The RegtechAfrica Magazine (Winter Edition Vol. 3)

Editor's

Welcome to the winter edition of the Regtech Africa Magazine our quarterly magazine designed to share actionable insights and intelligence on emerging regtech ecosystem themes and collaborative innovation in financial services. Following the hugely successful maiden edition of the RegTech Africa Conference, in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we are excited to announce that the RegTech Africa Conference 2023 is scheduled to hold between 24th – 26th May at the Oriental Hotel in Lagos –Nigeria

The conference provides the platform for regulators, regulated and key industry stakeholders to engage, collaborate and share knowledge around new technologies and practices that support better regulations

Registration for in-person corporate participation is on a

first-come, first-serve basis with limited slots available For registration and partnership opportunities, please visit: www regtechafricaconference com or email info@regtechafrica com

We look forward to hosting you in Lagos and hope to hear your views on industry’s progression towards the future of regulatory innovations

The holiday is a time to reflect on the year with gratitude and how much we ' ve accomplished with the support of our amazing families, friends, partners, colleagues and fantastic community across the globe

We’re very happy at how our digital service hubs are helping fuel discussions and inform investment decisions

We are grateful to you for being a part of our journey, and would like to seize this opportunity to thank you all for your readership and your fantastic support in 2022 and look forward to an even more exciting 2023 together!

Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year! Stay safe and keep well!

CYRIL OKOROIGWE

Nigeria Data Protection Regulation: Guaranteeing the rights, privacy and freedoms of Nigerians in the global digital economy

Data is a crucial component of successful digital transformation. It has frequently been highlighted that organizations that handle and process data efficiently instantly dominate their respective industries.

Although data can be used for development, it can also equally be used for malicious purposes. Without the safeguards afforded by Data Protection, millions of Nigerians would be vulnerable to the following abuses among others:

Cyber fraud, Financial Loss (Individuals, Corporate organizations, and the nation), Loss of work, educational and medical data among others, Cyberbullying, Intrusion into private family/social life, Criminal disruption of livelihoods, Data manipulation, Identity Theft

Consequently, raising awareness on data protection and privacy is crucial to any developing country as the more we transform into a data-driven society, the more the need to secure data arises

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BUREAU

In due cognizance of the emerging international norm in respect of safeguarding the rights of data subjects to privacy as well as strengthening data sovereignty through adequate Data Protection framework, the President and Commander-in-Chief, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR approved the creation of the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau on the 4th Of February 2022.

MANDATE OF THE BUREAU

Implementation of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) and regulation of the processing of personal information to guarantee the rights, privacy, and freedoms of Nigerians in the global digital economy.

The objectives of the NDPR being implemented by the Bureau are as follows: -

To safeguard the rights of natural persons to data privacy

To foster safe conduct for transactions involving the exchange of Personal Data

To prevent manipulation of Personal Data; and

To ensure that Nigerian businesses remain competitive in international trade through the safeguards afforded by a just and equitable legal regulatory framework on data protection and which is in tune with best practice

Although the Bureau is a new organization, with the support of our Ministry, the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, National Information Technology Development Agency, National Identity Management Commission, the Nigeria Communications

DR VINCENT OLATUNJI // NATIONAL COMMISSIONER /CEO, NIGERIA DATA PROTECTION BUREAU (NDPB)

Commission, and the ID4D Project sponsored by World Bank, European Investment Bank, French Development Agency and other key stakeholders, we have been able to achieve a considerable level of traction over the past few months Please find below our list of achievements:

Official Launch of Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB) Logo, Website, and Core Values:

With the approval and support of the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, the Bureau officially launched its logo, website, and Core values on the 5th of April 2022

Capacity Building for NDPB staff:

The Bureau in partnership with key organisations conducted the following key capacity-building programmes for NDPB Staff:

Huaweii Training on Government Cloud Implementation and Data Protection Implementation Regulation

Infoprive Training on Data Protection and Data Privacy Mastercard Training on Data Protection and Cyber-Security. Soft Skills Training facilitated by Dr. Noel Akpata. Institute of Information Management Training in Records and Information Management. Training on Public Service Regulatory Framework by Oluwole Edun Training on Data Protection and Cyber-Security by Meta Training on Privacy Information Management Systems by Digital Encode

Capacity Building Training for key organizations:

Data Protection and Privacy Training for staff of Nigeria Television Authority

Data Protection and Privacy Training for staff of Federal Polytechnic Owerri Data Protection and Privacy Training for staff of Voice of Nigeria Data Protection and Privacy Training for Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (to be conducted)

Data Protection and Privacy Training for Federal Ministry of Justice Data Protection and Privacy Training for National Assembly Committee on ICT and Cyber-Security

Visits to Key Data Controllers in the country:

Since the creation of the Bureau, it has embarked on strategic engagements and consultations with stakeholders (professionals, civil society organizations, development partners, the international community, etc.) to raise awareness on Data Protection and Privacy in the country. The Bureau has visited over 45 data controllers thus far.

Registration of New Data Protection Compliance Organisations (DPCOs):

The Bureau currently has one hundred and three (103) Licensed DPCOs offering auditing, training, and consulting on data protection and privacy services In order to meet the growing needs of the ecosystem, we have gone ahead to begin the registration of new Data Protection Compliance Organisations (DPCOs) through the NDPB Portal- (app ndpb gov ng) The Bureau has set a target of registering forty-seven (47) new Data Protection Compliance Organisations before the end of the year

Data Protection and Privacy Training for Staff of Federal Ministry of Justice

The National Commissioner was hosted by the Ambassador, Embassy of Finland

The NC/CEO NDPB received an award from the Commandant of National Defence College, Rear Admiral Murtala Momoni Bashir, in Abuja

The NC, Dr Vincent Olatunji led some staff of the NDPB to meet with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha in Abuja

The NC meets with Director General, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Alhaji Yakubu Ibn Mohammed

Enforcement Activities:

Sequel to the raid on Soko Loan that was conducted by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and the NDPB in conjunction with the Nigeria Police Enforcement team on the 11th of March, 2022, FCCPC and NDPB identified the need to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to create a JointTask Force to continue to protect the best interests of Nigerian citizens The Joint-Task Force with FCCPC was inaugurated on the 3rd of June 2022 and is currently working together to identify the best ways to curb the activities of lending companies in the country

The Bureau has also issued out compliance notices to various organizations across sectors such as the telecommunication, finance, and health industries. We are also working alongside the Police investigation team to conduct investigations against companies that have violated the provisions of the NDPR.

Development of Nigeria Data Protection Act:

The Nigeria Data Protection Bureau in collaboration with World Bank, European Investment Bank and French Development Agency under the Nigerian ID4D Project, and other relevant partners are working closely together to develop and ensure the passage of the Nigeria Data Protection Act. We have conducted various policy dialogues and workshops with key stakeholders to review the Data Protection Bill.

International Collaborations:

The National Commissioner has attended several international events to speak about Data Protection and Privacy in Nigeria. These events include: Data Protection Conference 2022 in Kenya, and ID4Africa Annual General Meeting and Conference in Morocco The Bureau is also engaging with key organizations such as European Union, African Union, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Network of Africa Data Protection Authorities, Meta, Google, Mastercard etc and to explore areas of partnerships to promote the data protection and privacy ecosystem in Nigeria

The NC/CEO in attendance as a guest speaker at the Data Protection Conference June 2022 in Kenya.

Challenges

Like any new organization, the Bureau has its set of drawbacks:

Limited Knowledge about Data Protection on the part of Data Controllers and Data Subjects:

Privacy and data protection are emerging concepts in Nigerian society. Most data subjects are unaware of their rights, and most data controllers and processors are uninformed of their obligation to secure and/or respect the personal information entrusted to them. Therefore, it is difficult to implement our mission when there is a lack of understanding.

Resistance to Change: Most organizations find it very difficult to evolve and adapt to the changes. For instance, according to Article 4 1 (2) of the NDPR Implementation Framework, all data controllers that fit the conditions stated in the article are required to appoint Data Protection Officers (DPO) within 6 months of commencing business or within 6 months of the issuance of this Framework Data Controllers are also expected to put in place various standards, tests and policies to ensure that the data in their custody is being adequately protected This may lead to resistance from organizations that have set up fixed systems

Institutional Capacity in MDAs and Private Organizations (DPOs, Data Processing Team, etc): There are currently less than 5,000 Certified Data Protection experts in Nigeria to service over one million Data Controllers/Processors

In addition, there are over 800 Federal Government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) whereas there are less than 50 Data Protection Officers in the Public Sector There is a need to build the capacity of individuals in order for them to bridge the gap

Initial challenges of setting up a new organization (Funding, Staffing, Structure, etc ): The Bureau, like any new institution, does not presently have sufficient staff to handle the volume of work Also, there are various financial constraints as the Bureau was established after the National Budget was passed This hinders several of our activities and limits our powers to carry out full implementation of our key mandates

Challenges

The importance of data for development and innovation has been underlined by different stakeholders across the world. It has become vital to determine the best and most effective ways to use it to create outcomes that are favourable.

However, recognition of the value of data only pronounces the need to continue to promote its protection at all costs. The NDPB, therefore, has a duty to continue to ensure that although we recognize and encourage the use of data for good, we must still put in place the right measures to protect same against misuse and to regulate the ecosystem without stifling it.

For further clarification about the Bureau and the Data Protection Ecosystem in Nigeria, please visit our website at www.ndpb.gov.ng. Members of the public may also follow NDPB on our social media platforms through the links below:

https://web.facebook.com/ndpbngr

https://www.twitter.com/ndpbngr1

https://www.instagram.com/ndpbnigeria

10 CYBERSECURITY PRACTICES TO PROTECT DATA CENTERS FROM ATTACKS

// BY ZAVERIA K

Do you have the impression that a company is apologizing for a security violation involving sensitive data or revealing a hacker attack every day? Not just you, either.

The frequency of cyberattacks and cybercrimes is alarmingly rising Data centers are most under cyberattack and protecting data centers from attacks is important.

And not just large conglomerates are experiencing data breaches; attacks on small firms are also on the rise as hackers become aware that these companies may not have put in place a strong cybersecurity defense

According to cybersecurity defense startup BullGuard, 43 percent of small enterprises have no cybersecurity practices strategy at all These hazards increased as remote employment became the norm during the pandemic

In this article, we shall discuss some of the top cybersecurity practices that data centers have to imply to protect their data and prevent any kind of cyberattack Let us look into those now

Education

A hack may be avoided much more easily than it can be fixed Recovery of sensitive data that has been lost due to a ransomware attack can be a difficult and time-consuming task

Ransomware attacks can be effectively stopped before they cause serious harm by educating

The top cybersecurity practices that data centers should start adopting to protect from cyber attack

employees on fundamental security, personal cybersecurity, and the frequency of cyber dangers

Your staff members need to be aware that they can be the object of malicious individuals looking to gain access to your business

property than they are in the private information of your employees? The most likely targets should be located and well-protected

Do you believe that your mother’s maiden name and birthdate will be a mystery to anyone? Think again

Cybercriminals have created strong algorithms that can quickly and successfully guess complex passwords

Traditional password advice advised using a long password with at least 12 characters and a mix of capital and lowercase letters, digits, and symbols With the rise of remote working, it’s critical that your staff securely encrypt their networks as well

It may seem obvious for a business to have a secured, encrypted, and hidden WiFi network

Your security and that of your employees go hand in hand. The company ’ s mainframe can easily be accessed by hacking into a worker’s distant network

Better Passwords and Authentication Secure WiFi Know Your Company

Utilize a simple resource: your knowledge Consider your business and the areas that hackers are most likely to target.

Are they more interested in your customer databases or intellectual

Use a straightforward resource: your knowledge Think about both the areas of your company and those that hackers are most likely to target.

Are they more concerned with your intellectual property or customer databases than they are with the personal data of your employees?

Locate and adequately guard the targets that are most likely to be attacked

More the Backups, the Better Anti-Virus Software

Even the most skilled employees err on occasions Computers that have anti-virus and anti-malware software installed are better protected overall, especially from phishing attempts

According to the National Cyber Security Centre of the UK, obsolete software is indirectly responsible for more than 80% of attacks

The most recent patches are the sole thing keeping the best antivirus and anti-malware software up to date Failure to apply fixes will give hackers access to the system’s vulnerabilities.

Updated Software Secure Physical Devices

Company laptops should be secured with passwords or pins, much like you lock the doors when you leave your workplace.

Employees who have left the company should get their laptops

returned Consider each computer at work as a potential entrance to your business

Better to Always be Safe

A strange-looking email? Avoid clicking on it Pop-up presenting you with a discount? Ditto

Cybersecurity ABCs are Always Be Cautious. Before answering, double-check the source of the email, especially if something sounds strange

Always have a Plan

It costs a lot to hire your cybersecurity team as a small- or medium-sized business owner.

