FG TO ESTABLISH SIX INNOVATION CENTRES.

FG TO ESTABLISH SIX INNOVATION CENTRES.
The Minister of State for Science, Technology and Innovation, Chief Henry Ikechukwu Ikoh, said that the establishment of technology and innovation centres in the six geo-political zones will enhance collaboration of researchers which is necessary for achieving the desired research output in the country, rather than working in silos.
The Minister who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Mrs. Monilola Udoh said this at the North Central Dialogue on the Establishment of the Technology and Innovation Centres for Global Competitiveness and Productivity today in Abuja.
According to the Minister, the centres are aimed at establishing a frame work for consultation, sharing experiences, information and practices as well as creating a conducive environment amongst scientists.
Chief Ikoh stated that Technology and Innovation Centres, under the Executive Order NO. 5 are designed to serve as centres of excellence with the objective of improving the role of STI in the socio-economic development of the country.
He commended the effort of the immediate past Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu for his tenacity, consistency and passion about the role of STI in the development of the country.
He strongly believe that the outcome of the dialogue will result to increased patenting, innovative discoveries and inventions, emergence of commercialization of research and improved research findings amongst scientists in the country.
Speaking, the representative of UNESCO Dr. Moma Enan said that the organization is ready to collaborate with the ministry in some areas of STEM, and research, thereby, making one of the agencies of the Ministry a UNESCO capacity centre.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Science and Technology, Niger State, Professor Abubakar Baba Aliyu, commended the ministry for its achievements in the area of STI, adding that Niger State is blessed with natural resources especially gold.
To this end, he called on the minister to convey the message to Federal Government in order to enable the State Ministry of Solid minerals to work in synergy with the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel.

CELLCORE UNVEILS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) SOLUTION FOR LOTTO PLAYERS 

CELLCORE UNVEILS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) SOLUTION FOR LOTTO PLAYERS 

 

 

In line with clients’ demands and technology trends, CELLCORE Ltd, an IT firm  in Ibadan unveils artificial intelligence (AI) solution  for lottery companies in Nigeria.  Celebrating their 10 years in the Nigerian IT industry, the LOTTOBOT which is first of its kind is a ChatBot technology that automates the playing of lotto games via Facebook Messenger.

The introduction of LOTTOBOT to the Nigerian gaming industry is timely and presents a wealth of opportunities for businesses looking to up skill their workforce and transform the user experience.

In his chat with the media, Mike Nwaogu, the Chief Executive Officer of CELLCORE Ltd said “We have made gaming simpler and easy. Facebook’s Messenger and other chat applications launched CHAT BOTS, and it was the cue  we needed to integrate the new AI technology buzz into their gaming experience.

Instead of having to go back and forth, logging out of their Facebook accounts and websites, and then visiting their gaming portal of choice, they can simply access it via our Facebook’s Messenger CHAT BOT”.

He added that “ We are at the forefront of deploying artificial intelligence into the gaming industry not only in Nigeria but Africa. We have been in this industry for almost a decade and we are using this solution to celebrate a landmark” .

LOTTOBOT Prime  allows gamers  to play lotto games by merely chatting with a bot,  thereby presenting a convenient, relaxed process and experience of playing lotto without having to leave your zone. With this chatbot, anyone can play lotto games directly via their Facebook Messenger, get direct updates of results and get prize winnings credited directly to their Messenger LOTTOBOT account.

Industry stakeholders have lauded the product, noting that with the introduction of LOTTOBOT into the Nigerian gaming industry, it has demonstrated that  the gaming industry is maturing. Amongst the industry stakeholders that attested to the solution is De Donkings Lotteries Limited.

Key features of LOTTOBOT include the ability for  gamers to subscribe to updates, players  can subscribe to receive automated updates of results via  their Messenger inbox. Known as Cash Out, winners get notified immediately by the Bot when they win. Their LOTTOBOT account is credited with the prize immediately. The players, can also check the balance of their winnings on the Bot or cash out their winnings through a simple process; either by having the cash withdrawn at an ATM or transferred to  their bank account.

“The intelligent LOTTOBOT is trained to guide players to play and submit available lotto games of partner lotto companies hosted on the platform, including soccer betting and soccer pools from select countries and leagues from around the world” remarked  Gideon Nwaogu, Chief of Operations,  CELLCORE Limited .

LOTTOBOT is  also trained to address some questions and challenges players may have while interfacing with it. For ease of play, LOTTOBOT is built to accept the Universal token PINs which can be used to play lotto games on the platform of select lotto game service providers across Nigeria. The PINs can be purchased online via the BOT  or from agents on the street.

