Digital Payment

Access Bank unveils SwiftPay to boost Digital Payments for SMEs

by with No Comment BusinessNews

In the bid to boost the facilitation of payments between SME and retail customers in the digital space, Access Bank Plc recently unveiled SWIFTPAY, a digital payment service that facilitates the receipt of business payments by enabling customers make quick, easy and secure digital payments on social media platforms to merchants.

READ ALSO: TAX: Oman to cut income tax on SMEs

Speaking to newsmen during the launch of the new service  in Lagos, Group, Head, Emerging Businesses, Access Bank plc, Ayodele Olojede, noted that the lockdown, experienced in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in less in-person interactions and  less in-person payment options. She revealed that statistics from a survey carried out post-lockdown showed that MSMEs were impacted by cash flow, revenue and sales while adding that the impact of the pandemic made more apparent the lack of infrastructure and access to digital resources for small businesses.

“This is why Access Bank introduced SWIFTPAY to support the digital transition and growth of SME businesses. This product is part of the Bank’s commitment to support SMEs to meet their business objectives despite the times. The new service comes in form of a payment link that can be hosted on merchants’ social media pages and sent to anyone to pay and conclude business transactions. It is easy and takes less than 5 minutes for interested merchants to sign up as it is convenient and time saving for everyone. 

Ayodele also revealed that the Bank is committed to providing very practical solutions that support the growth of small business in Nigeria.

“SWIFTPAY is free and the processing charge is discounted up to 15 per cent to ensure merchants keep most of their earnings.  In recent times, e-commerce has been challenged with the rise in fraud on social media, we have ensured that every merchant registered on SWIFTPAY carries a ‘verified by access ‘ stamp to authenticate the page giving customers confidence when they transact.

“We have been focused on providing solutions targeted at boosting the economy because we believe it is our responsibility to contribute to the stimulation of economic growth. With the launch of “SwiftPay by Access”, we are renewing our commitment to providing the much-needed technological support to our SMEs.” Olojede concluded.

Access Bank Plc is recognized as one of the most innovative financial institutions in Africa. With over 40 million customers and 600 branches nationwide, it offers a range of products and services tailored to suit needs and lifestyle of its customers across multiple segments.

To know more about SwiftPay, please click HERE.

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Mansard

AXA Mansard empowers female business owners

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AXA Mansard, a member of AXA, the global leader in insurance and asset management as part of the its plans to foster women empowerment and capacity building has collaborated with SME 100 Africa to empower one female business owner at the 2021 International Women’s Day Conference.

READ ALSO: Government targeting gender-sensitive public financial management processes

The conference which held on Thursday March 4, 2020 was themed ‘Choose to Challenge: Achieving An Equal Future in a COVID-19 World’.

It held in a hybrid (both virtual and physical) format and featured sessions from various successful female business owners such as Mrs. Funke Bucknor-Obruthe, the CEO of Zapphire Events Limited and Fade Ogunro the CEO of Bookings Africa.

It also featured a financial literacy session facilitated by AXA Mansard’s investment officer, Nneoma Mere.

The highlight of the session was the business pitch session where female entrepreneurs presented their pitches and keenly competed for a prize of One Million Naira (N1,000,000) towards their businesses.

GreenHill Recycling Limited founded by Mrs. Mariam Lawani – a social enterprise that provides sustainable solutions to the waste management crisis in Nigeria through recycling and upcycling emerged as the winner of the prize.

Commenting about the pitch competition, the Chief Customer and Marketing Officer at AXA Mansard, Mrs. Olajumoke Odunlami noted that “The pitch session was a thrilling and impactful experience for me.

I am very privileged to have been a part of this session and to have seen the great things that women are doing in business.

Women are the force for change and we must continue to strive to ensure that we are visible and relentless.”

Mrs Odunlami concluded by saying that “AXA is committed to gender equality through implementation of gender initiatives as well as sound and inclusive policies, processes and culture across the organisation.

We believe that women are the key to progress as they are a vital force for growth and development around the world.

