News
Azentio Software Recognized in Anti-Money Laundering Solutions
Azentio Software (“Azentio”), a Singapore-headquartered technology firm owned by funds advised by Apax Partners, has announced that it has been named as a Contender in The Forrester Wave™: Anti-Money Laundering Solutions, Q3 2022 report.
Azentio Software was amongst 15 most significant anti-money laundering (AML) solution providers assessed against 26 criteria across categories of current offering, strategy and market presence.
The report evaluated Amlock™, Azentio’s Financial Crime Detection and Management Solution, an integrated and flexible platform with advanced capabilities that leverage risk calculators, fully featured tools and BI technologies for monitoring money laundering activities, risk analysis and powerful insights.
According to the Forrester report, “The vendor has been expanding its supported database platforms and invested in a smart ID card reader solution for customer KYC processes. It also added transliteration services for names from English to Arabic and vice versa.
In its current offering, the vendor shows strength in evaluating rule changes (what-if testing), rule versioning, and reporting on rule performance. Unsupervised and reinforcement learning capabilities are also above par.”
The report further adds, “Azentio is a good fit for organizations wanting to digitize and modernize their KYC and CDD processes and add AI and ML to enhance them.”
Azentio received the maximum possible score in the enhancements: Watchlist management criterion, with the Forrester report stating, “The vendor demonstrated strong and leading WLM product enhancement roadmaps, and its market approach is on par with other vendors in this evaluation.”
Tony Kinnear, Chief Executive Officer of Azentio, stated, “We are grateful to be acknowledged as a Contender in The Forrester Wave™ report for AML solutions.
“We believe that as regulations widen their ambit to capture new and emerging threats, the roles of AI and ML technologies will be a critical factor in adding insights, helping organizations to make vital risk-related predictions and decisions.
“Azentio has been investing in its AML solutions to add innovative, market-driven AI and ML features. We believe Forrester’s assessment reflects our commitment to help organizations worldwide effectively meet their AML requirements.”
Azentio’s roadmap for Amlock™ includes improvement of screening algorithms with phonetic search; solution integration with ID verification portals; and an enhanced alerts and rule builder.
In Forrester’s recent Global Banking Platform Deals Survey 2022, Azentio ranked high as Regional Pursuer in the New Named Deals category; Major Cross Seller in the Extended Business category; and Major Player in the Combined Deals category.
EFCC
The African Development Bank Group last week approved an investment of €6.5 million in the Saviu II fund in order to support technology start-ups through their seed phase and first institutional fundraising, mainly in French-speaking Central and West Africa.
The Bank will invest €4.5 million as equity and €2 million as a first-loss hedging tranche on behalf of the European Commission, under the Boost Africa Programme.
This participation of the Bank Group will enable the Saviu II fund to give priority to companies with a strong technological or digital component.
Saviu II, the second investment vehicle of Saviu Partners, plans to invest between €500,000 and €3 million in about 20 technology or technology-oriented business-to-business start-ups in the seed phase or carrying out first institutional fundraising.
The Saviu II venture capital fund aims to make at least 60% of its commitments in the French-speaking countries of West and Central Africa: Côte d ‘Ivoire, Cameroon, Benin, Senegal, Togo, Burkina Faso and Mali.
The fund can also co-invest in promising technology companies in East Africa that have a strong team and business model, and whose strategy includes entering the market in French-speaking West African countries and establishing a strong presence there.
In addition, the fund will devote a dedicated envelope to pre-seed investments, focusing on minority equity investments, usually in co-investment with studios, incubators or other ecosystem partners.
Nigerian Government has signed a $1.3 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) via the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) to fund an alumina refinery, national geoscience mapping, and a strategic investment vehicle for mining growth.
Special Assistant to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Segun Tomori, said the refinery will process one million tonnes of bauxite yearly using a modern Bayer process, powered by an on-site gas-fired cogeneration plant.
Minister Dele Alake called it a transformative milestone boosting GDP, aligning with reforms that improve investment climate, regulations, and licensing to attract private capital. He directed agencies to fast-track permits.
The 20-year project at 95% utilization eyes 19 million tonnes total output, $1.2 billion annual GDP addition, $25 billion economic impact, and $8 billion forex earnings, per feasibility studies.
SMDF Executive Secretary Fatima Shinkafi termed it the agency’s biggest funding deal, supporting value-addition policy.
The partnership extends to geoscience mapping for mineral data, de-risking exploration, and a joint vehicle for mining assets.
Permanent Secretary Engr. Farouk Yabo praised the reforms. Shinkafi signed for government; AFC’s Franklin Edochie for the corporation, witnessed by AFC CEO Samaila Zubairu.
Tomori positioned it as Nigeria’s largest private mining investment and FDI magnet.
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