Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2016 — 21
E-Commerce Stories By NWOKPOKU
JONAH
A
preliminary research report from an ongoing study on Digital Financial Services, DFS, in Nigeria being undertaken by the Lagos Business School’s Sustainable DFS project has revealed that adoption of DFS in Nigeria remains critically low among the under-banked and the unbanked population. Presenting the research feedback report during a Business Leaders Dialogue meeting held at Lagos Business School last week, a member of theresearch team, Mr. Ikechukwu Kelikume said the research identified the inhibitors of reaching the under-baked and the unbanked to include: Lack of awareness, unemployment, complexity of financial products and services, access to finance and the proximity to financial service providers. He also noted that the research also showed that cost of financial services such as bank charges constitute a sigbnificanthindrance to financial inclusion, adding that the unbanked and the under-banked have zero utility adoption of digital financial services. Explaining the demographics captured in the research process, Kelikume said that the research showed that most of the under-banked and unbanked population are
‘Why adoption of digital financial services remains low in Nigeria’ found in the South West, North Central and North West geopolitical zones of Nigeria. The research showed the demographics as mostly female, both employed and unemployed, married and above 35 years of age. The group also had primary and secondary education and all live within the rural areas. The research feedback which focused on the research analysis of the Nigerian customer, also noted that adoption of mobile money, a very relevant tool in driving financial inclusion and digital financial services, has remained very low despite
Nigeria boasting the highest number of mobile money operators in Africa. This is as the research showed that Nigeria still maintains the smallest number of active mobile money accounts compared to other countries in the continent with significantly marginal mobile money operators. The research showed countries in emerging markets, such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Cameroon, Zimbabwe Democratic Republic of Congo and Philippines beating Nigeria in active mobile money
accounts despite having fewer mobile money operators. The research therefore recommended targeted awareness campaign focusing on gender, youths and on separate regions of the country, as an antidote to the apathy in digital financial services adoption in the country. It also recommended creating products that are mobile ready, SMS capable with multilingual capabilities, including affordable and low value transactions. It also noted that DFS operators require proper business models to harness the immense opportunities in
Infinix to roll out wearable technology, emerges best mobile brand
N
igeria’s smartphone maker, Infinix Mobility, has said it will, later this year, begin a roll out of wearable technology, the X-band smart watch. Marketing Communications Manager, Infinix Nigeria, Olamide Amosu disclosed this in Lagos at the Beacon of ICT award, where the device maker emerged the best mobile phone brand in Nigeria, beating other contenders in the same category, such as Samsung, Lumia, Huawei, etc.
According to her, “This year, Infinix will launch more smartphones alongside introducing its wearable technology category with Xband smart watch, which will soon be available for purchase for all customers in Nigeria.” Speaking on the award, Regional Manager for Infinix, Bruno Li Said, “This is a historic moment for us with all the efforts we have put into growing our brand in Nigeria. I can assure Nigerians that Infinix is here
to stay with the aim to provide the best smartphone experience.” Presenting the award to Infinix, the Deputy Editor-inChief, Nigeria Communications Week, the organisers of the award, Mr. Chike Onwuegbuchi said Infinix was at the forefront of the market with their smartphone ranges and “we are happy to recognize the effort they have put into promoting the mobile phone industry in Nigeria.”
the digital financial space. Earlier in a presentation, Executive Director and CoFounder, Digital Frontiers Institute, Dr. Ignacio Mas while speaking on the global view point of DFS, said digital financial service solutions are still lacking the required traction because they are only useful if there is scale. But to achieve scale, he said, they need to be interoperable and relevant. According to him, a DFS solution like mobile money should be seen as a money management tool to be deployed in helping people manage their money in order to make payments consistently, instead of serving simply as a channel for intermittent transactions. Deliberating on the supplier view of the customer, Dr. Olayinka David-West who is the Academic Director and Project Lead, Lagos Business School said banks need to adjust their business models to accommodate trends that will lead to growth in the DFS space. Participants at the Business Leaders Dialogue session who included operators in the financial services sectors and mobile money operators advocated collaboration among players, leveraging economies of scale by reducing cost of transactions to drive increase in volume of transactions and the need to standardise transaction tools, to boost DFS adoption in the country.
