NIGERIAN FINTECH P2VEST RECORDS 100,000 USERS ON ITS PLATFORM

NIGERIAN FINTECH P2VEST RECORDS 100,000 USERS ON ITS PLATFORM

The P2vest lending platform offers quick disbursement of loans and flexible payback plan where people can begin to have an ecosystem of lending and borrowing.

P2vest Technology Limited, today announced that its peer-to-peer lending application, P2Vest has hit 100,000 users with access to quick loans. This achievement underscores the organisations’ role in transforming the way people access credit and lend money by bringing borrowers and lenders together.

The foremost peer-to- peer lending platform has over the past 15 months used technology to serve its users with quick disbursement of loans and flexible payback plan. To bridge the gap of access, P2Vest connects authorized lenders with borrowers, while helping them take control of their debt, grow their businesses, and invest for the future.

According to the Founder and CEO of P2vest Technology, Mr Austin Abolusoro ‘’Our goal at P2vest is to build a platform that delivers on ease of access to credit while also building a credit history. Our approach is different, we are using Artificial Intelligence to ensure credit worthy Nigerians have access to quick loans. Since we launched, we have provided access to quick loans to over 105,000 Nigerians. This is a big achievement for us as we have availed people the chance to access loans for their different needs like setting up of businesses, house renovations, Car loans, paying rent, school loan, medical bills on the platform faster and without delay. While also creating an opportunity for people to borrow more as long as they continue to pay back’’

The fast rise of fintech Industries and massive digital transformation in the provision of financial services has brought about the sharing economy- a new model of consumption, sharing, collaboration between individuals of goods, services, resources, with or without monetary exchanges via dedicated platforms. With the adoption of the sharing economy technology by businesses, the model which has grown in leaps and bounds allows for the peer-to-peer economy to thrive as they cut out the role of third parties. Users on P2Vest can borrow money and also lend to others and make some interest.

About:
Founded in 2020, P2vest is a peer-to-peer lending platform known for providing lending solutions for lenders and borrowers through its platform. Utilising technology, P2vest is committed to ease of access to credit for borrowers and ensuring competitive returns for lenders. For more information about the P2vest, visit its website at www.p2vest.com

SoftwareONE and Amazon Web Services sign Strategic Collaboration Agreement to accelerate global cloud adoption 

SoftwareONE and Amazon Web Services sign Strategic Collaboration Agreement to accelerate global cloud adoption 

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SoftwareONE Holding AG, a leading global provider of software and cloud technology solutions, today announced a multi-year strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to accelerate their customers’ cloud journeys. Through this comprehensive agreement, SoftwareONE and AWS will collaborate to accelerate the adoption of AWS services and solutions globally across all industries, supported by joint investments into go-to-market and delivery capabilities.

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Building on a well-established relationship, SoftwareONE and AWS have entered into a multi-year Strategic Collaboration Agreement to provide customers globally with a variety of AWS solutions and services to support their cloud migration and modernization efforts. Key areas of collaboration include accelerating growth of SoftwareONE’s Simple for AWS offering, industrializing AWS cloud migrations and driving AWS Marketplace adoption in conjunction with SoftwareONE’s platform PyraCloud.

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SoftwareONE helps customers manage their software and cloud spend through software digital supply chain and FinOps Certified services and platforms. By accessing thousands of ISV partners consolidated in SoftwareONE’s ecosystem, customers can use volume to maximize the value of the AWS Estate. At the same time, customers can achieve ongoing AWS cloud cost optimization and management. SoftwareONE’s PyraCloud platform delivers a single digital experience for customers to help manage their software and cloud spend in one place.

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Utilizing investments from AWS, SoftwareONE will further develop its global Cloud Center of Excellence with best-in-class and fully certified AWS resources to support and improve the overall customer experience. In addition, SoftwareONE will provided dedicated training for the next generation of AWS cloud professionals through the SoftwareONE Academy by sourcing talent from a diverse range of backgrounds. The Academy will leverage AWS Education Programs to develop both sales and technical capabilities to support entire customer journeys and overall growth of SoftwareONE’s AWS practice.

