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Ecobank Hosts Digital Forum To Promote Regional Trade, Financial Inclusion

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The managing director, Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwunta, has reiterated the bank’s commitment towards promoting African regional trade as it continues to drive digital financial inclusion in the country.

Akinwuntan, speaking at the Ecobank Digital Series virtual Africa Trade Conference 2020 titled: ‘Facilitating Regional Trade in the emerging AfCFTA Era’ maintained that Ecobank was set up to be the leader in intra-Africa trade.

Noting that the bank leverages on its knowledge, footprint and digital payment platforms, he said Ecobank is set to lead the financial services support for the new Africa Continental Free Trade Area.  According to him, “while intra Africa trade provides opportunity for the growth of our economy in Africa, Ecobank is ‘the go to bank’ for Africa regional trade”. 

He stressed that the Ecobank regional trade conference was designed to “primarily explore the massive trade opportunity before us in Africa, particularly after the pandemic. Ecobank decided to set the agenda for Africa to take its place in global trade. The opportunity is massive: withmarket size of 1.2 billion, estimated GDP of $2.5 billion, Africa free trade area is the largest since the formation of the World Trade Organization (WTO); more than 65 member states across the African union, population to reach 2.5 billion by 2050.”

Also speaking, eecutive director/ chief executive, Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Segun Awolowo, said with a market of 1.2 billion people and combined GDP of $3 trillion, there is huge potential for Nigeria to increase its export to Africa. 

According to him, most exports had been informal exports but with platforms, like Ecobank, it is going to be official and add real value to the economy.  He said in 2018, the export value of Nigeria to Africa totaled around $6.99 billion but its export to the rest of the world totaled $45.92 billion. However, Nigeria export is majorly crude oil and natural gas which constitute 91 per cent.

The bank had also partnered with Vanguard Conferences and Economic Forum Series have announced that it is convening a Digital Financial inclusion Summit to drive, promote and deepen financial inclusion amongst the unbanked and underbanked population in Nigeria. Current statistics shows that 84.6 million Nigerians accounting for 47 per cent of the population are unbanked, against mobile phone penetration which is up to 94.5 per cent. 

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Financial

QNET Creates Initiative To Increase Financial Inclusion In Youth Communities 

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Global e-commerce based direct selling company, QNET is working to increase financial inclusion in youth communities through its signature educational programme called FinGreen.

FinGreen aims to boost financial inclusion in underserved communities by empowering individuals with the skills required to be financially confident, aware, and savvy through its three pillars: assessing target communities, training them, and transforming participants into financial literacy advocates.

One of the programme’s first ambassadors, Anuoluwapo Ayoola, is sharing her newly gained financial skills and knowledge with 70 university students at a workshop she organised in Abuja about educating other young people about the importance of financial literacy as an essential life skill.

She said, “I am thrilled to have organised a financial literacy workshop at the University of Abuja, with the generous support of QNET. Financial literacy is not just about managing money. It’s about creating a better future for ourselves and future generations. As an ambassador of FinGreen, I’m excited for more opportunities to educate my peers on why financial education and literacy are so important!”

Ayoola based her financial literacy workshop on campus at the University of Abuja on the insights and understanding she gained as part of the pilot cohort to complete the first phase of FinGreen trainings, which kicked off in Nigeria in June of 2022. She designed the first module of her workshop to challenge the assumptions on financial literacy, educating the 70 participants on how they can adjust their mindset to utilise financial knowledge for their benefit.

The second module drew on Ayoola’s experience as a student, where she shared practical strategies and tips on how participants can manage their finances as students and as working adults. This will be crucial to help participants manage their financial sustainability and investment, seeing as many Nigerian students bear significant debt due to the increasing cost of tertiary education.

Mr. Biram Fall, the regional general Manager of QNET Sub-Saharan Africa, said, “We are honoured to support Anu Ayoola and the University of Abuja’s Financial Literacy Workshop. With the constantly shifting financial landscape and the digitisation of financial services, young people need to be equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about their money. Not just that, we want to continue helping young people, like Anu Ayoola, develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills and foster a sense of responsibility and leadership through FinGreen.”

