E-Financial
Star-studded Lineup for MobileMoney Expo
This year’s MobileMoneyAfrica expo and conference is shaping up to be an event as star-studded as any red carpet, with dozens of heavy hitters lining up to speak, including Jonathon Ridley – principal, Coffey International, UK and Peter Ollikanen – SVP at Mistral Mobile, Finland.
Apart from the duo, some other industry leading lights are attending the expo and conference, which is the third in the series and holding at the Lagos Oriental Hotel, Lagos from February 6 to 7.
Jonathon Ridley, with an impressive 20 years of experience as a business leader and 13 years of experience managing large-scale international donor funded programmes will share his knowledge with participants at the event.
Ridley as a principal of Coffey International Development’s Economic Growth practice in London directs and advises on projects seeking to effect market system changes, primarily through the Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) approach.
Also, Peter Ollikainen, co-founder and SVP of product marketing at Mistral Mobile, a mobile money technology and professional services company will share his company’s success story in providing innovative and disruptive solutions to banks, mobile operators and financial service providers to enable them to service their customers through mobile channels.
Others are Gerry Rasugu who currently leads the Agent Network Group within SBI’s global Alternative Delivery Channels Practice area; John Owens, director, East Asia, CHEMONICS with over 24 years of experience in microfinance, microenterprise development, and mobile financial services; and Simon Aderinlola , National Coordinating Consultant, WASPA-Nigeria Gte.
Also on the roll call of speakers are Mike Ogbalu, head, mobile financial services, FirstBank Nigeria; Eugene Adogla, director, MicroEnsure, Ghana; Ali Musa Baba, CEO, TeasyMobile, Nigeria; Justin Floyd – RedcloudMoney and ICENI Mobile – UK; Victor Asemota,CEO & Principal Consultant, Swifta Systems, Ghana; Santanu Sengupta – director, African center for mobile financial inclusion, UK; Osondu Nwokoro, director, regulatory Affairs and special Projects, Airtel Nigeria; Tayo Oviosu, CEO, Paga; Emmanuel Agha , founder, Innovectives LLC, Nigeria; Daniel Osei- Antwi – CEO, SplashMobileMoney, Sierra Leone; Chalapathi Rao Immidi, director Business Development, MFINO, India; Derrick Kwaku Dankyi, executive director, Glife Financial services, Ghana; Vytas Paukstys, CEO, Eskimi, Lithuania; Selorm Adadevoh; head of Mobile financial services, Tigo, Ghana; Peter Asolo – CEO, Petvini Global Concept , Nigeria; Simon Aderinlola, founding director & National Coordinating Consultant at WASP Ltd/Gte and Emeka Okoye, CEO – Vi
kantti Software; as well as Gerald Rasugu – Lead, Agent Network, ShoreBank International, Kenya.
The expo which is jointly promoted by MobileMoneyAfrica, Nigerian CommunicationsWeek and African center for mobile financial inclusion in United Kingdom, will be a gathering of influencers in the industry across Africa and beyond, cutting across Mobile Network operator, financial institutions, technology, regulators and other associated players.
This year’s MobileMoneyAfrica expo and conference is adding another feature event which will enable subscriber test mobile money applications from different providers during the two day event.
Notably amongst the licensed mobile money providers that will be showcasing mobile money innovation at the subscribers interaction center are GTBank MobileMoney; Paga; and Stanbic IBTC.
The subscriber interaction center is hosted by Nigeria’s leading social media network, Eskimi and hundreds of their subscribers will be visiting the center to test, evaluate and sign up for mobilemoney services during the two day event.
During the 2013 Edition of the MobileMoney Expo, mobile money operators will share experiences in all domain areas of mobile financial services covering regulation, technology, application, marketing, customer relationships, agency network and other innovative practices that will improve adoption of mobile financial services for shopping, remittances, micro finance, social payments and others.
Speaking further on the subscriber interaction center at the 2013 event, Emmanuel Okoegwale, principal associate at MobileMoneyAfrica said ‘The purpose of the promoting a space at the event to showcase all mobilemoney innovations in Nigeria, is to enable potential subscribers access all the applications available and sign up instantly during the event.
“That section of the event is open and free to delegates to promote adoption of mobile financial services.’ He added.
Commenting on the centre, Ken Nwogbo, editor-in-chief, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek said ‘ The interaction center is a first for the industry and it is aimed at educating the customers to make the right decision to enroll for mobile financial services in Nigeria‘.
With more than 16 licensed providers in Nigeria, the event is a must attend for industry watchers that are desirous of exploring opportunities in the mobile money space in Nigeria through agency network partnerships, technology / application sales, integrators and customers activation and others.
The event will also host the inaugural Kalahari awards to recognize players innovators in the industry across Africa, is dedicated to acknowledging creativity, commitment and excellence in the mobile financial services across Africa.
Delegate registrations are still open for the main conference event.
E-Financial
Lagos State Appoints MoneyMaster as Payment Partner for “Ounje Eko” Programme
“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.
E-Financial
CBN, EFCC Probe Banks, Firms over Alleged Forex Racketeering
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is investigating irregular foreign exchange transactions and forward contracts valued at approximately $2.4 billion.
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.
E-Financial
CBN Urges Banks to Expedite Action on Recapitalisation
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.
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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