We encourage women to take advantage of our SHE for Shield initiative which is tailored towards empowering women.

Every business owner who has made a pitch here is a winner as they are all doing fantastic things with their businesses.

I congratulate the winner of the prize money, Mrs. Lawani whose company is targeted at sustainability.

We at AXA are strong advocates of sustainability and this is also reflected in our targets and policies.

AXA Mansard was incorporated in 1989 as a private limited liability company and is registered as a composite company with the National Insurance Commission of Nigeria (NAICOM).

The Company offers life and non-life insurance products and services to individuals and institutions across Nigeria whilst also offering asset/investment management services and health insurance solutions through its two subsidiaries – AXA Mansard Investments Limited and AXA Mansard Health Limited respectively.

AXA Mansard was listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange in November 2009.

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gender sensitive

Government targeting gender-sensitive public financial management processes

by with No Comment BusinessNews

The federal government has disclosed that it is entrenching public financial management processes that would be more gender-sensitive and ensures the availability of credible disaggregated data.

READ ALSO: Investor Education Will Encourage Investor Participation

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, in her goodwill message yesterday during the commemoration of the “2021 International Women’s Day National Policy Dialogue,” noted that through the implementation of Finance Acts 2019 and 2020, the federal government is providing tax relief and other forms of support to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), many of which are owned by women.

Ahmed said: “We are also working to ensure that our public financial management processes are more gender-sensitive, and that credible disaggregated data is available. Such a focus will yield sustainable and scalable change.

“We are also scaling up existing and developing new interventions at the intersection of gender equality and fiscal policy/public financial management. These include gender- responsive budgeting, and assessments of the gender responsiveness of key fiscal interventions (including fiscal stimulus packages) with specific commitments aimed at improving the safety, livelihoods, and economic status of women and girls.

“This is an area in which we at the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning are focusing more deliberately and will be prioritising, in partnership with the Ministry of Women Affairs and other critical stakeholders.”

She pointed out that women and girls have continued to bear the disproportionate burden of the COVID-19 pandemic on the frontlines, in their homes and across various sectors and stated that they must be given the opportunities and tools with which to be socially, financially, and economically empowered.

The minister advocated that every woman and girl should be guaranteed safety in their respective homes, schools, communities, and places of work while calling for an end to gender-based violence and the so-called ‘shadow pandemic’ once and for all.

The minister observed that gender equality and women’s economic empowerment remained critical to ensuring inclusive and sustainable development.

“If we fail to act now, the goals espoused in the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union’s Agenda 2063 will remain out of reach,” she said.

She described this year’s theme “Women in Leadership: Achieving an Equal Future in a COVID-19 World” as a resounding call to celebrate the unfailing resilience and inspiring leadership of women and girls around the world.

She also applauded the efforts of the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Pauline Tallen, adding that Tallen has been a tireless advocate for gender equality, and had taken a bold stand in the campaign to end violence against women and girls.

Ahmed noted that internationally, the country is proud to have the United Nations (UN) Deputy Secretary-General, Mrs. Amina Mohammed, and the recently appointed World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Director-General, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, among its gender advocates and champions of change.

gender-sensitive

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SUNREF

SUNREF invites operators to tap $81m funding

by with No Comment financeNews

SUNREF invites operators to tap $81m funding for off-grid projects

The Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Energy Finance (SUNREF), a green financing line for businesses developed by the French Development Agency (AFD) is encouraging manufacturers to take advantage of the SUNREF funding facility.

READ ALSO: Ndi-Enugu: Registration for Enugu Skillers Associates

The organisation in a virtual investors conference it hosted along with the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria (MAN) said that its SUNREF funding facility, which is composed of a €60 million ($70 million) lowcost debt financing, a €9.5 million ($11 million) grant facility and technical assistance provided to partner banks and project developers, will help to deepen Nigeria’s energy access.

The conference, which was hosted in partnership with development partners, the Nigerian Energy Support Program (NESP) implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and off-grid renewable
energy investor All-On, brought together investors, SUNREF Nigeria partner banks (Access Bank and UBA), technical assistance providers, renewable energy and energy efficiency project developers, government agencies and other stakeholders.

