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Carbon Launches Financial Services Platform for Businesses

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Carbon, Nigeria’s foremost digital financial services company, has launched Carbon for Business, a digital financial services platform that provides startups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and FinTechs with the services and technology they need to build and scale their businesses.

With access to uncollateralized credit, secure online payments, reliable funds transfer and fast KYC (know your customer) compliance obligations, businesses can take advantage of Carbon’s infrastructure to achieve business objectives and strategic goals, boost their value offerings and get to market faster.

The platform will offer businesses the opportunity to access APIs and services such as:

Identity verification – Carbon IVS is an identity verification system that enables businesses perform KYC and anti-money laundering services on prospective staff or other parties. Carbon IVS is integrated with all major identity databases including passport, Bank Verification Number (BVN), driver’s license and voters registration.

Fund transfers and overdraft – The platform will also include Optimus, an affordable and reliable funds transfer platform that provides low cost    transfers.  For qualified businesses, Optimus also provide an overdraft facility that allows customers short-term funding needed to make critical payments during short-term cash shortages.

Online payments – Businesses will be able to accept online payments from Visa, Verve and Mastercard in over 40 currencies. All transactions are PCI  DSS compliant, 3D Secure enabled, and processed through an SSL encrypted channel.

SME business loans – up to ₦20 million uncollateralized flexible repayment loans.

“As part of our goal of connecting businesses with the funds and services that will enable them to thrive and expand, we are aiming to provide robust infrastructure and a suite of services that will transform their processes.

Carbon for Business will signal a new era of business growth and transformation, especially for businesses that have been overwhelmed by complexities and rigidity of mundane financial services technologies and traditional sources of financing“ said Chijioke Dozie, CEO of Carbon.

Since launching in 2016, Carbon has amassed more than 1 million users, initially providing consumers with access to credit, simple payments solutions, high-yield investment opportunities and easy-to-use tools for personal financial management.

The company has disbursed more than $35.6 million in loans and in 2018 alone achieved revenues of $10.4 million. This expansion into business-focussed users represents the next step on the journey of becoming the most versatile digital finance platform, anywhere.

In today’s emerging markets, starting and running a business depends on a combination of having the right technology, payment infrastructure, legal obligation and access to affordable finance. Unfortunately, most SMEs do not have access to this fundamental framework for survival.

According to the World Bank, in 2018, about 70 percent of businesses could not access finance from the banks.

In Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania, the share of SME lending in the overall loan portfolios of banks varies between 5 to 20 percent with 45 percent of businesses in emerging markets lacking access to the right technology partners. These are some of the reasons why Carbon has decided to provide the Carbon for Business platform.

Carbon is inviting SMEs to take advantage of its infrastructure to access affordable finance in two ways: through the SME finance product and by offering overdrafts on the Optimus product.

With agency banking and traditional e-payments, businesses regularly face challenges with liquidity, access to cash flow over weekends and long settlement cycles.

Carbon for Business, using Optimus, will give businesses quicker access to funds at a far lower rate than the banks while availing them the cash they need to meet business needs when they need it.

The Carbon for Business platform is also part of Carbon’s advocacy efforts in pushing the Nigerian banking and financial services industry towards adopting Open API standards, as signalled by their recent partnership with Open Banking Nigeria


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E-Financial

African Union Launches Credit Rating Agency to Promote Regional Economic Integration

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The African Union has taken a significant step towards promoting economic resilience in Africa with the launch of the African Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA).

The new agency aims to provide a fair, transparent, and unbiased credit rating system, addressing the biases of global rating firms that have reportedly cost Africa over $75 billion in investment opportunities.

According to Kenya’s President, William Ruto, who unveiled the agency at an AU event in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Friday, “Global credit rating agencies have not only dealt us a bad hand, they have also deliberately failed Africa.”

Ruto criticized the flawed models, outdated assumptions, and systemic bias used by global rating agencies, which paint an unfair picture of African economies and lead to distorted ratings, exaggerated risks, and unjustifiably high borrowing costs.

The launch of AfCRA is a response to the long-standing grievances of African countries regarding their treatment by international credit rating firms.

The agency aims to provide fair, transparent, and development-focused credit ratings that reflect the realities and potential of African economies.

Improving Africa’s rating by one notch could unlock $15.5 billion in additional funding for the continent, according to Ruto.

The idea of creating an African credit rating agency has been in the pipeline for years, with the AU officially announcing its plans to move forward with the project in September 2023.

The push for an African credit rating agency gained momentum in 2022 when Senegal’s former president Macky Sall called for a new system to “end the injustices” faced by African countries.

The African Credit Rating Agency is part of Africa’s continuous march towards economic resilience, which also includes the recent establishment of the African Energy Bank, headquartered in Nigeria.

The bank aims to provide support to unleash Africa’s energy potential and bring an end to energy poverty on the continent.

 


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Nigeria Worst Hit by Crypto Currency Fraud

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Fraud in the crypto industry in African continent has soared by 48 percent over the past year and Nigeria is worst hit according to report by CAJ News.

