E-Business
Better Digital Payments Infrastructure is Facilitating Access to New Markets for Enterprise
By Doreen Lukandwa, Head, Commercial Strategy at Onafriq
Saying that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of economies in East Africa is an understatement. SMEs make up the largest part of all registered entities in nearly every industry and sector in most East African countries, averaging between 60% to 90%, including micro-enterprises.
As the region continues to experience significant progress and development, the SME ecosystem plays a crucial role in creating employment opportunities, encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship, and diversifying economies.
However, only a few of these SMEs will grow into larger-sized firms or expand their reach into markets beyond the area they operate. This is mainly due to the constraints they face that limit their ability to expand and scale their business, such as inadequate financing and access to investment and financial services and insufficient integration into international capital markets.
Historically, the finance sector in East Africa has shown a preference for traditional banks, which have been restricted in terms of geographical reach and other factors. This has resulted in limited access to financial services for many merchants in the region, hindering economic growth and development. But this is changing.
The emergence of an increasingly robust digital payments infrastructure in East Africa presents an incredible opportunity for businesses to scale by opening up access to new markets in the region, across the continent, and around the globe.
Expanding the global footprint of enterprise
Africa accounts for 70% of the world’s $1 trillion in mobile money value, mainly due to the boom in digital instant payment solutions and inclusive interoperable payment systems across the continent. East Africa makes up the largest mobile money market on the continent, with transaction values worth $491 billion for 390 million registered accounts in 2022.
These booming, secure, efficient, and interconnected digital payment systems are transforming the business landscape by breaking down geographical barriers and broadening enterprises’ ability to collect and make payments to and from anywhere in the world.
Trailblazing fintech firms are revolutionising the digital payments space and helping enterprises solve their revenue collection and payments challenges, reducing operational costs and leaving them free to focus on operational efficiency.
Now, SMEs can scale their existing services into new African and global markets by capitalising on the growing digital payment infrastructure without the need to build their payment infrastructure or platforms. With just the right payment partner, businesses can expand into new territories by establishing a virtual financial presence, helping duplicate their services in the new market.
By leveraging the shared infrastructure and resources from their payment partner, enterprises can now mitigate risks while gaining access to local knowledge and networks.
Enabling enterprise to meet its full potential
The increased access to new markets for enterprises, facilitated by the digital payments space, enables their ability to scale up, compete with larger firms, and increase their growth potential.
By scaling effectively, East African SMEs can keep up with customer and market demands, improve their efficiencies and find new avenues of revenue growth without being held back by a lack of resources or infrastructure. It encourages innovation, which could see the development of new products and services, increase sales opportunities, and further their ability to serve more customers and expand into new markets.
As the rapid growth of digital payments technology continues, we can expect to see more enterprises take advantage of the increased access to new markets, resulting in the growth of SMEs across the region and subsequently driving the creation of better-paid jobs, economic growth and ensuring more competitive economies.
The United States Supreme Court has upheld a law seeking to ban TikTok in the United States.
The court ruled that the law does not infringe upon free speech rights, citing the US government’s legitimate national security concerns about the Chinese ownership of the app.
Last week, the Supreme Court listened to the arguments from ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, claiming the law violated free speech.
“There is no doubt that TikTok provides a unique platform for expression, engagement, and community to over 170 million Americans,” the justices stated.
With this decision, the ban set for Sunday remains in place, despite calls from lawmakers and officials across the political spectrum for a delay.
Last year, Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok or shut it down in the US by January 19, reflecting widespread concerns in Washington that the app could be exploited by China for espionage or propaganda.
On Friday, White House officials informed the media that the ban would not be enforced, leaving the final decision to President-elect Donald Trump, who assumes office the next day.
In December 2024, TikTok asked the US Supreme Court to temporarily block a law that would force its Chinese owner to sell the popular video-sharing platform or shut it down by January 19.
The appeal came the same day TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, CEO, met with US President-elect Donald Trump.
Federal government has plans to expand the national social register to 18.1 million names and to reach at least 70 million poor households across the country by the end of this year, according to Prof Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, minister, Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development (FMHADMSD).
Federal government has been distributing cash assistance to poor citizens through a program that requires verification using the National Identification Number (NIN).
The rate of poverty in the country is alarming, the minister said in an interview with Arise News, reason why the federal government plans to extend the humanitarian outreach program to target more homes. Each household receives the sum of N75,000 ($45).
Giving update on the payments, the minister said the first tranche of the conditional cash transfers were paid to five million households between October and December 2024, while the second and third tranches were paid to 2.8 million households.
“The president has directed, based on CBN’s new regulations, that before any payment is made to an individual or household, they must have a digital identity we can trace. That is the NIN number,” the Yilwatda told Arise News.
The cash transfer enabled by digital ID was launched in 2023, and last year, the federal government said around 25 million Nigerians had already benefitted from the scheme.
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has granted licence for the Nigerian Correctional Service, (NCoS) to register inmates in the over 252 custodial centres across the country for National Identity Numbers, (NIN).
The approval followed the request made by Sylvester Nwakuche, acting controller general of the NCoS, who paid a visit to Engr Abisoye Coker-Odusote, director general/chief executive Officer of NIMC, in her office.
The acting controller-general, said the licence to carry out registration of inmates for NIN would eliminate exclusion of inmates from the country’s National Development plans, ensure their safety and security and facilitate their smooth recapture in times of jailbreaks.
The NCoS boss said the visit to the headquarters of NIMC was in search of collaboration that would enable the Service carry out its mandate seamlessly following on going reforms of the Correctional Service system.
According to Nwakuche, there are lots of socio-economic developments within the Correctional Service systems which had led to a number of inmates obtaining University degrees, Masters Degrees and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in various fields.
He said such inmates should not be excluded from the national development plans of the country as they should be integrated into the society to become useful for their families and the country.
Nwakuche said inside the Correctional centres are those awaiting trials whose innocence and otherwise has to be decided by the Courts, but argued that in times of National planning, census and other critical national development issues, they should not be disallowed from participating.
Coker-Odusote who granted the licence said NIN has become critical and essential to the country’s national development plans, stressing that NIMC has gone far with the private sector, especially the banks and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as all banks accounts are now linked with the NIN.
Coker-Odusote said the Eight points Agenda of President Bola Tinubu are also anchored on the Country’s digital identity or National identity Number, stressing that for instance NIN was tied to students loans to eradicate duplicity and prevent ghost beneficiaries.
Coker-Odusote expressed delight in the partnership with the NCoS, saying that the Commission had already entered into partnership with the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS and other agencies in order to facilitate the smooth delivery of their constitutional mandates.
She commended Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of Interior, for his dynamic leadership and role in ensuring the delivery of dividends of democracy to Nigeria through various reforms.
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