E-Business
SystemSpecs Hosts ICT Stakeholders @ Social Media Week
To deepen digital lending opportunities and further empower individuals and SMEs in Nigeria, SystemSpecs, a leading provider of financial technology and human capital management solutions and services, would be hosting an insightful session during the 2020 edition of the Social Media Week (SMW) in Lagos.
The session with the theme, “Human-Focused Lending in a Digital World: Impact of Fintech Collaborations” would hold between 11:00 am and noon on Thursday, 27th February 2020 at Landmark Event Centre, Oniru, Victoria Island.
Bringing together customers, providers, facilitators and regulators of digital lending in Nigeria including banks, other financial technology players, and policymakers, panelists at the session would discuss the potentials that abound in retail lending as well as the innovations and extensive opportunities that can be created through increased collaboration among Fintechs, banks, alternate lenders, credit bureaus and other data providers.
Speakers at the session would include the Chief Executive Officer of Arvo Finance, Ayotunde Bally; Business Head, Digital Banking Group, Access Bank, Esther Obiekwe; Co-Founder, Lidya, Tunde Kehinde; and Divisional Head, Payment Applications and Vertical Markets, SystemSpecs, David Okeme. The session will be moderated by Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata, Co-founder, CFAmedia.
SystemSpecs, developers of Remita, the innovative payment and collection solution for corporates, SMEs and individuals, is known for powering the services of most of Nigeria’s top lenders.
Since the inception of its data referencing service in 2017, SystemSpecs has become well-known as a key enabler in the ecosystem by providing insight on credit, streamlining lender’s risk decisions and facilitating the lending of over N35 billion to individuals and SMEs.
Thriving on partnerships within the ecosystem, its Remita direct debit offering is adjudged the leader in the industry and continues to attract interest from Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Microfinance banks, alternative lenders and LendTech solution providers.
Patrick Ikpelue, Divisional Business Development Lead at SystemSpecs, said a major hindrance to the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is the lack of access to funds as a result of stringent measures such as lengthy, torturous approval processes as well as convoluted requests for col-laterals.
“A virile finance and credit system is a key enabler to the realization of a number of sustainable development goals, particularly in reducing poverty and raising peoples’ social status.
At SystemSpecs, we are committed to empowering the delivery of digital lending to individuals, SMEs and larger organisations to enable them meet their financial needs,” Ikpelue said.
Noting that more financial institutions and Fintech lenders have now become active players in the retail credit business, he said this move would deepen retail portfolios and enhance collaborations. Retail lending partnerships, if properly harnessed, will further strengthen the economy.
The session on digital lending aligns with the overarching goal of the 2020 Social Media Week in Nigeria which is “to support ideas, campaigns and brands that embody a human-first approach to creating digital experiences, which is not only good for business, but will advance us as a society and culture.”
Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) is in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and needs urgent reforms to revive it, according to Isaac Kekemeke, board chairman of the service.
Kekemeke, who spoke at a workshop organised for NIPOST staff in Abuja yesterday, added that it is now time to go the whole hog to reform and make NIPOST fulfill its destiny to compare and compete favourably with multinational postal agencies.
“The approach may not be palatable at all times but we need to take the tough but necessary decisions to exit the intensive care unit. We are either out of ICU in good health or head for the morgue. NIPOST either functions effectively now as a commercialised state operator or gets privatised, so that myself, the PMG, and a good number of you risk the loss of our jobs,” the chairman said.
No doubt, he added, “Change is not always easy as many loathe change because of the uncertainty it brings but it is in my place to urge you all to embrace the change we advocate.”
The Internet Society’s six-month Fellowship Peering program continues to help make internet access affordable, dependable, and resilient. The program, according to the global charitable organisation, is targeted for fifteen professionals in the peering and interconnection sector.
“It offers a unique opportunity to build the skills, knowledge, and networks necessary to improve local Internet infrastructure and policy,” according to the site’s description.
The fellowship participants will participate in a comprehensive curriculum that includes virtual training sessions, collaborative forums, and technical and advocacy-based instruction on routing, Internet Exchange Points, and policy.
The fellowship culminates in attendance at a global peering event, which provides direct experience and networking opportunities with important voices in the Internet community.
The fellowship enhances participants’ impact in their particular nations by developing engagement with seasoned professionals and boosting regional and global collaboration. The program invites fellows to return to their communities prepared to expand interconnectivity, improve policy conditions, and make a meaningful contribution to the development of the Internet ecosystem.
Applicants must have at least three years of Internet experience and be based in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, or Asia-Pacific.
Eligibility also required proper travel documentation and availability to attend important events such as African Peering and Interconnection Forum, Latin American and Caribbean Network Operators Forum, or Peering Asia, as well as a commitment of roughly four hours per week over six months.
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called for the withdrawal of the amendment of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 because it seeks to regulate the activities of bloggers operating within the territorial boundaries of Nigeria.
The organisation in its letter urged Mr Godswill Akpabio, Senate President, and Mr Tajudeen Abbas, Speaker of the House of Representatives, to “immediately withdraw the repressive bill.”
The titled A Bill for an Act to Amend the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, to Mandate the Establishment of Physical Offices within the Territorial Boundaries of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by Social Media Platforms and for Related Matters among others intends to regulate bloggers, including by requiring all bloggers to register local offices and join recognised national association for bloggers.
Currently, the bill has passed its first and second reading in the Senate.
In the letter signed its deputy director, Mr Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP asked Mr Akpabio and Mr Abbas “to ensure that any amendment to the Nigeria Data Protection Act promotes and protects the rights of bloggers and other journalists and does not undermine the fundamental human rights of Nigerians.”
It demanded an end to “the imposition of unnecessary restrictions on the rights of Nigerians online and Internet-based content.”
In the letter dated April 12, 2025, the group said, “This bill is a blatant attempt to bring back and fast-track the obnoxious and widely rejected social media bill by the back-door.”
“If passed, the bill would also be used to ban major social media platforms—including Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, WhatsApp, YouTube, TikTok, and independent bloggers if they ‘continuously fail to establish/register and maintain physical offices in Nigeria for a period of 30 days.
“Lawmakers should not become arbiters of truth in the public and political domain. Regulating the activities of bloggers and forcing them to associate would have a significant chilling effect on freedom of expression and lead to censorship or restraint.
“Should the National Assembly and its leadership fail to withdraw the bill to regulate the activities of bloggers, and should any such bill be assented to by President Bola Tinubu, SERAP would consider appropriate legal action to challenge the legality of any such law and ensure it is never implemented in the public interest,” the organisation warned.
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