Fortunately, several free resources may assist you in creating a fundamental cybersecurity plan and guide what to do in the event of an attack

Data Center companies need to take cybersecurity seriously and devote enough resources to it in the upcoming years To monitor network and device security and ensure that vulnerabilities are rapidly fixed, businesses of all sizes require a cybersecurity team, an in-house specialist, or at the very least a consultant

Bridging Africa’s Digital divide through robust infrastructure for compliance and security

The internet has evolved beyond a Communications medium It’s an essential platform for the free flow of information, impacting individuals, society and the entire world To keep today’s increasingly connected world free and secure, and to ensure that everyone may operate with privacy, the technology community, governments and corporate boardrooms need to invest in digital trust

Investing in digital trust requires a trusted partner that provides a fully robust platform for security and compliance across the internet Digital Businesses across Africa from different sectors trust Prembly’s vast array of user-friendly software and APIs to provide top-notch security against fraud on their platforms while maintaining regulatory AML and KYC compliance.

In this interview, Lanre Ogungbe, CEO of Prembly barred his mind on array of critical issues including the disruptive trends in the financial sector and it’s impact of data protection laws, the need to develop and boost digital infrastructure and the future of KYC/AML compliance.

Q: What problem is Prembly trying to solve, and why is it so important?

Trust is needed for the internet to work, and the internet is especially important for the global economy, especially in Africa, where digital connectivity is needed to fix some of the infrastructure problems on the continent.

This is why Prembly exists: we offer a fully featured platform for internet security and compliance, giving businesses the tools and services they need to stay compliant and protect themselves from fraud, cyberfraud, and other activities by bad actors on the internet.

Q: Identitypass secured seed funding of $2.8 million in May to expand its product suite, boost its reach, and develop infrastructure. What does this entail for your business?

It means that we are expanding faster as a result of the funding, from products to people and processes. We already released two new products: a security product and a backgroundchecking solution. We are also expanding into new African markets and recruiting new employees across board.

Q: Why this rebrand decision and why Prembly?

We chose a new name to reflect the company ' s recent expansion and commitment to providing a more robust infrastructure for compliance and security throughout Africa and beyond

The new brand identity reflects our global ambitions and mission to make the Internet safe for all We will continue to innovate in order to meet the needs of our clients and assist them in seamlessly adapting to industry trends and market changes.

Q: What are the target markets for your new product offerings, and how will they serve those markets?

We have multiple target markets Firstly, our aim is to help African businesses easily stop fraudulent events and help them expand across African countries seamlessly

Secondly, we want everyone in the region to have access to digital services and products that other individuals on other continents also have

Lanre Ogunbe, CEO of Prembly

Hence, our goal is to ensure everyone in Africa has access to such types of services While we achieve this, some of our products will serve businesses from anywhere in the world, especially our security and business operations solutions

Q: Recognizing disruptive trends in the financial sector, to what extent would you say data protection laws have secured businesses across Africa and, in fact, the globe?

This is a very interesting question because people often view data protection laws only from the lens of the consumer but not necessarily how it affects businesses Even though there are limited data points on “to what extent” it affects, from industry knowledge, these laws really help sharpen the way certain businesses (especially in the technology space) are conducted and in turn, protect the integrity of the services rendered

On the data protection side of things, many activities are going on which protect end-users and businesses Globally, many countries (developed) have made significant strides in data protection, which has helped many businesses to be ethical and still be able to provide the required services.

I believe that Europe has made significant progress in data laws and technology; Estonia is a good example. They are doing an incredible job with data, and I am sure it would have positively influenced the businesses that operate in the country.

While many countries have different data laws in Africa, the concern usually is how practical, evolved, and easily implementable these laws are to providing required services to the consumer. And while we look at laws, we also need to emphasize the need for many fundamental infrastructures to implement good data protection systems.

We still have a long way to go before we reach our full potential in Africa around security. There are quite a few nations, including Nigeria, that are moving in the right direction, but there are also quite a few that are falling further and further behind. Because data protection is not yet a concern or a priority to many, among other things these countries are facing – which is understandable.

One thing to note is “data laws” don’t have to be extreme The most fundamental is giving more power to the “data owner, " the end user While we do this, it should still be easy for businesses that heavily rely on data before they can provide certain

services to be able to perform their functions after getting user consent

Q: Most banks today have gone digital in varying degrees, while a few others are exploring virtual banking with no physical structures or interaction whatsoever Would you tag this as a welcome development since it entails more efficiency and compliance, or are there other compliance issues to be considered before going virtual, that is, completely online?

This depends on the metrics used to evaluate this. From the perspective of the banking industry, it's fantastic that banks can expand their customer base without spending as much on physicalassets, including maintenance.

However, user culture has not fully assimilated this experience. Currently, most users are accustomed to visiting a physical office when they have issues or complaints. This is the advantage that physical banks have over virtual banks, in my opinion.

In addition, from a compliance perspective, they can confirm that consumers are not operating by proxy and are performing these operations or documenting themselves (when they have a physical office).

But banking experiences are evolving so virtual banking is here to stay. The good thing is both virtual and physical banks collaborate with organisations like ours to ensure compliance and provide individuals with access to financial services

Digital banks’ efforts mostly are to mimic the experience a customer would have in a physical office This is a significant step in ensuring that people have faster access to financial services, in my opinion

But as a side note, even more so than having access to a physical bank, we should ensure that this is completely secure from a compliance perspective Consumer experience in banking needs to be seamless and less chaotic and if a virtual/digital solution is the better route to achieve that, it’s a great evolution

From the perspective of compliance, there should be a continuous development of services and products that make online banking secure and safe This requires ensuring the existence of the appropriate data points, synergies with the appropriate government bodies, and the right privacy policies

Q: These three main issues plague banks and other financial institutions in the digital space today; Fraud detection, Fraud prevention, and KYC/onboarding requirements, considering your impressive client list, describe how Prembly has succeeded in assisting its clients in this regard?

Keeping a close relationship with our clientele has been essential to our company ' s success We maintain frequent communication with them in order to fully comprehend and address their primary concerns around compliance and security

Many of our customers today have been able to drastically reduce the high “fake identities” they receive when customers sign up

We have tailored many of our authentication and verification solutions to suit different sectors as we have done extensive research to understand the “ user journey and behaviours” in many sectors and regions across the continent

Hence, we understand what it is that they require and easily detect millions of fake identities, impersonations, wrong transactions and events.

These efforts are continuous and, we will continuously invest in R/D in order to be ahead of the latest trends and project futuristic behaviours.

Q: Still on your remarkable client list, there appears to be greater adoption with banks, fintechs, and lending platforms, even though your services extend to other sectors like ecommerce, logistics, and mobility. Would you care to reiterate how your service offerings can be beneficial to these sectors?

Fintechs and banks are at the top of our customer list because their services are subject to the most stringent regulations. They are unable to conduct business without compliance.

As a business that deals with people and money, you cannot afford to take compliance lightly; Otherwise, problems will arise.

In fact, as a consumer, you should recognize that the absence of compliance checks is a warning sign. But we have clients in multiple sectors.

For instance, in the insurance industry, when individuals are enrolled in different types of insurance, we verify that they are who they claim to be, and we flag and investigate any odd behaviour.

In logistics, we conduct background checks on drivers for businesses, we also provide services to

many HR firms for background checks on prospective employees So while the fintech and banking sector leads the list, we have many sectors

Q: While we are well aware of CBN’s sanctions on the trading of virtual assets, specifically cryptocurrency, there are still crypto surges in Nigeria and even beyond Africa. With increasing reports of crypto fraud losses, are there any stricter laws the CBN could pass to reduce these financial crimes?

More extensive consultation with players in the sector by the CBN will help a lot in understanding the type of regulations that will help the most

Regulations would help reduce financial crimes, but this isn’t just with virtual assets There are still a lot of financial crimes with the traditional assets system we have There is little to no overlapping in a few areas of how virtual assets operate and how the CBN wants them to operate

What I mean is; many virtual asset leaders claim that crypto and others should follow a decentralised model and be less affected by monetary regulations

This line of thought contradicts what the CBs in many countries stand for. CBN was created to regulate and that was why I earlier hinted that the crypto players and the regulators need to consult and create some overlapping to create a more secure ecosystem for the consumers.

Q: In July, many virtual card companies like Barter under Flutterwave shut down business as their leading providers pulled the plug One of such providers, Union54, cited its reason for suspending business as "a necessary compliance audit." There are many speculations that these issues were largely caused by chargebacks and fraud Are there any suggestive measures to handle these issues that could save businesses subsequently?

Yes, but the infrastructure providers like Union54 / Flutterwave most times place a lot of effort on this, but the loose ends are usually from other businesses reselling or using these infrastructures.

Businesses that rely on infrastructure players such as Flutterwave needs to be stringent on KYC and security When they are not, it affects the entire system If the underlying compliance checks are weak from the businesses enrolling individuals, it creates loopholes and more vulnerability to the circle

From the infrastructural players' side, they would need to collaborate more with regulators on ease of fraud reporting and on the regulator's end, they need to ensure offenders are sanctioned

For example, if someone is flagged for fraud within a business, that person should be stopped and barred from ever doing business with any other entity It’s worth noting that, businesses (especially in the financial sector) need to always be dynamic when it comes to customer security

Fraudsters are always on the lookout for new methods to steal from their victims - they aren’t always static

Recently we have noticed a trend where a group of persons have generated smart ways of using “social media trends” to gather information about fraud victims and use the weak onboarding systems of some financial solutions to defraud them.

We’ve always warned businesses not to have too long (multiple years) KYC systems without implementing some changes to remain dynamic except the current system is leakproof just to meet up with the dynamic nature of consumer behaviours

Q: How would you describe the future of KYC/AML compliance? Any final thoughts on how you or your organization will be a part of this future?

KYC/AML will include more data and events in the future In Africa, compliance checks across regions and countries will be interdependent if the signed African free trade agreement across countries is rightly implemented, it will eliminate some sort of repetitive compliance checks and more countries and businesses can easily share the “bad players” list

As a business, we will endeavour to always meet our customers' needs We want to drive the needed changes in KYC/AML in Africa and be the standard for it We will create products and services that allow consumers to control their data efficiently

And our technologies will run deep with a combination of government-approved IDs, user behaviours, biometrics attributes and social data and knowledge

Top 5 loan apps in Nigeria that have crossed 5 million downloads as of Q3 2022

With the provision of quick loans without collateral, loan apps are bridging the financial inclusion gap left by the traditional banks in Nigeria.

With the number of unbanked Nigerian adults put at 60 million as of 2021, the majority of the about 40 million that have bank accounts are still underbanked as they have no access to credit and other financial services This is why the fintech and loan apps are being warmly embraced by millions of Nigerians

With the provision of quick loans without collateral, loan apps are bridging the financial inclusion gap left by the traditional banks in Nigeria

Although there have been complaints that the interest rates being charged by some of these are too high, it has not stopped many Nigerians from patronizing them In fact, going by the number of downloads of these apps, some of the digital lending platforms now have more customers on their apps than the big traditional banks in the country

While there are now tons of loan apps providing credit services in Nigeria, including those licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the unlicensed ones otherwise known as loan sharks, all of them continue to enjoy patronage as they are meeting the financial needs of many Nigerians.

Nairametrics looks at the download figures of these apps on the Google Play Store, which gives a fair idea of the apps being mostly used by Nigerians. Here are the top 5 loan apps that have crossed 5 million downloads on the Google Play Store as of the end of Q3 2022:

Branch

Branch is a platform that offers quick online loans in Nigeria. As of Q3 2022, this app is the most-downloaded loan app in Nigeria that has crossed 10 million downloads on Google Play Store

The app determines loan eligibility and personalized loan offers using the users ’ smartphone data Their interest rates range from 15% – 34% You can get access to loans from N1,000 to N200,000 within 24hrs, depending on your repayment history, with a period of 4 to 40 weeks to pay back

All you need to apply is your phone number or Facebook account, bank verification number (BVN) and bank account number They will also request access to the data on your phone in order to build your credit score

Palmcredit

Palmcredit comes a distant second to Branch in terms of downloads, it is nonetheless one of the most patronized loan apps in Nigeria.

The lending platform says it can provide a quick loan of up to N300,000 in less than 3 minutes without any form of collateral. You can borrow between N2,000 to N300,000 quick loan and if your documentations are complete and accurate, you can get your disbursement within a business day, the platform claims. The app has been downloaded over 5 million times on the Google Play Store as of Q3 2022

FairMoney

FairMoney says it offers fast loans within 5 minutes with no documentation or collateral required The loan amounts vary based on your smartphone data and repayment history Loan amounts range between N1,500 to N500,000 with repayment periods from 61 days to 180 days at monthly interest rates that range from 10% to 30% The app is, no doubt, one of the most used by Nigerians as it has also been downloaded 5 million times and still counting

Okash

Okash is a convenient quick online loan platform for Nigeria mobile users managed by Blue Ridge Microfinance Bank Limited. OKash fulfills customers’ financial needs completely online 24/7.