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SoftwareONE’s Chief Executive Officer, Dieter Schlosser, said, “We maintain long-term relationships with our customers, modernizing their software, cloud and technology to attain their digital transformation goals. This ground-breaking agreement signals our commitment to scaling out our global AWS practice to advance our customers’ multi-cloud strategies. It underpins our vision of growing our Application Services, SAP Services, Industry Vertical Solutions, Cloud Services and FinOps to a combined CHF 1 billion services business by 2025. Finally, it helps our PyraCloud platform customers optimize their AWS cloud service consumption.”

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“As cloud adoption accelerates, we are excited to work with our AWS Public Sector Partners, like SoftwareONE, that are global in scale and have comprehensive cloud-native expertise and delivery capabilities to address mission-critical tasks and the complex needs of today’s organizations,” said Jeff Kratz, Vice President, Worldwide Public Sector Partners and Programs, AWS.

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SoftwareONE is an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner and recently acquired HeleCloud, an AWS Premier Consulting Partner and AWS Managed Service Provider. SoftwareONE also holds competencies for Migration, SAP, DevOps, Solution Provider, Public Sector, AWS Well-Architected Program, End User Computing and Microsoft Workloads.

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No terms or financial details of the agreement have been disclosed.

About SoftwareONE

SoftwareONE is a leading global provider of end-to-end software and cloud technology solutions, headquartered in Switzerland. With an IP and technology-driven services portfolio, it enables companies to holistically develop and implement their commercial, technology and digital transformation strategies. This is achieved by modernizing applications and migrating critical workloads on public clouds, while simultaneously managing and optimizing the related software and cloud assets and licensing. SoftwareONE’s offerings are connected by PyraCloud, its proprietary digital platform, which provides customers with data-driven, actionable intelligence. With around 8,300 employees and sales and service delivery capabilities in 90 countries, SoftwareONE provides around 65,000 business customers with software and cloud solutions from over 7,500 publishers. SoftwareONE’s shares (SWON) are listed on SIX Swiss Exchange. For more information, please visit www.softwareone.com

SoftwareONE Holding AG, Riedenmatt 4, CH-6370 Stans

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FG Applauds NCC’s Commitment to Enhancing Digital Skill in Youths

FG Applauds NCC’s Commitment to Enhancing Digital Skill in Youths


…Existing policies are designed to accelerate the delivery of digital economy benefits – Pantami

…We’re poised to deepening digital access – Danbatta

The Federal Government has applauded the commitment and dedication of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) towards enhancing digital skills development among youths, through implementation of various Information and Communication Technology skill acquisition programmes.

Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, gave the commendation during the inauguration of a Digital Nigeria Centre (DNC), a project executed by the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), an arm of NCC, at the Ijesa Muslim Grammar School, Ilesa, Osun State recently
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Representing President Muhamadu Buhari at the event, Aregbesola commended the NCC for timely and thorough implementation of the project, saying he was confident that the project will promote the connection of public secondary schools to broadband internet in Ilesa community and ultimately equip beneficiaries with 21st century skills.

“I would like to thank my very good friend and brother, the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, for assenting to our request to have the first of this remodeled project in Osun State sited in Ilesa. I will also like to thank the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta and the entire Management and staff of NCC and the USPF, as well as their technical partners for a timely and successful completion of this laudable project,” he said.

On the sideline of the commissioning, Aregbesola also announced the establishment of President Muhammadu Buhari N100 million Technology Fund for Youth Empowerment, to nudge the emergence of world class technology experts. The Minister of Interior stated that the Fund targets 2,000 youths in the next two years, who will be provided with devices for training in different areas such as software development and design, amongst others.

The Governor of Osun State, Adegboyega Oyetola, who was represented by the State’s Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Dr. Babatunde Olawale, expressed the gratitude of the State Government to the Federal Government, the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and the Nigerian Communications Commission, for initiative and particularly for inaugurating the pioneer remodeled DNC project in Osun State. Oyetola also informed the enthusiastic gathering that Osun State Government was willing and ready to collaborate with NCC to replicate the project in other parts of the State.

Speaking in the same vein, Pantami, who was represented at the event by the Chairman, Board of Commissioners of NCC, Prof. Adeolu Akande, also commended the NCC and USPF on the delivery of the DNC project on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He declared that the project and similarly instituted ones were initiated by government to give expression to its vision to effectively digitise the nation’s economy for increased prosperity for all Nigerians.

