Category: Money

Stanbic IBTC Bank, a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, has announced its readiness for seamless financial transactions as the cashless policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) takes effect. 

The Central Bank of Nigeria recently released a new policy on cash-based transactions that attracts a cash handling charge for daily cash transactions above N500,000 for individuals and N3,000,000 for corporate organisations. The new policy aims to increase the adoption of electronic payments and reduce the amount of physical cash circulating in the economy.

The apex bank stated that the policy encourages a reduction in the cost of banking services, drives financial inclusion, makes monetary policy effective in managing inflation, drives to modernise payment systems, and enables economic growth. 

In line with the policy, and reducing reliance on cash transactions while promoting financial inclusion by increasing the availability of electronic payment options, Stanbic IBTC Bank invites the public to take advantage of its existing digital solutions and payment platforms that have been tailored to meet the needs of our clients. These include the enhanced Point of Sale (PoS), NQR, Stanbic Gateway Service, Pay with Transfer, Pay with Link, and much more.

Speaking on the policy and its benefits, Omolara Osunsoko, Head, Partnerships, Stanbic IBTC Bank, said the digital evolution in the financial sector has seen increasing changes with a move towards technology-driven delivery channels. This holds great promise as a means to enable financial inclusion and thus help improve citizens’ lives. The policy will be beneficial to consumers and merchants as we transit to a digital way of transacting that is convenient, secure and seamless. It will also help minimize financial risks and support business operations and reconciliation.”

Osunsoko also reiterated Stanbic IBTC’s commitment to financial inclusion over the years through digital and electronic solutions that simplify cashless transactions while offering an excellent banking experience for its customers.

Olutimi Ibrahim, Head, Digital and eCommerce, Stanbic IBTC Bank, noted the Bank’s commitment in supporting the Central Bank’s cashless policy initiative and living up to its responsibilities of innovating alternative payment solutions.

He said, “At Stanbic IBTC, we stand for innovative banking. This leads to creating digital solutions and optimising our platforms to perform instant transactions, eliminating the need to visit a branch. With the CBN’s directive on cashless policy, we are offering customers an array of electronic payment options for a seamless digital banking experience.”

“We are also committed to easing our customers’ transition to a cashless society. We will continue collaborating closely with the CBN to ensure that Nigerians can access the financial services they require.”

Stanbic IBTC Bank is dedicated to making Nigeria more prosperous, financially inclusive and encourages Nigerians to take advantage of its electronic services. 

Ed-Tech startup, Dozzia which was designed to address the challenge of poor school-parent management has continued to gain ground.

The solution aims to provide a comprehensive platform for school administrators, teachers, and parents to communicate and collaborate effectively in support of the students’ academic success.​​

According to the founder, Mubaraq R​​obyn, “The MVP (minimum viable product) took a total of 10 months to build. We approached the development process using design thinking, which is a key element in the product development strategy.

“We believe that users’ needs should always come first and that is exactly what we have done with Dozzia, there is a need for this solution and we took our time developing this product with the maximum interest of users – parents, teachers, and students – at heart.

“The goal was to create an experience that was better than what users were used to. So, we intentionally set features that we knew would improve the lives of all our users and not just nice to haves. We have tested the solution with some schools in Lagos for 9 months and it’s so good to see that we’re on the path of getting it right.

“Now that we have perfected our product and improved the quality of our users’ experience, we are excited to bring it to the market. Our primary goal is to assist more schools with improving their relationships between teachers, parents, and students.

“We believe that our user-centered design and focus on quality will set us apart in the market and allow us to make a positive impact on the education sector.”

“The solution has been developed with the needs of all stakeholders in mind. School administrators can use it to manage student data, track attendance, and create academic schedules.

“Teachers can use the platform to assign homework, grade assignments, and communicate with parents. Parents, on the other hand, can use the app to track their child’s progress, receive notifications about school events, and communicate with teachers and administrators.

“One of the unique features of Dozzia is its ability to provide real-time updates. This means that parents can receive instant notifications about their child’s progress, such as grades, attendance, and behavior. This feature is especially helpful for parents who have busy schedules and may not have the time to check their child’s progress regularly.

“The app’s user interface is intuitive and easy to use. The design is clean and visually appealing, making it easy for all stakeholders to navigate and find the information they need. Furthermore, the app is available on both iOS and Android devices, making it accessible to a wide range of users.”

