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Ecobank Fintech: Stakeholders Advocate Sound Corporate Governance, Scalable Proposal

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To achieve a sustainable and stable fintech ecosystem, operators in the industry have been advised to put in place sound corporate governance principles and policies and also package their business proposals to attract potential investors. This was the opinion of speakers at the second edition of Ecobank Fintech Breakfast Series held at Ecobank Pan African Centre (EPAC) in Lagos.  The Speakers who weighed in on the theme: ‘Strengthening the ecosystem’ with emphasis on the role of good corporate governance in the fintech industry and what fintechs need to know about securing investments, emphasized that sound corporate governance strengthens organizations while good value proposition and structure determine and attract potential investors.
Tosin Iyayi, Partner, Aluko & Oyebode stated that to entrench sound corporate governance, an organization must put in place a well constituted board of directors who will oversee and perform the roles of strategic planning and keeping oversight of the company’s affairs. According to her, “the board will ensure an organization that is well run in line with laid down ethics, rules and regulations. It should be able to add value to the organization, review the operations at every given point and offer helpful advice on the growth of such organization. Members should have sound business acumen; they must have experience in running a successful business, and able to steer the direction of the company. There should gender diversity in constituting the board. Members should have good knowledge of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) which refers to a set of standards for a company’s behavior used by socially conscious investors to screen potential investments.”
Speaking on Fintech and Fundraisers: What fintechs need to know about securing investments, Chinedu Onuoha, Managing Director, Mzuri Solutions Limited, advised fintechs startup to have a clear insight on the need and purpose for raising fund, stressing that they should ensure such funds are deployed for the purpose.  In his words, “fintech startups should raise funds they actually need. Sometimes you don’t need fund but goodwill. Know when to raise funds and when not to, and where not to raise funds. You should have a clear insight on what you need the funds for and meet your payment schedule to avoid breach on corporate governance and your ethics. Don’t outrun yourself in order not to lose control thereby questioning your ability to drive the business.”
Also speaking, Yemi Keri, Co-founder, Rising Tide Africa who spoke on how to secure fund, stated that investors look at the product, passion and structure of organizations. “Investors are looking for good deals. You can get investors from networking event such as this breakfast meeting. Visit platforms such as LinkedIn. Check out profiles. There are genuine investors out there looking out for profitable business they can invest in” adding that “on our part, we look at your product, your passion, motivation. We also look at how you will leverage technology for ease of operation and meet the needs of the customers. We look at your team, scalability, value proposition and structure to ensure business continuity.”
Earlier, Osahon Akpata, Group Head, Consumer Payments, Ecobank stated that the Pan African bank pays high premium on the growth of Africa fintechs, stating that the fintech space is attractive. He said Ecobank was providing a platform for banks and fintechs to explore areas of mutual interests and opportunities with a view to building a stronger ecosystem.
Other speakers at the event included Lexi Novitske, General Partner, Norrsken22 and Yele Oyekola, co-founder & CEO, Duplo amongst several others.
The Ecobank Fintech Breakfast Series which holds in partnership with Tech Cabal, a digital media and publishing firm based in Nigeria, is designed to hold quarterly and aims to gather fintech leaders across the continent to share business insights, as well as discuss pertinent topics in the fintech ecosystem such as regulatory guidelines, funding, and other topics of interest to support both established and fintech startups at different stages of their journey.
Ecobank Nigeria Ltd. is a subsidiary of the Ecobank Group, the leading pan-African banking group with operations in 33 African countries and an international presence in four locations (London, Paris, Beijing, and Dubai). Ecobank Nigeria is a full-service bank providing wholesale, retail, investment and transaction banking services and products to governments, financial institutions, multinationals, international organizations, medium, small, and micro businesses, and individuals. Ecobank is a major player in the distribution of financial services in Nigeria, leveraging digital platforms including Ecobank Mobile App and USSD *326#, Ecobank Online, Ecobank OmniPlus, Ecobank Omnilite, EcobankPay, Ecobank RapidTransfer, ATMs, POSs and an extensive distribution network of over 250 branches and over 50,000 agency banking locations.
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Business

Eight Decades Anniversary: Wema Produces 80 Winners in 5 for 5 Daily Promo

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In anticipation of its 80th anniversary, Wema Bank, Nigeria’s foremost innovative bank and pioneer of Africa’s first fully digital bank, ALAT, will be rewarding 80 customers with cash prizes in its Wema Bank 5 for 5 Promo Season 4 80th daily draw, set to hold virtually at 4 p.m. on Monday, February 24, 2024.