The application process takes just a few steps with minimal documentation and the approved loan amount is transferred to the applicant’s bank account. The app offers loans ranging from N3,000 to N500,000 and repayment plan ranges from 91 days to 365 days.

The app is one of the most-downloaded loan apps on the Play Store as it had crossed 5 million downloads as of Q3 2022.

PalmPay

Palmpay is an automated lending service focused on increasing access to credit to financially under-served/excluded individuals around Africa

Launched in Nigeria in 2019, the company says it has provided over 5,000,000 customers with convenient and affordable digital payments.

The company also claims that loan decisions on its app are provided within 15 seconds and if approved, the applicant receives funds within 5 minutes, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. On the app, the usual amount for new borrowers is N10, 000.

TOP 10 ETHICAL HACKING TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS FOR 2023

Ethical hacking is the process of identifying vulnerabilities in a system, application, or organization’s infrastructure that a hacker could use to harm someone or something

Ethical hacking trends and predictions can help you with any unwanted cyberattack that can harm your reputation and also your business in the market forever

An ethical hacker imitated the behaviors and mental processes of a malicious attacker in order to gain access and test the organization’s network and strategy.

They employ these ethical hacking predictions to thwart cyberattacks and security lapses by illegally breaking into the systems and looking for methods to get inside and take stuff out.

Ethical hacking trends 2023 exploit vulnerabilities, maintain steady access to the system, and then erase one ’ s footprints are the first steps in ethical hacking.

The top ethical trends and predictions of 2023 discussed in this article may help you in the future with any cybersecurity attack.

THE COMMON ETHICAL HACKING TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS FOR 2023 THAT ARE EVER-EVOLVING

Here are the top 10 Ethical Hacking Trends and Predictions for 2023:

1. SOCIAL ENGINEERING & PHISHING

The goal of social engineering is to obtain personal information from a possible victim, who is frequently an employee of the targeted company, usually by pretending to be someone they can trust

Phishing emails are a common sort of social engineering bait when a threat actor sends a message that appears to be from someone you know This message pretends to be helpful while asking you to do something, like click and download a malicious attachment

Your computer may become infected if an infected file is downloaded, giving the threat actor access to it and occasionally your entire network

2. MALWARE-INJECTING DEVICES

Hardware can be used by cybercriminals to install malware on your computer For instance, once an infected USB stick is plugged into your computer, hackers will have remote access to your device

Your entire company might be in danger if only one employee gives you a USB drive that is infected with malware Additionally, crafty hackers are also injecting malware utilizing wires like USB cables and mouse cords

3. INSUFFICIENT SECURITY UPDATES

With the development of the hacker landscape, security tools may become old To guard against fresh dangers, they need to be updated frequently

However, some users disregard security updates or update notices, leaving them open to attack

4. PASSWORD CRACKING

Hackers can get your login information in several ways, including keylogging, where undetected software that was unintentionally downloaded by a target of a social engineering scam records keystrokes that the threat actor can utilize at their discretion

This includes the infected machine saving usernames and passwords as they are input

5. DISTRIBUTED DENIAL-OF-SERVICE (DDOS)

This hacking method aims to shut down a website so that users cannot access it or utilize it for business purposes. Attacks known as denial-of-service (DoS) involve flooding the target’s server with a lot of traffic. The frequency and volume are so great that the server becomes overloaded with more requests than it can process. In the end, your server fails, taking your website down with it.

The coronavirus pandemic has provided cybercriminals with the ideal pretext for manipulations, causing social engineering to become even more widespread

America’s need for financial assistance and medical treatments after losing their jobs and witnessing loved ones fall ill has been exploited by social engineers

To take advantage of the dreadful pandemic, they pretend to be the government, offering stimulus checks or pleading for other creative phishing scams

We are all aware that our computers may be misused, but according to cybersecurity experts, in 2023, malicious actors will target considerably bigger targets.

For example, 70% of fraudulent transactions in 2018 involved smartphones and smart home gadgets, with criminals controlling the devices’ microphones or cameras to listen in on or observe people in the hopes of reclaiming personal information to use against them

Forbes claims that artificial intelligence is a tool that “bad actors can potentially utilize.” In 2023, threat actors will have access to several new capabilities, such as generating visuals and creating voices that seem realistic.

For many years, phishing has posed a serious concern Threat actors are currently using clickbait that seems relevant and innocent to target victims who reside in particular areas

You’re on the correct track if you just anticipate future hacking methods However, understanding your danger picture is very different from taking practical precautions against attacks.

Financial crime threatens the safety and soundness of financial systems world-wide However, financial crime compliance has never been more challenging As regulation becomes more robust, businesses need to demonstrate that their compliance programmes are effective And keeping up with sanctions, anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) requirements demands dedicated compliance resources As the speed and intricacy of fraudulent schemes evolve, effective detection and prevention is also vital Acuminor has been at the forefront, supporting organisations to adopt an intelligent, threat-led approach to protect themselves and society from financial crime

Meet MartinNordh, the co-founder and CEO of Acuminor, a regulatory tech company specializing in anti-money laundering, terrorist financing and sanctions Martinhas a background from law enforcement, justice department and international banking and has great experience in identifying and handling strategic financial crime risks in large organisations He is also an author and international lecturer in the subject Martinholds a LL M , a BA in Political Science and a Law Enforcement degree”

In this interview, Martinshared great insights on its market development strategy, enabling regulatory environment, peculiarities of financial crimes in different regions and the future of financial crime intelligence

Q: What problem is Acuminor trying to solve and why is it that important?

Today, many organisations do not have enough understanding of the financial crime threats and risks they are exposed to. That is why we founded Acuminor: To pioneer the way organisations adopt an intelligent, threat-led approach to protect themselves and society from financial crime. Acuminor was founded in 2018 in Sweden by five co-founders with backgrounds from law enforcement, international banking and IT.

Together we are passionate about creating a Brighter World, with less harm from financial crime. We specialise in financial crime intelligence. With our experts and machine learning we have created the world’s largest database of financial crime threats and risks. Powered by the unique insights in the database, our platforms help organisations understand and reduce their risks from money laundering, terrorist financing and sanction violations

Q: What products and services do you provide to your customers and how do they get value out of it? What are the key markets your solution(s) address?

Acuminor’s unique and powerful risk analysis platforms enable companies worldwide to comply with regulations and protect themselves and society from money laundering, terrorist financing and sanction violations

Our platforms include:

THREATVIEW:

Enables organisations to access the world’s largest database of financial crime threats and risks Designed for operational environments, organisations can significantly improve outcomes across their existing financial crime systems and controls ranging from customer risk assessment and KYC/B processes through to transaction monitoring arrangements by leveraging updated financial crime threat intelligence

RISK ASSESSMENT PROFESSIONAL:

A ground-breaking approach to risk assessments and other strategic risk analysis Risk Assessment Professional allows organisations to make informed decisions based on facts and intelligence, not on gut feeling Using our Risk Assessment Platform, you are able to get comparable results across your organisation and maintain a dynamic view of your organisations threats, risks, controls, and vulnerabilities in one centralised place and generate powerful reports and action plans to make enhancements where required

Implementing Acuminor’s innovative solutions enables organisations to transition to a more threat-led approach, that will allow an organisation to transform their entire financial crime framework to focus on mitigating real world threats and demonstrate effectiveness in their

Changing the way organisations adopt intelligence to protect themselves and society from financial crime

control environment to have real impacts on financial crime detection and prevention

Our key markets and customers span across regulatory authorities, banking, financial services, gaming companies, law enforcement, real estate agents and payment service companies

Q: Acuminor received investment funding of $2million in February this year, with the intent to venture into new markets. Will some of these funds be utilized in implementing its market development strategy into Africa? What is your assessment of the state of financial and cybercrime regulation in Africa?

Acuminor has in a short time proven the value of our products with more than 750 customers, of which the larger have global operations including in Africa. Earlier in 2022 we launched a new office in London and has doubled in size. We are now able to scale internationally and we look forward working with customers and partners in Africa to help them manage a problem that is growing in both cost and complexity to manage.

Africa also has challenges with wild-life trafficking and modern-day slavery, Acuminor exists to support organisations and countries in the fight against financial crime and building a Brighter World

Q: Having cited that Acuminor currently operates business through 2 risk analysis platforms; Risk Assessment Pro and ThreatView, which serve companies around the globe, are there any peculiarities you have noted, particularly, with the character of financial crimes in different regions or business terrains? And how well have your platforms served those in these terrains despite these peculiarities?

Great question!

Threats occur in the real-world, they involve real people – perpetrators, victims, enablers, insidersand many other people and objects that get caught up as collateral damage Each threat may involve multiple modus operandi (or methods for committing a crime), and modus operandi will vary hugely across the world and in different environments

1

Africa is an emerging market and has high growth potential, a recent report conducted by Data Bridge Market Research projected that the anti-money laundering market is projected to register a CAGR of 13 5% in the forecast period of 2021 to 2028 This has been bolstered by both technological and regulatory advancements, all of which are aimed at strengthening the fight against money laundering and fighting terrorism

In the context of financial institutions, threats can be thought of as the ways in which your organisation can be misused for money laundering, terrorist financing or sanctions evasion purposes Threats and risk are nuanced and will vary for organisations around the globe who offer different products and services

Acuminor tackles these nuances and helps organisations understand the threats they are facing by conducting an analysis of the external environment Acuminor collects financial crime intelligence from a vast number of vetted sources Experts, assisted by technology such as machine learning models, process significant volumes of information, structuring this into the intelligence behind Acuminor’s comprehensive library of threats and risk indicators

At the time of writing Acuminor had analysed reports from 750 vetted sources of financial crime reports totalling more than 300,000+ pages to create a database of more than 3000 threats and 11,000 risk indicators. If you were to re-create the same analysis manually it would take you approximately 54 years working full time.

Acuminor’s intelligence is organised on a global, regional, and national level. Structuring the intelligence in this way allows for a systematic approach to analysing the threat landscape and standardises the taxonomy for threats and risks so that you and your organisation can draw evidenceled conclusions about how financial crime can impact your operations in different countries.

Q With more and more industries embracing the culture of digitalization, this could mean greater adoption of compliance measures and increased awareness in financial crime , are there any particular concerns about the efficiency or effectiveness of the current compliance policies to support this boom and combat increased crimes?

Current processes are often based on a generic understanding of risk Based on what we know about criminal behaviour, financial crime does not look the same in the U K as it does in for example South Africa Different criminals will want to misuse you in different ways depending on who you are, where you are and what you do as a company

Given this fact, technology is worth very little if it does not come with updated, relevant and detailed intelligence that allows you to understand how you can be misused by criminals and where your highest risks are

Q. Recently, the Interpol confirmed financial and cybercrimes as the biggest threats worldwide, they also advised understanding and anticipating crime trends as a good place to start in combatting these crimes, to what extent do you think companies’ KYC/AML policies and regular KYC/AML/CFT training can help organizations to understand and anticipate these crime trends?

Empowering staff and senior management across organisations are a key component of any financial crime framework It must be risk-based, in other words it should reflect the actual financial crime risks that the organisation might be exposed to in their everyday operations

Today, most organisations do not have the intelligence or resources they need to support their staff to implement a true threat-led approach Due to this lack of curated intelligence, capacity and supporting technology, organisations are unable to truly understand the wide-ranging threats and risks which they face in sufficient definition This limits their ability to adopt a truly risk-based approach and can lead to a scattergun approach both from a policy perspective, but also KYC/B process This can have significant impacting on customer experience, a key area of competition for financial institutions whilst also failing to be effective in the detection of higher risk scenarios and mitigation of threats Whilst their approach may be seen as compliant with regulations, this is not enough in isolation to demonstrate effectiveness

With our ThreatView platform we provide organisations with access to dynamic Threat Cards

with an ocean of updated and relevant intelligence with descriptions of financial crime methods and risk indicators Organisations who have already implemented our technology benefit from using our intelligence to enhance their training programmes by empowering their staff to make better decisions and outcomes that are truly based on facts

To be effective and compliant organisations need to ensure that their policies and procedures need to be risk-based They should reflect the outcomes from the business-wide risk assessment Otherwise, it is a case of why have a policy that no-one can use or one that does not actually capture the risks that their organisation is facing

Which is why Acuminor’s Risk Assessment Pro tool helps organisations design their policies and procedures to meet the demands of their true risk environment and enables you to ensure that you are targeting real deficiencies in your control framework. This approach helps you achieve the right level of governance that is specific to your organisation, your risk appetite and considers a dynamic assessment of how effective your group wide controls are performing against a world of emerging and evolving threats.