Access Bank Chairman, Mrs Ajoritsedere Awosika has reiterated her commitment to the Eko Inspires Me project.

Awosika, who has been appointed matron and adviser to the not-for-profit initiative aimed at taking urchins off the streets of Lagos, is also keen on its success.

Speaking during a visit to Mrs Awosika at her Ikoyi, Lagos office, Aralola Olamuyiwa, popularly calledARA, reiterated the Mrs Awosika’s public service records, corporate boardroom achievements and her love for service to humanity as reasons for adopting Mrs Awosika as matron to Eko Inspires Me Academy.

The Eko Inspire Me Academy is an initiative established to cater for street boys and girls that are seen as a menace and threats to peaceful living in a smart city like Lagos.

Mrs Awosika thanked ARA, a female drummer, for the honour.

She noted ARA’s achievement in a competitive world of drumming and commended for staying tall among men.

She noted her uniqueness in creativity, passion for her assignment and tenacity of purpose.

On Eko Inspires Me Academy, Awosika appreciated ARA for devoting time for the less-privileged  and that the initiative is a major problem solver that can reduce the worrries of Lagos State government, while also praying that project should go international alongside the United Nations Strategic Development goals. She prayed for ARA’s continued success in her endeavours.

The Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) says an inclusive financial sector is characterised by the diversity of financial services providers, the level of competition between them, and the legal and regulatory environments that ensure the integrity of the financial sector and access to financial services for all.

Also, evidence worldwide shows that access to financial services contributes both to economic growth and wealth creation and is therefore key to tackling the ‘poverty’ trap in Nigeria.

“It is critical for regulators and policy makers to create an enabling policy environment to actively promote both the demand for and the supply of financial services to the unbanked and under-banked,” it said.

The banked and underbanked, are, however, expected to protect their accounts from e-fraudsters to avoid loss of their hard earned resources by keeping their confidential account information away from their parties.

The impact of having more people save their funds in banks or other financial services  or have more access to credit on the population and  businesses especially at the informal sector cannot be over  emphasised.

For instance, Nigeria’s informal sector is a sleeping giant. The potential of the sector, estimated at $240 billion, is largely untapped. The billions of naira that circulate through the informal sector has a negative impact on the country’s economic growth and development.

EFInA is a financial sector development organisation that promotes financial inclusion in Nigeria. Its survey show that 23 million adults save at home.

If 50 per cent of these people were to save N1,000 per month with a bank, then up to N138 billion could be incorporated into the formal financial sector every year.

Also, 34.9 million adults representing 39.7 per cent of the adult population were financially excluded. Only 28.6 million adults were banked, representing 32.5 per cent of the adult population.

The CBN through its National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) plans to ensure that 95 percent of Nigerian adults are included in the financial net by the year 2025.

The data by EFInA put Nigeria’s financial inclusion rate at 63.2 percent, meaning that as much 36.8 percent  or about 40 million adults still lack access to financial services.

Unlike the formal economy, the informal economy  has grown faster in size at an annual average rate of about 8.5 per cent between 2015 and 2019.

This growth seen in the informal sector and an increase in employment it provides implies higher household income and lower poverty. This underground economy is particularly large in Nigeria, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimating it to constitute about 60 per cent of the entire Nigerian economy, representing about $240 billion.

To capture the underground economy the CBN, National Pension Commission, other financial institutions and government agencies are providing financial products and services to the low income population represents a large business opportunity for the private sector.

The Shared Agent Network Expansion Facilities (SANEF) report showed that despite the campaign to get more people into the financial system, Northeast and Southeast regions have the least access to banking based on financial access touch-points data.

With about five per cent financial access touch-points for the Northeast and seven per cent for the Southeast, both regions remain disadvantaged in access to financial services despite efforts by the CBN, Bankers’ Committee and commercial banks to take banking to the grassroots.

Southwest is leading on financial access touch-points with 54 per cent; Southsouth 12 per cent; Northcentral 11 per cent and Northwest 10 per cent.

Other details showed that southwest is leading on financial access touch-points with 54 per cent; Southsouth 12 per cent; Northcentral 11 per cent and Northwest 10 per cent.

