management skills. The training was part of its TEF Entrepreneurship Programme.

The Business Management training was conducted on  TEFConnect, the Foundation’s proprietary digital platform that provides capacity-building support, advisory and market linkages to over one million Africans and counting.

The TEF Entrepreneurship Programme Business Management Training equips entrepreneurs with critical skills required to launch and run their businesses at the early growth stage.

With a unique curriculum that encompasses topics on Starting Your Business, Business Management & Fundamentals, Leadership & Business Growth, Selecting and Building a Team, amongst others, entrepreneurs are effectively armed to achieve business growth, profitability, and sustained success.

Entrepreneurs were hosted to weekly information sessions, as part of the training, to address relevant concerns and share vital programme updates. All entrepreneurs received active support from coaches and mentors who provided technical guidance, counsel and one-one interaction throughout the duration of the training programme.

The training, which is one element of the seven pillars of the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, was carried out in the official African languages including English, French, Portuguese and Arabic, and over 40 per cent of trained participants were women.

Tony Elumelu Foundation Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, said: “Every year, our commitment to transform Africa is further strengthened with the passion, resilience and talent of the high-calibre entrepreneurs who onboard our flagship programme.”

Our curricular provides a holistic opportunity for entrepreneurs to learn, grow and contribute to the development of their communities.”

She added: “Furthermore, it is a testament to the eagerness and readiness of African entrepreneurs across all of Africa to make themselves available to transform the continent for good. I would like to commend these entrepreneurs for their discipline, dedication and hard work throughout the training and look forward to the immense impact of their businesses across diverse sectors in Africa. We remain committed to empowering African entrepreneurs with the required resources and support that will ensure that their businesses can scale and drive sustainable change on the continent”.

The TEF Entrepreneurship Training is immediately followed by a Business Plan review process for each entrepreneur. The top-performing entrepreneurs subsequently participate in the Pitching phase of the Programme after which successful entrepreneurs receive a non-returnable seed capital of $5000 each.

The leading African philanthropy also hopes to train and empower thousands more across the African continent as part of its commitment to catalyze economic growth, drive poverty eradication and ensure job creation.

In 2020, the Tony Elumelu Foundation marked ten years of impact, having empowered and funded nearly 10,000 African entrepreneurs from all 54 African countries as part of its $100 million TEF Entrepreneurship Programme. The Tony Elumelu Foundation is inspired by Tony Elumelu’s economic philosophy of Africapitalism, which positions the private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the long-term social and economic development of the African continent.

By Collins Nweze

Baobab Microfinance Bank has disbursed over N100 billion loans to customers, its Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Kazeem Olanrewaju, has said.

The bank chief, who spoke  at a briefing in Lagos, said the lender’s average monthly loan advancement stands at an average of N3 billion, adding that 237,550 customers have accessed the loans since inception.

He said the bank’s share capital unimpaired by loss stood at N4.72 billion as at December 31, last year.

He said the bank is also reaching more people across various states where it is not  present with its e-payment channels.

Olanrewaju said the bank will continue to invest in technology to create value for customers and reach the unbanked. Some of the e-payment channels deployed by the bank include USSD, the magic code is *732*348#, Autopay, and debit card.

The bank has also  partnered Interswitch to deepen e-payment deployment and transactions.

On raising new capital for the bank, Olanrewaju said:   “Without meeting the capital requirement, the bank cannot have a licence and without a license, the bank cannot operate.

“I am happy to announce that as it stands, by the end of last month, our capital was already N4.7 billion. What the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) requires us to do is to have N5 billion capital base by April 2022. From our projections, and what we are seeing this year, by October, this year, we should have the N5 billion that is required even ahead of time.”

Continuing, he said: “From our retained earnings, we expect that our capital will go up to N5 billion before the deadline. We also have a fallback position of shareholders bringing in money if we are not able to meet this, but given the level of activities we are seeing and the profitability till date, we do not think that will be needed”.