Q. Your Threatview platform was recently updated to include a brilliant new feature; ThreatView NewsFeed which provides expert analysis to financial crimes daily, how do you think this has successfully supported the anti- financial crimes activities of companies?

We are committed to help build a Brighter World, and we are proud to support society in its fight against financial crime This is why we launched our free service ThreatView Daily, powered by Acuminor ThreatView Organisations can benefit from signing up for free to our financial crime news feed directly via our website (https://doc acuminor com/threatviewdaily-newsletter/)

Financial crime has been on the rise for a long time, latest due to a multitude of factors such as the recent pandemic and sanction regimes By signing up to the news feed from Acuminor we are helping organisations to stay informed with financial crime news and enabling them to leverage our expert analysis of threats and risks

The in-depth insight helps financial crime teams to us to build internal business cases, review their current processes of managing financial crimes against emerging threats and risks and drive better operational efficiencies

Q Acuminor presently serves over 750 companies in 16 countries How enabling are the regulatory environments in these markets? If you could make one request to regulators in any of the markets that are relevant to you, what would it be?

Well, it is a problem which means we exist and are solving for both companies and the regulators

Much of the financial crime information that is published by regulators, leading authorities, thinktanks etc is unstructured. Meaning it is hard to digest the information and make the leap to determine which parts are relevant for your organisation.

Equally, whilst we are seeing a move towards greater sharing of information between regulators and shared frameworks. Technological advancements in some countries, differences in local practices and criminals adopting new measures to exploit the systems means there cannot be a one size fits all methodology unfortunately. Although conversations are on the increase on partnerships between public and private sectors, but many of these partnerships lack the framework to store, share and update the modus operandi.

Acuminor’s intelligence is arguably the golden standard for financial crime intelligence – which is organised on a global, regional, and national level. Structuring our intelligence in this way allows for a systematic approach to analysing the threat landscape and standardises the taxonomy for threats and risks so that organisations, regulators, and enforcements agencies can draw evidence-led conclusions to the impact of financial crime in different countries

We already have two regulators using our solution, and our request would be is to get more regulators using our solution to drive better information sharing capabilities between both public and private sectors in one centralised view using our solution

Q How would you describe the future of financial crime intelligence? Any final thoughts on how you or your organization will be a part of this future?

Today, the threat of financial crime has never been greater, and the risks to financial institutions are wide-ranging and severe Rapid digitalisation has also enabled organised crime groups to become more interconnected, exposing organisations to a growing number of threats and risks

We already saw how the pandemic disrupted business models, Brexit is another factor to mention and how it slowed the methods of collaboration and the recent war between Ukraine and Russia have all highlighted the instability of economic markets, and it is times like these where organised crime and criminals tend to look find loopholes and weaknesses in systems and processes to exploit Thus, this should be a lesson that there needs to be greater information sharing and tougher regulatory action against firms that are not doing what they should be doing

We want to do everything we can to help our clients truly understand how they can be misused for money laundering, sanction violations and terrorist financing by criminals as well as which mitigating actions, they must take to prevent that from happening

Our organisation is committed to creating a Brighter World.

About

MartinNordh is the co-founder and CEO of Acuminor, a regulatory tech company specializing in anti-money laundering, terrorist financing and sanctions

Martinhas a background from law enforcement, justice department and international banking and has great experience in identifying and handling strategic financial crime risks in large organisations

He is also an author and international lecturer in the subject Martinholds a LL M , a BA in Political Science and a Law Enforcement degree”.

Enhancing cross-border payments for financial inclusion and intra Africa trade.

BY STONE ATWINE

In 2021, Africa accounted for 70% of the total value of mobile money transactions globally In recent years, the continent has experienced a rapid proliferation of digital instant payment solutions However, many of these are not interoperable with each other, and even less so across borders

As Africa works towards building the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), interoperability of crossborder instant payment solutions will be vital to increasing trade Furthermore, ensuring cross-border interoperability of low value instant payment systems, will be an essential step in making sure that the AfCFTA is inclusive, and that its benefits extend to small-scale traders, many of whom are women

One of the leading Africa focused platform for cross-border payments, crypto, cards and stock trading is Eversend In this insightful interview, Stone Atwine (CEO, Eversend) provided great insights on the significant impacts of Africa’s digital transformation drive, potential opportunities and some of the associated challenges

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Q. What problem is Eversend trying to solve, and why is it important?

More than 350M Africans, about 60% of the bankable population, do not have access to bank accounts. Although 43% of the $40B+ received in remittances in Sub-Saharan Africa is from other African countries, most solutions like Wise and WorldRemit consider Africa as a receiving side but not a sender location.

In addition, there is massive currency devaluation, high-interest rates, predatory pricing of up to 15% in hidden forex fees, inadequate payments infrastructure, and mediocre digital banking experiences.

Q What products and services do you provide to your customers, and how do they get value out of it? What are the key markets for your solution(s) address?

Our first product in any market we go to is crossborder money transfer But our philosophy is to solve multiple problems by providing a one-stop

shop for financial services for Africans in Africa and abroad. So we add virtual cards, bill payments, multi-currency accounts, donations, and other financial services. Lately, we are super excited by our payments platform for businesses that provides essential business banking and APIs for collections, payouts and currency exchange. We discovered a significant problem on the continent while building Eversend for retail.

Now we are also monetizing the infrastructure we built along the way. We focus on English-speaking African countries, but we are soon expanding to Europe, the United States and Francophone Africa

Q With the transformative changes taking place in the financial sector, how has Eversend been able to keep up with the trends, and what has been the major challenges faced?

One of our most significant advantages is a team with deep domain and market knowledge We are at the bleeding edge of financial service innovation,

which gives us an advantage against the competition We have a solid crypto research and development team that builds products in that space We are building and ready for when regulation becomes friendly Regulation, especially for new tech like crypto, is our biggest challenge

We must sit back and wait for regulators to give a green light even though we see obvious advantages in the space But we have to respect regulators and partners

Q Recently, many "life-saving" virtual card companies, including Eversend, have come under scrutiny as leading providers pull the plug What could have made them suddenly pull the plug?

While this has negatively affected our users, the problem has been blown out of proportion. One provider had to halt their card program and resolve issues with the card network. These are compliance issues that finance companies must deal with.

What I think it shows is the massive opportunity we have in Africa Suppose one provider goes offline and 80% of the companies cannot provide a service In that case, we need to do more, faster to solve these infrastructure problems

Q How big is the problem, and how soon will the services be reinstated?

I am not privy to the seriousness of the situation, but I know the team is working hard to sort this out We are working hand in hand with them to provide whatever support they may need I am not sure about the timelines

Q. What are the alternatives for consumers and fintechs alike? And what does it portend for the fintech industry on the continent?

Some fintech companies are still offering card programs on the continent. But I believe the problems facing one player are the same as all others We have to build better, faster and more companies

Q Clearly, virtual cards offer shortened issuance times and lower costs when compared with traditional cards and are speedy, cheap, and convenient even for those residing in rural areas How will this specifically impact cross-border commerce and financial inclusion drive in Africa?

It's harmful to our users. That's the group affected the most. Many of them now cannot pay for their services online. Or they are spending 5-15% more on forex fees charged by traditional banks. This is

what we are trying to solve. We are speaking to multiple vendors to sort this out, but it is challenging to solve.

Q. Some industry analysts say this event calls for better regulation, especially around KYC/AML compliance checks in the card-issuing space as inconsistent due diligence for cardholder chargeback claims could invoke more fraudulent activities What's your take on this?

KYC, AML and Countering of Financial Terrorism systems are critical, and companies started by founders like us that understand the space think about this from day one.

We probably have the most robust Compliance systems amongst startups. We are better than some traditional banks in some cases. The reason for this is that we take it seriously. That cannot be said for all the startups building across the continent. We must work collectively with partners and regulators to ensure solid compliance systems.

Q. What do you think is the future of Virtual Cards for digital financial services in Africa? Any final thoughts on how you or your organization will be a part of this future?

Virtual cards will be reintroduced for those startups that have suspended their programs But we must realize that compliance is getting tighter as fintech becomes more engrained in the ecosystems and markets.

We will continue to work with the different partners to bring back services. Still, we are also working on issuing to other startups.

About

Stone cut his teeth in fintech with Pretoria-based loan management vendor Payment Solutions International He went on to become Business Development Manager, Africa and Country Manager, Kenya before consulting for multiple banks like Stanbic Bank, Barclays Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank in Kenya and Uganda on using technology to improve loan collections

He then co-founded Yetu Credit Finance, a USSD-based microlender for government employees in Uganda He co-founded useremit com, a remittance company delivering mobile money to Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda He is a 5-time laureate of the Paris-based Institut Choiseul as one of the young African leaders 40 years old and under, who have a major impact on the continent’s economic development

In 2017, he was selected by the government of France as an exceptionally talented entrepreneur and moved to Paris to found Eversend, the leading platform for cross-border payments, crypto, cards, and stock trading.

Looking for comprehensive training courses for professional certificates and qualifications in Compliance, AML, KYC/CDD and Sanctions Compliance?

With these flexible programmes, which are built by professionals for professionals, you can get certified in the GRC subject of your choice by studying on a part-time basis and at your own pace

Boost your career by picking up these highly valued skills and make a splash in the GRC world by showcasing your newfound expertise to your employers.

Price includes

A full 20-hour training course | student handbook | online exam fee certificate of completion | one-year free membership to a leading professional GRC association.

LGCA, AGRC & RegTech Africa Partner Up to Train Local Professionals in GRC Issues

Via this partnership, professionals in Nigeria and the rest of Africa will have greater access to AGRC’s Level 3 Certificates in AML, KYC/CDD, Compliance, ESG and more.

In an effort to continue its expansion in Africa, the Association of Governance, Risk and Compliance (AGRC), alongside its training partners the London Governance and Compliance Academy (LGCA) and BeyondComply, has penned an agreement with RegTech Africa, an emergent global digital tech media platform with a niche focus on regulatory technology innovations in Africa and around the world, to deliver its Level 3 Certificates in AML, KYC/CDD, ESG Principles & Standards, Compliance, Corporate Governance and Sanctions Compliance to professionals in the region

As part of this partnership, RegTech Africa will become one of AGRC and LGCA’s official training partners, offering greater accessibility to the association’s professional

qualifications and shorter courses to interested professionals in these sectors of growing interest and relevance.

AGRC’s Level 3 Certificates consist of a 15-to-20-hour self-paced, online training programme offered by LGCA, two (2) opportunities to pass AGRC’s certification exam, one (1) year of free membership to the association, and use of the PAGRC acronym as a professional AGRC member upon successful completion of the programme

Mateo Jarrin Cuvi, who serves as AGRC’s Global Manager for Partners and Media, said: “We are excited about this opportunity to expand our association’s presence in Africa and particularly its largest market Our goals of offering professionals with affordable and inclusive professional qualifications line up nicely with the needs of the African market, and we believe Regtech Africa will contribute to

disseminating these training programmes and help us bolster compliance in the region ”

To further publicize these efforts, AGRC and Regtech Africa will organise a series of promotional and informational events targeting financial institutions, universities, and other organisations that might be looking to train their team members in some of these specific areas This will include offering the programmes ’ extra visibility during Regtech Africa’s annual flagship conference to be held at the end of May in Lagos, Nigeria

Regtech Africa’s CEO and Publisher, Cyril Okoroigwe, said: "Technology and innovation are essential drivers to tackle poverty, boost growth and achieve sustainable development across Africa Prioritizing capacity building efforts in Governance, Risk and Compliance is necessary for the continent to benefit from the digital era. We’re therefore thrilled about this partnership and look forward to working with one of the world's most dynamic and innovative, digital first industry Level 3 Certification brands.”

Nadine Ghosn Eid, Founder of BeyondComply and Member of AGRC’s Advisory Council, concluded: “The RegTech industry has been expanding rapidly in the recent years in view of the constant introduction of rules and regulations that require more involvement of human resources and the workforce in every organisation

New technologies are now reshaping the whole compliance sector, and it is becoming more and more difficult for organisations to reshape their futures as a result of the rapid change, technological disruption, and unexpected competition.

We are very enthusiastic about this collaboration and look forward to supporting compliance professionals in responding to the increasing complexity of their role and building an effective regulatory compliance ecosystem within the whole African continent.”