The CBN’s policies on mobile money, agency banking, Know Your Customer (KYC),  insurance, and recently, Payment Service Banks (PSBs) have helped to bring new customers to the financial system.

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) identified with this informal sector with the launch of the Micro Pension Plan (MPP), which has enabled artisans such as  photographers, caterers, hairdressers, motorcycle service operators, tailors, fashion designers, carpenters, painters among others to embrace Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and protect their future and businesses.

The CBN, in furtherance of its mandate to promote a sound financial system in Nigeria and the need to enhance access to financial services for low income earners and unbanked segments of the society instituted the PSBs.

The PSBs are to accept deposits from individuals and small businesses, which shall be covered by the deposit insurance scheme and carry out payments and remittances (including inbound cross-border personal remittances) services through various channels within Nigeria.

The easiest route to grassroots empowerment and poverty reduction is improved access to financial services, especially at the informal sector dominated by grassroots savers. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is taking major steps to ensure that  95 per cent of adult population have access to financial services from 63 per cent. Although there are challenges making it difficult for stakeholders to bring financial services closer to the people, the activation of Payment Service Banks (PSBs) has further expansed access to financial services to the  grassroots, writes Assistant Business Editor, COLLINS NWEZE.

Bank account ownership is quite compulsory in many developed countries of the world. Research shows that nearly half of the world’s unbanked population live in developing countries.

Though China and India have relatively high bank account ownership, they have some of the largest numbers of the unbanked population globally due to their population size.

China has the largest number of unbanked people at 225 million adults followed by India’s 190 million. Pakistan has an unbanked population of 100 million and Indonesia has 95 million unbanked persons.

These four countries with Nigeria, Mexico and Bangladesh are home to nearly half the world’s unbanked population.

The grassroots is the biggest target in banks, governments and multilateral institutions drives to bring financial services closer to the people.

Hence, the benefits of improved access to financial services to the population and economy cannot be underestimated.

Between PSBs and financial inclusion

Payment Service Banks (PSBs) are at the centre of proving financial services to the grassroots.

That explains while the CBN approved the sale of foreign currencies realised from inbound cross-border personal remittances to authorised foreign exchange dealers using the PSBs.

The supervisory framework for Payment Service Banks released by the CBN authorised the PSBs to accept deposits from individuals and small businesses, which shall be covered by the deposit insurance scheme; carry out payments and remittances, including inbound cross-border personal remittances’services through various channels within Nigeria.

The framework says the operators are expected to leverage technology to provide services that would be easily accessed by the unbanked population and those who are in hard-to-reach areas of the country. 

The Framework focuses on corporate governance, risks management of the PSBs, and safety of funds to the consumers of the PSBs’ products. 

This Framework also aims to ensure that sound risk management practices are embedded in the operations of the PSBs. 

The PSBs are required to comply with  regulations and CBN’s prudential guidelines and circulars which are issued periodically. The CBN said PSBs are to operate mostly in the rural areas and unbanked locations targeting financially excluded persons, with not less than 25 per cent financial service touch points in such rural areas as defined by the CBN from time to time.

They are to enter into direct partnership with card scheme operators. Such cards shall not be eligible for foreign currency transactions; but they can deploy automated teller machines (ATMs) in some of these areas; and Point of Sale (PoS) devices and operate through banking agents.

The PSBs have also been authorised to roll out agent networks with the prior approval of the CBN; use other channels including electronic platforms to reach-out to its customers and establish coordinating centres in clusters of outlets to superintend and control the activities of the various financial service touch points and banking agents. 

The CBN said the PSBs can also issue debit and pre-paid cards on its name; operate electronic wallet; render financial advisory services; and invest in Federal Government of Nigeria  and CBN securities.

CBN said the PSBs were licensed to enhance access to financial services for low income earners and use technology to reach Nigerians in remote places where commercial banks find it difficult to operate.

According to the CBN guidelines, the PSBs are to offer smaller scale operations and the absence of credit risk and foreign exchange operations.

In addition, they can operate current and savings accounts.

The PSBs are to facilitate high and low-value transactions in remittances, micro-savings and withdrawal services in a secured technology-driven environment to further deepen financial inclusion.

With N5 billion minimum capital requirement, the apex bank also  authorised PSBs to sell foreign currencies (forex) from inbound cross-border personal (remittances) to licenced foreign exchange dealers.

