From looking at innovation differently to creating an enabling environment for it to thrive, Paul Carter-Brown, CTO and director at leading Banking as a Service and embedded finance enablement partner, Ukheshe, says the company’s Eclipse platform is paving the way towards a cashless future.

Innovation hinges on a clearly defined, overarching strategy that outlines the broad challenges a company aims to address and the specific role it aims to play in addressing them. The difficulty lies in actualising this vision and seeing it through from conception to a tangible product that has a positive impact. Innovation involves not only high-level ideation, but also execution, ongoing improvement, and a sustained effort throughout the entire process. Innovation is a comprehensive journey that involves both thinking and action, with a focus on continual progress.

Certainly, part of Ukheshe’s success in innovation can be attributed to the diverse perspectives within our team. Our team engages in healthy debate that challenges conventional thinking with the aim of inspiring each other to approach problems in new ways. This approach was integral in the development of our Eclipse platform, which addresses the complex challenges within financial services. From our early days as a software consulting company, we quickly realised the value of diversity in our team and the impact it has on our business. As we continue to grow, we remain committed to hiring and empowering individuals with unique perspectives and experiences. By embracing external thought leadership and individuals who challenge the status quo, we foster an environment where innovative ideas thrive.

Current trends in Africa and emerging markets present a huge opportunity to move away from cash-based economies and create a more formal financial economy through digital payments. By including everyone in the financial system, there can be a larger tax base which will benefit the economy as a whole. This move towards digitisation also helps solve the massive cost problem associated with cash, and with the growing smartphone penetration, managing finances through digital means becomes more accessible. Ukheshe plays a crucial role in facilitating a smooth and cost-effective transition by providing the necessary framework.

An enabling environment

Being part of, and contributing to, an environment that fosters growth is part of the Ukheshe DNA and is mirrored in the Eclipse platform. We are developing a technology platform that serves as the infrastructure for fintechs and banks to drive and realise their own innovative aspirations. Our platform handles everything from KYC, ledgering, financial transactions, integrations, backend, payment systems, and local identity systems, as there is a significant regulatory burden and compliance requirements when it comes to offering financial services. Our aim with the Eclipse platform is to provide a user-friendly and universal solution that promotes a collaborative environment, allowing people to build and develop their innovations on top of it. By building on our platform, innovators can fully realise their great ideas while also complying with the relevant regulatory and compliance requirements.

An interoperable future

In the journey towards a cashless future, the replacement needs to be something that is universally accepted, or at the very least, a solution that is ubiquitous within the realm that an individual makes and receives payments. Credit and debit cards have a significant advantage in their global acceptance. You can use these cards at almost every merchant, which makes them a reliable payment method in the formal economy. However, this is not the case for businesses that only accept cash. This is why interoperability is so crucial. Ukheshe is putting a great deal of effort into streamlining the process of card issuing in the new markets in which we launch. Our goal is to make it a simple and low-cost process for banks and fintechs to issue cards to payers. This will enable payers to easily load value onto their cards and make payments effortlessly. On the other hand, we are also focusing on payment acceptance, helping SMEs and businesses accept card payments as easily as possible to ensure that cardholders can use their cards wherever they go.

Digital payments offer huge benefits such as reduced reliance on cash, better financial data, and streamlined financial management. This data can also be used in future technologies such as AI and machine learning to help people manage their financial journeys. With a purely cash-based financial history, opportunities for loans and credit facilities are limited. However, moving payments digitally creates a valuable digital trail that can be used to demonstrate financial history and obtain loans, ultimately helping individuals and businesses grow in a truly digital economy.

Allocating sufficient budget to cyber threats can be a complex issue that requires the cooperation and coordination of all executives within an organisation. When a company’s financial and reputational welfare is at stake, it pays to effectively calculate the priority such risks should be awarded during budgeting, says Ryan Mer CEO at eftsure Africa, a Know Your Payee™ (KYP) platform provider. For CFOs, it’s not a question of whether a cybersecurity budget should be in place, but rather how much is enough.

The bigger the potential gain, the bolder cyber attackers become at finding creative ways to intercept payments or hack into company systems. Business email compromise (BEC) remains one of the most significant threats, intercepting invoices from suppliers and diverting payments by creating fraudulent bank accounts is another way hackers make quick financial wins. CIOs and CTOs may be the experts on your IT and internal technical processes but may not have the expertise, or the time, continuously to track the latest techniques being used by cybercriminals. In setting cybersecurity spend, the risk of inadequate protection should be weighed against the financial and reputational consequences of becoming a victim of cybercrime.

Factors determining cybersecurity spending

There are several issues to take into consideration when budget setting to cover cybersecurity risks. The nature of your company is a determinant of the level of risk you face (though no single operation is immune). Securing your organisation’s financial processes is an important starting point as the most valuable company data is usually related to its finances, which places a high degree of responsibility on CFOs, controllers, and other financial staff.

Financial workers can and should have an important voice alongside the company’s IT department, helping to devise a cybersecurity plan that addresses areas of concern, including issues related to payment fraud. Staff training on issues around cybersecurity including awareness around Business Email Compromise (BEC) should be ongoing and must be included in overall cybersecurity budgets.

