E-Financial
IWD: Moniepoint Calls for Applications into 4th Edition of Women in Tech Programme
The role of women and their centrality to the growth and evolution of technology has been widely acknowledged. Yet, recent statistics show that women remain underrepresented in the technology industry.
The last census results by the National Population Commission show that there are almost as many women as there are men in Nigeria, however data from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on women and men in the country reveal that women occupy just 25% of the employment rate in the technology industry even as 22% of annual STEM graduates from Nigerian universities are women. Although a global challenge, these gaps have underscored the need to increase female representation in the tech industry in Nigeria.
As the world marks the 2024 International Women’s Day, IWD and against the backdrop of the successful execution of its three previous editions, leading digital financial services provider for emerging markets and the second-fastest growing company in Africa, Moniepoint Inc has announced the launch of this year’s edition of the Women-In-Tech initiative.
This year’s IWD campaign theme of #InspireInclusion calls for action to break down barriers, challenge stereotypes, and create environments where all women are valued and respected.
Given that previous editions had 5 women in each cohort, this year the 6-month internship programme which is aimed at ensuring that young women have access to building a career in technology will see 10 women take on roles in various teams that include Cloud Engineering, Backend Engineering, Technical Product Management, Data Engineering, Systems Administration, Technical Support and User Experience. Christened as the Dream 10, these women will be provided with direct mentorship during the internship. Other perks include; a salary, work tools, merch, the opportunity to work on live projects during the course of the internship and an offer of full-time employment depending on assessment post-internship.
The goal of the Women in Tech initiative has always been to provide women with the opportunity to grow their skills by gaining the necessary experience to advance their careers. As such, selected applicants get to spend time working on real projects to help shape digital finance in Africa. Alumni from the programme have become active contributors to the development of their products making a huge difference in the world while making significant strides within the tech ecosystem.
Speaking on this year’s edition, Chinaza Nduka-Dike, Head, People Operations at Moniepoint Inc noted that with this initiative the organization is going over and beyond inspiring inclusion to demonstrating a genuine commitment to making a difference in the lives of women.
“Increasingly we are seeing that diversity, inclusion can ignite innovation and growth. Intentional outreaches such as our Women in Tech which have helped to increase female representation and have had a transformative power to create meaningful inclusion while ensuring that we can keep pace with the talent development in a global economy.
“We have been able to fill talent gaps while giving women great jobs and a sustainable livelihood. Looking back at the past editions, we are filled with an immense sense of pride at the progress made and looking forward to adding more women to the pool who in turn can grow as leaders and build thriving, successful organizations”, she said.
Tefe Oladejo, a frontend engineer and member of the pioneer cohort of the Moniepoint Women in Tech expressed her delight at the increased number of internship roles available for the 2024 programme.
“I am a living witness to the transformative power of bold action initiatives like this. It’s been a privilege to work on products that you can see making a visible difference in the lives of millions. Moniepoint’s supportive ecosystem has been very pivotal to my growth and personal development,” she said.
Since 2019, Moniepoint’s technology has powered the dreams of over 2 million business and individuals, offering personal and business banking, payment, credit and business management tools to help them succeed.
The internship is open to women across Africa who are interested in starting a career in technology. Interested applicants can find out more about available roles and apply for the programme via the Women in Tech website, https://womenintech.moniepoint.com
Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has called for comments from financial services industry stakeholders in the country, policy makers and the general public towards the ongoing revision of the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI) Core Principles for Effective Deposit Insurance System.
The proposed revision launched by IADI in May 2025, is a significant step towards enhancing the resilience and relevance of deposit insurance frameworks in the face of an evolving global financial landscape.
Specifically, the revision is aimed at comprehensively addressing structural changes, including digital innovation, the growing role of deposit insurers in resolution, and lessons learned from the banking turmoil in March 2023, which is the most significant systemic stress event since the 2007-09 global financial crisis.
The IADI Core Principles are used by jurisdictions, including Nigeria, as a benchmark for assessing the quality of their deposit insurance systems and for identifying gaps in their deposit insurance practices and measures to address them.
The Core Principles are also used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in the context of the Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP), to assess the effectiveness of jurisdictions’ deposit insurance systems and practices.
The first set of the Core Principles was issued jointly by the IADI and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) in June 2009 while the document is subjected to periodic revision order to keep it up-to-date with evolving trends on the global financial system landscape.
As a founding and committed member of IADI, NDIC recognises the importance of the ongoing revision and hereby invites stakeholders and the general public to actively participate in the process by reviewing the document on the lin
Onafriq, Africa’s largest digital payments network, has celebrated a major milestone, connecting nearly 1 billion mobile money wallets and 500 million bank accounts across the continent.
According to a statement released by the company, Onafriq has evolved from a mobile money switch to a comprehensive omnichannel payments network, facilitating seamless transactions and financial inclusion.
The company’s network now connects 961 million registered mobile wallets and 464 million registered bank accounts, with over 2,000 cross-border payment corridors supported.
Speaking on the achievement, Dare Okoudjou, Founder and CEO of Onafriq, said, “We remain fully committed to connecting every individual and business in Africa with each other and the world.”
Okoudjou noted that the company has grown in lockstep with the continent’s digital evolution, from mobile money to bank accounts, remittances, and real-time trade.
As Onafriq embarks on its next chapter, the company aims to develop infrastructure with local relevance while maintaining the scale of its pan-African infrastructure.
A prime example is Nigeria, where Onafriq is developing a unique payments stack that combines the strength of its cross-border network with the regulatory and foreign exchange realities of one of Africa’s most dynamic economies.
The company is also exploring blockchain infrastructure and stablecoin integrations to facilitate near-instant, programmable payments, aligning with the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“We are increasingly focused on creating infrastructure with local depth,” Okoudjou said.
With extensive experience, wide reach, and a proven execution track record, Onafriq remains dedicated to building a payment infrastructure that unlocks prosperity across borders and within local communities.
United Bank for Africa (UBA) has informed its customers that, in compliance with a new directive from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), charges for USSD banking services will no longer be deducted from bank accounts, effective June 3, 2025.
In a notice sent to customers, the bank explained that the charges would now be deducted directly from users’ mobile airtime balances, in line with the NCC’s newly introduced End-User Billing (EUB) framework.
It said the new model aimed to ensure transparency in USSD transactions and shift billing responsibility to mobile network operators.
According to UBA, each USSD session would now cost ₦6.98 per 120 seconds, saying that customers initiating transactions would receive a prompt to provide consent at the start of each session, and airtime would only be debited if the bank is available to process the request.
The bank advised customers who are not comfortable with the new billing arrangement to opt for other digital banking alternatives such as the UBA mobile app and internet banking platform, which remain fully operational and user-friendly.
UBA reaffirmed its commitment to providing secure and accessible digital services, and encouraged customers to choose the channel that best suits their banking needs.
The policy marks a significant shift in Nigeria’s digital banking ecosystem and is expected to address longstanding disputes over USSD service charges between telecom operators and financial institutions.
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