EFInA on financial sector diversity

The Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) says an inclusive financial sector is characterised by the diversity of financial services providers, the level of competition between them, and the legal and regulatory environments that ensure the integrity of the financial sector and access to financial services.

Also, evidence worldwide shows that access to financial services contributes to growth and wealth creation and is, therefore, key to tackling the ‘poverty’ trap in Nigeria.

“It is critical for regulators and policy makers to create an enabling policy environment to promote both the demand for and the supply of financial services to the unbanked and under-banked,” it said.

The banked and underbanked, are, however, expected to protect their accounts from e-fraudsters to avoid loss of their hard earned resources by keeping their confidential account information away from their parties.

The impact of having more people save their funds in banks or other financial services  or have more access to credit on the population and  businesses, especially at the informal sector cannot be overemphasised.

For instance, Nigeria’s informal sector is a sleeping giant. The potential of the sector, estimated at $240 billion, is largely untapped. The billions of naira that circulate through the informal sector  has a negative impact on the country’s growth and development.

The Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA), a financial sector development organisation that promotes financial inclusion in a survey, revealed that 23 million adults save at home.

If 50 per cent of these people were to save N1,000 monthly with a bank, then up to N138 billion could be incorporated into the formal financial sector yearly.

Also,  34.9 million adults, representing 39.7 per cent of the adult population, were financially excluded. Only 28.6 million adults were banked, representing 32.5 per cent of the adult population.

The CBN, through its National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS), plans to ensure that 95 per cent of adults are included in the financial net by 2025.

The data by EFInA put Nigeria’s financial inclusion rate at 63.2 per cent, meaning that as much 36.8 per cent  or about 40 million adults, still lack access to financial services.

Unlike the formal economy, the informal economy  has grown faster in size at a yearly average rate of about 8.5 per cent between 2015 and 2019.

This growth seen in the informal sector and an increase in employment it provides implies higher household income and lower poverty. This underground economy is particularly large in Nigeria, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimating it to constitute about 60 per cent of the economy, representing about $240 billion.

To capture the underground economy, the CBN, National Pension Commission (PenCom), other financial institutions and government agencies are providing financial products and services to the low-income population.

The Shared Agent Network Expansion Facilities (SANEF) report shows that despite the campaign to get more people into the financial system, Northeast and Southeast regions have the least access to banking based on financial access touchpoints data.

With about five per cent financial access touchpoints for the Northeast and seven per cent for the Southeast, both regions remain disadvantaged in access to financial services, despite efforts by the CBN, Bankers’ Committee and commercial banks to take banking to the grassroots.

Southwest is leading on financial access touchpoints with 54 per cent; Southsouth 12 per cent; Northcentral 11 per cent and Northwest 10 per cent.

Also, the report says Southwest is leading on financial access touchpoints with 54 per cent; Southsouth 12 per cent; Northcentral 11 per cent and Northwest 10 per cent.

The CBN’s policies on mobile money, agency banking, Know Your Customer (KYC),  insurance, and recently, PSBs, have helped to bring new customers to the financial system.

The PenCom,  wiith the launch of the Micro Pension Plan (MPP), which has enabled artisans such as  photographers, caterers, hairdressers, motorcycle service operators, tailors, fashion designers, carpenters, painters, among others, to embrace Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) and protect their future and businesses.

The CBN, in furtherance of its mandate to promote a sound financial system and  enhance access to financial services for low income earners and unbanked segments of the society, instituted the PSBs.

World Bank’s position

According to a World Bank report “ the Global Findex Database 2017, nearly half of about 1.7 billion unbanked population in the world live in seven developing economies: Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan.

To address this anomaly, PSB were established. These banks are a stripped version of commercial banks with small scale operations, an absence of credit risk facilities and no foreign exchange operations. PSBs were first established in 2013 in India to reduce the number of its citizens without bank accounts.

In Nigeria, PSBs operate their banking services through physical access points or digital interfaces, including mobile or internet-enabled platforms.The guidelines issued by CBN stipulate that PSBs will operate mainly in rural centres and unbanked locations and must have at least 25 per cent of their presence in these areas.

Also, they can deploy ATMs, operate through banking agents following the CBN guidelines and use other channels, including electronic platforms, to reach out to customers.

