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CIBN Commences Tutorial Session for Agency Banking Certification Examination
Tutorial sessions for the students registered for the October 2024 diet examinations for Agency Banking Certification of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) have begun.
The first in the series of the tutorial session commenced on Saturday July 20, 2024 and will end on Sunday July 28, 2024.The dates for subsequent sessions being jointly organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria and FIC Professionals Network Plc, will be announced later.
The organisers are being supported by the industry associations comprising of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN), Association of Mobile Money Operators of Nigeria (AMMON) and Association of Mobile Bank Operators (AMBO).
The sessions will focus on the four modules of the Foundation level of the Certification and avail the students the tips on how to prepare for and pass the examinations.
It would be recalled that CIBN unveiled the agency banking certification programme last year for Point of Sales (POS) agents, NIN /BVN agents, Agent network managers, customer service officers, agent banking personnel in the banks and Fintech companies.
One of the organisers, Mr. Segun Shonubi, Executive Director, FIC Professionals Network Plc stated that the main purpose of the tutorial sessions was to help the students to better understand the course and enhance their performance in the examinations.
The examinations which have been scheduled for Tuesday, October 8, 2024 and Wednesday, October 9, 2024 will be conducted through Remote Online Proctoring to enable students write from the comforts of their homes or any place of their choices.
In addition, plans are being put in place for practice questions to be made available for the students on the Institute’s e-learning platform. This is to enable the students to practice and get acquainted with the format to aid their preparations.
Registration for the examinations is still open to interested students via www.myabc.ng till September16, 2024.
Mr Ken Opara, former President and Chairman of Council, CIBN, said the Agent banking certification program (ABC) was introduced to address capacity challenge in the ecosystem.
“Agent banking has been the key driver of financial inclusion, which creates financial access points and ultimately eradicating poverty.
“It is democratizing banking services, taking it to the grass root and connecting to the nooks and crane of the country.
“The certification programme, which details provides all round knowledge, practical engagement with industry experts and participation in standard procedures for conducting Agent banking business in Nigeria,” he said.
Fasasi Sarafadeen Atanda, member, CIBN sub-committee on Agent Banking Certification programme, said that Nigerians can now look forward to more knowledgeable and professional POS Agents, mobile money agents, bank customer service desk that knows what to do when you are debited by POS, more understanding from security agents that will see certified agents and treat cases from agent transaction professionally etc.
“It has been a lot of work from the ideation, to conception, to proposition, to adoption and to commission in the programme.
“There is a lot of complains about proliferation of unregistered agents in the ecosystem. What we are doing is banking because when you are doing cash -in cash- out, account opening among others. Most of these services require professionalism.
“The account opening that we pushed for, resulted to not palatable experience because greater per centage of accounts opened at agent location were used for fraud. This actually made some banks to stop account opening at agent location.
“Not every agent can handle Biometric Verification Number and National Identity Number, any agent that wants to handle these registrations must be certified by CIBN. We have seen that most of the error seen in the process are from agent location.
“They do sharp practices, unethical practices, not doing due-diligence due to poor training and lack of professionalism, if they had pass through this process of certification, they would have been trained on maintaining ethical standard,” he said.
Bosun Tijani, minister for Communication, Innovation and Digital Economy, has stated that the federal government is geared towards creating about one million technology jobs for teeming Nigerian youth.
Tijani stated this at the official opening of a solar-powered community ICT center built by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in Abeokuta, as part of activities marking the 38th Lisabi festival.
The minister emphasised the commitment of President Bola Tinubu’s administration to invest in the digital economy, driving inclusive growth and empowering the country’s teeming youth population.
“The president made it very clear when I came into office, that he will spend efforts and resources in creating one million technology jobs. So, for anybody that is following the development in the world today you will see that there’s no world without technology.
“There is a strong shortage of technology workforce all over the world, and while a lot of the developed countries have ageing population, and not giving birth to kids, in Nigeria, the average age is 16.9, so our young people are being projected to be the workforce of the future, not only for Nigeria.
“This center here is one of many. In the next two months, we are launching about 30 of them all over the country. This center will be properly animated and we will put resources into ensuring that there are courses for young people to come and take here.
“We are also going to ensure that there are job opportunities that we can connect them to and if anyone wants to follow, follow the three million Technical Talent Program which we have started already in the country”, he said.
He therefore charged the youth to remain focus, and not be discouraged, adding that there is massive employment opportunities in technology as there is no enough people to work in technology all over the world.
“If you ask anyone that works in technology, the entry salary is between N350,000 to N500,000. Technology pays really well, so instead of worrying about things being hard, they should take advantage of centers like this, empower themselves and go for the opportunities the world has to offer them”, he added.
Speaking earlier, Oba Adedotun Are, Alake and Paramount ruler of Egbaland, lauded President Tinubu for approving the centre in Abeokuta, saying that this has no doubt marked another new dawn for the people of Egbaland, given rapid growth, development, and economic empowerment of the people.
National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) has predicted that the price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) will decline as Dangote Refinery and other local refineries commence full operations.
Speaking on Channels Television on Tuesday, April 1, NIPSS Director-General Ayo Omotayo expressed optimism that fuel prices would fall once more refineries become operational.
He projected that petrol prices could drop to around N750 per litre before the end of the year with a more stable exchange rate.
“We’re looking at it coming down as low as N750 before the end of the year. And of course, foreign exchange will still drop to about 1.3 before the end of the year, and it is going to continue like that as more of our refineries come into place.
Omotayo acknowledged the current economic hardships but insisted that the policy would benefit Nigerians in the long run.Traditional Nigerian cuisine
“The gains at this time are very little, but in the long run, we will make up for whatever sacrifices we have made today as Nigerians” he stated
U.S. President Donald Trump has stated that a deal for the sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations is expected to be finalized before the April 5 deadline.
U.S. President Donald Trump
The deadline, set by legislation passed in January, mandates TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest its U.S. assets or face a nationwide ban due to national security concerns.
Multiple non-Chinese firms have expressed interest in acquiring TikTok’s U.S. operations.
Private equity firm Blackstone is considering a minority investment, potentially joining existing non-Chinese shareholders such as Susquehanna International Group and General Atlantic.
In a strategic move to facilitate the sale, Trump suggested that he might consider a reduction in tariffs on China, acknowledging that Chinese regulatory approval may be required for the deal to proceed.
The White House has been actively involved in negotiations to ensure that TikTok remains operational in the U.S. while addressing national security risks.
With TikTok’s 170 million American users watching closely, the outcome of the sale is expected to have a major impact on the social media landscape and the broader tech industry.
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