Top 10 Cryptocurrencies At Risk From G20 Summit 2022 Regulation

The G20 Cryptocurrency regulation is around the corner The idea of regulating cryptocurrencies goes against the very nature of digital assets The blockchain technology is rooted in its integral characteristic of being decentralized

However, growing incidents of misdoings, scams and hacks are making it hard for crypto to not be regulated Meanwhile, several countries and international groups have already been working on implementing strict rules in the crypto industry

Experts believe that the most affected due to regulation would be the top crypto projects In this context, the G20 nations are coming up with a set of strict crypto regulations Whether the regulations would actually help the

crypto industry grow or rather hamper it will only be seen in the future

Meanwhile, crypto investors are not too keen on regulation as it could mean slowing down of adoption Here are the major cryptocurrencies that could have the highest impact due to the G20 Summit 2022 regulation

Representatives of the G20 countries are set to review the a report on Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework and Amendments to the Common Reporting Standard

The report contains the rules and commentary of the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) The rules are aimed at reporting of tax information on crypto transactions in a standardized manner

Bitcoin

With Bitcoin (BTC) holding a significant share of the total market value, the regulators could be looking at regulating the top cryptocurrency. The high volatility of BTC could come under the scanner.

Shiba Inu & Dogecoin

The memecoins stand a high chance for regulation thanks to their volatile nature Both Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE) rose to prominence during the bull market last year However, they lost a major chunk of the value in 2022

Ethereum

The much anticipated Ethereum Merge did not turn out to be profitable for crypto investors as ETH dropped after the successful completion The developers, however, hinted that it could take time for the Merge event to be priced in

Nevertheless, crypto regulators would be looking closely at the second most valuable cryptocurrency

Terra Classic

The collapse of Terra network earlier this year had a catastrophic effect on the entire market. The Terra collapse marked the onset of the bear market. This makes Terra Classic the one project that needs a lot of regulatory attention.

Solana

The Solana network has had many outages in the recent times. This makes it vulnerable for regulatory pressures.

Ripple

Despite so many regulatory hurdles, Ripple (XRP) continues to be a major cryptocurrency. Given the huge trading community behind XRP, regulators could be looking into the project.

Apecoin

With many NFT projects losing value and returning losses to investors, Apecoin is losing value Considering the massive impact of the NFT scene, regulators could be looking to tighten the screws.

Stellar

Stellar was designed to support digital representations of any currency With regulation, it could be difficult to operate seamlessly

Decentraland

Decentraland is a world of decentralized metaverse built, governed, and owned by its users Since it is still not clear as to how Metaverse ecosystem could turn out to be, regulators could be looking to it.

AboutAnvesh reports major developments around crypto adoption and trading opportunities Having been associated with the industry since 2016, he is now a strong advocate of decentralized technologies. Anvesh is currently based in India

5 African Fintech Startups on CB Insights’ Fintech

250 Most Promising List

Five African fintech startups made this year ’ s Fintech 250, CB Insights’ annual list of the 250 most promising private fintech companies in the world

The 250 winners were selected from a pool of over 12,500 eligible private companies based on CB Insights’ internal benchmarks as well as analyst briefings submitted by applicants

Factors that were taken into account include funding, market potential, business relationships, investor profile, news sentiment analysis, competitive landscape, team strength, and tech novelty

According to CB Insights, globalisation is a key theme for this year ’ s Fintech 250 with winners headquartered in 33 countries across the globe seven more than last year.

For example, three of this year ’ s first-time winners MFS Africa, TeamApt, and Paga are building payment networks in Africa

About two-thirds of this year ’ s Fintech 250 are B2B companies, representing a broader shift in market sentiment away from consumer-facing fintechs.

The categories with the most winners are payments processing and networks, followed by insurance, cryptocurrency, core banking and infrastructure, and retail investing and wealth management

This year’s list includes 159 unicorns with a $1 billion valuation, representing almost two-thirds of the total list. These companies raised over $51 billion across 337 equity deals in 2021 alone.

Opay (Nigeria)

Opay is a mobile money platform Launched in June 2018, the company raised US$400 million at a valuation of US$2 billion in a round led by SoftBank in 2021

Paga (Nigeria)

Paga is a mobile payments and financial services company The company claims to have 19 million unique users and processed over US$10 billion since its founding in 2009.

TeamApt (Nigeria)

TeamApt is a financial platforms for businesses that provides payments, banking, and credit services. Founded in 2015, the company is currently valued at around US$800 million

JUMO (South Africa)

MFS Africa (South Africa)

Jumo offers savings and credit products to entrepreneurs, as well as financial services infrastructure to banks and service providers The company raised US$120 million in 2021

MFS Africa is a digital payments gateway which connects mobile network operators across the continent through a single API The company raised US$100 million in 2021

ISSUES ARISING FROM THE NIGERIAN PAYMENT SYSTEM

BY ONELE CHINEDU EMMANUEL // LEGAL ASSOCIATE AT PISTIS PARTNERS LLP

Online banking is one of the easiest and convenient modes of making payment and transacting business in the 21st Century technologically savvy individuals. Such ecommerce transaction are aimed at being efficient, easy and safe with simplified business –to-customer relation using automated solution to ensure seamless switching and processing

As E-commerce and E-payment becomes rampant in the everyday business transaction, it is marred by several challenges which makes it even Harder to facilitate peer-to-peer banking model in online transaction through traditional banks and fintechs.

Below are some of the challenges typified by fintechs and online banking platforms, their short falls and how to overcome same

FRAUD

One of the issues challenging online payments platform is its tendency to be prone to fraud The Central Bank of Nigeria ”CBN” had overtime provided several guidelines to ensure safe and secure payment eco-system devoid of fraud, this is further enshrined in the criminal code at Ss

383 and 419 due to the government insistence on criminalizing fraudulent action most especially financial frauds. Be that as it may, some of the popular means of carrying out this fraudulent action is through SMS and email hacking, SIM cards identity fraud as well as social media fraud.

Many banking customers in Nigeria fall for some of this fraudulent activity intentionally or otherwise by simply clicking a fictitious web link or using unguarded passwords. These issues led to the introduction of two factors authentication “2FA” and OTPs to curtail some issues arising from password and account hacking through SMS, email, pin and SIMS.

In recent times, many banks and fintech institutions have been less proactive with OTPs while web pages and communication companies have been proactive in educating their customers about the use of 2FAs and PIN to lock SIM cards and safeguard data.

The General Data Protection Regulation “GDPR” of the European Union have done a lot in providing a framework for the collection, processing, use and disposal of data across European Countries .

This framework have been accepted and domesticated in Nigeria is reflected in the Nigerian Data Protection Regulation ”NDPR”. The guideline which gives data regulators a proper pedestal to operate, use and protect data came as a savior in offering functional data usage.

It is worthy to note that the 16 Articled regulations are aimed at guarding data misuse among companies that process data most especially traditional banks and fintechs.

Importantly, Art 3 1 and 4 1 1 provide ways in which data can be subject to further usage and process, it goes further to point out liability from data controllers – such liability when actioned can be construed in line with S 37 of the Constitution of The Federal Republic of Nigeria as was held in Emerging Market Telecommunication Limited V. Barr. Godfrey Nya Eneye (2018) LPELR-46193.

Interestingly, the provision is restrictive in scope hence the introduction of the NDPR to ensure strict liability on the side of data controllers and data protection officers

relating to payment processing, switching, ATM withdrawal among others, this attitude led the CBN to introduce a Guideline on Operation of Electronic Payments in Nigeria 2020, thereby, holding banks and fintechs in their jugular to ensure swift customer response

The guideline ensures swift response from banks and other financial institution as it seeks to protect customers, charge back action, settlement mechanism as well as the roles and responsibility of issuers, merchant and card holders It also creates adequate provisions to help customers seek redress in the appropriate court of law to checkmate bankers excessiveness.

TRANPARENCY

In Nigeria, the CBN policy on financial inclusion of all bankable adults is the fulcrum for innovation through fintechs, POS payment portal and Electronic payment gateway, this strategy is aimed at getting all bankable adults to be financially included In Ecommerce and Electronic payment systems.

To aid this system, the CBN introduced plethora of guidelines to ensure charges are transparent while making one form of payment or another. In light of this, many customers have complained about excessive charges on transaction despite the 2019 introduction of the Guideline on Charges by Banks, Other Financial Institution and Non-Bank Financial Institution however, despite the guideline, many banks and financial institution are making abysmal withdrawals and multiple deductions

A certain time in the Nigerian banking ecosystem, there are limited customer care channels to report bad customer experience however, in recent times, banks have created multiple channels across social media, help lines and live chat gateways to engage customers and get feedback.

This channels, although very innovative – is marred with enormous pitfall. One recurring issue about this pit fall is the lackadaisical attitudes of customer care representatives in quickly dispense issues

Be that as it may, it is worthy to note that excessive charges will slow down the rate of financial inclusion as customers will avoid ecommerce or generally stop operating bank accounts

Conclusively, the menace in banking and fintech transaction can be curtained through strong and proper institutionalization, regulation and control of banking entities while ensuring compliance and proper security of bank account

The State of Central Bank Digital Currencies - Visualized

BY MARCUS LUFINANCE // CONTENT STRATEGIST FOR VISUAL CAPITALIST

Visualized: The State of Central Bank Digital Currencies

Central banks around the world are getting involved in digital currencies, but some are further ahead than others

In this map, we used data from the Atlantic Council’s Currency Tracker to visualize the state of each central banks’ digital currency effort

When aggregated, we can see that the majority of countries are in the research stage

We’ve also divided the map by region to make viewing easier

Middle East

What are the Benefits?

A major benefit of government-issued digital currencies is that they can improve access for underbanked people

This is not a huge issue in developed countries like the U.S., but many people in developing nations have no access to banks and other financial services (hence the term underbanked) As the number of internet users continues to climb, digital currencies represent a sound solution

To learn more about this topic, visit this article from Global Finance, which lists the world’s most underbanked countries in 2021

Just 9% of countries have launched a digital currency to date.

This includes Nigeria, which became the first African country to do so in October 2021 Half of the country’s 200 million population is believed to have no access to bank accounts

Adoption of the eNaira (the digital version of the naira) has so far been relatively sluggish. The eNaira app has accumulated 700,000 downloads as of April 2022. That’s equal to 0.35% of the population, though not all of the downloads are users in Nigeria.

The 9% Status in the U.S.

Conversely, 33 4 million Nigerians were reported to be trading or owning crypto assets, despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s attempts to restrict usage America’s central bank, the Federal Reserve, has not decided on whether it will implement a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Our key focus is on whether and how a CBDC could improve on an already safe and efficient U.S. domestic payments system.

– FEDERAL RESERVE

About

Marcus is a content strategist for Visual Capitalist, focusing primarily on economics and investing Before joining Visual Capitalist, he worked in business development for a Canadian institutional asset manager

TOP 10 COUNTRIES WITH THE STRICTEST CRYPTOCURRENCY REGULATIONS

As a matter of fact, cryptocurrencies are not that welcome in all parts of the globe There are some countries where holding and trading crypto is legal while somewhere the same is extremely unacceptable If you are interested in knowing about the countries that have strict rules and regulations pertaining to the cryptocurrency market, you are at the right place

In this article, we will throw light on what are the top 10 countries with the strictest cryptocurrency regulations Have a look!

Russia

There have been countless discussions in Russia pertaining to the legal status of cryptocurrency The issue got intensified after the Bank of Russia filed a proposal for banning cryptocurrency mining and trading

The Bank stated that these digital currencies pose threats to the financial system of the economy As of now, cryptocurrencies are banned from dayto-day payment methods in the country but their legal status still prevails

China is yet another country to lay restrictions on cryptocurrencies in the year 2021 The country strongly believes that crypto mining harms the environment and promotes money laundering

China had put up a ban on cryptocurrencies in a phased manner wherein it first asked the financial institutions not to get engaged in any transaction involving cryptos Later, it disallowed all the domestic mining agencies from operating

China Algeria

If you are involved in any kind of cryptocurrency transaction whatsoever, you are against the law The Algerian government passed a law in 2018, according to which, buying, selling, using, or simply holding cryptocurrencies in possession is strictly prohibited

Egypt

Dar al-Ifta, an Islamic body in Egypt, issued a religious law against Bitcoin, claiming that its use is “haram”, in the year 2018

The country’s banking laws are reflective of the same And from the month of September 2020, Bitcoin trading can no longer be done without a Central Bank license

One of the first countries to completely ban the use of Bitcoin is Bolivia This Government had banned Bitcoin and a wide range of other cryptocurrencies in 2014

The country is quite clear with its view – “Cryptocurrencies cannot be trusted as an investment”

Bangladesh has quite strict rules and regulations pertaining to the financial sector – be it prevention of money laundering or prohibition of cryptocurrencies.

In this country trading in cryptocurrencies is deemed illegal and any person who is found doing so would be punishable by law.

Bolivia Bangladesh Vietnam

Though the country’s Government does not exactly have anything against trading Bitcoin or holding them as assets, the State Bank of Vietnam claims that it is illegal to use Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for payments

If anyone fails to comply, a serious punishment would follow

Nigeria

Nigeria is known to be the largest cryptocurrency market in Africa. However, the government here has banned financial institutions and banks to provide crypto-related services. What followed was all the banks that were found to use crypto regulations have been threatened with closure.