To acquire a licence, the CBN has given a list of operators that are qualified. They include banking agents, telecoms companies (through subsidiaries), retail chains such as supermarkets, mobile money operators, postal services providers and courier companies, FinTech companies, financial holding companies, and Switching Companies.

The Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC) and the CFA Society Nigeria have hosted the second National Economic Development Outlook Series (NEDS) 2023.

Its theme was: What Next for Nigeria’s Economic Growth? “Overcoming Inflation, Rising Interest Rates, Debt and Uncertainty”.

The edition featured notable experts such as Dr. Ayo Teriba, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Economic Associates; Ken Erikume, Partner Tax, PwC; Tilewa Adebajo, CEO, The CFG Advisory; Kike Mesubi, MD, RMB Nigeria Asset Management; Tosin Ojo, Principal, Sahel Capital, and Chizor Malize, MD/CEO FITC.

Malize said the National Economic Development Outlook Series signifies a persistent poise to contribute to building requisite knowledge and capacity, and proffering viable solutions to macroeconomic problems that are threatening the sustainability of Nigeria.

Oyedeji, restated their commitment to building capacity and  excellence.  

Teriba said: “On the transaction side of things, there are news of shocks to energy and food prices, because of disruptions to global supply chains, and these have precipitated new peaks to inflation across the world. While on the portfolio side, we have seen shocks to equity prices, many global companies have shared a shocking amount of market value lost since the Russia-Ukraine war broke out, thus dimming global prospects, and inflicting on global systems.’’ 

He also stated that Central banks around the world have felt obliged to tighten monetary policy, adding higher interest rate to the mix, thus, the world has had to grapple with renewed inflationary pressures, high commodity prices, particularly energy and food prices, and higher interest rates. 

On the brighter side, he revealed that despite these circumstances, economists have projected that the situation is temporary, as the inflationary spike has peaked and there are signs of declining inflation which might be persistent, thus leading to commodity prices weakening in no distant future, and markets will rebound, consequently, enabling recovery, for the global and national economy. 

Distilling it to Nigeria, Teriba divulged that the country needs to urgently take measures to boost revenue, reduce interest costs, and to rebuild so as to stabilize the exchange rate. “If there is unease at the global, national and subnational level, there will be unease at the corporate level. Organizations have to reflect on the best responses for their balance sheets and income statements, they have to look for innovative ways of soaring above the storms” he said. 

He also buttressed the fact that Nigeria is struggling to pay interest on debts and is seeking to borrow more, thus heaping more interest burden on the country, should government go ahead with the debt issuance. “Debt will increase by 10.5 trillion from 2022 deficit financing and we cannot find revenue of that magnitude. External debt doors are closing on Nigeria because global rating agencies have placed Nigeria under review for downgrade, this resulted in most of the borrowing in 2022 from domestic means” he stated. 

Teriba also expressed the need to expand budget conversations beyond revenue, spending, deficit and debt. “Nigeria must leverage state owned assets to generate revenue, or issue equity / convertible bonds, while also exploring issuable equity liabilities as a better and more sustainable substitute to debt liabilities” he said.

In his remarks, CEO, The CFG Advisory, Tilewa Adebajo, stated that Nigeria spent millions of naira on subsidies in 2022, buttressing that if these monies were pumped into the economy, instead of being used on subsidies, there will be a positive impact especially on the nation’s deficit. He also stressed the need for structural reforms of the Nigerian economy. 

“Nigeria’s economy is a potential economy of a trillion-dollar GDP, and is the largest in Africa, if we can realize our potential and seize opportunities around us, a large percentage of our revenue will no longer go to debt servicing” he said.

Building on Adebajo’s remarks, The MD, RMB Nigeria Asset Management, Kike Mesubi further reinforced the need to remove subsidy, noting that the amount spent on subsidy can be injected into the real sector of the economy, like infrastructure and real estate. “As it stands a huge sum from oil produce is spent towards subsidies, if that goes off, that is additional money to develop the economy and will ultimately increase the revenue that has been budgeted for the year” she said.

Speaking on the impact of subsidy removal on the inflation numbers, Mesubi remarked that removing subsidy will further increase inflation, because of the components of the inflation basket, with food and energy aggregating for a large portion of it. However, she pointed out the need for the economy to go through these lows in order to benefit from the opportunities inherent. Thus, the high inflation numbers shouldn’t be a concern, provided that the subsidy removal is used judiciously for economic development. 

