The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Worldwide

  • Interswitch partners ACI Worldwide to boost digital payment transformation

    Interswitch partners ACI Worldwide to boost digital payment transformation

    Interswitch, one of Africa’s leading integrated payments and digital commerce companies and ACI Worldwide, a global leader in real-time payments software, have restated their commitment to continuously developing cutting-edge solutions that will transform and modernise the digital payments infrastructure for banks, SACCOs, fintechs, and other financial institutions in East Africa.

    The firms made this known during the second leg of the stakeholders’ engagement session, held at the Radisson Blu, Upper Hill, Nairobi, Kenya.

    Following the successful first edition of the stakeholders’ session in Lagos, Nigeria, the Nairobi edition provided a platform to showcase ways in which financial services industry players can leverage world-class digital payment to unlock opportunities which will drive growth and profitability across the East African region.

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    The event brought together industry experts, thought leaders, fintech entrepreneurs and financial analysts who engaged in constructive discussions on vital topics such as cross-border payments, modernising payment infrastructure, open banking, and securing transactions with next-generation technology. These insightful conversations shed light on how businesses and customers can harness technology to foster digital payments and capitalize on opportunities that drive positive transformation within the financial sector.

    Delivering his keynote address, Peter Kawumi, Managing Director, Interswitch East Africa said the region’s digital payment landscape is evolving and Interswitch and ACI are poised to boost its transformation, he stated.

    “The East African financial services sector is undergoing rapid transformation, driven by changing consumer behavior and technological advancements. Our partnership with ACI is pivotal in analysing these shifts and rapidly delivering tailored solutions that address the evolving needs of the market.”

    In his remarks, Santhosh Rao, Senior Vice President, Sales ACI Worldwide – Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA) reiterated the visionary partnership of Interswitch and ACI towards the development of Africa’s financial sector.

    “ACI Worldwide and Interswitch’s visionary partnership signifies our commitment to transforming the African financial services landscape. Through our shared dedication to developing modernised digital payment solutions, we aim to deepen digital payment penetration, thus enhancing financial inclusion across the continent. By joining forces, we will drive further innovation, elevate payment systems, and cultivate a more inclusive and secure financial ecosystem across the continent. This strategic collaboration unlocks immense potential, streamlining payment processes and empowering businesses and consumers to thrive in Africa’s dynamic digital economy.”

  • ILO: 40m in modern slavery, 152 m in child labour worldwide

    The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has warned that the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals may be under threat with the alarming figure of 40 million in modern slavery and 152 million children in child labour across the globe.

    New research developed by the ILO and the Walk Free Foundation, in partnership with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), has revealed the scale of modern slavery around the world.

    The data, released at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, showed that more than 40 million around the world were victims of modern slavery in 2016.

    The ILO also released a companion estimate of child labour, which confirmed that about 152 million children, aged between five and 17, were subject to child labour.

    The new estimates also show that women and girls were disproportionately affected by modern slavery, accounting for almost 29 million, or 71 per cent of the overall total.

    Women represent 99 per cent of the victims of forced labour in the commercial sex industry and 84 per cent of forced marriages.

    The research revealed that, among the 40 million victims of modern slavery, about 25 million were in forced labour and 15 million were in forced marriage.

    Child labour remained concentrated primarily in agriculture (70.9 per cent). Almost one in five child labourers work in the services sector (17.1 per cent) while 11.9 per cent of child labourers work in industry.

     

  • Nigeria has lowest insurance penetration rate worldwide

    Nigeria has lowest insurance penetration rate worldwide

    Nigeria is said to have the lowest insurance penetration rate globally as a very insignificant one per cent of the over 170million population take insurance policy.

    Making this submission at the weekend was Mr. Anselem Chidi Igbo, Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC Insurance Brokers.

    He spoke at a media parley to formally announce the commencement of its operations.

    According to him, one of the major reasons Nigerians are not favourably disposed to buying insurance policies is usually because of the matters arising from making claims, amongst others.

    These challenges, he stressed, remain a major drawback to building a virile insurance sector in the country.

    He was however quick to admit that insurance companies are partly to blame for some of these problems.

    Thankfully, Igbo said it was its quest to address some of these teething problems that informed its entrant into the sector.