Olanrewaju said that the N300 million required to achieve the N5 billion minimum capital base for its operations will be raised before the end of October.

On the business side, he said the bank has continued to ensure that its customers are staff are safe despite the Covid-19 pandemic. He said the bank is back on the path of growth and expansion.

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, he said the bank restructured 90 per cent of its loan book adding that majority of the restructured loans have paid down.

“We have less than two per cent of the restructured loan in our book, which means that some of the opportunity we gave to the customers to come back is working. We discharged the customers of all the penalties, part of the loan interest and in some cases, we tried to enhance the loan even when those people have not fully paid,” he said.

Olanrewaju said the customers were given three options, you either pay following the repayment schedule you have before, and there will not be any charge.

“Customers can also pay the backlog, or they were given opportunity to extend their loans depending on the cashflows. Each of the these customers tool advantage of the restructured loans to be able to continue in business,” he said.

By Collins Nweze

Standard Chartered Bank (StanChart), alongside three other banks, has acted as the Joint Lead Manager (B&D bank) in and the Sole Sustainability Structuring Agent for Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) on its US$350million Tier 2 Sustainability Notes Issuance.

The bond was priced at a yield of 8.950 per cent and coupon of 8.750 per cent.

The net proceeds from the notes will be used by ETI to finance or re-finance new or existing assets in the ETI’s Sustainable Finance Framework, on which DNV has issued a Second Party Opinion.

This transaction represents the first-ever sustainability notes by a bank or corporate institution in Sub-Saharan Africa as well as the first Tier 2 issuance to have a Basel III-compliant.

The transaction attracted  interests from global investors across United Kingdom, United States, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa, with an orderbook in excess of $1.3 billion, which represents a 3.6 times over subscription. The success of this deal is a strong testament to global investors’ confidence in ETI as well as Standard Chartered’s deep knowledge of the banking and financial markets industry, access to diverse global and local investor pool and strong relationships with the key stakeholders.

Standard Chartered Bank has led and served as Joint Lead Manager on  eurobond transactions by banks in Sub-Saharan Africa since 2017, underscoring our leadership in the space.

Standard Chartered’s Executive Director, Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking, Nigeria, Olukorede Adenowo noted: “Standard Chartered is proud to partner  ETI on this innovative and landmark transaction. The success of this issuance demonstrates investors’ confidence in ETI’s strategy as a leading banking group out of Africa, particularly as this represents the bank’s second issuance within the last three years.

‘’We continue to work with our clients across Africa to deliver on their growth aspirations and also use our market leading position in the international bond markets and sustainable financing space to drive inclusive growth and development in Africa. ‘’

By Collins Nweze

Stanbic IBTC Bank, a member of Standard Bank Group, has upgraded its USSD platform with innovative features.

The platform tagged, “Bigger and better” will enable customers to make seamless transactions.

Some of the new features on the platform include the bill payment gateway for billers such as the DISCO companies, which will enable customers pay their electricity bills without stress; auto-airtime top-up, which allows customers to set up a mandate for airtime top-up whenever their balance drops below a set benchmark; as well as direct data top-up.

Executive Director, Personal and Business Banking, Stanbic IBTC Bank, said, Remy Osuagwu: “We are dedicated to meeting the banking needs of our customers. Improving customers’ experiences at every touchpoint with the brand is critical.

“We are optimistic that the new features added to our USSD platform will indeed give our customers a bigger and better banking experience.”

To onboard, customers were told to dial *909*11*1# to register and enter the last four digits of their debit cards to create an authentication PIN that will be used to approve transactions anytime and anywhere. Existing users can access the new platform by dialling *909#.

Osuagwu assured the bank’s customers of the organisation’s commitment to develop digital banking solutions to meet their needs.

By Collins Nweze

Comercio Partners Limited has expressed its readiness to secure merchant banking license in the next two to three years.

