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AfDB , AFI Sign MoU to Enhance Financial Services

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African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance access to quality financial services on the continent. The agreement aims to create a collaboration framework to promote financial inclusion in Africa.

This partnership is aligned with the Bank’s High 5 priorities and the Financial Sector Development Policy and Strategy. The Bank envisions a financial sector that is vibrant, innovative, robust and competitive both nationally and regionally.

Modern financial systems will steadily expand their coverage, attaining almost universal access (at least 90 percent of the continent’s population) by 2025, providing essential financial services and products (deposit, payments, credit, and insurance), and improve quality and usage by offering a full range of financial products and services for the continent’s productive sector.

The partnership will also strengthen the technical capacity of financial regulators and policy-makers across the continent to implement substantive policy reforms to advance financial inclusion.

In order to implement its Financial Sector Development Strategy, the Bank relies notably on strategic and innovative collaborative partnerships with organizations like the Alliance for Financial Inclusion. Several AfDB departments involved in financial inclusion include Private Sector, Statistics, Human and Social Development, Renewable Energy, ICT, Gender Women and Civil Society, Agriculture finance and Rural Development joined a workshop led by the Financial Intermediation and Inclusion Division to explore ways to enhance collaboration with the Alliance for Financial Inclusion.

The Alliance for Financial Inclusion was represented by Norbert Mumba, Deputy Executive Director, and Efoe Koudadjey, Regional Coordinator Africa and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, 350 million people are excluded from formal financial services. This includes approximately 125 million farmers that receive cash payments for the sale of agricultural products owing to lack of access to quality and appropriate financial services.

AfDB and AFI agree on the need to scale up the effort in addressing the gender gap in access to financial services for women within the framework of the Denarau Action Plan, the AFI Network Commitment to gender and women’s financial inclusion.

AfDB and AFI observe that financial services offered through mobile technology have revolutionized and accelerated the economic landscape in agriculture, energy, microfinance, gender access, and SME financing in many African countries.

They will seek to develop this further through initiatives such as the African Mobile Phone Financial Services Policy Initiative and digital financial inclusion, where AFI members have been ahead of the curve for almost a decade now.

The Alliance for Financial Inclusion is the world’s leading organization on financial inclusion policy and regulation. The member owned-network promotes and develops evidence-based policy solutions that improve the lives of the poor.

AFI is led by its members, comprising mainly financial regulatory institutions and such as Central Banks, superintendencies and Ministries of Finance from developing countries. The network currently includes members from 94 countries working together to accelerate the adoption of proven and innovative financial inclusion policy solutions with the ultimate aim of making financial services more accessible to the world’s unbanked.

AfDB’s intellectual partnership with AFI will facilitate substantial returns for Africa by supporting a truly innovative model of collaboration and knowledge exchange among policy-makers, the private sector and other stakeholders that will shape financial inclusion policy-making on the African continent in years to come.

At the signing of the MoU, Pierre Guislain, AfDB Vice-President for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization, said, “The Bank will leverage its resources to support AFI’s efforts on digital financial services, agricultural and SME sectors as well as gender. It will prioritize capacity building and knowledge sharing activities and nourish the dialogue for Africa’s policy-makers through global events and activities.”

Norbert Mumba, AFI Deputy Executive Director, said, “Engaging with the AfDB to scale up and deepen financial inclusion in Africa has always been seen as a natural move for AFI in Africa, as it believes that AFI and the AfDB share the same objective of alleviating poverty and improving living conditions on the African continent. AFI considers the signing of this MoU as an important step toward improving in-country implementation of policies in African countries and making progress in achieving that crucial objective.”


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E-Financial

Lagos State Appoints MoneyMaster as Payment Partner for “Ounje Eko” Programme

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“Ounje Eko”, the food price discount initiative of the Lagos State Government, has appointed leading payment service bank, MoneyMaster Payment Service Bank Limited (MMPSB), as its collaborator in the bid to ensure ease of payments at the market.

MoneyMaster is one of the Central Bank of Nigeria-licensed Payment Service Banks (PSBs) to promote financial inclusion across Nigeria.

Under the partnership, MMPSB will apply its cutting-edge payment solution to engender easy payment and reconciliation in order to make   the experiences of Lagosians who will be getting their food supplies from the markets pleasurable. Its payment solution is also all-encompassing and ensures real time value to payment destinations.

The mobile bank was appointed as the collection and payment partner for “Ounje Eko” Food Markets programme which is a government initiative serving the five divisions of Lagos State. Consequent on this, MoneyMaster Payment Service Bank will collect payments in 57 LCDAs in the state.

The partnership gives credence to the quality of payment solutions that MoneyMaster is reputed for in its services to its growing business clientele in private and public sectors.

 


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CBN, EFCC Probe Banks, Firms over Alleged Forex Racketeering

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Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is investigating irregular foreign exchange transactions and forward contracts valued at approximately $2.4 billion.

CBN, EFCC Probe Banks, Firms over Alleged Forex Racketeering

The  inquiry follows an extensive audit by Deloitte, which scrutinized $7 billion in dollar debts accumulated under the bank’s previous leadership.

In the aftermath of the 294th Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Abuja, Yemi Cardoso, governor of CBN,  disclosed to journalists that the investigation, supported by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, among other security bodies, aims to clarify the legitimacy of these FX allocations identified as problematic by the audit.

“It was determined that a number of these transactions did not qualify…they were outright illegal. The law enforcement agencies are now looking into those transactions that as far as we are concerned, are not valid to be paid,” Cardoso detailed, emphasizing the unlawful nature of these forex deals.

The crux of the investigation lies in the audit findings that a significant portion of the scrutinized transactions lacked proper documentation and, in many instances, were deemed outright illegal.

However, the unfolding investigation has raised concerns within the organized private sector, with some entities contemplating legal action against commercial banks for unresolved forex bids.

Despite these tensions, Governor Cardoso reassures that the foreign exchange market remains open and transparent, inviting stakeholders to address their forex needs through the official channels.

Furthermore, Cardoso clarified the distribution of fertilizers to farmers as a one-off measure and not indicative of a shift back to direct interventions by the CBN, underscoring a commitment to strategic, regulatory governance rather than direct market involvement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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CBN Urges Banks to Expedite Action on Recapitalisation

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Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed deposit money banks in the country to expedite action to increase their capital base from the current ₦25bn.

CBN Urges Banks to Expedite Action on Recapitalisation

Olayemi Cardoso, governor of CBN

Olayemi Cardoso, governor of CBN, stated this during the apex bank’s 294th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Tuesday in Abuja, when the MPC hiked the interest rate by 22.75% to 24.75%.

The apex bank chief said the MPC examined developments in the banking sector and expressed satisfaction that the industry remained stable. The committee, however, said to guard against risk, commercial banks in the country should accelerate their recapitalisation efforts.

Cardoso said, “The MPC also reviewed developments in the banking system and noted that the industry remains safe, sound, and stable. The committee thus called on the bank to sustain its surveillance and ensure compliance of banks with existing regulatory and macro-potential guidelines.

“The MPC also enjoined the banks to expedite actions on the recapitalisation of banks to strengthen the system against potential risks in an increasingly globalised world.”

 

 

 

 


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