Pantami stated that the Federal Government is focused on promoting digital economy across the country and that this had informed the renaming of the Ministry of Communications to the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. On the heels of the re-christening, Pantami recalled that the Federal Government emplaced Digital Nigeria-oriented policies to reinforce the focus of existing policies in order to accelerate the delivery of derivable benefits of digital economy to Nigerians, regardless of their locations and circumstances.


Very central among the policies is the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) 2020-2030, a 10-year, eight-pillar focused blueprint for actualising Federal Government’s digital economy agenda unveiled in November, 2019.

Pantami asserted that the DNC inaugurated at Ilesa was a concrete implementation of the Digital Literacy and Skills, the second pillar of NDEPS.
According to Pantami, the overarching objective of the DNC project is to facilitate adoption of digital lifestyle in the schools as well as in the school communities. The Minister averred that the project’s significance cannot be under-estimated, considering its ability to improve digital skill for the youths and subsequently make them globally competitive.
Pantami said the Nigerian government is determined to arm the youths with digital skills, strong literacy and numeracy skills, critical and innovative thinking skills, complex problem solving aptitude, the ability to collaborate, and deploy socio-emotional skills, which they require to transform their lives and build the economy.

“We have already made a number of giant strides in the development of our digital economy culture and the deployment of initiatives such as the Digital Nigeria Centre eloquently demonstrates the current administration’s commitment to connecting all Nigerians,” Pantami said as he equally expressed Federal Government’s commitment to its tripartite agenda of improving the economy, curbing corruption and enhancing national security through effective deployment of ICT in all nooks and crannies of the country.

In his remark, Danbatta, who was represented at the event by the Commission’s Director of Projects, Iyabode Solanke, said all the regulatory activities, initiatives and programmes that the Commission had undertaken since 2019, in collaboration with its critical stakeholders, including its arm, the USPF, have been targeted at giving concrete expression to Nigeria’s deliberate policy to migrate to a full digital economy.

He said the Commission achieves this by consistently committing itself to expansion of appropriate infrastructure to enhance digital literacy and skills in view of the economic and social impact of digitization on all sectors.

The NCC Chief Executive restated the Commission’s commitment to the overall objective of bridging the digital divide through the provision of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as well as broadband access to the unserved and underserved institutions and communities in the country.
Earlier, the Principal of Ijesa Muslim Grammar School, Ramota Ilesanmi, thanked the President Buhari-led Federal Government for the project, saying that it will go a long way in meeting the ICT needs of students and residents of the city.

The DNC, formerly known as School Knowledge Centre (SKC), is one of the projects in the Access Programme framework of the USPF, conceptualized to promote the availability and utilisation of ICT and resources of the Internet in teaching and learning in public schools in underserved, unserved and rural areas.
Specific objectives of DNC are to increase ICT literacy among school teachers and students; provide a platform for accessing online educational resources; equip students with ICT skills; facilitate ICT adoption in teaching and learning; as well as increase pass rate in Mathematics, English language and other science subjects.

NITDA TRAINS, EMPOWERS 60 RURAL WOMEN ON ICT, TECHPRENEUR

NITDA TRAINS, EMPOWERS 60 RURAL WOMEN ON ICT, TECHPRENEUR

As part of efforts in bridging the digital divide in the country through the implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has continued in its national-wide capacity building on digital literacy for the teeming youths and women across the country.

Digital literacy and skills, which is a key pillar in the Agency’s Strategic Road Map and Action Plan (SRAP) 2021-2024 have remained a key focus of the Agency’s Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, in ensuring the acquisition of digital skills across different works of life as well as support the goal of achieving 95% digital literacy level in the next ten years.

In implementing this strategic pillar, NITDA, in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, has concluded a 4-day capacity building of Women on ICT Techprenuership in Dutse, Jigawa State capital, where 60 brand new HP laptops were presented to all participants who were drawn from various local governments within the state.

The Governor of Jigawa State, Badaru Abubakar who was represented by the Special Assistant on Economic Empowerment, Malam Muhammed Mujaddadi commended NITDA’s commitment to innovation-driven enterprises for micro, small and medium enterprises to thrive.

The participants were advised to make good use of the tools received from NITDA in collaboration with the Jigawa State Government in ensuring that they are self-reliant in the Digital world.

In his remarks, The NITDA Director-General, who was represented by the supervisory department’s desk officer, Folayan Michael Oluwasegun, admonished all participants to apply the knowledge gained in their various fields.