Aviation
NAMA, NAF to collaborate on safety of airspace Stories By LAWANI MIKAIRU
T
HE Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, and the Nigerian Air Force ,NAF, are collaborating to make Nigeria airspace safer. The two institutions are deliberating in the areas of security of navigational infrastructure, calibration of navigational aids, training of personnel and exchange programmes. Speaking when he led a highpowered delegation on a courtesy visit to NAMA headquarters in Lagos, the Director of Air Traffic Management Services, Nigerian Air Force, AVM. C. T. Gudi said that as a dependable ally, NAMA has always collaborated with NAF in critical areas like strategic airspace surveillance, air traffic control, airspace security and training of Air Force personnel. AVM. Gudi added that the professional and technical expertise provided by NAMA in Air Force operations and training remained invaluable, stressing that their visit was therefore “to deepen this existing cordial relationship and operational synergy especially given the numerous benefits accruing to the nation in terms of safety and C M Y K
security of the airspace.” He specifically appreciated NAMA for providing on-the-job training for Air Force personnel who graduated from the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) Zaria, and also appealed to the agency to
always consider the Air Force while planning for ad hoc trainings and seminars on Performance Based Navigation (PBN) and other such programmes which fall in between the major courses at NCAT, Zaria.
According to him, “the aviation world is very sophisticated and dynamic and is all about who has superior training. Given that NAMA is more acquainted with ICAO calendar and programmes, it has become imperative that the
Dana: AIB to release final crash report after harmonisation of suggestions By LAWANI MIKAIRU & DANIEL ETEGHE
A
ccident Investigation Bureau , AIB, has said the final report on investigations into the crash of Dana Airlines MD 83 aircraft with registration 5N-RAM, which occurred at IjuIshaga area of Lagos State, on 3rd June, 2012 will be released after the harmonisation of suggestions and comments of aviation stakeholders. According to the press statement issued by the Bureau’s spokesman, Mr Tunji Oketunbi, the Interim Statement marking the fourth anniversary of the unfortunate incident is already on the Bureau’s website (aib.gov.ng). Giving an update on the investigation into the accident, which claimed 153 lives, Oketunbi said that the final reports of the investigation will
be released to the public very soon. He added that the draft Final Report was sent to relevant stakeholders for comments and suggestions as required by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Annex 13 chapter 6.3. “Efforts at resolving and harmonising the issues raised by the stakeholders’ comments and suggestions have however delayed the release of the report”, he said. The Bureau, in the interim statement stated: "The issues raised by the Stakeholders, which required further scientific testing have almost completely been addressed and the Final Report will be made public very soon.” Recall that on the 3rd of June, 2012, at about 15:45hours, a Boeing MD 83 aircraft, 5N- RAM operated by Dana Airlines on scheduled domestic flight crashed
into Iju-Ishaga, a densely populated area on the outskirts of Lagos, following a loss of power on both engines while on Approach to Murtala Muhammed International Airport Lagos, Nigeria.
Nigerian Air Force be carried along in some of these trainings so that we can all be speaking the same language.” In his remarks, the Ag. Managing Director of NAMA, Engr. Emma Anasi said that the complimentary role played by NAMA and NAF in ensuring safety and security of the airspace requires that a coordinated and harmonious civil/military collaboration has to be sustained and improved upon. While appreciating NAF for providing security around navigational facilities across the nation’s airports, Anasi called for uniformity of Communication, Navigation, Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) infrastructure between the two organisations.
VISIT: From left, Deputy Director, Air Traffic Services, Gp. Capt. S. Peter, Commander, Nigerian Air Defence Corps, GP. Capt. M. N. Onyebashi, Ag. NAMA MD, Engr. Emma Anasi, Director, Air Traffic Management Services, AVM. Christopher Gudi and Military Airport Commandant, MMIA, Wg. Cdr. I. E. Imoke during a visit of NAF team to NAMA hqtrs, Lagos.