Comercio Partners is a limited-liability company with core business in trading of fixed income securities and equities.

Speaking yesterday at a press conference held in Lagos to mark the firm’s five years anniversary, Comercio Partner Co-Managing Partner/ Head, Investment, Tosin Osunkoya,  said the  financial institution will be seeking operating license from industry regulators to begin merchant banking business.

He said: “So, we plan to have a regional bank or a merchant bank in the next two or three years, we also plan to retain those entities that are in existence right now.  So, you have the trading arm of the business- which is commercial trading, Comercio Asset management and Comercio Partners capital.”

The company recently participated in the Lagos State bond issuance process as one of the leading indigenous firms having only operated in the last three years.

Osunkoya said the move was part of the target set by the company to drive growth and expansion despite the economic challenges facing the country.

According to him, the plan was to continue providing financial advisory and asset management services to domestic and international investors in the Sub-Saharan African Capital Markets that are interested in the new emerging frontier market in Nigeria.

According to him, “We are looking beyond 2021. The target we set for ourselves for the next five years is for Comercio Partners Limited to be a one- stop-shop. As a client, if you are looking to do any kind of financial transaction or looking for financial services, Comercio Partners should be your first thought.

Osunkoya said that in the next five years, the company plans to capture the minds of the retail investing community, institutional investors, High Net worth Individuals (HNIs) and house outlets. Our plan is to set up an organogram with different entities under a single structure.”

He said the company recently participated in the Lagos State bond issuance process that raised about N100 billion. This, he said,  not only connoted their competence in the industry, but conveyed a strong message to the market and further boosted their penetration in the industry, the co-founders stated at the conference.

“We are able to demonstrate this at the last Lagos state bond issuance. Lagos state raised about N100 billion and we were ranked the number two. So, you can imagine a company that is just about three years in operation competing with those that have been in the market for a number of years. Also our participation showed we are building a brand that would last for a long time.”

Meanwhile, recounting the major successes the firm has recorded since inception and its plan for the future, Osunkoya disclosed plans are under way to diversify its operations into investments banking operations to give its clients base more robust financial options.

“We are thinking of having the license to operate regional banking and trading; which is going to be security, asset management and you also have capital and investment banking which is investment banking or an advisory services.”

“Recently, in the last 18 months we have also been instrumental in breaking new frontiers. With Covid-19, we are able to break into other markets outside the Nigerian markets in the Euro-bond space. We got into Angola, Rwanda, Kenya and some of our clients are able to diversify their portfolio from Nigeria or the local instruments to foreign instruments,” he stated.

This, Osunkoya noted, led to some institutional investors and HNIs looking into buying instruments in other countries which was never done in the country before now.

“We have recorded a number of successes. For us,   a lot of milestones were achieved in the last five years, having started with two clients but now the clients are in hundreds,” he stated.

However, as the firm continues to expand into new frontier markets, having secured its asset management license in 2017, noted that it has pioneered a platform in the fixed income markets that would liberate the sector which has been largely ignored by the investing community.

“What we are pioneering right now is to build a platform called tradefi that allows you at the comfort of your home buy and sell treasury bills and bonds. It is so convenient and fast. With this achievement, it has put us in the limelight for people to expect a lot from those products going into the future”.

The company conducts rigorous research by utilizing both macro and micro analytical tools to generate statistical analysis of the prevailing market trends in achieving the stated goal of client asset appreciation.

Also speaking, other co-founders, Steve Osho, Head, Financial Advisory and Nnamdi Nwizu, Head Trading, stressed the need for the government to continue to create a stable policy that would allow free entry and exist for foreign investors to invest in the country.

According to them, when yield starts to rise there would be less interest in equity market, which is   riskier than the fixed income markets.

“When people see they can get better income in the fixed income markets they will reduce their appetite for equity market. So, one thing that is key is for us to grow our reserves again because we have little participation from foreign investors,” they emphasised.