 

ANTHONY EMEKA NWOSU

Anchor, a banking-as-a-service platform joins Y Combinator’s Summer 2022 (S22) Batch, announces the launch of public beta

Anchor, a banking-as-a-service platform joins Y Combinator’s Summer 2022 (S22) Batch, announces the launch of public beta

Anchor (https://getAnchor.co/), a banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform making it possible to seamlessly build financial products in Africa announces its public beta launch. The startup was also accepted into Y Combinator Summer 2022 Batch as the first African BaaS and embedded finance platform.

 

 

In recent years, there have been several reports about the size of the Africa financial inclusion opportunity (https://bit.ly/3pXguv2), particularly in reference to the provision of digital financial services.

 

These reports have brought about a spike in the number of companies and amount of investment activities in the fintech space in Africa. Yet, two things stand out; the minimal impact on financial inclusion, and the persisting difficulty in building and launching a fintech company on the continent.

 

For context, financial exclusion in Nigeria decreased by only one percent, from 37% in 2018 to 36% in 2020. Also, today, across Africa it takes an average of $500,000 and 18 months to build and go-to market with  financial products. This is because companies need to go through the hurdles of rigorous licensing and compliance processes, multiple integration layers, complex banking and third-party relationships, and invest in complicated core-banking infrastructure.

 

Anchor (https://getAnchor.co/) is launching its public beta API infrastructure to make it easier for African businesses to build, embed and launch financial products, starting in its first market, Nigeria.

 

Founded by Segun Adeyemi, ex-CEO of Amplifypay, Olamide Sobowale and Gbekeloluwa Olufotebi, Anchor provides API for offering accounts, money movement, savings and card products.

 

“We built Anchor to abstract away the complexities in building financial products, so businesses can get started in five minutes with a few lines of code”, says Anchor’s CEO, Segun Adeyemi.

We built Anchor to abstract away the complexities in building financial products, so businesses can get started in five minutes with a few lines of code

 

In May, Anchor released its private beta working with innovative start-ups like Outpost Health, Dillali, and Pivo. The BaaS platform has transacted millions, growing over 200% MoM, and is now set to launch its public beta (https://getAnchor.co/) for African businesses to embed finance into their offerings and for fintechs to build banking products. Already, the company has more than 40 other startups on its waitlist.

 

Anchor has raised over $1 million in pre-seed funding from Byld Ventures, Y Combinator, Luno Expeditions, Niche Capital, Mountain Peak Capital, and a host of angel investors including Emmanuel Okeleji (CEO, SeamlessHR), Ado Oseragbaje, Yinka Odeleye, and Sanmi Famuyide.

 

According to Ashutosh Desai, a Partner at Y Combinator, “Anchor’s embedded finance platform enables technology companies in Africa to build products that can rapidly expand access and improve quality of financial services. We’re excited to back Segun, Olamide, and Gbeke – a highly technical and experienced team – in building financial infrastructure that’s essential for Africa’s economic growth.”

 

“I believe BaaS will play a prominent role in the distribution of financial services in Africa. As a full stack baas provider, Anchor demarcates customer engagement from infrastructure – enabling its customers to focus on building differentiation as opposed to commodity infrastructure. We are really excited to be working with this determined and experienced team”, Founder of Byld Ventures, Youcef Oudjidane.

 

Anchor is a solution birthed by the insights garnered from the founders’ experience building and working with fintechs across Africa. The CEO, Segun Adeyemi founded Amplifypay; a payments company which he exited to Carbon (FKA OneFi/Paylater) in 2019. Segun proceeded to work with JUMO—a company that offers credit infrastructure to large mobile money operators across Africa.

 

Olamide, the CTO and co-founder, has worked at AppZone, TeamApt, Kuda, & Carbon. While at TeamApt he functioned as a Fullstack Engineer in the team that built the first virtual payments product in Nigeria. Gbeke, the Engineering Lead and co-founder, has been an IT Consultant and entrepreneur in Nigeria for over 10 years before joining Booking.com where he built financial operations software.

 

“We have seen first-hand the painful process of closing banking partnerships, negotiating third-party contracts, and obtaining regulatory approvals. And more generally, the extensive time and effort required to launch financial products,” Segun said.

 

He added that “considering the similarity in the underlying infrastructure, irrespective of the unique value propositions, companies should not have to wait for years and spend millions to go-to-market. That’s why we are excited to get Anchor into the hands of many more businesses via our public beta launch.”