News
Group Makes Case for the Poor, Unbanked in NIN-SIM Restriction
An advocacy firm, Inclusion for all Initiative has identified gaps, limiting Nigerians, especially the poor and the financially excluded from being captured in the NIN enrollment exercise.
According to the organization, in a report released recently, the vulnerable groups were mostly impacted by government’s restrictions on mobile phone users who have not linked their NIN to their SIM.
The report stated that these groups’ exclusion from NIN ecosystem was driven by a range of barriers such as lack of source documents such as birth certificates or a legal means of validating their age and personal data, poor access to enrolment centres, and other delimiting factors.
According to the report, “An initial deep-dive analysis of the 2020 Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) Access to Finance (A2F) survey showed that the poorer you are, the less likely you are to have a NIN.
“However, data indicates that 62% of financially excluded Nigerians owned, or had access to a mobile phone. This is exacerbated the poorer you get, with 77% of mobile phone users in the poorest percentile of society not enrolled in the national identity system.”
The organisation noted that preliminary findings suggest need for further research to confirm the impact of the restrictions, the demographic profile of those affected and how to mitigate that impact.
“This will guide recommendations to curb the disproportionate effect of the directive on these populations and inform an approach that is more inclusive. Furthermore, addressing this will help to ensure the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and NIMC achieve their digital inclusion objectives”, it stated.
Commenting, Head of the Inclusion for all initiative, Chinasa Collins-Ogbuo said, “Vulnerable populations are increasingly at risk of further exclusion even in the face of well-intentioned decisions by government, our role at Inclusion for all is to make sure these blindspots are identified and curbed early on.
“The NIN-SIM ban is one of such decisions; putting the groups we care about at risk of further exclusion from the formal economy, as their mobile phones, which is a tool to facilitate their formal inclusion and also a key enabler for their livelihood, is under threat. We know this is not an outcome that aligns with the government’s objectives.”
Collins-Ogbuo further called on multi stakeholder collaboration that will foster cross functional data sharing to guide on action steps at ensuring that all is captured in the digital ID enrolment process.
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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