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How to Build More Connected & Inclusive Cities

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Carlos Menendez is president, Enterprise Partnerships, for Mastercard
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By Carlos Menendez,

Carlos Menendez is president, Enterprise Partnerships, for Mastercard. In this role, Mr. Menendez is responsible for expanding the company’s operations globally with partnerships in the Smart Cities, Retail, Travel and Banking space. In this piece, he looks at ways to build more connected and inclusive cities.

When thinking about the cities of the future, I know that they will be more connected, and I strongly believe that they must be more inclusive.

We can’t have the Internet of Everything without the Inclusion of Everyone. Already today, a growing number of cities are using smart technologies to better connect people to places and to each other – and more importantly also connecting people to opportunities for better and safer lives.

Unfortunately, what still causes a significant amount of friction in our cities and prevents inclusive growth is the dominance of cash. In fact, close to 85 percent of all consumer payments in the world are still done with cash or checks.

This means that far too many people are trapped by default in an informal economy. They lack the financial services to guard themselves against risk, save for themselves, plan for their children’s futures, and build better lives.

Two years ago, Mastercard set a global goal to bring 500 million people into the financial mainstream by 2020. And we’re well on our way to doing that.

In just a few short years, we have helped connect more than 300 million people through partnerships with banks, governments, retailers, and NGOs.

We’re also working with our partners to enable and grow 40 million small merchants and micro-entrepreneurs because it’s not just individuals that are too often trapped in a cash economy – stores lose billions of dollars every year to leakage and theft.

Success Factors For Future Interconnected and Inclusive Cities

It’s no secret that the world is becoming more urban. The UN estimates that within the next generation, the number of people living in cities will jump from 50 percent today to almost 70 percent.

Already today, cities are grappling with the challenges that come with their growth. Congestion, pollution, and poverty are features of many of the world’s major cities, and it will take a collaborative effort by the public and private sector to meet these challenges.

We have seen progress, and there are some common themes around how we can leverage technologies and partnerships to move toward more connected, more inclusive cities.

Transforming Public Transportation

The key approach is to tackle those sectors in our cities that have high levels of everyday cash usage, and one of these areas is mass transit.

About 65 percent of all urban transportation is still paid in cash, which adds up in significant operational costs to transport providers and puts drivers and passengers at risk of getting robbed.

In over 100 cities around the globe (including London, Singapore, Bogota and New York), Mastercard users are paying their train or bus fare simply by tapping their card or swiping their phone.

Only a couple of weeks ago, Sydney became the first city in Australia to introduce contactless payments for public transport – no more queuing in front of tickets booths, topping up cards, or fumbling for cash.

In London, already 40 percent of daily pay-as-you-go journeys on the city’s underground, buses, and commuter rails are paid by contactless cards/phones – which has dropped Transport for London’s cost of selling tickets from 14 to 9 percent of the fare and has saved them over 100 million pounds in cash related costs.

Once payments are digitized, data insights help city governments better understand and connect with their citizens. In Chicago for example, UI LABS, is bringing technology and transportation providers together to find ways to better balance transit supply and demand across a city.

When people use their cards for public transport, this can help form a habit of paying electronically in shops and stores as well which can be a critical factor for enabling broader financial inclusion.

For instance, those living in a cash economy face significant risks when it comes to putting away money for savings. This lack of savings then makes it challenging for people to access lower priced weekly or monthly tickets, instead of more expensive daily tickets.

This is why a few weeks ago, the Government of Mexico City announced its plans to launch a debit card that can be used for both transit payments as well as every day purchases, and potentially social disbursements.

Empowering Small and Micro Businesses

Another critical angle to building more inclusive cities is to focus on the role of small businesses and how to connect them to electronic commerce.

In most parts of the world, small businesses account for well over 90 percent of all enterprises. However, small and micro entrepreneurs have historically been underserved when it comes to their ability to accept electronic payments. For a small market vendor, bigger tickets and additional sales from someone using their card instead of cash are important steps on the economic ladder, which are typically followed by better access to credit.

There are various ways to address this. One is by turning a seller’s mobile phone into a payment terminal. Masterpass QR, which is already available in eight countries in Africa and Asia, is a new electronic payment option that lets customers pay for goods and services from their mobile phones by scanning a QR code displayed at a store’s checkout.

In Kenya, Mastercard is partnering with Unilever to simplify the way smaller stores order and pay for their goods with a wholesaler.

Today, this is a very cash intensive process. Digitizing this process will give small entrepreneurs better access to funds, facilitate inventory ordering and management, and provide better sales insights about their business.

Partnering with Governments

Like businesses and individuals, governments make and receive payments. And many governments around the world choose electronic methods for things like procurement, social benefit payments, or tax collection. Electronic payments are not only more efficient and more transparent, they’re also a great way to lead by example.

At Mastercard, we have partnered with over 60 governments globally to deliver more than 1,600 scalable cashless programs in various cities and communities around the world.

In the Middle East and Africa, we have joined forces with public institutions on solutions that link a government identity with payments and enable people to become financially included on a massive scale. In Egypt, the government plans to extend financial inclusion to over 54 million citizens through a digital National ID program.

But what’s most important for many people, is that this may be the first time they see their name printed on a financial instrument. This gives them a financial identity, and it may give them the first chance to move out of the cash economy into the formal economy.

Technology as the Great Enabler

Simplifying access to public transport, empowering small and micro businesses, promoting cashless programs – what these three areas have in common is that technology works as a great enabler. While the know-how exists to solve many of the world’s most pressing problems, no one can meet these challenges on their own.

It takes partnerships across businesses, governments, NGOs and academia to advance more connected and more inclusive cities – and to build healthier, safer and more prosperous communities.