“The aim of the training is to equip the women on how to utilize modern ICT tools in doing their online businesses”, the DG averred.

The participants expressed their gratitude to the organizers of the laudable program and promised to make good use of the knowledge and materials received.


On their part, the participants thanked NITDA and Jigawa state Government for this laudable initiative.

DIGITAL INNOVATION: NITDA BEGINS HACKATHON FOR STUDENTS, ENTREPREUNERS IN ADAMAWA

DIGITAL INNOVATION: NITDA BEGINS HACKATHON FOR STUDENTS, ENTREPREUNERS IN ADAMAWA

In its bid in providing platform for young Nigerian tech students to showcase their talents, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) under the supervision of Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy has commenced this year’s Hackathon where participants would come together and share ideas on ways to confront the country’s challenges using digital innovation.


The programme which is being coordinated by the Agency’s subsidiary, the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) and to be hosted in Cross River (South-South), Oyo (South West) and Adamawa (North-East), kicked off in Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Adamawa State, with students, entrepreneurs and innovators from different field with the purpose of harnessing the potentials of Nigerian youths in their quest to become problem solvers through digital innovation.

NITDA Hackathon is a National event in collaboration with academic institutions to drive digital innovation and entrepreneurship by challenging Nigeria’s teeming youths to ideate and develop solutions from inception through to the market.
The programme is set to develop and grow a global network of IT experts, comprising Nigerian youths within the country and in the diaspora.
It is targeted at inculcating entrepreneurship spirit in academia, creating a platform where industry and public institutions will leverage the academic research ecosystem to solve national challenges using technology.

The focus of this year’s programme is on Agriculture, Security and Logistics – considering the country’s current security challenges, the Agency gave security top priority; and Agriculture, as a result of President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to ensure Nigeria become a food self-sufficient nation and fight against insecurity.
Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, has equally urged the participants to show commitment and use their brain to come up with innovative ideas that will turn the security situation in the country around.

He said, “Technology is all about changing the way people do things, by coming up with ideas that will solve problems. This programme is aimed at giving Nigerian students, entrepreneurs and innovators the motivation to think, ideate and come up with digital innovation that will solve our problems locally.”

While commenting on the role NITDA’s subsidiaries are playing in supporting Nigerian startups, Inuwa said, “National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) is one of NITDA’s special purpose vehicles created to promote research and development on emerging technologies and their practical application in areas of Nigerian national interest. NCAIR is also focused on creating a thriving ecosystem for innovation-driven entrepreneurship (IDE), job creation, and national development.”

On his part, the NITDA team lead, Dr Salihu Abdulkarim, noted that the participants were divided into groups, and winners in each category will be awarded cash prizes. They will also have the opportunity to conceptualize their ideas for commercialisation to meet global standards with NITDA’s support.

NETCOM AFRICA REITERATES ITS COMMITMENT TO RENDER WORLD-CLASS ICT SOLUTIONS IN NIGERIAN

NETCOM AFRICA REITERATES ITS COMMITMENT TO RENDER WORLD-CLASS ICT SOLUTIONS IN NIGERIAN

In an internet and data hungry ecosystem, Nigerian corporate space has shown promise and regarded as one of the biggest markets in Africa. With a lot of organization increasingly adopting modern technologies especially in the area of data analytics, cyber security and IT outsourcing to increase their productivity. Having seen this thriving ecosystem, Netcom Africa, one of the foremost information and communication technology (ICT) firm located in the Victoria Island, Lagos has brought a bouquet of services that will enable many Nigerian corporate organizations to scale and deepen their productivity.

Servicing many industries such as Financial Services, the company said that their solutions for this sector is crucial. In their words, they said “The financial services industry has its unique set of technology challenges owing to a complex set of regulations and industry best practices to which organizations must adhere. We deliver flexible technology solutions that will allow you to meet your organizational objectives while maintaining the strictest levels of compliance with security and fiduciary requirements.”

They added that “For a leading Nigerian Financial Institution, the contact center is a vital part of its customer-focused operations. The inbound side takes around One hundred and fifty thousand calls a month, while the outbound team makes over 30,000 calls per month. The outbound calls are a combination of sales activity and customer support follow up calls. To sell successfully, reaching a targeted number of customers at a time convenient to communicate effectively is the best way to close the sale.”

