E-Financial
Social Lender Makes Regional Finalist forMIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge
Social Lender, a lending solution based on social reputation on mobile, online and social media platforms and major players in Nigerian Fintech ecosystem, has been selected as a regional finalist for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT] Inclusive Innovation Challenge (IIC).
The Nigerian fintech firm is the only Nigerian start-up that made the Africa regional finalist for the challenge.
Other finalists are Forasna, a Cairo-based platform for blue-collar jobs; Farmline, a Ghana based agrictech startup that distributes content to farmers and 10 other technology startups companies in Africa.
The finalists were announced by MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy this week.
Social Lenders and other finalists will proceed to regional events in five regions which include US and Canada, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia where they will pitch their solutions to a selection panel of regional innovation experts.
According to a statement from Twenty Regional Winners, four from each region will proceed to the Global Grand Prize Gala at MIT on November 21, where $250,000 will be awarded to each of four grand prize winners.
‘’We have awarded over one million dollars in prizes to the future of work entrepreneurs in four categories that holistically represent the solution types that are necessary to build an economy that works for all in the digital era,” Andrew McAfee, co-founder, MIT Inclusive challenge said.
Social Lender is a Fintech firm that bridges the gap of immediate fund access for people with limited access to formal credit by harnessing a proprietary algorithm using social reputation on mobile, online, and social media platforms.
Faith Adesemowo, CEO of Social Lender said, “We have been solving real problems for real people. We provide a way of accessing formal credit to users using their social reputation score.
‘’You can find several user testimonials on our blog and Facebook page. It is really touching the impact we have had on our users.”
She said that Social Lender uses its own proprietary algorithm to perform a social audit of the users on social media, online and other related platforms and gives a social reputation score to users.
According to her loans by Social Lenders are guaranteed by the users’ social profile and network allowing users to then borrow from banks and other financial institutions based on their social reputation.
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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