Turkey

There was a time when the Turkish people made use of cryptos to hedge against inflation.

However, in the year 2021, the country came up with a regulation to ban the usage of cryptocurrencies via its central bank. Eventually, a lot of cryptocurrency fraudsters were also arrested.

Morocco

The country considers digital currency transactions to be an infringement on forex regulations.

By this, we can picturise how strict Morocco is when it comes to cryptocurrency regulations. No wonder why Morocco makes it to the list of top 10 countries with the strictest cryptocurrency regulations.

Rethinking approaches to regulation of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

PAVEL KULIKOV // PARTNER AT PLL LEGAL & CBP

Turning away from voluntary, fragmented utilization of innovations and decentralized technologies will result in changing approaches to their regulation

Mass adoption of technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) potentially could trigger an even larger than projected transition to a new taxonomy of regulation concerning various fields of human life, including that of finance and the market itself New technologies are enabling new concepts, systems and frameworks, such as driverless cars, drone postal deliveries and central bank digital currencies (CBDC)

In the foreseeable future, the role of technology in our society would be exceeding the boundaries of an elementary subsystem, where its regulation would be designated to the stakeholders or the market itself

A persistent theme of this short submission is the currently changing approaches to the regulation of technological risks following a rapid transition to the wholesale level leveraging and mass adoption of technologies

I tend to believe that effective regulatory design for new technologies embraced by the currently ongoing Fourth Industrial Revolution should, first of all, be considerate of prerequisites as set by the notions of dominant product design, public perception of technological risk and social benefits versus technological risks

Turning away from a voluntary and fragmented utilization of technologies and more toward their mass adoption on a wholesale level, public perception toward the technologies’ risks, role and impact on society is continuing to evolve, subsequently resulting in changing approaches to regulation

This is better illustrated by an example of systems with organized complexity such as financial markets where technologies and computerization were of concern predominantly for the market itself

In comparison to the past industrial revolutions, which have not had a direct impact on the banking and financial sector, the currently unfolding 4IR has a direct influence and impact on the whole sector of global finance, which, as of today, is already one of the most digitized sectors of the global economy

Financial markets were originally modeled as linear systems Nowadays, however, they are increasingly global without a single point of control, unpredictable by means of nonlinear feedback effects arising from inter-activities among market participants and tend toward self-organized behavior

Comprising organized complexity or hierarchy in financial markets can be better described as arising out of investor demand It could also subsequently exist in a highly interconnected system of subsystems present on the factor market a market for financial assets where delayed regulatory initiatives, first of all, can be attributed to the properties of its parts that initially look simple and the laws of their interpretation as not allowing to infer the properties of the whole As Herbert Simon famously noted, justifying frequency with which complexity takes the form of hierarchy:

“In most systems in nature, it is somewhat arbitrary as to where we leave off the partitioning, and what subsystems we take as elementary ”

He continued: “Physics makes much use of the concept of ‘elementary particle’ although particles have a disconcerting tendency not to remain elementary very long Only a couple of generations ago, the atoms themselves were elementary particles; today, to the nuclear physicist they are complex systems [J]ust why a scientist has a right to treat as elementary a subsystem that is in fact exceedingly complex is one of the questions ”

In the foreseeable future, the role of technology in human lives would be exceeding the boundaries of an elementary subsystem, where its regulation would be designated to the sector as postal services for drones, financial regulations for robo-advisers companies or a particular market itself

In its application, blockchains and other cross-cutting enabling technologies, commonly dubbed as the ABCD framework: artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud and data (Big Data), as well as machine learning and Biometrics commonly embraced by the 4IR would not be mandatory limited to enabling new business opportunities fostering transparency and cost- and time-effective organization of the complex systems It is fair to predict that future simplification and transformation of regulatory practices is likewise within its reach

The innovation lifecycle

A dominant design as the landmark event for an industry (as hypothesized) has the effect of enforcing or encouraging standardization so that production or other complementary economies can be sought and perfected At the same time, it may not meet the needs of a particular class to quite the same extent as would a customized design, nor is it a dominant design necessarily the one that embodies the most extreme technical performance.

For example, the IBM PC, like the Model 5, offered the market little in the way of breakthrough technology, but it brought together familiar elements that had proven their value to users: a TV monitor, standard disk drive, QWERTY keyboard, the Intel 8088 chip, open architecture and MS-DOS operating system.

As the ABCD framework of enabling technologies used by fintechs, techfins and regtechs is currently approaching the dominant design stage, their product design model is principally dictated by regulation, a pattern which is similar to most of the regulated industries, including the sector of finance.

New significance and rationale behind the regulation of technologies have now emerged, embracing the acceleration of new forms of doing business on the market, a trend which is more and more commonly observed in many countries. It seems that the notion of Global Technology Risks (GTRs), which previously has not been an issue en vogue, will be gaining more and more pace, mandating changes to be made to regulatory approaches implemented worldwide.

The reason for this is simple: The general public, which generally tends to underestimate the risks stemming from voluntary activities, as the utilization of technology has progressed from being purely voluntary such as transferring Bitcoin (BTC) using blockchain more toward the wholesale level of tech utilization (e g CBDC), is becoming more concerned of the upcoming risks requiring appropriate regulatory and supervisory response by regulators

What seems important to emphasize is that the extent to which these responses should be based on technological advances such as embedded supervision ultimately depends on whether the industry itself will readily accept these advances for regulation or not

About

His academic research works on New Taxonomy for Technology Regulation on the Financial Markets; DLT Regulation reforms and fintech are often cited on both sides of the Atlantic Pavel is also an author and a host of a popular LegalTask program on Swiss TV

Pavel Kulikov is a partner at PLL Legal & CBP in Zürich, Switzerland, advising startups and big firms on financial market regulatory matters, compliance and private equity

Top 8 Most Well-Funded Fintechs in Africa

Africa’s fintech sector is booming, fueled by soaring venture capital (VC) funding activity, rising adoption of digital financial services among both consumers and businesses, and increasing efforts from governments to improve financial inclusion

Between 2020 and 2021, the number of technology startups in the continent tripled to around 5,200 companies, with just under half of these being fintech companies Last year, these ventures raised a record of US$2 billion, according to Crunchbase data, up 770% from 2020’s US$230 million

To get a sense of the continent’s up-and-coming fintech leaders, we ’ ve compiled a list of the top eight most well-funded fintech companies in Africa For this list, we ’ ve used data from CB Insights, Dealroom and these companies’ own public releases We’ve considered fintech companies based in Africa, those with African origins, as well as companies that primarily target the African continent

Opay

US$570 million

Founded in 2018 by Norwegian browser company Opera, OPay is a Nigerian mobile payments startup offering bespoke services including offline payments, online payments, digital wallet service through artificial intelligence (AI), savings products, and other fintech products

OPay claims over 15 million registered wallet users, 600,000 merchants nationwide and more than US$6 billion in monthly transaction value It says it is one of the fastest growing mobile payment company in Africa and Middle East with a decent market share in markets such as Nigeria, Egypt, and Pakistan, among others

OPay has raised US$570 million in disclosed funding and is valued at US$2 billion, according to CB Insights The startup closed its latest round in August 2021, securing US$400 million

Parent company Opera reported that OPay’s monthly transactions grew 4.5x to over US$2 billion in December 2020. The company also claims to process about 80% of bank transfers among mobile money operators in Nigeria and 20% of the country’s non-merchant point of sales (POS) transactions

Flutterwave US$474.7 million

Launched in 2016 and headquartered in the US, Flutterwave is a global payments technology company servicing businesses and payment services providers looking to expand their operations in Africa.

The company provides a platform that enables cross-border transactions via one API, and processes payments in 150 currencies, supporting multiple payment methods including local and international cards, mobile wallets and bank transfers.

Flutterwave says it has processed over 200 million transactions worth over US$16 billion to data, and claims more than 900,000 business customers, including Uber, Flywire and Booking.com. It says it has an infrastructure reach in over 34 African countries, including Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa.

Flutterwave has raised US$474.7 million in funding and is valued at US$3 billion, according to CB Insights. Its latest round was a US$250 million Series D it secured in February 2022.

Interswitch US$321 million

Headquartered in Nigeria, Interswitch is an Africa-focused integrated payments and digital commerce platform company.

The startup was founded in 2002 as a transaction switching and processing company with a national focus before progressively evolving to incorporate consumer financial services such as Quickteller, a retail payments ecosystem linking merchants and billers with consumers, as well as Verve, a homegrown, EMV-certified payments card scheme.

Today, Interswitch powers much of the rails for Nigeria’s online banking system and is one of the biggest debit card schemes in the continent, having issued over 35 million active cards.

Interswitch has raised US$321 million in funding, according to Dealroom, its latest round being a US$110 million fundraise announced in May 2022 at a US$1 billion+ valuation.

Chipper Cash

Founded in 2018, Chipper Cash is a VC-backed fintech company headquartered in the US. The company builds software to enable free and instant peer-to-peer cross-border payments in Africa, Europe and the US, as well as solutions for businesses and merchants to process online and in-store payments. It also provides services across personal investments, including stock trading.

Chipper Cash serves African markets including Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Africa and Kenya, as well as the UK. It launched in the US in September 2021, targeting the African diaspora with instant and fee-free cross-border payment capabilities.

Chipper Cash claims over four million customers and says it has issued more than 300,000 Visa cards, processing over US$1.5 billion worth of transactions every quarter.

Chipper Cash has raised US$302 million in funding, according to CB Insights and Dealroom, and is valued at US$2 billion Its last round was a US$250 million Series C secured last year

US$302 million Wave

US$290 million

Founded in 2017, Wave is a mobile money startup serving the Senegalese and Côte d’Ivoire markets The company runs an agent network that uses cash on hand to service customers who can make free deposits, withdrawals and bill payments, and get charged only a 1% fee whenever they send money

Wave claims to serve more than 10 million users monthly across its operating markets, and says it is the largest mobile money provider in Senegal In April, it was granted a E-Money License from the Central Bank of the West African States, permitting it to directly offer its current suite of financial products to customers, instead of having to rely on partnered banks

Wave has raised more than US$290 million in equity and debt capital funding to date, and is valued at US$1 7 billion, according to CB Insights

MFS Africa

US$225 million

Founded in 2010, MFS Africa is a Pan-African fintech company, operating one of the largest digital payment hubs in the continent

The company enables domestic and cross-border disbursements and collections across its network of networks It allows its partners, which includes enterprises, mobile money operators, money transfer operators, banks, non-bank financial institutions, and online and offline merchants, to

connect to each other and to connect to more than 400 million mobile money wallets in over 35 African countries.

MFS Africa has raised US$225 million in funding, including debt Its latest round was a US$200 million Series C closed in June 2022 The company said it would use the proceeds to further accelerate its expansion plans across Africa, its integration into the global digital payment ecosystem, its expansion into Asia, and its ambitious growth plans for Baxi, a Nigerian “super-agent network” company it acquired in 2021

Jumo US$200 million

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in South Africa, Jumo provides a banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform, enabling partners including banks, fintech companies and e-commerce players, to offer loans, savings and other financial products to their customers

The platform has two distinct capabilities, which work together to provide a full digital banking service: Core, the technology which provides end-to-end, next generation banking infrastructure, and Unify, a learning machine which analyzes data to reduce the cost and risk of lending

Jumo, which is active in seven markets, namely Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Côte d’Ivoire and Pakistan, says it has served more than 20 million customers and disbursed over 130 million individual loans worth a total of US$4 billion.

Jumo has raised US$200 million in funding so far, its latest round being a US$120 million fundraise announced in November 2021. It said at the time that it would use the proceeds to scale its platform’s capacity, evolve its services and increase the number of financial products on offer to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), provide longer term lending options for merchants and bigger businesses, and expand to new markets such as Nigeria and Cameroon.

Founded in 2018 in Egypt, MNT-Halan started out as a ride-sharing and delivery app before becoming a super app and the country’s leading fintech ecosystem

Today, MNT-Halan provides digital banking services to unbanked and underbanked customers Its digital ecosystem includes small business and consumer lending, payments, bill payments, ecommerce, buy now, payer later (BNPL), and delivery services

The company claims one million monthly active users and over 4 million customers, of which 3 1 million financial clients and 1 8 million borrowers It says it has disbursed US$2 billion in total loans since its launch, and processes more than US$125 million in transactions each month

MNT-Halan US$140 million

MNT-Halan has raised US$140 million in funding, according to Dealroom. Its latest round was a US$120 million fundraise it secured last year to improve its technology and product while scaling to customers within and outside Egypt This year, MNT-Halan acquired business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce platform Talabeyah to add a fast-moving consumer goods offering to its merchant network

10 key trends shaping the payments landscape

We asked our team of advisors, data scientists and economists at Visa to identify key trends that we believe will have a big impact on the payments landscape over the coming year

The sustained consumer shift to digital

Continued growth of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)

Trend #1 Trend #2

Consumers expect digital: E-commerce spend, both domestic and cross-border, has remained strong and stable relative to 2019 at well above the pre-COVID trend line even as pandemic effects fade 1

Why does this matter?