Wema Bank launched its 5 for 5 Promo in 2019 as an avenue to reward its customers for their active loyalty to the brand and its products.

Since its launch, the Promo has disbursed over N150,000,000 to thousands of customers across Nigeria, across three seasons.

Season 4 of the Wema Bank 5 for 5 Promo kicked off on October 1, 2024 with a whopping N135,000,000 cash prize set for disbursement across daily, weekly, monthly and a special grand prize draw where one Wema Bank customer will win N5,000,000. So far, over 2,000 Wema Bank customers have emerged winners, receiving cash prizes ranging from N5,000 to N1,000,000 each.

Scheduled to hold on Monday, February 24, 2025, the Wema Bank 5 for 5 Promo Season 4 80th daily draw will, through a duly regulated and transparent electronic draw, select 80 winners randomly from Wema Bank’s pool of active and transacting customers who have made transactions using the ALAT App, *945# or the Wema/ALAT debit card. Both new and existing Wema Bank customers can participate in the special 80th draw, regardless of their location in Nigeria; provided they meet the eligibility criteria of making at least one transaction via the three valid channels.

Customers and prospects who are interested in becoming one of the lucky 80 winners are advised to sign up on the ALAT App if they haven’t already, request a debit card on the App or get one instantly at any Wema Bank branch or transact offline using *945#, Wema Bank’s USSD code.

The Wema Bank 5 for 5 Promo Season 4 80th daily draw has been curated specially in celebration of Wema Bank’s upcoming 80th anniversary. Anyone in any part of the world can watch the draw live via the Bank’s official Instagram @wemabank and YouTube @WemaBankofficial

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Naira Gains over Dollar for Three Straight Days in Parallel FX Market

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The Naira recorded three consecutive days of appreciation against the dollar in the parallel foreign exchange market, ending the week on a high note on Friday.

According to Abubakar Alhasan, a Bureau de Change operator in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja, the Naira strengthened to N1,565 per dollar on Friday, up from N1,570 on Thursday.

On a day-to-day basis, the Naira gained N5 against the dollar compared to the N1,570 traded on Thursday.

In the last three days, the Naira has gained N15 against the dollar in the black market.

In contrast, in the official market, the Naira continued to depreciate as of Thursday, according to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The apex bank’s exchange rate data showed that the Naira fell to N1,507.88 per dollar on Thursday from N1,504.30 on Wednesday.

Overall, exchange rate movements across FX markets showed that the Naira ended the week with mixed sentiments of losses and gains against other foreign currencies.

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MoneyMaster Enriches Service Delivery with New Agency Software

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Payment service bank, MoneyMaster PSB, has announced the integration of a new agent banking software with powerful and secured features to enhance its agency banking offerings and encourage financial inclusion.

The new agency banking software extensively supports a variety of agency banking services, such as paying bills, instantly reversing unsuccessful transactions, paying for lottery and betting, checking customers’ balances, linking cards to point-of-sale systems, and retrieving transaction histories from other channels.

The basic banking platform of MMPSB has been connected with the new software to enhance the experience of agents, clients, and other value chain stakeholders in their daily transactions.

The bank disclosed that the new software was implemented “to provide a seamless banking experience to customers using our POS terminals across the country. Customers can now enjoy a wide range of banking transactions from a single point while improving revenue streams for Agents.

MoneyMaster has now joined the league of leading financial institutions with state-of-the-art technology for POS terminal operations thanks to the implementation of the new software. The bank was among the first to promote USSD banking among the financially excluded population after obtaining its payment service banking license. Later on, it added internet and mobile banking apps to its list of banking channels.

In addition to supporting customers with creative, customer-focused solutions to improve their banking experience, Moneymaster PSB is dedicated to advancing financial inclusion among the unbanked and underbanked population. Because of the smooth payments made on its point-of-sale terminals. the Lagos State government last year chose MoneyMaster as a payment partner for the Ounje Eko food discount store in order to collect payments on its market days.

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