“The SUNREF facility has come at the right time when manufacturers need more power to drive our operations. We are excited about it as potential beneficiaries and we hope that both our members and non-members will take full advantage of this opportunity,” said MansurAhmed, the MAN President.

In his remarks, Wiebe Boer, CEO All-On, an investment firm, highlighted the huge market potentials in the renewable energy and energy sectors in Nigeria.

“The size of the energy gap in Nigeria is between 30GW and 175GW, and would cost between $40 billion to $200 billion to address. Nigerians spend $15 to $20 billion annually on power, which is ten times the grid,” said Boer.

“This is also a market opportunity for providers of constant, reliable electricity, such as mini-grids which are a potentially $10 billion market.”

In his remarks, Wiebe Boer, CEO All-On, an investment firm, highlighted the huge market potentials in the renewable energy and energy sectors in Nigeria.

“The size of the energy gap in Nigeria is between 30GW and 175GW, and would cost between $40 billion to $200 billion to address. Nigerians spend $15 to $20 billion annually on power, which is ten times the grid,” said Boer.

“This is also a market opportunity for providers of constant, reliable electricity, such as mini-grids which are a potentially $10 billion market.”

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Diaspora Investment

Nigeria to reward every diaspora dollar inflow with N5

by with No Comment financeNews

Nigeria will reward every diaspora dollar inflow with five Naira additional payment as the country seeks to maximise foreign exchange flows from its citizens abroad.

READ ALSO: Govt. Cushioning the Effects of COVID-19 on MSMEs

According to a statement by the central bank, recipients of diaspora flows who use formal channels to get U.S. dollars from abroad, will be paid N5 fir every dollar received and this will be on top of proceeds of the cash sent.

It is the latest move by authorities to increase the flow of remittances amid a shortage of hard currency.

Recipients will get 5 naira for every $1 they remit through licensed international money transfer operators and commercial banks, the central bank said.

The program will run from March 8 till May 8.

The West African nation’s currency has been devalued twice since March last year after a sharp drop in oil sales and remittances from workers abroad led to a shortage of dollars.

Measures by the central bank to bolster inflows and a rebound in oil prices could reduce pressure on the currency, which last traded at 411 per dollar at the exchange platform for investors and exporters known as Nafex.

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Dollar Bill

What to expect of CBN “naira for dollar” scheme

by with No Comment financeNews

What to expect as CBN’s naira for dollar scheme begins
Starting today, March 8, Nigerians who use formal channels to receive dollars from abroad will get 5 naira extra for every $1 they remit through licensed international money transfer operators and commercial banks.

READ ALSO: High demand for OMO bills as yields top 10%

The program will initially run for 60 days, according to the CBN, which is betting on the move to improve dollar liquidity in the official window.
Based on the policy, Deposit Money Banks reached out to their customers on Sunday telling them that N5 would be given for every dollar received by the customers.

Nigeria is turning its attention to diaspora remittances as it seeks to boost dollar inflows into the country after a difficult past year that saw dollar flows dry up on the back of lower oil exports, causing shortages of the greenback.

In December 2020, the CBN also unveiled new rules on remittances allowing people getting cash from friends or family abroad to be paid in US dollars. This marked a divergence from the usual practice of paying in naira which discouraged diaspora inflows via official channels.
Economists say the latest incentive by the CBN to boost diaspora inflows could indeed help direct some dollars through the official channel and ease the pressure on the naira which last traded at N411 per dollar at the investors and exporters window.
The big question on the minds of analysts is the cost implication of the scheme.

New week, old worries for equities
Bearish sentiments again dominated the Nigerian equities market last week, dragging the All Share Index to its fifth consecutive negative close.
The NSEASI shed 1.18% WoW to 39,331.61pts, while the year-to-date return sunk deeper into negative territory, settling at -2.33%.
All sectoral indices closed negative with the exception of the Insurance index which climbed 1.39 percent. MORISON (+20.00%) topped the gainers’ chart, while CHAMPION shed -33.33% to emerge as the week’s biggest loser.
As yields in the fixed income market continue to rise, the equities market is expected to continue to see outflows.
It remains to be seen however if the ongoing corporate earnings season can swing sentiments in favour of embattled stocks.