There is no going back the growth in online transactions has accelerated, so every player in the ecosystem needs to invest accordingly

BNPL is expected to soon outperform all other forms of unsecured lending and to top $1 trillion in annual gross merchandise volume by 2025 2

Others predict it will grow by up to 20% annually until 2023 and grab 13% of the unsecured credit market 3

Why does this matter?

The rise of BNPL, such as Visa’s network-based solution, spells opportunity for issuers and acquirers to bring new BNPL functionality to their customers

Crypto staying power

Trend #3

The crypto boom of 2021 has staying power In Q1, Visa credentials in crypto wallets had more than $2 5 billion in payments volume, which is already 70% of the payments volume for all fiscal 2021 4 Consumers are also intrigued by crypto: a recent Visa survey indicates 83% of consumers surveyed are interested in their bank offering a crypto card, with 39% reporting they’d even switch bank accounts to get access to this emerging currency 5

How ecosystem players can participate:

Enable customers to buy and sell cryptocurrencies and stablecoins

Offer crypto as a reward mechanism on fiat spend

Crypto looks to be here to stay, which brings new opportunities for payments players to meet emerging customer needs, enable alternative payments and to create new revenue streams

Digitization of B2B payments Digital transformation of small and micro businesses

Trend #4

In the B2B ecosystem, we expect to see an increasing digitization of B2B payments driven by new solutions from fintechs and new market entrants that have the potential to reshape cross-border money movement

In the B2B space, payment players should increase focus on the experience with an emphasis on innovation, convenience, security, and speed

Trend #5

92% of North American small and medium-sized business (SMBs) updated their business models, 40% of them introduced virtual services,6 and 1.7 million SMBs turned to Shopify to open online storefronts 7

To service today’s SMBs and micro businesses, financial institutions need to look beyond traditional banking products and support their end-to-end digitalization journeys

The 'bounce back' of travel

Trend #6

The robust international travel recovery that started in the fall as borders reopened resumed in February as Omicron impact faded. Border restrictions were lifted quickly and pent-up demand for travel remains very high As more restrictions are lifted, cross-border travel is expected to recover and should make some gains for the peak summer travel season 8

Payments players need to be ready by spotting emerging trends and stay relevant by ensuring their travel-related incentives meet new demands

Why does this matter?

Why does this matter?

Why does this matter?

Why does this matter?

Mobile as an all-in-one commerce solution

Trend #7

Although all forms of digital payment are growing strongly, in-app payments and mobile commerce (also known as mcommerce) are outperforming the wider market 9

Shopify says of its Shop Pay digital wallet: It’s 70% faster than conventional online payments, lifts conversion rates by a factor of 1.72 and is regularly used by more than 40 million shoppers.10

Why does this matter?

Players in the payment ecosystem should consider investing in a truly seamless experience designed for mobile.

Trend #9

Payment form factors continue to evolve

Trend #8

Beyond paying with a card or mobile wallet, new form factors are popping up For example, Visa's working on turning a luxury car into a fully secure, always-on payment device – that can enable drivers to make in-car payments using just their fingertips 11

Why does this matter?

Payments players should consider alternative form factors in their technical architectures, using techniques like delegated authentication and cloud tokens

Why does this matter?

Card-on-file is more important than ever Payment players should focus on the user experience – including offering easier ways to update reissued credentials and to cancel unwanted subscriptions

The growing influence of Big Tech and Super Apps

While some new fintechs are popping up to tackle different parts of the ecosystem, many existing tech players are expanding horizontally. For example:

Meta Square PayPal

uses Facebook Pay to allow users to send money to each other and to shop within any of its apps or on third-party websites.15

entered the BNPL space through its $29 billion acquisition of AfterPay and launched a new business banking proposition 16

offers a new consumer wallet that boasts features like enhanced direct deposits, check cashing, budgeting tools, crypto support, rewards and BNPL.17

Why does this matter?

Incumbent players face competition, yet they also have the potential to benefit from the newfound attention and ride the waves of change

Top 10 banks in Nigeria with highest foreign inflows in H1 2022

Citibank, Standard Chartered, and Stanbic IBTC led the list of banks with the highest dollar inflows into the Nigerian economy in the first half of the year This is according to a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)

Nigeria attracted $3 11 billion as foreign inflows in H1 2022, a 11 8% increase compared to $2 78 billion received in the corresponding period of 2021 When compared to the previous period, capital inflows declined by 20 7% from $3 92 billion attracted in the second half of 2021

A sum of $889 9 million came into the Nigerian economy through Citibank between January and June 2022, accounting for 28 6% of the total capital importation recorded in the period under review Also, a total of $866 44 million was routed through Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria, which represents 27 9% of the total

Stanbic IBTC followed with an inflow of $415 44 million, representing 13 4% of the total inflows into Nigeria Notably, out of the 28 banks listed, 21 of them recorded foreign inflows in the period under review

Interestingly, the top banks on this link are subsidiaries of international banks, Citibank Nigeria being owned by Citibank Overseas Investment Corporation, a subsidiary of Citibank N A (USA) In the same vein, Standard Chartered is a subsidiary SC, which is a British multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in London.

Most of the funds that came into the economy were sourced from the United Kingdom, South Africa, Singapore, and the USA with $1.8 billion, $239.8 million, $203 million, and $162.3 million

respectively, a possible reason why international banks ranked highest on the list of financial institutions in the country with the highest capital inflows

Highlights

Capital importation in the review period stood at $3 11 billion compared to $3 92 billion received in the second half of 2021

Portfolio investments stood at $1 71 billion in the same period, representing 55 2% of the total inflows, foreign direct investment (FDI) on the other hand, accounted for 9 7% with $302 13 million inflows

Other investment, which includes trade credit, loans, currency deposits, and other claims accounted for 35 1% of the total inflows with $1 09 billion inflows.

In the period under review, most of the funds came into Lagos State ($2.17 billion), followed by Abuja with $900.8 million, and Anambra State with $28.86 million.

Top 10 banks with highest inflows

Citibank tops the list with $889 97 million

Closely followed by Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria with $866 44 million

Stanbic IBTC Bank saw $415 44 million routed through its institution in the first half of the year, a decline from $991 7 million recorded in H2 2021

Zenith Bank attracted $221.26 million

Ecobank Nigeria ($152.75 million)

Access Bank ($101.14 million)

First Bank of Nigeria ($90 48 million)

Union Bank of Nigeria ($88 96 million)

FCMB with $72 22 million

Rand Merchant Bank ($70.4 million)

Mobile Educational Facilities Driving Inclusive Education in Africa

BY ALBERT NANGARA

Recognizing the vital role of education, students and their families across subSaharan Africa have started using educational technologies to supplement formal schooling during times of disruption

Mobile laboratories (mobile labs) bring scientific tools and techniques right to the school parking lot, allowing students access to experiences far beyond what many schools can provide

In Chad, a mobile school offers nomad children hope Chad's nomads make up almost a tenth of the country's population and many children in the community hardly get an education.

Countries and organizations are taking perceptible actions for Inclusive Education to succeed internationally as well as in individual African countries

Internationally, countries adopted several treaties in support of Inclusive Education Inclusion has become a global issue while in different countries we can find many stated intentions and written policies to move towards its achievement

In Africa, a few examples include South Africa's Department of Education White Paper 6: Special Needs EducationBuilding an Inclusive Education and

Training System (2001), Namibia's Ministry of Education Sector Policy on Inclusive Education (2013), and Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Education National Policy on Inclusive Education (2016)

According to UNESCO, current rates of educational access in sub-Saharan Africa are among the lowest in the world due in part to a shortage of physical resources

Unplanned disruptions to schooling also arise for a variety of extenuating circumstances, such as labor disputes resulting in teacher strikes, natural disasters like hurricanes, and public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted in-person instruction around the world.

These frequent disruptions to schooling are detrimental to student learning outcomes and to building a highly skilled workforce to spur economic development in the region.

Recognizing the vital role of education, students and their families across subSaharan Africa have started using educational technologies to supplement formal schooling during times of disruption.

Although physical resources like classroom space are scarce, it is projected that mobile connectivity will reach more than half of sub-Saharan Africa by 2025 according to SAGE Journals.

MOBILE LABORATORIES

Countries in Africa must embrace mobile science laboratories to effectively change the science education landscape. Mobile laboratories are a strategy to increase student interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers. Mobile laboratories (mobile labs) bring scientific tools and techniques right to the school parking lot, allowing students access to experiences far beyond what many schools can provide Mobile labs are less expensive than traditional brick-and-mortar labs

According to North-West University News, On March 5, 2020, the Sasol Foundation in South Africa donated a mobile science laboratory to the North-West University (NWU) To deliver practical science education to thousands of learners around the North West Province When fully utilized, this state-of-the-art mobile laboratory can serve up to 30 schools per year "Sasol is committed to continuing to play its part in the socio-economic development of South Africa, particularly in the communities in which we operate," said Vusi Cwane, head of the Sasol Foundation

He said the impact of the mobile science laboratories, which is one of the many key initiatives of the Sasol Foundation, has been positively evaluated by an independent monitoring and evaluation agency in 2019 This confirmed that innovation is a critical piece of the puzzle in addressing the underdevelopment of STEM capabilities in South Africa "The mobile laboratory will promote science, technology, engineering mathematics, and innovation by engaging communities in the North West through different science awareness programmes

"The mobile laboratory will also enable the NWU's Science Centre to expand its capabilities in teacher and learner curriculum support By taking science experiments to schools more learners will be reached, especially those in remote corners of the province," said Prof Dan Kgwadi

MOBILE SCHOOL FOR NOMADS IN CHAD

Meanwhile, in Chad, a mobile school offers nomad children hope. Chad's nomads make up almost a tenth of the country's population and many children in the community hardly get an education.

About 7 percent of the central African nation's population of about 16 million are nomads. They move hundreds of miles from the south with their herds every year when seasonal rains turn the semi-arid central regions green with fresh pasture.

This way of life is centuries old but does not allow nomad children to access Chad's formal education system According to the Denmark-based International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, fewer than 1 percent of nomad boys and "virtually zero " nomad girls were registered for school in Chad as of 2018

According to an article by Aljazeera published on September 12, 2022, Teacher Leonard Gamaigue was inspired to set up a mobile school when he saw children playing at a nomad camp in Toukra, outside the Chadian capital N'Djamena, during school hours in 2019

... the 28-year-old recalled, after a lesson in late August during which the children had carefully taken notes in exercise books on their laps.

Nearly three years on, his school - which follows the community when they move on every two months or so - has 69 pupils of various ages and basic supplies thanks to donations.

"They had never been to school before, none of them ... today they can already write their name correctly, express themselves in French, do sums, " Gamaigue said with pride

DIGITALIZATION OF EDUCATION

The transition to online education happened out of necessity, catalyzed by the pandemic, and came with implementation and access issues in many countries in the Global South. However, we learned that institutional thinking and psychological barriers can sometimes hold us back from embracing innovation, of which we are capable. There remains an opportunity to do further research on what worked and what didn't work during the period of emergency online education. Going forward, technology can increase access to higher education and internationalization and push the boundaries of how we currently do things. We need to learn how to optimally tap into innovation in digital delivery.

Educators around the world have been astounded by the success of E-Learning processes and platforms that were hurriedly put in place by education departments, schools, universities, and private education facilities.

"Online education has been a thing for many years, but its growth in Africa has been slow not only due to issues of digital infrastructure, line speed, and access to appropriate hardware, but also due to the doubt with which online learning has been viewed, and the lack of digital skills from educators themselves" commented James Williams, Director, Events | Connecting Africa | Informa Tech

"When we started, we had practically nothing, not even a piece of chalk,"...

"When we started, we had practically nothing, not even a piece of chalk,"...

African Competition

market regulations

BY DR M Y TAMPRI JNR, PH D // ECONOMIST& DIGITAL FINANCE EXPERT

As technology reshapes markets and alters growth and distributional dynamics, policies must ensure that markets remain inclusive and support wide access to the new opportunities for firms and the citizens

In this special no holds barred interview, Dr Mark Yama Tampuri Jnr shared great insights on the evolving dynamics on competition laws, the significance of the AfCFTA for competition regulators and the need for African states to institutionalize competition regulations

Dr Mark Yama Tampuri Jnr is a Lecturer and consultant in international finance and development recognized for his exceptional appreciation of Finance, Fintech and payment systems, Financial Inclusion, Policy and digital economy development

He is a fellow of the Fletcher School Leadership Programme for Financial Inclusion (FLPFI), regarded as one of Africa`s young experts in the interface of Finance, Global Business and Policy and has been involved in consultancies for firms He is also an “Expert Member“ of the Digital Euro Association

He plays an active part in global development issues on International Finance, Fintech and Inclusive financial policies for safe, secure and affordable transactions for individuals and businesses

businesses and consumers?