Focusing on investment, Mesubi revealed that Equity is an asset class that investors should start to look at and gradually allocate a certain portion of their portfolio to, because historically, equities have been renowned as an inflation-hedge and based on current realities, investors need investments that will protect their portfolio from high inflation rate. 

She further advised investors to decide on investments from the opportunity perspective, sharing that opportunity exists in the cement area because Nigeria has infrastructure deficits, and if the issues around the infrastructure deficits are addressed, then opportunities will exist for the cement businesses who will be critical suppliers for these projects. She added that telecommunications, agriculture and oil and gas are also areas of opportunity, as they are the resilient sectors. “Telecoms from the perspective that we have seen growth and opportunity in that space, and the opportunity continues to grow, as data continues to be a major area of opportunity in terms of the broad band penetration. Agric from a demand point of view, we are certainly not producing as much as we need, so there will be opportunity from a demand supply perspective, oil and gas is also an area of opportunity” she noted. 

Partner, PwC, Kenneth Erikume speaking on tax revenues, commended the efforts of the FIRS in ensuring the tax administration process is digitized, while also introducing some reforms around taxation of non-residents, introduction of VAT collection, by digital service companies, thus growing tax revenue from 6.4 trillion in 2021, to 10.1 trillion in 2022, a 58 per cent increase.

He further analyzed this and noted some risks in performance for 2023. “From the 10.1 trillion in 2022, 2 trillion was added in the form of petroleum profit tax, which was largely due to the outcome of the oil price increases arising from the impact of the Russian war on-Ukraine. If the Russian War on Ukraine quells and the price of crude oil stabilizes, this will adversely affect the petroleum profit tax revenue for Nigeria” he said.  

Speaking further in terms of widening the tax net, he noted that there is still a lot of work to be done in unlocking the informal sector, which is a large chunk of the Nigerian sector, and ensuring that there is an inclusion of others who aren’t already in the tax net.

Erikume further opined that government assets need to be leveraged to stimulate the economy and raise immediate revenue for the nation, and more engagement and advocacy needed to be had with the government to ensure that provisions in tax laws take into consideration the business angle thereby ensuring more robust tax policies.

Dr. Teriba added that Nigeria needs to rethink writing IOUs / promissory notes against expected income and begin to leverage on assets for debt issuance, as the expected income might not materialize, thus building up debts. “Asset based instruments, bonds or equities are more sustainable. These are not claims against income, but a contract that gives opportunity for investors to earn revenue from assets, an adjustment that Nigeria needs to make” he said.  

The event moderator, Tosin Ojo, Principal, Sahel Capital riding on the comments of the panelists and data presented, emphasized the Nation’s dire situation, especially taking into consideration Nigeria’s debt profile, and recognized the interesting backdrop around the assets that Nigeria owns and the opportunities that lie therein for the Nation.

The event which was free to attend ended with participantsfrom all over the world commending the session for being very engaging, insightful, educative and robust in dialogues. 

FITC is a world-class innovation-led knowledge and professional services firm providing cutting edge Learning, Advisory and Research Services to clients in the Financial Services and other sectors, within and outside Nigeria.

Established in 1981 as a non-profit organisation limited by guarantee to provide capacity building and serve as a knowledge hub for the Nigerian Financial Services Sector. FITC is owned by the Bankers Committee, i.e., CBN, NDIC, and all deposit money banks in Nigeria.

For four decades, FITC has been at the forefront of innovative knowledge offerings designed for an array of C-suite executives, directors of banks and other financial institutions. Leveraging on international Faculty and partnership, FITC has led the knowledge space in delivering high valued capacity building solutions for Board Directors and C-suites.

FITC is a recipient of the 2022 Culture of Innovation & 2022 Working Environments and Practices /Flexible Working categories, Business Culture Awards, International Federation of Training & Development Organisations (IFTDO) ‘Change Agent in Learning and Development in Africa’ Award, 2020 Business Excellence Award (The BIZZ Award), 2020 Strategy Innovation & Change Award, The International Business Excellence (IBX) Award, 2021 Winner, Global Business Excellence Award, among others.

Founded in 2013, CFA Society Nigeria is part of the worldwide network of CFA Institute member societies that lead the investment profession globally by promoting the highest standards of ethics, education, and professional excellence for the ultimate benefit of society.