    While announcing commencement of full operations sequel to the granting of a license by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) in January 2016, thus paving the way for the firm to offer the full spectrum of insurance brokerage, Igbo said he was optimistic that its operations will raise the bar in the sector.

    “Although we’re the newest baby in the stable of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC., our projection is that in the next 10 years we will be among the top five insurance brokage firms in the country,” he assured.

    Echoing similar sentiments, Ibiyemi Mezu, Head, Business Development also acknowledge the fact that at the centre of crisis of identity assailing the sector is the issue of ignorance and lack of education.

    Justifying the need for setting up shop, Mezu said Stanbic IBTC Insurance Brokers is set to provide bespoke risk management and insurance services across the country.

    While enumerating the unique selling proposition of the brokeage firm, Mezu said it has got very strong corporate governance structure, good pedigree and an experience management team. “The role of the broker is to help you better appreciate insurance offerings. We can help to negotiate premiums, risk assessment. We want to set the pace in this sector using a clear-cut strategy that would ride on the back of technology, social media platforms, among others.”

  • Nigerian banks’ credit report poorest worldwide

    Nigerian banks’ credit report poorest worldwide

    The entire 22 deposit money banks in the country process a paltry 1, 500 credit report on a daily basis, The Nation has learnt.

    Making this disclosure recently was Mr. Miguel Llenas, who sits atop Dun and Bradstreet Credit Bureau Limited, a world acclaimed credit reporting agency with headquarters at the Dominican Republic.

    Mr. Llenas, who was the lead speaker at a public forum organised by CRC Credit Bureau Limited in Lagos, noted that most banks in the country today were technically in distress because they chose to jettison core banking regulations.

    Specifically, he said most businesses in the country were experiencing stagnant growth because they lacked access to finance from banks, who favour conglomerates and corporates with better loan facilities at the detriment of hundreds of businesses that can actually drive the economy.

    “South Africa records over 60, 000 credit report on a daily basis alone. Argentina does about 160, 000. Sri Lanka does over 25, 000, Egypt processes over 50, 000, Dominican Republic does 40, 000. But sadly, Nigeria with a population of over 170million people process a ridiculous 1, 500 credit report. This may account for the slow economic growth witnessed across the sectors,” he said.

    “Most Nigerian banks are not involved in serious lending, especially to the retail market,” he said.

    Raising some posers, Llenas, who boost of over three decades experience as a credit expert said: “Do banks really need a credit bureau? How do you extend credit to customers if you don’t use credit report?”

    Most of the banks in the country today, he insisted, “Have swift from lending to survival mode. Most of the banks are risk averse. This is partly why the economy is not moving forward.”

    According to him, Nigeria with 22 banks only process just about 1, 500 credit reports, which are prerequisite to loan requests.

    Most deposit money banks in the country today are still smarting from the losses incurred over the years as a result of toxic debts.

    Llenas who leads the over 170 year old credit bureau firm, said Nigeria’s credit reporting was very poor for a size of the country when compared to countries within Africa and globally.

    Speaking further, Llenas, who has traverse over 40 countries as part of his commitment to help grow the capacity of credit bureaus, stressed that Nigerian banks have the potential to drive the economy by lending to the critical sectors, especially the retail market rather than the high end market in order to enable them better manage risks when they occur.

    “With credit monitoring, and a credit score, banks and lenders alike can easily predict the future. The use of credit report has to be a powerful tool if well harnessed,” he maintained.

    Speaking earlier, Tunde Popoola, Managing Director/CEO, CRC Credit Bureau Limited, observed that most of the banks were exposed to a lot of risks, especially oil and gas, whose revenue projections have been badly affected by the economic crunch.

    According to him, the challenges confronting most of the banks is how to reduce their risk portfolio given the bad debts they incurred these past years, especially at a time they are have more risk assets.

    Thankfully, he said, the CRC Credit Bureau has been able to develop fool-proof measures that can help the banks contain the incidence of bad debts.

    At the risk of sounding immodest, Popoola said what banks need to do to reduce the incidence of bad debts is to be more circumspect in the way they spread risks.