“Netcom Africa has been using the On-Premise Avaya (contact center) since 2012. While that delivered reliability and a range of features, particularly for the inbound operation, the Company’s felt they needed to outsource the infrastructure while giving their distributed contact center operators the ability to have equal access to inbound calls and customer information from a managed service partner. This facilitated their move away from On-Premise to IP based cloud telephony for internal and outbound calls”

“We were working in a single location and at the mercy of a single point of failure. Our Sales Agents were not able to respond effectively to local needs, while our customer data was disconnected from our customer service agents”, Charles Harrington – VP, Corporate Development & Marketing.

On the manufacturing sub sector, Netcom has robust solution for this sector. Netcom Africa added that “The frequent need for innovation and adaptability is amplified by strong economic pressures, resulting in the need for cost-effective and robust IT environments ready to meet today’s fast-paced changes head-on. our solutions provide the Manufacturing and distribution sector with the technology they need to support their business goals.”

Netcom Africa has been known to be the industry leader in various IT solution such as Managed Cyber Security, Disaster Recovery And Backup, Firewall, Enterprise technology/solutions such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Productivity Applications and Unified Communications.

Netcom is Nigeria’s leading Managed Service Provider. Since 2004, companies across Nigeria have been relying on Netcom to ensure that they are connected to the world. Over time, Netcom has transformed to meet their clients demands with a host of leading solutions by partnering with local and global experts and OEM’s. Today they are the leading MSP (Managed Service Provider) in Nigeria with hundreds of companies relying on our expertise and leading solutions to help them navigate their digital transformation.

“The technology landscape is complex and ever changing, and we have a solid understanding of the problems today and the solutions that will drive your business into the future. We not only have the expertise and solutions to bring about fundamental change in the way you do business, but we have also taken that journey ourselves.”

Netcom Africa has provided world-class solutions to various blue-chip firms in Nigeria such as Actis, Hennessy, BW Offshore, Dana, Air France, Emirates Airline, AMCON, Leventis and a host of others.

ANTHONY NWOSU .E.

“For a leading Nigerian Financial Institution, the contact center is a vital part of its customer-focused operations. The inbound side takes around One hundred and fifty thousand calls a month, while the outbound team makes over 30,000 calls per month. The outbound calls are a combination of sales activity and customer support follow up calls. To sell successfully, reaching a targeted number of customers at a time convenient to communicate effectively is the best way to close the sale.”

Machine learning can solve some of Africa’s biggest challenges

Machine learning can solve some of Africa’s biggest challenges

From better healthcare access to improved food security, machine learning could tackle a wide range of challenges in developing countries.

In 2020, a study published in Nature showed that Google’s machine learning artificial intelligence programme, DeepMind AI, outperformed radiologists in detecting breast cancer. After being trained on thousands of mammograms, the system was able to accurately identify 89% of breast cancer cases, compared to radiologists’ 74%. Just imagine what a difference the deployment of such a system could make in sub-Saharan Africa, where there are 0.2 doctors per 1000 people, according to the World Bank.

And that’s just the start. Marilyn Moodley, Country Leader for South Africa and WECA (West, East, Central Africa) at SoftwareONE, says machine learning can help with some of the region’s most pervasive problems, from reducing poverty and improving education to delivering healthcare and addressing sustainability challenges such as food demand. “Machine learning democratises access to innovative and productivity-boosting technology to fuel the growth the continent needs. It’s fundamentally reshaping how work is done, allowing for a more efficient allocation of resources leading to increased productivity and, in the case of government, improving the delivery of services to citizens.”

Agricultural improvements

The agriculture sector employs over 65% of Africa’s labour force and accounts for 32% of gross domestic product (GDP), says Moodley. “The World Bank estimates that African food markets will be worth US$1 trillion by 2030, up from the current $300 billion. Demand for food is projected to at least double by 2050, yet the sector is burdened with limitations. Land is degrading, soil is becoming less fertile, water tables are dropping, pests are becoming more resistant, and the climate is more vulnerable and unpredictable. All this could have disastrous effects on food availability in the future.”

Machine learning has the potential to improve productivity and efficiency at all the stages of the agricultural value chain, she says. “These technologies can empower small-holder farmers to increase their income through higher crop yield and greater price control. For example, analytics of crop data can help identify diseases, enable soil health monitoring without the need for laboratory testing infrastructure, and facilitate the creation of virtual cooperatives to aggregate crop yields and broker better prices with suppliers.”