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Ugo Onwuaso is an ICT enthusiast. He believes technology should be used for general good. He holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the Lagos state University. Dear Reader, Your support matters. But we believe that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. That is why, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and finance and how they affect lives. Our incisive and analytical view of how technology news affects the daily life help individuals and organizations make up their minds. Quality journalism costs money. Today, we're asking that you support us to do more. Kindly support our effort to deliver technology and finance journalism to everyone in the world. Donate as little as N1,000. Bank transfers can be made to: UBA Plc 1017156876 Communication Week Media Ltd

General News

NOTAP Urges South Eastern Entrepreneurs to Embrace Franchising as Business Model  

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Dr. Obiageli Amadiobi, DG/CEO, NOTAP
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Dr. Obiageli Amadiobi, director general and chief executive officer, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), has advocated Franchising as a sustainable business model for the South East entrepreneurs.

NOTAP Urges South Eastern Entrepreneurs to Embrace Franchising as Business Model  

Dr. Obiageli Amadiobi, DG/CEO, NOTAP

She made this call during a one-day sensitization and unveiling of the NOTAP Franchising Guidelines for south east stakeholders and entrepreneurs for a successful franchising business.

The DG who was represented at the event by Mr. Emeka Orji, head of Department Corporate Planning (CP) Department, NOTAP, said that franchising business model had globally been proven to be successfully sustainable due to low business risks associated with it.

She defines franchising as a contractual business relationship between a licensor (the franchisor) and a licensee (the franchisee) that allows the business owner to use the licensor’s brand and methods of doing business to distribute products or provide services to consumers.

She added that in essence, the franchisee pays the franchisor for the opportunity to use his established business model and brand name in running his business.

Dr. Amadiobi said the essence of the workshop was not just organised to explore the possibility of adopting franchising as a strategic platform to transform local dreams into national and global business realities.

She described the programme as an opportunity for business owners and intending entrepreneurs from the Zone  to latch into the huge and untapped potentials provided by franchising business models in becoming business and brand ambassadors.

With over 800,000 franchise establishments across the globe, generating trillions in revenue, she described Franchising as a pathway to economic empowerment.

 

 

 


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FG Launches Online Citizenship, Business Management Portal to Enhance Transparency, Service Delivery

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The Federal Government has launched a new Online Citizenship and Business Management Platform, in a bid to boost transparency, operational efficiency, and service delivery. The initiative, unveiled by the Ministry of Interior, is in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The platform is designed to simplify and accelerate the processing of citizenship and business-related services, allowing individuals and corporate entities to carry out transactions seamlessly from anywhere in the world.

According to a statement issued by Magdalene Ajani, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, the digital platform represents a significant milestone in the Ministry’s ongoing reform agenda.

It noted that the new system would drastically reduce bureaucratic bottlenecks, enhance user experience, and improve turnaround time for applications. “The Ministry is committed to promoting a more efficient, transparent, and secure framework for citizenship administration.

“This digital transformation is a testament to our resolve to improve public service delivery through the use of technology”, the statement reads.

Members of the public, private organisations, and other stakeholders can now access the platform through the Ministry’s official website: https://interior.gov.ng, or directly via the portal: https://candb.interior.gov.ng. For technical support or inquiries, users can contact: candb-support@interior.gov.ng.

The Ministry emphasised that the launch of this platform is just one of several digital initiatives aimed at transforming the nation’s administrative processes and aligning them with global best practices.

Observers believe the platform could become a game-changer in reducing red tape and promoting a more investor-friendly environment in Nigeria, particularly in areas involving citizenship acquisition and business operations.


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NITDA DG says its Community IT Centres Should be a Catalyst of Change

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Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, director general of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has said that the 18 community IT centre the agency has built in the past two years are meant to be a beacon of calls and catalyst of change in those communities where they are cited.

He sated this at the commissioning/handing over of IT centre at Akesan area in Lagos. He noted that the IT centres, Innovation hubs among others are part of digital literacy programme of the agency.

“This center is designed and build to help Akesan community to be part of the digital economy, because the President is big and loud when it comes to national prosperity and inclusivity.

“Our target is to build more than 1600 across the country. We want every community every Nigerian to be part of this national prosperity and inclusivity when it comes to digital economy.

“Today, we are here to commission it, to ensure and encourage you to put it in a good use, because we call it a community center means that we want everybody to be part of it. We don’t want it to be suited in a school where the school will lock it for only students and the staff.

“That’s why we located it in the community. Schools can be part of it. Our senior citizens can be part of it. Our religious centers also can be part of it to learn.

“We want it to be a beacon of call as well as a catalyst of change in this community. We want to see more information technology gurus coming from Akesan community. So, I want to encourage you to also come with a sustainability model so that the center will be on. It is on because when you invest in this kind of infrastructure, we don’t want to be called when there are small things that we should come and fix it. That’s why we are handing it over to the community so that the community can put it in a good use. The community can find a way to make it self-sustaining,” he said.

Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani, Honourable Minister of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy, the NITDA Community Centre in Lagos, a space that is more than just a building. It is a strategic extension of our national mission – a bridge between the Federal Government’s digital economy policies and the unmatched energy, ingenuity, and innovation that Lagos represents.

The minister who was represented by Mr. Johnson Bareyei, director, e-governmance in the ministry, added that his ministry is committed to promoting inclusivity through capacity building initiatives like the 3MTT programme.

“We are also developing the National Digital Economy & e-Governance Bill, which is a robust legislative framework that will help guide our everyday engagement online.

“Our work at the Ministry also includes Project BRIDGE, our ambitious effort to improve interconnectivity by deploying 90,000km of fibre-optic cable across Nigeria. This is a critical imperative as we work towards making Nigeria a $1trillion economy powered by innovation, infrastructure, and inclusive growth,” he said.


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