General News
Mobile Money is Not Game for Banks – Asolo
Peter Asolo is chief executive officer, PetVini Global Concept Limited, a mobile payment solution provider – cross-border remittances and m-commerce.
Asolo was an assistant general manager, GistMe Communications limited, a sister company of Sage Metrix Company of USA where he was in charge of the Mobile Payment and e-Solution deployments to banks.
He later moved to FinBank as the product manager, FlashmeCash, the pioneer mobile banking/payment product in Nigeria.
Asolo spoke to peter ugwu highlighting the ingenuities lacking at the present mobile money scheme in Nigeria and the way forward.
Challenges Surrounding Mobile Money
Having done some innovative projects in regards to mobile money, which include the first mobile wallet in Africa, which allows you to transfer money and the receiver can withdraw the money using ATM card; I can tell you vividly that mobile money is visible.
But we have a lot of challenges and as we must look for solutions to them there are underlying factors we must put into consideration.
This is Nigeria. If I am talking to a Briton in England, I will tell them different strategies than I will tell a Nigerian.
Because I have been to the 36 states of this country and went to the rural areas. And I have hands-on experience, working collaboratively with the Microfinance banks and have seen several corporative societies liaising with them.
So, I know what it means when you say that you are targeting the rural population. You are talking of people that are able to save as much as N100 or N50 per day.
However, if anybody walks into the banking hall today and fills a deposit slip for N50, I am sure the cashier will laugh at him, and this is what we want to achieve. So, it is not a game for the banks, rather it solely concerns the mobile operators. But the mobile operators cannot do it all alone.
They need experienced hands, specialties, who knew the terrains. Experts who can tell you about strategy that can work, probably in Kogi State.
For instance, if you want to do mobile payment in Anyingba, Kogi State, you need to know the core product(s) in the area. There are three core products there; I am not from Kogi State, but in the course of my moving around to know those areas I discovered that such products, namely, cashew nuts, palm kernel and soya beans are selling there, which is different from what is obtainable in Akwa Ibom State.
When you get to Akwa Ibom, you start looking at what to use as incentives, which is quite different from the other parts of the country.
It is very important we understand this. So, in reality we have to use home-groomed technologies, ideologies and strategies to win our home-groomed challenges, but that is not the case in the country today.
The mobile operators we are seeing presently, most of them bought their applications from abroad running into millions of dollars and you want to use it to carry out business with people who may not pay more than N5 per transaction. There are issues already.
However, these issues can be resolved by engaging the third party organisations, who are experts in mobile money management system.
Are They Agents?
They are not really agents. For every successful project, there is what we call catalyst. These people are catalysts that will make the success of the project become faster, because they have the experiences.
They have been to the bushes; so they know, if I go to Bayelsa to sell mobile money, as an instant, I have to cue-in into the system there.
One thing is clear, CBN talks about financial inclusion, if they take it serious they will not only generate employment, but reduce poverty among Nigerians by enabling micro-savings.
Through that process, you start talking about micro-credit. From micro-credits we start talking of micro-products. And when products are being carried out in the rural area you will find out that the entire production in Nigeria, in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), will increase.
Ostensibly, as the GDP increases, the living standard of Nigerians will increase.
It is a very simple arithmetic in increasing the living standard, increasing GDP equals to people plus opportunity saved which is equally to production equals to investment and once investment is there forget it, life will improve and there will be incentives for savings. And gradually you are moving away from solely dependence on crude oil.
Microfinance Banks, Capitalization and Mobile Money
On the aphorism that microfinance banks’ capitals determine the kind of business they will do, as an economist, financial expert and as a consultant I defer.
I kept telling people that you do not use textbook knowledge to drive business. Nigerians believe so much in textbook theories and that is why we keep having a lot of failures in our economic projects.
From personal experience, there was a time I was prospecting for the entire microfinance banks in Anambra State for one of our projects. I found out that the microfinance bank that has the smallest office has the highest number of depositors.
That is the microfinance bank that does not have air conditioner in their offices. They have the highest number of depositors, because that bank was able to understand its market.
Microfinance bank market is not for a man that earns N10 million per annum; it is for the micro-savers, the isusu people, how do you integrate them into financial inclusion. How do you bring them into insurance? Save N100 per day?
And in that process, how do you enable them to carry out the commercialised agriculture with their savings. And to enable you recoup your money at the end of the day is that he sells off the agricultural products.
How do you plan for all these? That is what we should be talking about now as the ideal thing.
The micro-savers constitute over 60% of Nigeria’s population. So if you say you want to improve on the GDP, production coming from these people to go up to 50 %, indirectly you are shooting up the GDP of the Federal Government of Nigeria to over 50% increase.
With that you will able to have funds for other projects and investment opportunities created while people live better lives. Through that, you reduce crime and problems in the society.
Local Technologies in Mobile Money Implementation
Nigerians are thinking and are bringing out a lot of technologies that will solve the issues in mobile payment.
Mobile payment operators are not buying into these technologies rather they prefer to go abroad and purchase foreign technologies. Now, if you buy from abroad, the technologies sell as high as $1million, which is not less than N150 million.
The same technology you are buying for N150 million that you cannot customise and adapt successfully in our local market situation.
When I say market, I mean the ‘Nkwo’, ‘orie’, ‘Eke’ markets in the East, the Oba’s markets in the Western part of Nigeria, and other local markets in the North, they cannot work there; whereas you have same technology that can perform better in the same market and sold for less than N20 million.