Healthcare developments

Machine learning can not only analyse tests and images to suggest diagnoses, but also aggregate data and update patients’ charts. It’s also rapidly expanding into other healthcare areas, including early detection of diseases, treatment and research, says Moodley. “This would free up physicians’ workloads, allowing them to spend more time with patients and on actual patient care. Japan is already looking at augmenting their doctors with artificial intelligence to combat their doctor shortage.”

In Africa, machine learning could plug the same gap, but also address other challenges, she says. “Health systems in Africa face several structural challenges such as shortages of qualified professionals or supplies, resulting in divergent outcomes for patients. Even when facilities and staff are available, affordability and rural/urban disparities can put needed services out of reach of patients.”

Machine learning can enhance these outcomes in the following ways, she says:

· Improve healthcare delivery: Advanced data analytics can help practitioners identify potential problems early and tailor better preventive care. Early interventions make healthcare more affordable and easier for the patient, with better outcomes.

· Better diagnostics and detection: Analysing patterns in data, such as machine vision analysis of x-rays, can make diagnoses faster and more accurate.

· Improved access: Tools such as online conversation agents can extend access to millions of people and remotely diagnose various health conditions using images from the cameras of everyday smartphones.

Moodley concludes: “Machine learning is a powerful tool that can benefit multiple industries, including Marketing; Financial services; Transportation and Manufacturing. Possible use cases are boundless and clearly demonstrate the importance of innovative technology for ensuring efficient business processes.”

Elevating Digital Payments For a Cashless Future in Africa (By Akshay Grover)

Elevating Digital Payments For a Cashless Future in Africa (By Akshay Grover)

COVID-19 has propelled the adoption of digital payment platforms for millions of people across the African continent. The need for contactless methods of making transactions, transformed what was once a nice-to-have into a necessity. 

Indeed, whereas the pandemic has bolstered the adoption of digital payments across industries, demographics and payment types on the continent, Africa has always been at the forefront of the payments space led by mobile money services since 2010. 

As a company, serving thousands of businesses at varying growth stages across 35 African countries, we’ve witnessed firsthand the sheer drive and resilience that underpins this revolution in digital payments.

It’s the entrepreneurship spirit of the continent that inspires us to innovate for businesses, connecting people and their resources, aligning our strategy to bolster the adoption of digital payments by…

Deepening Our Presence in Existing Markets

Recently, we expanded into 8 new countries – South Africa, Egypt, Senegal, Côte D’Ivoire, Cameroon, DRC, Angola, Ethiopia – in a bid to accelerate the digitization of payments for global, regional and local businesses to build a more connected Africa. By creating seamless payment experiences for businesses and consumers, we’re opening up opportunities for millions to do business, access basic services and even connect with their loved ones when it matters the most. Whereas what we’ve achieved so far is impressive, with coverage across 220 million banking, mobile money and cards consumers, we intend to go deeper in the countries we’re already in. We firmly believe we’ve only scratched the surface and there is unparalleled opportunity in…

Mobile money accounts grew to 1.2 billion with 43% of new users all from Africa

Tapping into the Underserved Offline Payments Sector

In a report by GSMA released earlier this year, mobile money accounts grew to 1.2 billion with 43% of new users all from Africa. Inferring from this growth rate in just one year, it’s clear that the market size for offline payments is significantly larger than online payments. In coming years, we’ll be focusing on this space even as we continue to grow in online payments.

In sub saharan Africa alone, there are 44 million micro, small and medium enterprises providing the majority of jobs effectively serving as the backbone of the economy in their countries. Most of these enterprises and the individuals they serve or employ still use offline or cash payments. Whereas we’re keen on expanding access to these businesses, we can only scale by…

Creating a Win-Win Ecosystem through Partnerships

As a fintech company, we’re deeply connected with the banking ecosystem and view them as partners not competitors. Leveraging partnerships with different entities in the industry from banks, to mobile network operators and large enterprises is a fundamental aspect necessary for growth in the fintech space.

Why?

Because as consumers increasingly use digital methods for their payments – from peer-to-peer transactions to purchasing household goods, paying their bills and accessing fundamental services such as healthcare and education- this presents wonderful opportunities for retailers and businesses to grow their digital capabilities as people move from cash dependency.