CFA Society Nigeria represents the interests of 400+ investment professionals in Nigeria through advocacy, education, events, and professional development.

CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals, sets the standard for professional excellence and credentials and is a champion of ethical behaviour in investment markets and a respected source of knowledge in the global financial community. There are more than 160,000 CFA charter holders worldwide in 164 markets and currently there are 1300+ registered CFA Candidates in Nigeria.

The pains and agonies of citizens occasioned by the shoddy implementation of the cashless policy and daily withdrawal limit by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continued even after President Muhammadu Buhari decreed that the old N200 notes be made available along with the non-existent redesigned N1000, N500 and N200 notes.

According to sources in the e-payment industry, the success rate of transactions through the use of bank applications (apps) and USSD has sunk almost by 70 per cent. While the banking apps appear and disappear, it takes several hours to get alert should the transaction be successful at all.

These have caused untold hardship on people doing businesses and have been forced to rely on PoS, bank app and USSD.

Telecom operators and other stakeholders in the country have blamed the failure rate in digital banking to weak infrastructure which was not prepared for the load imposed on it by the CBN.

An ICT and infrastructure development company, PPC Limited,  has however advised financial institutions to strengthen their e-payment platforms.

Its Director of Operations/Head, ICT Division, Dr Patrick Ede, said the inadequacy of the e-payment channels to withstand the deluge of transactions as a result of the surge in the use of such channels for payment is causing many failed and unsuccessfultransactions.

He added that the congestion and resultant system downtime are negatively affecting the commercial activities of merchants as transactions have become slow, delayed and sometimes incomplete due to the fact that the banks were never ready for the level of surge they are currently experiencing.

He called on banks to implement measures that will ensure all electronic payment channels can process simultaneously, quickly and efficiently.

Ede said: “The rising demand on the digital channels of banks calls for increased investment in reliable payment systems that speedily deliver on transactions.

 ”To alleviate the congestion on payment channels, banks should carry out an audit of payment channels to identify gaps and loopholes in the system with a view to phased resolution. This first step will ensure that banks raise the standards of experiences they provide to customers and ensure that customers remain at the centre of their business models.”

He urged banks to consider upgrading their server, network and hardware infrastructure to handle peak-time operations adding that this move will ensure that all electronic payment channels can process transactions swiftly and efficiently.

Ede advised the financial institutions to enhance their security protocols to ensure that all electronic payment channels are secure, protect customer data and prevent fraud.

According to him, there may also be a need for financial institutions to expand their existing payment channels at in order to accommodate more transactions.

PPC’s expertise in the deployment of high-end ICT and engineering infrastructure has assisted several organizations in the public and private sectors to create secure, robust and scalable systems suitable for a broad range of commercial uses.

Many Nigerians, now on the verge of being pushed to state-induced starvation have returned to the Stone Age of barter trade, exchanging their personal belongings for food.

In a viral video, a young man brought three pack of satchet detergent valued at N300 in exchange for rice and spaghetti of same value.

Telecom operators had said commercial banks were not prepared for the full blown cashless programme of the CBN.

Acting under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ALTON), they believe the success rate of e-transaction that has plummeted on account of the withdrawal of old notes without a concomitant increase in the supply of the new notes that has led to the use of e-payment channels has shown that the banks were ill prepared for the programme in terms investment in requisite infrastructure.

Its Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, who was reacting to the sharp decline in the success rate of electronic transactions in recent times, said the mobile network operators (MNOs’) infrastructure remained resilient adding that the failure was from the commercial banks side.

He said from the traffic report monitored on the transactions that pass through the network, the fault was not that of the MNOs. He said the operators only serve as a highway and have no control over what happens when the transactions get to the server of the banks.

 ”We think the banks are not prepared for this. The banks are overwhelmed,” Adebayo said, adding that if the problem was from the MNOs, people would not have been able to access the internet on their mobile devices. 

In a separate interview, the President, Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Ikechukwu Nnamani said the flip-flop service of electronic banking has nothing to do with the strength of current network infrastructure.

Nnamani who is the Chief Executive Officer of Medallion Communication Limited, said the inability of bank customers to make use of either the USSD or app is purely a fault of the banking platforms.

