N3.6bn Grant: O-mobile Signs Agreement with Digital Economic Partners

Technology innovation company, O-mobile Limited, has signed a partnership agreement with several companies that will enlist small, medium and enterprises in its digital economy development programme.

Among the companies that entered into the agreement were Think Thank Health Limited, Global Entrepreneurship Network Limited, Tritech Business Solution Limited, Women in Agriculture Cooperative Federation Limited and Doctorak International Limited. Others are World of Marketing International, Union West Africa Limited, Risk Global Consultants Limited and Cornergate Technologies Ltd.

It will be recalled that O-mobile only recently announced that it had secured N3.6b digital economy development grant from So.Sui.Ben Foundation, a Swiss-based non-governmental organization that promotes economic growth in Africa. The grant was facilitated by Africunia Limited (trading as Africunia Bank), an innovative banking technology firm headquartered in United Kingdom.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Chief Executive Officer, O-Mobile Multimedia Limited, Mr. Benjamin Aduli, said the driving force behind the agreement was to promote and deepen knowledge of the practice of digital-based services among Africans and thereby reduce poverty.

Aduli explained that the companies that were chosen, especially agro-based cooperatives, boast of well organized membership in the country with clearly identified progrmmes and needs.

He stated that current efforts at promoting SMEs growth in Nigeria were too narrow and could not help driving down massive unemployment ravaging the country and also create wealth to improve the standards of living. He said with the digital economy development programme it had fashioned out, access to finance would improve and more jobs created.

“What we want to do is to create a development revolution by making access easy to finance for SMEs in Nigeria using existing identity platforms and ensuring that services and products offered by participants are subscribed to by members,” Aduli said.

He also revealed that the company was working with Chams Plc, to offer proper identification of every participant in the scheme to ensure investment security.

He stated that although crypto-currency would be offered to participants, there is no danger of loss of initial investment in the currency as all crypto currencies had been insured by international insurance firms.

Chief Executive Officer, Tritech Business Solutions Limited, Mr. Okeowo Ademola, said the company believed in the vision of O-Mobile and given the promise to provide finance to grow SMEs in Nigeria, it would be mobilizing over 100,000 members to join the programme.  He noted that it was only such move that would help eliminate the huge unemployment problems ravaging the country.