Enabling businesses to adapt quickly to these changing demands by providing the right infrastrastructure and relevant value-adds is our driving force.

FG Applauds NCC’s Commitment to Enhancing Digital Skill in Youths

FG Applauds NCC’s Commitment to Enhancing Digital Skill in Youths

…Existing policies are designed to accelerate the delivery of digital economy benefits – Pantami

…We’re poised to deepening digital access – Danbatta

The Federal Government has applauded the commitment and dedication of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) towards enhancing digital skills development among youths, through implementation of various Information and Communication Technology skill acquisition programmes.

Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, gave the commendation during the inauguration of a Digital Nigeria Centre (DNC), a project executed by the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), an arm of NCC, at the Ijesa Muslim Grammar School, Ilesa, Osun State recently.

Representing President Muhamadu Buhari at the event, Aregbesola commended the NCC for timely and thorough implementation of the project, saying he was confident that the project will promote the connection of public secondary schools to broadband internet in Ilesa community and ultimately equip beneficiaries with 21st century skills.

“I would like to thank my very good friend and brother, the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, for assenting to our request to have the first of this remodeled project in Osun State sited in Ilesa. I will also like to thank the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta and the entire Management and staff of NCC and the USPF, as well as their technical partners for a timely and successful completion of this laudable project,” he said.

On the sideline of the commissioning, Aregbesola also announced the establishment of President Muhammadu Buhari N100 million Technology Fund for Youth Empowerment, to nudge the emergence of world class technology experts. The Minister of Interior stated that the Fund targets 2,000 youths in the next two years, who will be provided with devices for training in different areas such as software development and design, amongst others.

The Governor of Osun State, Adegboyega Oyetola, who was represented by the State’s Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Dr. Babatunde Olawale, expressed the gratitude of the State Government to the Federal Government, the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and the Nigerian Communications Commission, for initiative and particularly for inaugurating the pioneer remodeled DNC project in Osun State. Oyetola also informed the enthusiastic gathering that Osun State Government was willing and ready to collaborate with NCC to replicate the project in other parts of the State.

Speaking in the same vein, Pantami, who was represented at the event by the Chairman, Board of Commissioners of NCC, Prof. Adeolu Akande, also commended the NCC and USPF on the delivery of the DNC project on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He declared that the project and similarly instituted ones were initiated by government to give expression to its vision to effectively digitise the nation’s economy for increased prosperity for all Nigerians.

Pantami stated that the Federal Government is focused on promoting digital economy across the country and that this had informed the renaming of the Ministry of Communications to the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy. On the heels of the re-christening, Pantami recalled that the Federal Government emplaced Digital Nigeria-oriented policies to reinforce the focus of existing policies in order to accelerate the delivery of derivable benefits of digital economy to Nigerians, regardless of their locations and circumstances.

Very central among the policies is the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) 2020-2030, a 10-year, eight-pillar focused blueprint for actualising Federal Government’s digital economy agenda unveiled in November, 2019.

Pantami asserted that the DNC inaugurated at Ilesa was a concrete implementation of the Digital Literacy and Skills, the second pillar of NDEPS.

According to Pantami, the overarching objective of the DNC project is to facilitate adoption of digital lifestyle in the schools as well as in the school communities. The Minister averred that the project’s significance cannot be under-estimated, considering its ability to improve digital skill for the youths and subsequently make them globally competitive.

Pantami said the Nigerian government is determined to arm the youths with digital skills, strong literacy and numeracy skills, critical and innovative thinking skills, complex problem solving aptitude, the ability to collaborate, and deploy socio-emotional skills, which they require to transform their lives and build the economy.

“We have already made a number of giant strides in the development of our digital economy culture and the deployment of initiatives such as the Digital Nigeria Centre eloquently demonstrates the current administration’s commitment to connecting all Nigerians,” Pantami said as he equally expressed Federal Government’s commitment to its tripartite agenda of improving the economy, curbing corruption and enhancing national security through effective deployment of ICT in all nooks and crannies of the country.

In his remark, Danbatta, who was represented at the event by the Commission’s Director of Projects, Iyabode Solanke, said all the regulatory activities, initiatives and programmes that the Commission had undertaken since 2019, in collaboration with its critical stakeholders, including its arm, the USPF, have been targeted at giving concrete expression to Nigeria’s deliberate policy to migrate to a full digital economy.