President, National Association of Telecoms Subscribers of (NATCOMS), Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo had blamed the development on pressure exerted on the network owing to the knee-jerk CBN’s cashless policy implementation. He said the current state of access to telecoms services is very poor because of the pressure on the network.

“Cashless is good because it is a global phenomenon but it must be implemented gradually. With the current state of infrastructure now, you will be lucky if you make 10 cash transfers and get alert for two. As a matter of fact, the success rate of electronic cash transfer since the problem started has slumped to between 20 and 25 per cent.  The CBN should extend the timeline,” he had said.

The Information Security Society of Africa – Nigeria (ISSAN) has called on Federal Government, Independent National Election Commission (INEC) and other relevant bodies to guard against cyber attacks during the forthcoming elections. 

The cyber experts, who spoke at the ISSAN Monthly Cybersecurity Forum organised in Lagos, said the elections face potential digital threats, stressing that all hands must be on the deck to ensure transparent elections and maintain the integrity of the nation’s democratic process. 

ISSAN, therefore, charged the National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a Cyber-Resilience Review of its systems and the electoral process to ensure its readiness for the polls. 

It stated that there was the need for the evaluation of election cybersecurity capabilities across asset, controls, vulnerability and service continuity management, noting that securing the complex supply chains serving the election infrastructure is a critical mission and a comprehensive risk analysis is an important component of this election.

In his presentation entitled: ‘Cyber-securing the Nigerian 2023 Elections: Issues, Challenges and Cyber-incident Prevention Recommendations for Immediate Consideration’, an international cyber security expert, Dr. Austine Ohwobete, stated that system vulnerabilities and threats could disrupt the reliability of the electoral process, stressing the need to pay closer attention to cyber intrusions to voting machines and voter accreditation systems which are capable of diminishing the  public confidence in the elections.

Citing the American elections in 2020, Ohwobete said though there were no indications that any foreign actor attempted to alter any technical aspect of the voting  in the 2020 U.S. elections, including voter registration, casting ballots, vote tabulation, or reporting results, some foreign actors, such as Iran and Russia, spread false or inflated claims about alleged compromises of voting systems to undermine public confidence in election processes and results.

Nigerians are, however, optimistic that their votes will count without digital interference.” He stated  

 ISSAN President, Dr. David Isiavwe, said national assets are proving to be the new target for cybercriminals, stressing that early vulnerability remediation, continuous awareness, training, and layered security remain key to strengthening every organisation’s security posture.

According to him, “we have seen how daring the cybercriminals could be, targeting the crown jewels (data) of organisations and individuals alike. Over the past few weeks, we saw different kinds of digital frauds as well as attempts by the bad guys to take advantage of unsuspecting victims. Sustainability and profitability of businesses now depend heavily on how much organisations can keep cyber thieves from exploiting their systems and assets.”

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Director-General Qu Dongyu, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, World Bank Group (WBG) President David Malpass, World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley and World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala have reiterated their commitment to tackling global food insecurity.

They said in response to the inflation of food, fuel and fertiliser prices, countries have spent over $710 billion for social protection measures covering one billion people, including  $380 billion for subsidies. 

In a statement, the bodies said globally, poverty and food insecurity are on the rise after decades of gains. 

They said supply chain disruptions, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, financial tightening through rising interest rates and the war in Ukraine have caused an unprecedented shock to the global food system, with the most vulnerable hit the hardest.

They said food inflation remains high in the world, with dozens of countries experiencing double digit inflation. According to WFP, 349 million people across 79 countries are acutely food insecure. The prevalence of undernourishment is also on the rise, following three years of deterioration. 

“This situation is expected to worsen, with global food supplies projected to drop to a three-year low in 2022/2023. The need is especially dire in 24 countries that FAO and WFP have identified as hunger hotspots, of which 16 are in Africa,” they said.

 Fertiliser affordability as defined by the ratio between food prices and fertiliser prices is also the lowest since the 2007/2008 food crisis, which is leading to lower food production and impacting smallholder farmers the hardest, worsening the already high local food prices. For example, the reduction in 2022 of the production of rice, for which Africa is the largest importer in the world, coupled with prospects of lower stocks, is of grave concern.

However, only US$4.3 billion has been spent in low-income countries for social protection measures, compared to US$507.6 billion in high-income countries.