Mixed corporate earnings
A number of audited financial results were released last week, with mixed performance across board. While Dangote Sugar recorded strong top and bottom-line growth (+33.03% and +33.16% respectively), Ardova Plc managed to grow its revenues (+2.90%), although after-tax profit dipped by 47.30% compared to last year. SEPLAT, on the other hand, recorded declines in both top and bottom-line.
MTN Nigeria also released its 2020 audited financial statements that showed an 8.5 percent increase in operating profits to N426.73 billion, as data revenues surged by 51 percent to N332.37 billion.
This week will see more corporate results and there are expectations that the financial performance of companies in 2020 will reflect the impact of the pandemic on the economy which slipped into a second recession in five years last year.

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M36 Union Bank

M36 redefines digital investment in Nigeria

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M36, a new digital platform designed to deliver a wide range of investment products directly to individuals, has launched in Nigeria.

READ ALSO: Stocks shed N245bn: Investors go for attractive yields

Through an innovative, user-friendly app, M36 offers investment options not typically available on self-service digital platforms including foreign currency transactions, commercial papers, local and foreign denominated bonds, treasury bills and other fixed income products.

It also offers bespoke solutions for both new and experienced investors as well as a 24-hour lifestyle concierge service to meet the needs of discerning customers.

In a rapidly evolving environment with changing consumer behavior fuelled by technology and growing access to information, M36 is looking to expand opportunities for investors at all levels, while also simplifying the process of investing.

It was developed by Union Bank as part of its strategic focus on delivering superior customer solutions leveraging technology and innovation. The bank partnered several asset management companies to deliver the broad range of investment products on the M36 platform.

Chuka Emerole, head, treasury at Union Bank, said “M36 eliminates the traditional barriers to investing and offers investors direct access to financial instruments that would usually require the service of an investment or relationship manager. We have designed M36 to ensure simplicity in the on-boarding and investing process while also empowering the customer to make sound investment choices based on their financial objectives. We worked with key partners to deliver both the experience and products on M36 and are confident that we have launched a superior product in today’s marketplace.”

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SEC, AFDB

AfDB provides $400,000 grant for Nigeria’s SEC

by with No Comment BusinessfinanceNews

The African Development Bank Group has signed a $400,000 grant agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria to strengthen securities markets regulation and broaden market instruments.

READ ALSO: CBN extends interest rate cut on pandemic loans

The funds will go towards strengthening risk-based supervision framework, regulation of derivatives and green bonds, and build capacity for green finance. The grant will be sourced from the Capital Markets Development Trust Fund, a multi-donor fund administered by the Bank. AFDB

“This collaboration further underscores our mutual goal to grow our markets and create viable avenues for sustainable economic development for Nigeria and the region,” said Lamido Yuguda, Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission at the virtual signing ceremony.

The grant is aligned with the priorities of the Bank’s Country Strategy for Nigeria, which envisages measures to stimulate capital market development to unlock financial resources for productive sector investments, infrastructure development and private sector growth.

The project will reinforce the implementation of SEC’s Nigeria Capital Market Master Plan 2015-2025 and its vision to position the Nigerian capital market as a competitive and attractive destination for portfolio investments.

Lamin Barrow, Senior Director of the Bank’s Nigeria Country Department, (AFDB) noted the urgency for speedy implementation of activities contemplated in this project.

“At a time when countries are striving to build back better from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, improvement of the enabling regulatory and supervision framework will boost domestic resource mobilisation efforts and leverage private sector contributions to achieve a greener, more environmentally sustainable and inclusive post-pandemic recovery” Barrow added.

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CBN

CBN extends interest rate cut on pandemic loans

by with No Comment financeNews

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) extension of the interest rate it reduced during the pandemic (officially known as discounted interest rate) by another 12 months is seen as a big boost for an economy licking its wounds from the recession, most analysts polled by BusinesDay said.