He said the Commission achieves this by consistently committing itself to expansion of appropriate infrastructure to enhance digital literacy and skills in view of the economic and social impact of digitization on all sectors.

The NCC Chief Executive restated the Commission’s commitment to the overall objective of bridging the digital divide through the provision of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as well as broadband access to the unserved and underserved institutions and communities in the country.

Earlier, the Principal of Ijesa Muslim Grammar School, Ramota Ilesanmi, thanked the President Buhari-led Federal Government for the project, saying that it will go a long way in meeting the ICT needs of students and residents of the city.

The DNC, formerly known as School Knowledge Centre (SKC), is one of the projects in the Access Programme framework of the USPF, conceptualized to promote the availability and utilisation of ICT and resources of the Internet in teaching and learning in public schools in underserved, unserved and rural areas.

Specific objectives of DNC are to increase ICT literacy among school teachers and students; provide a platform for accessing online educational resources; equip students with ICT skills; facilitate ICT adoption in teaching and learning; as well as increase pass rate in Mathematics, English language and other science subjects.

Rooted in the cloud, Routed announces its unique Partner Portal

Rooted in the cloud, Routed announces its unique Partner Portal

VMware Cloud Verified and VMware Principal Partner, Routed, has launched its channel partner portal. It aims to provide curated resources for partners, managed services providers, and ISPs selling, marketing, and operating as resellers of VMware Cloud through Routed.

Routed became the first VMware Cloud Verified partner in Africa in 2019 and has gone on to become a VMware Principal Partner, too. Andrew Cruise, managing director for Routed, explains that Routed has built a resilient and robust channel to assist its partners in delivering the best solutions that their end-customers have come to expect from VMware.

“VMware has a discerning customer base with specific requirements of their cloud technologies. Building our Partner Platform has allowed us to curate and focus our efforts on providing our partners with the right tools, material, and support for VMware Cloud presence in Africa through Routed,” says Cruise. 

Sumeeth Singh, Cloud Provider Business Head at VMware South Africa, confirms: “Cloud computing solutions are driving the current wave of digital innovation. Through partners like Routed and their channel, we see the acceleration we look forward to, in an age where organisations big and small can benefit from a secure, efficient, and scalable VMware Cloud service delivery platform.”

According to Gartner, spending on the public cloud is forecast to grow over 18% in 2021, with Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) expected to gain the most. Managed Service Providers, ISPs, even ISVs and distribution partners will do well to capitalise on this as organisations’ needs evolve. The market has already shifted from supply-driven to demand-driven, and it’s become essential for all organisations to consider how the cloud fits into their infrastructure plans.

On-premises infrastructure will always have its place in organisations, especially when more control is required, but it is asset-heavy and slow to adapt to change and growth. For the right use-cases migrating infrastructure to the cloud provides end-customers with agility and cost savings.

Routed depends on partners who can manage the implementation of its solutions, some of the most complete VMware Cloud-based infrastructure deployments available locally. “The opportunity exists for our partners who, with the right resources, knowledge and support from Routed and VMware, can confidently engage with their end-customers to provide the world-class solutions that VMware is renowned for with the level of support and service that they come to expect,” adds Cruise.

Over the past five years, Routed has established itself as the leading provider of VMware Cloud on the continent. Its success has followed from its relentless focus on providing an integrated cloud platform that addresses enterprise cloud, recovery, and modern application development requirements, which are taken to market through trusted partners.

Cruise explains: “The Routed Partner Portal is the start of an exciting journey for cloud and specifically VMware Cloud in South Africa. End-user enterprises deserve a reliable, highly available and secure cloud infrastructure. Now the channel has the resources to grow their skills and access some of the best support materials available to develop this customer base.

With its Principal Partner status as a Cloud Provider – the highest tiered recognition within the VMware Partner Connect programme – Routed’s partners now benefit from the same level of resources and support that a Principal Partner will enjoy but facilitated by Routed.

“We are changing the cloud landscape, and this is just the start because, at Routed, we want the industry to develop because when the end-customers realise the benefits, we all win,” concludes Cruise.

New partner applications to the Routed Partner Portal will commence in 2022 by engaging with the Routed team.