Competition laws and regulations aid in fostering fair competition and business practices order, these laws and goals go a long way to offer practical protection for consumers from business activities and practices that could deprive consumers of fairness

Consumer interests are usually a goal of any competition laws and regulations and they can go a long way to support specialized laws on issues such as privacy and safety Competition laws can protect consumers from firms, especially in the areas of price hikes whiles nurturing fair competition between firms for the economic growth of a country

While this may be highly beneficial for consumers, businesses also can benefit from competition laws as these laws could cause other institutions to operate in the ambit of fair business practices

Competition laws help in creating democratic institutions and therefore can reduce certain risks associated with corporate governance which may have macroeconomic implications as we saw in Ghana’s banking crises from 2017 to 2019 that lead to the Bank of Ghana “The Central Bank“ withdrawing the licenses of some nine banks and consolidating some in Ghana These are important to policymakers

Q Why are competition laws and regulations important to policymakers,

Authorities need to be innovative to promote smart

Q The World Bank projects that sub-Saharan Africa’s population will double by 2050, to more than 2 billion; Is that an opportunity or a potential threat for competition in the digital market?

The implications that a growing population has on countries and regions somewhat differ considerably. Usually, for the issue of competition and population, the practical way to understand these is to use a model to scientifically predict changes occurring in the populations and how those changes impact fair business practices.

Whiles the population is growing, competition is likely to intensify in areas where businesses are continually making efforts to increase their sizes and market, accompanied by their challenges, particularly with E-Commerce which transcends physical borders.

These can pose challenges to competition, however, the innovative competition legal regime should identify these as they can provide the opportunity to innovate with changing needs of the market

“So the question could be how are policymakers and competition authorities putting their best foot forward to meet these challenges, by seeing them as opportunities”.

Q What challenges need to be addressed to harness that potential?

An aspect posing challenges is where disagreement among or between competition authorities in the market that transcend one country How competition authorities can cooperate on issues such as international mergers and acquisitions of large and powerful firms that may be anti-competitive

The cooperation among competition authorities of different nations may be challenging but when effected, it could save time, and the cost of disagreement will be minimized among competition authorities

“These disagreements and associated costs for competition authorities across jurisdictions are challenging, but we have seen the commitment to collaboration in the digital economy”.

Q. Digital markets have raised not only competition law issues but also dataprotection and privacy issues as well. How have these three (dataprotection, privacy and competition law) become more connected over the past few years in Africa?

Significantly the last four (4) have seen some broader discussions among stakeholders, especially on the three issues of privacy, competition and data protection partly because the digital markets are

becoming more connected and tech firms are becoming increasingly powerful. Sensitive data are being kept on the servers of firms, which needs an unambiguous regulatory environment to govern how they are gathered, sorted, retrieved and even disposed of.

Just take one digital service. One can take notice of the expansion of ridesharing and ride-hailing, which relies on mobile applications (apps) estimated to grow about 20 per cent annually until 2023, reaching $1.1 billion that year with 11.2 percent consumer penetration. How is the sensitive data of consumers including location (some of which could be from their homes ) protected and what legal remedies do especially consumers have should their privacy rights be infringed upon are legitimate concerns

Some African countries are responding to these issues by partly developing and implementing data protection laws and following antitrust regimes We can see for Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Togo and others have developed or developing and implemented or implementing some data protection laws which relate to the digital economy, for the protection of citizens’ data, privacy and nurturing competition in their markets

In my own country Ghana, the Data Protection Act, Act 2012 (DPA) is the Act of Parliament providing the legal regime for data protection However, Article 18 (2) of Ghana`s 1992 Constitution protects rights to privacy as fundamental rights For competition laws, we have seen some responses by African countries in addressing antitrust issues through the legal regime as well

“In Ghana, the competition law is seen some readings in its parliament and hopefully should be passed into law soon”.

But we have seen countries such as Nigeria Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, Cote d Ivoire and Tanzania already have more competition laws that take into account aspects of the digital economy

powerful firms operating in their markets and these firms tend to contribute enormously to the development of the countries.

“But there are sometimes antitrust issues and concerns about mergers and acquisitions”.

We can look at vertical mergers where a firm acquires another firm from which it either sells goods/services or buys goods or services.

Also, the appetite for unfair practices in acquisitions has over the years been manifested in ways such as the provision of “loyalty rebates“ or what I term “thank you handshakes “ Where a firm gives a discount to a buyer for limiting its purchases from the firm’s competitors

Again issues of the “Most Favored Nation“ clauses, Predation, and Exclusionary conduct are some competition issues that Competition authorities need to continually respond to actively

I mentioned earlier the fallouts of mergers and acquisitions involving powerful firms being competition authorities’ interest in most cases The African economy has over the years welcomed

Q Besides the big tech cases, what are the biggest types of antitrust cases in Africa to watch for right now?

Q The African Continental Free Trade Area agreement, which is thecontinent-wide free trade deal, aims at creating a $3 trillion market, knocking out 90 per cent of tariffs and bolstering intra-Africa trade What’s the significance of this for the competition regulator?

As a financial and development professional, I understand the significance and potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreements for transformation on the continent

“The prospects of The African Continental Free Trade Area agreement are enormous”.

Policymakers are expected to implement policies to maximize the potential gains while minimizing risks associated with unfair business practices associated with the development- and that’s why the competition regulator’s role is indisposable

Vibrant economic activities within a $3 trillion market as is expected of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement has implications for competition regulators Competition regulators are particularly expected to champion and regulate activities of “trade integrity“ where we expect that international trade transactions in the zone are transparent, legitimate, and priced properly to ensure that The African Continental Free Trade Area agreement trading system are undertaken legitimately

The competition regulator has some enormous tasks; it is expected that the legacy bad trading activities by some firms will continue to persist even under the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement Competition authorities are challenged on issues of trade fraud including mis-invoicing trade transactions which not only undermine fair trade and labour standards but also deprive the state of a huge amount of resources in revenues to the government.

I expect competition regulators to provide leadership in harmonizing the policies and legal regime on four key areas- investments and trade, eCommerce and payments, data protection and privacy, and intellectual property rights.

Q. Are there specific regulations for a pan-African financial-services company that is different than for other sectors?

I have been advocating for financial regulators to support the enactment of competition laws specifically for the financial sector to respond to the peculiarities of competition issues of the sector I am not oblivious to the fact that over the years, banks for example have been exempted from the application of strict competition policies due to the reasons of the potential costly trade-off between the stability of the sector and competition

Regulators on the continent have concentrated efforts on enacting general competition policies that apply to the financial sector than specific financial sector competition laws There is however some rising interest shown by financial regulators and policymakers in the need for fostering competition in the financial sector

Q. What’s your take on the need for institutionalized competition andantitrust regulations in African states? And how can this drive smartpolicies to enhance competitiveness, strengthen innovation and ensure that African companies can thrive in an increasingly complex world whilst creating value for society?

As an advocate of innovative competition and antitrust regulations in African states, I do appreciate the importance of fair business practices Competition and antitrust regulations should focus on their aim, thus, to promote competitive markets but not just on promoting lower prices only

Anticompetitive business practices, on the other hand, pose significant risks and threats to consumers (a consumer protection concern) and promote an unfair business practice environment which could affect economic growth negatively

“Innovative competition and antitrust regulations in Africa can promote competitiveness through smart policies, innovation and a supportive environment for businesses to thrive”

Q. In your opinion, is Africa ready for strictly competitive markets? Andshould antitrust be about law enforcement or regulation?

Africa has seen increasing notice of antitrust law by regional bodies, evidence of the fact that the continent is building the legal regime required for competitive African markets We have the West

African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), the East African Community (EAC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and Competition authorities leading legal and policy regimes for regulating and enforcement of competition and competitive markets.

“Both regulations and enforcement are needed for antitrust to have the morale appeal and provide punitive measures”.

It’s like a carrot and stick situation. The market needs a careful balance of the two. However, whatever approach is being used, regulations and or enforcement must over the period ultimately lead to competitive markets- and that should motivate any of the approaches.

Q Any final thoughts or recommendations to African market regulators?

Markets can as well fail to achieve outcomes of competition especially when realities in the economy hinder the processes of competition.

“Competition Authorities, therefore, need to be innovative and understand how issues such as marketplace regulations, the economic environment, the political environment and other barriers can hinder the competition process”.

How competition policy can influence the markets by correcting these hindrances in the competitive process is a determining factor in achieving a close to perfectly competitive market.

About

Dr. M. Y Tampri Jnr, Ph.D. Lecturer, Academic City University College | President, Ghana Fintech Academic Network (GHFAN) | Fellow, The Fletcher School Leadership Programme for Financial Inclusion, Fletcher School, Tufts University, USA

Prerequisites For Turning Any Innovation Into A Business Success

As a mentor to many business professionals and owners who want more, and aspiring entrepreneurs, I find a wealth of innovative ideas, but often less insight on what it really takes to transform ideas into an income stream that can excite new customers into long-term business success Thus my guidance is usually more on the realities of creating a business, rather than critiquing ideas.

For example, innovative technologists often come up with a new device or app, just because they can, and assume everyone will want one. Social entrepreneurs pitch me their latest idea for reducing world hunger (such as producing edible algae), but forget that hungry people probably don't have any money It takes a wealth of hungry buyers to sustain a great business idea.

So, unless you are satisfied doing research on a shoestring, I encourage you to focus highly on achieving business success, as well as on creating an innovative solution. I was happy to see this strategy expertly illustrated in a new book, "The Innovation Mindset," by Lorraine H Marchano She speaks from decades of experience with innovation at big companies, as well as startups.

I'm happy to add my own insights here for your consideration to her suggested eight essential lessons, with supporting case studies, for evolving any innovative idea into a business reality:

A key attribute of every innovation transformed into a successful business is that it must provide a solution to a real problem that potential customers are willing and able to pay money to acquire. Beware of "nice to have" solutions, or available alternatives that are cheaper, better known, or easier to use

I find that many entrepreneurs are so blinded by their initial idea, that they fail to evaluate alternatives I recommend that you always use brainstorming, or expert feedback, to define

Every innovation must solve a customer problem.

A great innovation starts with at least three ideas.

"

1

similar approaches and markets, before proceeding to produce and sell a solution that may be expensive to change later.

One of the best ways to assess development risk is to build and test a prototype, or minimum viable product (MVP).

What looks good in your head may have unforeseen challenges in cost, reliability, and usability in the marketplace Investors expect this step to be proven successful before funding

projections, and channel partner issues Plan for change before the first crisis.

I believe that writing down your business plan has tremendous value for you, even if you don't need investors

Generating a written plan will force you to think through all the key elements for success, including market definition, solution features, financials, real competition, and marketing

One of the best ways to assess development risk is to build and test a prototype, or minimum viable product (MVP)

What looks good in your head may have unforeseen challenges in cost, reliability, and usability in the marketplace Investors expect this step to be proven successful before funding

You can improve your odds by reducing risks. Certainly, some risks are uncontrollable, such as the recent Covid-19 pandemic, but others are manageable

For example, you must secure adequate funding for operations, hire good people for operations, and manage your reputation and service

Every successful business owner you know will tell you that their original plan has changed or pivoted from the original.

Primary reasons include unanticipated customer reactions, early competitors, financials not meeting

This starts with building a positive and persuasive pitch deck for investors and team members, and updating your team on a weekly basis with progress and next steps. It also means building trust and

credibility through visibility, feedback, and really listening to your team and customers

Be a dreamer first, but a realist on marketplace risk. Write down your business model and five-year plan.

the steps needed to improve your success odds.

Please do not get the impression that a business should reduce the current priority on innovation. We all know that the pace of innovation is increasing, and the market is responding positively I simply suggest that innovation alone does not assure business success

For long-term success, you must apply the rules and realities of business outlined here with the same passion and determination that generates your solution innovation. Many of your peers and competitors are already there, so it's never too early to start today

About

Marty has more than 30 years of experience and demonstrated results as an executive in Software Engineering, Product Management, and Marketing He has led technical business transformations, done due-diligence and funding analysis for investors, provided mentoring for new technical executives, and held a wide range of professional and management roles

He is an Adjunct Professor and Entrepreneur in Residence at Embry-Riddle University, past member of the Arizona Technology Investors Forum (ATIF) Angel group selection committee, and a member of the Advisory Board for several startups

Specialties: Current focus is providing software entrepreneurs with first-hand advice, mentoring and business plan assistance Connects startups with potential investors, board members, and service providers Also has in-depth experience in related areas of business development, customer service, and outsourcing onshore and offshore.