The Bank of Namibia has called in NPCI International Payments to help the southern African country develop an instant payments system based on India’s hugely successful UPI. Namibia will tap into the technology and expertise behind India’s UPI to develop real-time P2P and merchant payments. NIPL says it will help Namibia modernise its financial ecosystem, boosting the accessibility, affordability and connectivity for both domestic and international payment networks.

Launched in 2016, the UPI has been central to India’s efforts to use digital payments to boost financial inclusion and has now handled well over 100 billion transactions.

The NPCI international subsidiary was set up in 2020 to push the UPI, as well as the RuPay card network, outside of India. Earlier this year, the unit struck a deal with Nepal’s largest payment network and it has also joined forces with Google Pay to accelerate global expansion.

Johannes Gawaxab, governor, Bank of Namibia, says: “Our objective is to enhance accessibility and affordability for underserved populations, achieve full interoperability of payment instruments by 2025, modernize the financial sector, and ensure a secure and efficient National Payment System.

The G20 has identified service level agreements (SLAs) as a priority in helping to achieve its targets in cross-border payment by end-2027. The SLAs define minimum service levels for correspondent banking relationships, the links between payment systems and payment instrument rulebooks.

This can help to meet the G20 goals of making cross-border payments cheaper, faster, more transparent and more accessible, while also ensuring their safety.

The report contains high-level recommendations, key features and guiding questions to inform parties involved in such arrangements. Payment service providers, correspondent banks and/or payment system operators are encouraged to consider the recommendations when establishing new agreements or reviewing existing ones.

The recommendations, key features and guiding questions were informed by a year-long interaction with public and private stakeholders. The recommendations were deliberately kept at a high level. They should not put an undue burden on new and smaller payment arrangements, while still contributing to increased harmonization of new and existing agreements.

Volition Cap, an asset management company empowering the hardworking middle-class to create wealth, announced today that it has secured a fund management license from the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as of December 2022.

This license allows the company to operate as a registered fund manager in Nigeria, as it prepares to launch a suite of retail and institutional investment products for Africans living on the continent and in the Diaspora.

Founded in 2018, Volition Cap is a game-changing asset manager that leverages traditional cooperatives, a model it created through Volition Cooperative, a licensed multi-purpose cooperative making investing stress-free for its members.

By leveraging technology to distribute products, Volition Cap will reduce the cost of investment services and the challenge of easy access. With the credibility and trust that an SEC license confers, this home-grown business is poised to scale its bespoke products across Africa and the Diaspora.

Subomi Plumptre, CEO of Volition Cap, said, “Our company was founded by entrepreneurs who truly understand the daily struggles of the middle class. From our operation’s inception, we have focused on empowering this group to attain financial success. The SEC license is a significant milestone for us as we introduce retail and institutional products to drive economic growth.”