Nigeria Worst Hit by Crypto Currency Fraud

This is according to the Sumsub State of the Crypto Industry 2025 report, which indicates Nigeria recorded the highest rate of fraud across the sector, at 8,3 percent.

Thus, this percentage of verification attempts were flagged as fraudulent.

Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania all have fraud rates of 4,8 percent, with Cameroon (4,5 percent), Ethiopia (3,7 percent), Ghana (3,5 percent), Algeria (2,6 percent), Benin (2,6 percent) and Morocco (2,1 percent) recording significant rates.

The most popular fraud types are document forgery (affecting 31 percent of surveyed companies), phishing (20 percent) and money mulling (15 percent), followed by account takeover (14 percent) and forced verification (12percent).

Simsub, the cyber crime expert, believes this surge highlights the need for companies to adopt artificial intelligence (AI)-powered detection, biometrics and continuous monitoring to enhance security.

 

The report states that innovations like biometric checks, AI-backed automation and document-free verification have boosted crypto platform users’ on-boarding success rates to 93,39 percent and reduced verification time by 46 percent, overall improving customer on-boarding while reducing drop-off cases.

Hannes Bezuidenhout, Vice President of Business Development (Africa) at Sumsub, said Africa’s growing adoption of crypto provided its own challenges, but the company foresaw increasing demand and growing user expectations across the continent.

“So it’s crucial for VASPs operating in the region to implement secure verification systems and stay vigilant to fraud, while keeping an eye on evolving and new regulations concerning the crypto sector to avoid fines.”

VASP is an acronym for virtual asset service provider.

 

 


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Banking Consolidation Less Likely as Nigerian Banks Meet Capital Requirements – Fitch

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Fitch Ratings has said that Nigerian banks are making significant progress in raising core capital to meet new paid-in capital requirements. The rating agency noted that the banks are generally on track to meet the end-of-first quarter (Q1) 2026 deadline.

This is supporting a recovery in capitalisation from the impact of naira devaluation, providing fuel for business growth. It also reduces the likelihood of significant banking sector consolidation.

In March 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria announced a significant increase in paid-in capital requirements (share capital plus share premium) for commercial, merchant and non-interest banks.

Banks have three ways to comply – through equity injections, M&A and downgrading their licence authorisation.

Fitch-rated banks have made notable progress towards compliance. Almost all have raised capital or formally launched the process to do so.

The two largest banks, Access Holdings and Zenith Bank, are the first to secure enough fresh capital to meet the N500 billion requirement for an international licence. First HoldCo, United Bank for Africa and Guaranty Trust Holding Company are taking a phased approach.

They have recently raised capital and have shareholder approval to begin raising more to meet the N500 billion requirement. First HoldCo’s and United Bank for Africa’s recent rights issues are awaiting final regulatory approval.

Fidelity Bank and FCMB Group have completed initial capital raisings but will need to raise more to maintain their international licences. As second-tier banks, they must raise significantly more capital relative to their balance sheets than larger banks.

They have extraordinary general meeting approval for this, although they could consider downgrading to a national licence as they each have just one foreign subsidiary.

Ecobank Nigeria Limited (ENG) and Jaiz Bank needed only small capital injections to meet their requirements and have already achieved compliance. We estimate that ENG is still in breach of its total capital adequacy ratio (CAR) requirement of 10 percent but it has further capital-raising plans to restore compliance. Stanbic IBTC Holdings has launched a rights issue to raise capital to maintain its national licence.

Strong investor appetite has ensured that the vast majority of capital raisings so far have been successful, and most first- and second-tier banks should be able to meet their new capital requirements through capital raisings alone. Therefore, we believe the likelihood of banking sector consolidation among first- and second-tier banks has decreased.

Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN), which is also in breach of its 10 percent CAR requirement, and third-tier banks have generally been slower to raise capital. Wema Bank has shareholder approval to raise enough capital to retain its national licence and plans to launch the process in April.

Coronation Merchant Bank recently received board approval. It is not clear whether UBN and unrated third-tier banks have received the necessary approvals. M&A activity and licence downgrades remain more likely among third-tier banks.

The capital raisings are contributing to a recovery in capitalisation from the impact of naira devaluation, which put pressure on capital ratios and increased US dollar credit concentration risks. Strengthened buffers over minimum CAR requirements will mitigate risks from a challenging operating environment, including regulatory intervention and further naira volatility, while providing room for business growth.

The capital raisings are unlikely to lead to banks with Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of ‘B-’ being upgraded given the constraint of Nigeria’s ‘B-’/Positive Long-Term IDR.

However, they could contribute to Outlook revisions to Positive for some banks, and, providing CAR compliance is restored, to upgrades for UBN and ENG (both rated ‘CCC’). Capital raisings are more likely to affect National Long-Term Ratings, which measure the relative creditworthiness of Nigerian issuers.

 


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