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Africa Region

Inlaks Wins ICT Company of The Year Award

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Leading ICT infrastructure, and systems integrator, in sub-Saharan Africa, Inlaks has emerged as the ICT Company of The Year at the fourth edition of the Ghana Business Standard Awards (GBSA).

The Awards organized by KN Unique Communications, to celebrate businesses committed to remarkable standards in their sectors, and industry leaders breaking barriers of excellence across Ghana was held at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel with the theme ‘Celebrating Organisations Committed to Remarkable Business Standards Geared Toward Sustainable Growth’.

The GBSA recognises standard-makers, excellence achievers, responsible organisations, andindividuals who adhere to local business requirements while consistently improving their performance. It provides a platform to enhance standard processes, services, product delivery, and the improvement of existing business practices in Ghana. Inlaks won the award for its outstanding achievements in providing customer-centric IT solutions to its customers while adhering to standard practices.

Speaking on the Award, Chief Executive Officer, Inlaks, Kyari Bukar said:

Inlaks complies with effective business standards and good governance in its operations. This has been impactful in our growth and ongoing success in enhancing the ICT sector. The resilience and passion of the team in serving our customers is a priority and we will not relent in our efforts to thrive on a customer-first platform. The company is appreciative of this award and is grateful to the organisers for recognizing our performance.

Inlaks, partners with Original Equipment Manufacturers in the technology industry to provide world-class information technology solutions. Over the years, the firm has built a reputation for effectively helping its clientele with new markets and service opportunities.

Also, commenting, Country Manager, Inlaks Ghana, Yacoba Amuah said:

This recognition speaks further to our efficiency in our standards of corporate excellence and delivery to our customers. Inlaks is honoured to be recognized for its good performance while enhancing growth for clients.  We appreciate the dedication of our staff and partners who have made this possible. We are future-focused and continue to support businesses to achieve their goals in Ghana and beyond.

The Ghana Business Standard Awards celebrate organisations committed to exceptional business standards in their sectors and industry leaders breaking barriers of excellence across the Ghanaian business region and the world at large.

Inlaks is a leading systems integrator in Sub-Saharan Africa. With operations in Nigeria, Ghana, East Africa and other Sub-Saharan African regions, the company partners with leading OEMs in the technology industry to provide world-class information technology solutions that exceed the needs of its customers. 

Over the years, Inlaks has built a reputation as the foremost ICT and Infrastructure Solutions Provider, helping customers effectively seize new market and service opportunities. 

With an impressive customer base that includes six Central Banks in West Africa, 18 of the 24 banks in Nigeria, and other major customers in the West African region, Inlaks has become the dominant Information Technology Company in Africa.

Inlaks’ customers cut across various segments including Banking, Telecommunication, Oil/Gas, Power, Utilities, and the Distribution sectors of the economy.

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Financial

India Unwraps UPI and Aadhaar Service APIs to Foreign Nations

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India is making a host of its e-governance tools – including the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Aadhaar identity service – available to other countries via open APIs.

Available via the India Stack website, the project is “a set of open APIs and digital public goods that aim to unlock the economic primitives of identity, data, and payments at population scale”.

Says the site: “The principles, technologies, and functionality of India Stack can be applied in any country. None of the systems which comprise India Stack require any proprietary technology or intellectual property which would preclude their implementation in any other country.”

In a speech during Digital India Week, prime minister Narendra Modi boasted about the success of the instant payments network, UPI, claiming: “Everyone, including the World Bank, has appreciated it as the best platform.”

Launched in 2016, the UPI has now handled 99 billion transactions, recording 2200 every second in May.

Along with the RuPay card network, UPI has been central to India’s efforts to use digital payments to boost financial inclusion. Modi says this has proved a huge success, noting: “Once, I found that a beggar in Bihar was begging on a platform and he was taking money digitally.”

Says Modi: “Therefore, today digital products like UPI are the centre of attraction for developed countries of the world, or those countries which cannot invest in this type of technology. Our digital solutions have the reach, are secure and have democratic values.”

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