How cyber risk averse or risk tolerant are you?

Ultimately, cybersecurity is as much a business strategy issue as it is a technical one and the decision on how much to allocate to your cybersecurity budget must be taken with the overall financial and reputational health of the company in mind. This means involving the entire executive team in decisions around budgets. Cybersecurity awareness should come from the top and how it’s managed should be thoughtfully considered on an ongoing basis given the rapid increase of common attacks like malware, phishing and BEC.

Inhouse or outsourced cybersecurity?

Keeping the management of cybersecurity in-house limits spending, which means heads of IT are responsible for keeping on top of ever-evolving risks. Fixing an amount in this way, however, does not take into account the ever-changing risk environment and may result in the IT department coming back, again and again, to request additional amounts to cover additional unanticipated risks. Engaging with cybersecurity consultants is worthwhile to give an expert external perspective on your organisation’s risk posture and how to address potential gaps. Software upgrades should play a pivotal role in an organisation’s cybersecurity controls, regardless of whether managed internally or via cybersecurity consultants.

Managing risks and security within an organisation becomes everyone’s responsibility given the ways modern businesses and processes are interconnected. Senior management can provide training to other staff to ensure awareness, education and compliance with procedures, while also enlisting the services of external cybersecurity experts to bolster efforts from time to time.

Protecting your organisation’s financial processes

A solution like eftsure protects your financial processes which are the most vulnerable, to mitigate against payment fraud. Placing your company, suppliers and customers at risk simply isn’t worth, well…the risk and taking a realistic look at all the systems that comprise the entire value chain of your operations is necessary when it comes to deciding budget limits. There are also massive efficiencies to be gained by automating and digitising financial processes which almost immediately have a positive impact on a company’s bottom line. What is not in dispute is the need for companies to address the issue head-on and recognise that the threat is real, requiring budgetary expenditure commensurate a company’s risk profile.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IS A WINNING STRATEGY- ABEL

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Police Affairs, Mr. Abel Olumuyiwa Enitan has pointed out that the Performance Management System (PMS) will facilitate the much-needed interface between the superior officers and their subordinates to agree on a work schedule for effective service delivery and increase productivity.

He stated this during the training on Performance Management System (PMS) modules 1-5 and 6-9) organized for the directorate cadre of the Ministry of Police Affairs held at the Ministry’s Conference room, Federal Secretariat, Abuja.

Abel said that Performance Management System (PMS) is the latest initiative of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation that would enable improvement in service delivery due to agreement between officers and subordinates and measurement of the productivity of civil servants.

The Permanent Secretary expressed that PMS affords an opportunity for better interactions between different areas of operational decision making adding that if the service gets it right at directorate cadre levels, it becomes easier to mainstream it in various departments.

In his words, “We decided to involve Deputy and Assistant Directors for a simple reason that they too will come up and assess people working with them and if they get it right and where the director is not easily available, they fill the gap and take up the responsibility of assessing people working under them. They can join hands with directors to drive the process successfully”.

He added that as PMS is to replace Annual Performance Evaluation Report (APER), it has many benefits compared to APER and the need to understand the process very well and impact it on others. There would be resistance at different levels because people have not really appreciated the need for PMS but the resistance would be weakened with time. Abel stressed.

The resource person, Professor Adeyemi Ajayi stated that Performance Management System (PMS) is a replacement for the Annual Performance Evaluation Review (APER). APER was considered to be ineffective, bearing in mind the global change and the need for the Federal Civil Service to improve in its performance drive for national benefits and improvement in service to the citizens of Nigeria.

He added that PMS reduces the rate of subjectivity and it is expected to be objective focusing on the key result areas where civil servants are expected to deliver key results.

Bolaji O. Kazeem

The Federal Government has inaugurated the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the Commonwealth Youth and Students Summit, African Region; scheduled to hold in Abuja from May 8 – 12, 2023.

The Honourable Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Mr. Sunday Dare who inaugurated the Committee today at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja, stated that the Summit provides a veritable platform for insightful engagement where youth and students can learn from global leaders in Multinationals, Public and Private Organisations, Development Institutions as well as Civil Society Organisations.

Represented by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Ismaila Abubakar, the Minister stated further that the theme of the Summit, *”Co-Creating Our Common Future: Leadership in the Digital Age in Africa”* is apt, noting that it highlights young people’s position across Africa which is to promote their impact in the regional youth event discourse and dialogues.

He explained that the event, being a regional one requires very serious and meticulous planning, that is why the Federal Government has decided to select capable hands from Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies, Development Partners, Students and Youth Associations.

Dare therefore charged the Committee to bring its wealth of experience to bear in ensuring a successful hosting of the event.

Speaking earlier, the Coordinator, Mr. Marwan Umar Gwamba, informed that the Commonwealth Youth and Students Summit for African Region which is to be hosted under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Sports and Youth Development with the Support from The Commonwealth Secreteriat, is a programme put together by three youth organisations namely; Commonwealth Students Association, Commonwealth Youth Council, Pan African Youth Union.

He added that the Summit aims at bringing together Youth and Student Organizations and Policy makers at the forefront of decision making on youth development, particularly in the areas of education, job creation through entreprenuership and digital economy.