BUSINESS
Monday 10 December 2018
COMPANIES & MARKETS
DAY
23
‘We are committed to consistently deliver on the investment objective’
Pg. 27
C o m pa n y n e w s a n a ly s i s a n d i n s i g h t
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Verve, Paga, Quick teller, Interswitch, Orange SA, eye role of payment service banks LOLADE AKINMURELE
V
erve, Paga, Quick telle r, I n t e r switch and Orange S.A join MTN and Bharti Airtel on a list of 30 business names undergoing registration as payment service banks at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), in a move that could prove a game changer for tens of millions of financially excluded Nigerians. For non-banks, registering a subsidiar y unit is the first step in applying for a payment
ser vice bank license under a new set of mobile money guidelines launched by the Central Bank of Nigeria in October, as it attempts to replicate a system that has succeeded in bringing large swaths of people from Kenya to India into the formal financial fold. According to data obtained from the Abuja-based CAC, the thirty business names undergoing registration include financial technology companies, Verve, Quick teller, Int e r s w i t c h, Pa ga a n d Paystack. Mitchell Elegbe, the General Managing Di-
rector of Verve, did not immediately respond to a text message seeking confirmation. The names of Telecommunication companies, MTN and Bharti Airtel also feature, as well as Glomoney and Glocash Payment S e r v i c e Ba n k s - p o ssible subsidiar ies of Globacom. An email to MTN spokesperson, Funso Aina, seeking confirmation was not immediately replied. Orange S.A . also wants a piece of the pie, CAC data showed. That confirms an earlier article by Business Day which reported in-
terest from the French telecom company in Nigeria’s mobile money market. Other business names undergoing CAC re g i s t ra t i o n i n c l u d e M P S , C r y t o, R o g e r, Zuma and Probity Payment Service Banks (PSB). Others are IFIS, Touba, Hope, G oals, MOMO, A-Tel, Wazob i a, Av e nt e l , Sw i t c h and Vela. Opening up the mobile mone y space to non-financial compani e s b rea ks t h e m o n o p o l y o f c o m m e rcial banks after years of haggling between stakeholders.
30 companies undergoing CAC registration as PSBs
Continues on page 26
OIL AND GAS
NNPC, AGIP in race to meet 2019 deadline for 500mw Okapi power plant Olusola Bello
T
he Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Agip joint venture are working towards ensuring that the 500 megawatts Okapi phase 2 Power Plant comes on stream in the second half of 2019, in what would be a boost for electricity generation and economic activity. According to sources familiar with the joint venture, a lot of activities are going on for the new project to complement the 480 megawatts first phase, which has been in existence since 2005. “The NNPC/AGIP JV are fine tuning the Okpai Phase 2 Project to shore up the current power generation with 500 megawatts of power which will result in an increase in the country’s power generation by between 10 to 12 per cent,
provided the transmission segment is up and running,” said Maikanti Baru, the group managing director of NNPC. Baru also said the NNPC has repaired a ruptured Gas Pipeline which supplies gas to most thermal electricity generating plants in the country. Lorenzo Fiorillo, vice chairman and managing director of Nigeria Agip Oil Company/ANER said his company has a longstanding partnership with Nigeria and they would want to grow, build and develop new
opportunities for the country and support its energy journey. “We want to change and improve the energy mix of the country and the Okpai project is a testament of this commitment of our company,” he said. Fiorillo said the joint venture partners have been working for 15 years to implement the Okpai phase 2 project, which is very important to the NNPC/NAOC JV. “We have been able to find a way to achieve our target with this administration,” Fiorillo added.
Edited by LOLADE AKINMURELE (loladeakinmurele@gmail.com) Graphics: CHINEDUM ONYEMA
Source:CAC