READ ALSO: Brent moves towards $70 as Goldman Sachs raises Q2’21 forecast to $75

Discounted interest rate is a rate charged by the monetary authority, in this case, the CBN on the deposit money banks.

On March 1, 2020, the CBN reduced the interest rates on its intervention funds from 9 percent to 5 percent per annum for a one-year period.

READ ALSO: Farmers benefit from CBN Anchor Borrower program

The reduction was part of measures to mitigate the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Nigerian economy. One major impact of the intervention was in the management of Non-Performing Loan (NPL) in the banking system.

Although the banking sector NPLs rose to 6.01 percent at the end of December 2020 from 5.88 percent at the end of November 2020 and above the prudential maximum threshold of 5.0 percent, analysts said it would have been worse than this if not for the discounted facilities and moratorium for banks and other financial institutions.

Akintunde Olusegun, analyst at Polaris Bank Limited, said extending the discounted rate was good for the economy as the COVID-19 pandemic was still on. Most businesses affected have not recovered, and ending it now would not have helped those businesses.

He said the CBN acted in the right direction, noting, “It gives the companies the opportunity to rebound. The impact of the previous discounted rate could be seen on the GDP, which came against the predictions of most economists and the IMF. Surprisingly, Nigeria exited recession.”

The extension followed the positive impact recorded in the first discounted intervention facility in 2020. Borrowers of the facility were majorly the manufacturers and agribusiness operators.

Data from FBNQuest showed that the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) made a good recovery from 44.5 to 53.0 in February 2021. The good recovery was driven by medium-sized and small firms.

According to Ayodeji Ebo, head, retail investment, Chapel Hill Denham, it is a positive development. It will help the banks in managing NPL. If it is positive, it gives them leeway. The discounted rate for the CBN intervention facility last year provided support to most companies, especially, in the real sector. It helped in the increase in crop production and reduction in cost of fund.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report showed that agriculture contributed 24.23 percent to nominal GDP in the fourth quarter of 2020, higher than the rates recorded for the fourth quarter of 2019, but lower than the third quarter of 2020, which recorded 23.38 percent and 28.41 percent, respectively. The annual contribution of agriculture to the nominal GDP in 2020 was 24.45%. Crop production sector grew by 3.68% in Q4 2020 from 1.38% in Q3 2020 and 2.52% in Q4 2019.

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Brent

Brent moves towards $70 as Goldman Sachs raises Q2’21 forecast to $75

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Brent, the benchmark for Nigeria’s crude oil, is moving towards $70 a barrel, less than 24 hours after the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies agreed to keep production levels unchanged.

READ ALSO: European Fund okays $16b for Nigeria, others

On Friday morning, international benchmark Brent crude rose 5.4 percent to $67.85 a barrel as at 8.am Nigerian time, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures stood at $64.85, around 1.60 percent higher after OPEC’s meeting late Thursday.

Reacting to Thursday’s meeting, Goldman Sachs is now even more bullish on oil, expecting Brent crude prices to hit $75 a barrel in the second quarter of 2021, on the back of faster market rebalancing, lower expected inventories, and traders hedging against inflation.

In a note on Friday, cited by S&P Platts, the investment bank’s analysts forecast Brent crude prices reaching the $75 a barrel mark during the second quarter of this year, thus lifting its previous Q2 and Q3 forecasts by $10 per barrel.

“Faster re-balancing during what was expected to be the dark days of winter will be followed by a widening deficit this spring as the ramp-up in OPEC+ production lags our above-consensus demand recovery forecast,” said Goldman Sachs.

For Africa’s biggest oil producer, a signal of higher oil price is always a blessing in terms of improved earnings. However, it might end up becoming a problem for the nation’s downstream sector, which still allows the price of petrol to be remotely controlled.

If oil exceeds the $70 mark, Nigerians would have to prepare for higher pump prices of PMS of at least N200 a litre in the coming weeks, without subsidy from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

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