The African Development Bank (AfDB) has said the total assets under management alone by pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and the insurance sector in Africa is about $1.8 trillion; monies that can be leveraged on to develop infrastructure in Africa.

The President of the Bank Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, also said the institutional investors hold a large pool of capital that need to be mobilized and channeled into financing of infrastructure.

Dr. Akinwumi gave the indication in a keynote speech at the UK-Africa Investment Summit, on “Sustainable Infrastructure Forum.” The side event was organized as part of the UK-Africa Investment Summit.

“Total asset under management alone by pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and the insurance sector in Africa is about $1.8 trillion. Tapping just a fraction of this into infrastructure will go a long way to close the infrastructure financing gap,” he said.

He however noted that for that to effectively happen, many reforms are needed.

“One is to designate infrastructure as an asset class for institutional investors. Meeting their infrastructure allocation targets would require them to hire quality staff who understand infrastructure,” he said.

The AfDB president also noted that “a critical constraint to investments in infrastructure is the high level of risks, ranging from project risks, financial risks, operational risks, and political risks.”

Thus “de-risking instruments such as partial risk and partial credit guarantees are quite effective in leveraging private sector investments.”

According to him, there’s so much to do to help close the infrastructure financing gap in Africa. But “progress is being made as Africa witnessed an increase in infrastructure financing to $100 billion in 2018, an increase of 24 percent over 2017 and 38 percent over 2015-2017 on average.”

Quickteller, a leading consumer payment platform of Pan-African integrated digital payments company – Interswitch – known for providing seamless payment solutions, has launched a new campaign themed “Everything is Possible”. The campaign demonstrates the ubiquitous nature of the Quickteller platform.

The commercials, which have just been released, are in two versions: ‘The Big Idea’ and ‘Possibility’. Both versions are in furtherance of the previous Quickteller campaign – “One less thing to worry about” – and reiterate the ease and universality of the Quickteller platform.

The commercials deploy the use of humour and creativity to subtly drive in the point that on Quickteller, a user can pay for almost anything they can imagine.

Both commercials are a body of great creative thinking and drive home the overarching message that everything is possible on the Quickteller Platform. The commercials both depict the importance of a platform that makes payment possible irrespective of person, location and needs. Quickteller enables everyone to make transactions on the go, with a few clicks.

Speaking on the launch of the campaign, Olawale Akanbi, Group Head, Quickteller Marketing, highlighted the importance of transacting on a platform that provides a vast number of services in the digital payment space.  He said: “It’s amazing to know that you can pay for almost anything on Quickteller.

At Quickteller, we are committed to making all payments possible on our platform.  This is why we are continuously expanding the services available on Quickteller. From just a platform where you could transfer money, customers can now perform more transactions that speak to their lifestyle, businesses, passion and even their careers”.

According to Akanbi, “This campaign illustrates the compelling point that Quickteller makes almost anything possible.

Both versions of the campaign are a natural flow from the previous campaign and consistent with our messaging that payments are easier and most convenient on the Quickteller platform. It is simply a visual metaphor for everyday payments made easy by Quickteller”.

The commercials feature well-known celebrities like Bovi (a leading Comedian), Ini Dima Okojie (Nollywood actress) and Eric Omondi (a Comedian based in Kenya, who is one of the best comedians in Africa).

Services available on the platform include: payment of toll fees, state government payments, purchase of airtime, flight tickets, funds transfer, payment of cable bills (TV), quick loans, event tickets, online shopping from over 100 global stores, JAMB ePins and every other thing you can think of.

In fulfilment of its commitment to constantly find new ways to serve its customers better, NOVA Merchant Bank has been appointed as a designated collecting bank for Import, Excise and other duties by the Nigeria Customs Service.

This will enable the Bank handle duty payments for its clients in addition to process and issue custom bonds along with guarantees on their behalf.

According to the Mr. Anya Duroha, MD/CEO, “We are excited about this appointment because it would enhance efficiency and improve turnaround time for duty payments and other services offered by the Nigerian Customs Service for our clients”.

“This development is in line with the commitment of the Bank to be a one-stop solution shop for all trade and financial needs of its clients. The Bank is positioned to provide end to end quality banking services to our clients. I commend the management for obtaining and delivering on this mandate within a short period of time” stated Mr Phillips Oduoza, chairman,.

NOVA Merchant Bank offers an integrated suite of financial solutions covering Wholesale Banking, Investment Banking, Asset Management, Wealth Management, Trade Services, Transaction Banking, Cash Management and Digital Banking.