The Nation Newspaper

Tag: inclusion

  • Centenary City: Indigenes seek inclusion in compensation

    Indigenous people of Gude, Sauka and Dakibiyu communities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have cried out against being left out when communities affected by the Centenary City project are compensated.

    They have also called for the revaluation of their economic trees and crops.

    Over 199 native people in the three communities affected lamented what they described as irregularities and deception in the assessment and valuation of their economic trees and crops, saying that they were unduly influenced and that the process lacked transparency.

    The natives through their counsel, Mr. James Ndeye, a lawyer, are appealing to the federal government and the FCT administration to do a mop-up in the valuation or conduct another assessment and valuation.

    Ndeye, who addressed journalists in Abuja on the presumed wrongful manner in which the natives were cheated during the valuation of the economic trees and crops, said that about 250 hectares of land was acquired for the project in the three communities.

    He added during and after the assessment and valuation of economic trees and crops on their farmlands, only officials of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), the Centenary City representative, the private consultant and the farm owners’ committee chairman went round the entire 250 hectares of land without the participation of the individual farm owners.

    “It was a fraudulent exercise since no amount was disclosed to farm owners before collection and signing of cheque as they were unduly influenced to collect cheque first before seeing the amount written on it,” Ndeye said.

    While stressing the need for government authorities to revisit the valuation process, he said inadequate compensation will not only be a scourge to the natives, but a gradual extinction of their livelihood and their generation yet unborn.

    He said all the affected farm owners were paid about N26 million, with the highest paid farm owner receiving N885, 000 for his 14 hectare while the least paid farm owner was N10, 000.

    Ndeye said the aggrieved natives would have to seek redress by taking legal action in a competent court of jurisdiction to challenge the mode or manner of acquisition of farmlands by the authorities in charge of the Centenary City Project.

     

  • Benefits of financial inclusion, by experts

    FORGING Inclusive growth in payment systems and financial inclusion initiatives in Nigeria’ was the theme of this year’s  Business Day Mobile Money Roundtable in Lagos

    The event, which is in its thirdedition, was organised by Business Day Media Ltd, the publishers of Business day newspapers,; it was an avenue for mobile money operators, regulators, consumers and journalists to come together and dialogue on how to improve mobile money in Nigeria.

    Mr Valentine Obi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of eTranzact International PLC; Mr Sim Shagaya, CEO of Konga.com; Mr Niyi Ajao, ED(Technology & Operations), NIBSS; Mr Olaoluwa Awojoodu, CEO, CashEnvoy and Mr Emmanuel Okoegwale, Principal Associate, Mobile Money Africa, were among those who attended.

    Obi kicked off the discussions. The owner of PocketMoni, a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) licensed mobile money service, said: “Financial inclusion without value add will not work, and every day at eTranzact we are working on unique solutions that continue to add value to the end consumer.’’

    ‘’Over the years, we have worked hard to understand and deploy strategies that have truly helped mobile money grow, and though we have been hit with challenges along the way, we continued to invest financial, educational and other resources to ensure we can reach both the banked and unbanked.

    He added:‘’For the potential of mobile money to truly explode, it is important that we begin to see it as more than an add-on, but a truly important part of the future of payments in Nigeria.

    ‘’Right now, teams from PocketMoni are on ground in Kano and Ogun states driving mobile money adoption; the project is done in collaboration with EFInA, and we are happy with the results we have seen so far. We believe collaboration can help in building the industry.”

    Also, Shagaya urged Nigerians to think less of value destruction but more of value creation.

    He cited China as country where finanicial inclusion has been successful, adding that it opened up the economy.

    He said: “Human beings are economic animals, and they want value and convenience. We need to rethink mobile experience even on the hard ware basis, and the power of mobile money will truly come alive. Today, 70 per cent of Nigerians will rather pay on delivery, and even though we do not have a problem with this, most of these people still insist on paying cash, but until we can solve some of these underlying issues, we will not be able to truly unlock the potential of mobile payments.”

    Alao said: “Mobile is a critical technology needed to achieve inclusiveness. Some of the challenges I see are in the way the mobile money solution is communicated to the average man on the street. We, at NIBSS, are committed to ensuring the success of mobile payments in Nigeria, and we have been working closely with providers like eTranzact and the banks to ensure that we truly achieve the set out goals for mobile money.”

    Okoegwale harped on the importance of collaboration among the players to achieve success.

    Iheukwumere, Manager, Conferences/Enterprise and Promotion, Business Day, who served as the moderator of the event, urged stakeholders to help in achieving mobile money goals in the coming year.

  • Experts stress financial inclusion

    Experts stress financial inclusion

    FINANCIAL inclusion is key to achieving sustainable socio-economic development in the country.

    This was the submission of a cross section of experts at this year’s edition of the annual Business Day Mobile Money Roundtable held in Lagos.

    The event, which had in attendance mobile money operators, regulators, consumers, among other stakeholders, also hosted Mr. Valentine Obi, CEO of eTranzact International PLC, Mr Sim Shagaya, CEO of Konga.com, Mr Niyi Ajao, Executive Director (Technology & Operations), NIBSS, Mr Olaoluwa Awojoodu, CEO, CashEnvoy and Mr Emmanuel Okoegwale, Principal Associate, Mobile Money Africa, amongst others.

    Firing the first salvo, Obi, whose company owns PocketMoni, a Central Bank licensed mobile money service which enables users create an e-wallet on their mobile phones for making payments, fund transfer, as well as for receiving money), shared lessons that eTranzact has learnt so far in its financial inclusion efforts across the country

    He said, “Financial inclusion without value addition will not work, and every day at eTranzact we are working on unique solutions that continue to add value to the end consumer.

    “Over the years, we have worked hard to understand and deploy strategies that have truly helped mobile money grow, and though we have been hit with challenges along the way, we continued to invest financial, educational and other resources to ensure we can reach both the banked and unbanked.”

    Echoing similar sentiments, Shagaya, CEO of Konga.com, stressed how China is a good example of how financial inclusion can truly be achieved in an economy that is largely rural.

    He said, “Human beings are economic animals, and they want value and convenience. We need to rethink mobile experience even on the hard ware basis, and the power of mobile money will truly come alive. Today 70% of Nigerians will rather pay on delivery, and even though we do not have a problem with this, most of these people still insist on paying cash, but until we can solve some of these underlying issues, we will not be able to truly unlock the potential of mobile payments.”

    In his own assertion, Alao said: “Mobile is a critical technology needed to achieve inclusiveness. Some of the challenges I see are in the way the mobile money solution is communicated to the average man on the street. We at NIBSS are committed to ensuring the success of mobile payments in Nigeria, and we have been working closely with providers like eTranzact and the banks to ensure that we truly achieve the set out goals for mobile money.”

    Mr Emmanuel Okoegwale, Principal Associate, Mobile Money Africa, spoke about the importance of collaboration among the players if the true potential of mobile payments is to be achieved.