    “Most of the toxic debts within the banking sector happened because they were done without proper due diligence analysis as it were. But that can be taken care of with our products and services like I-CON Plus, which can help to build a good credit industry.”

    Echoing similar sentiment, Mrs. Peggy Chukwuma-Nwosu, Haed of Sales and Marketing at CRC Credit Bureau Limited, who gave a presentation on CRC Credit Monitors: Useful Tools to better manage Customer Loans, disclosed that the different products developed by her organisation rsets on the wing of technology.

    Specifically, she said, the CRC Prospector, which is one of her company’s offerings, “Provides alternative contact information of customers you can no longer reach.”

  • Militancy: Youth leaders lament silence of N’Delta governors

    Militancy: Youth leaders lament silence of N’Delta governors

    …Resolve to mount pressure on governors

    …Ask FG to stop invasion of communities

    Youth leaders of Niger Delta ethnic nationalities, Wednesday, criticised governors from their region for not doing enough to complement the efforts of the Federal Government in resolving the crisis in the Niger Delta.

    The leaders, who spoke in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, after an emergency meeting at Ijaw House, urged the governors to synergise and evolve an economic plan to rescue the region from poverty and militancy.

    The leaders who met under the Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities Leaders Council (NDENLC) described as unacceptable the silence of the governors and their nonchalant attitude towards some burning issues of development in the region.

    The meeting was attended by the leaders of Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Worldwide, Udengs Eradiri; Urhobo Youth Council (UYC), Terry Obieh; Urhobo Progressives Union, Esimaje Aweni; Ibibio Youth Council (IYC), Imo Okoko; Efik National Youth (ENY), Capt. Bassey Henshaw among leaders from Anioma, Ogoni, Edo and others.

    Eradiri, who spoke after the meeting, said the leaders resolved to mount pressure on the Niger Delta governors to undertake practical steps to lift the region out of poverty and militancy.

    He said: “The governors in the Niger Delta should do more internally to resolve the militancy in the region. They should set up an economic plan to take the region out of poverty. We are saying this because liberation itself cannot come externally.

    “It must be internally driven. What are the Niger Delta governors doing on their own to end the crisis? Everybody is just waiting for the Federal Government. State governors in this region must meet, engage stakeholders and begin to resolve the problem.

    “The country is facing economic crisis, what are our state governors doing to come up with an economic plan to take this region out of poverty and militancy. As we speak, the condition in the region is getting out of hands. There is widespread poverty and criminality is going up every day.

    “We are suffering more from what is happening in the region. All our youths are unemployed and things are getting from bad to worse. So, we call on the governors to provide economic, political and developmental leadership, so that when we are talking about the federal government, we would have started our own.

    “We are too rich to be poor. We talk about diversification through agriculture, what are our governors doing on that area? So that we can use rice cultivation, fish farming and cassava to change the economic situation in the country”.

    Eradiri also said the leaders called on the Federal Government to quickly set up its negotiation team to immediately resolve the crisis adding that the silence of the government after meeting with the Niger Delta stakeholders on November 1 was worrisome.

    He further said the leaders condemned invasion of Niger Delta communities by soldiers and appealed to the government to adopt better and more civil ways of resolving the crisis in the region.

    “In fact, intelligence apparatus has recorded more success than military option. The casualties are more of women and children”, he said.

    He added: “The government should quickly resolve the legal issues surrounding the maritime universities. So that youths will no longer use that as an excuse to attack oil installations.

    “We call on the Federal Government to look at the EPZ projects in Delta State, the Brass Fertilizer Project in Bayelsa, the Bonny Phase Seven Project in Rivers State as well as the Quantum Project in Akwa Ibom.

    “The government should integrate the EPZ project because it will create over 150,000 jobs for young people. The Brass Fertilizer Project could create close to 100,000 jobs; other projects will create jobs for young people. If you are talking about revolution in the gas sector then you must first integrate existing projects into your plans because all these projects are gas-driven projects.

    “Sea ports in the Niger Delta must be activated so that jobs can be created. There is a port in Warri, Port Harcourt, Calabar, but they are lying fallow. Yet there are over 5000 vessels waiting for berthing space in Lagos when the ports in this part of the country are empty. Any time a vessel gets to a port it creates over 10,000 jobs overnight.”