They will not buy that because it is made in Nigeria. It does not make sense. By the time we start patronising locally produced technologies then things will get better.
Another thing we should look at is when there are challenges or opportunities for maintenance, the source codes are not usually within reach.
You have to wait, make calls; the time waste is there, you have to wait for the supposedly experts who will probably wait for visa, how will business improve under that condition? Will your customers be waiting for over two weeks?
We have developed that notion that if I am coming to present a technology to a company and not accompanied by a White man, we assume that the technology is inferior.
The country should move beyond that. I go for presentations today and I tell the companies that I have only White partners who can produce the hardware, but the software is here. I do them myself, source the code and other things involved; I do not have to wait for technical experts to come and do the work when challenges arise.
Definitely technical matters will arise, because we are dealing with technology. If you have issues with the machines, I ought to be there in about 20 minutes or my staff, to fix the challenge and allow business continues…
…But That May Be Pointing At Lack Of Confidence Or Trust On The Locally Produced Technologies?
In fact, any Nigerian company that is patronising foreign companies should first ask themselves the question of trust.
There is more affinity when you patronise local companies; you know my house, my company, and you know what to do in a given occasion, even security wise. But when you go and bring in a White man, for all I know, that man may be working as an intelligent officer in one of the intelligent agencies in his country.
A lot of espionage is going on in this country that we are not monitoring. But we wouldn’t know we have allowed these people to infiltrate our ranks.
They send these technologies to us we set it up and begin to use it as they have instructed us. We do not know what they are doing behind the walls. But in Nigeria I do not have another country that I will call my own.
Integration of Local Content in Technology-Drive Policies
Well, when we refer to CBN, technology and local content, it all depends on local content policy-makers.
If CBN looks at it that today, these things are not working, we need local experts to chart a course for the mobile payment then they will be thinking right.
But one will be surprised that CBN will overlook this. There is an urgent need to integrate competent individuals in the formulation of certain economic blueprints for the country.
Role of Banks in the Mobile Money Scheme
The banks need to call-in experts; local experts. Enough of the international this and that; we need people who understand the market. This is a local market, business and local challenge.
Thus, when the local experts are intimated and incorporated into the system, they will provide charitable frameworks for them. From that framework they can look at their investment pattern and strategy formulation.
Many believe the country is not ready for mobile money, but the truth is that we are very ripe for it.
The country is ready for any new thing especially that will enable the poor man put food on the table in his house.
That is why I said that banks or the policy makers should consider that farmer whose interest is how to make his farmer get enlarged and increase productivity. They will embrace any platform that will support that.
That is why I spoke about grants being given by international agencies, they are not used for the purposes they were received; rather you see them taking flights to America to organise or attend training.
Are you going to America to train on fishing in Baylesa or how to grow cocoa in Ondo State? No! At the end of the day, they squander the money.
This must stop. They must come to the local front and take develop pilot schemes in the various areas.
They can say, we want to grow cocoa in a part of Ondo State for three years, give us grant. And the money is used on that. When the neighbouring towns see appreciable gains from that, they will queue into it…
Volatility of Communities and Projects
Let’s face the fact, and like I said earlier, I have gone round the 36 States of this country. I do not see any volatility anywhere that people are rioting against their stomach. Nobody fights his tummy.
The moment they discover that the said project is going to favour them, they will support you. I have been to the creeks in Ondo, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa; personal experience shows me that there is threat anywhere. There may be Boko Haram attacks in the North, but if the Federal Government should intensify effort, move in to identify the solution, it will abate or die completely. But that does not mean we should hide under some pretence not to do the right thing. You have to empower those people and stem down the weight of violence.
Nigeria is experiencing a complex cybersecurity landscape where reported fraud incidents have decreased by nearly 46 percent over the past four years, yet financial losses from cybercrime are on the rise, according to Check Point Software.
This trend is attributed to sophisticated schemes developed by cybercriminals who are increasingly targeting the nation’s rapidly digitizing economy, with further coverage provided by Dark Reading.
Nigeria’s digital transformation has made it a prime target for cybercriminals.
In June 2026, organizations in the country faced an average of 4,361 attempted attacks weekly, ranking it second in Africa for cyber threats.
While the volume of detected threats fluctuates, it consistently remains elevated, often double the global average.
The Nigerian government is developing a new cybersecurity framework, expected later this year, which will mandate incident reporting, set minimum cybersecurity investment levels, and foster public-private collaboration.
Despite a decrease in the number of reported fraud incidents, financial losses have escalated, with digital payment fraud reaching ₦25.85 billion (US$18.7 million) in 2025.
Insider threats, including SIM swap fraud and account compromise, are significant contributors to these losses. Many organizations, particularly smaller businesses, lack adequate training and resources, making them more vulnerable.
The country’s cybersecurity maturity is ranked at a moderate level, and effective enforcement of existing regulations, such as the Data Protection Act, will be crucial to combatting the growing financial impact of cyberattacks.
TotalEnergies, together with its partners Hydra Storage Holding and Reatile Renewables, inaugurates Hydra project, the largest hybrid renewable energy project in Africa, located in South Africa’s Northern Cape province.
The project combines a 216 MW solar photovoltaic plant with a 500 MWh battery energy storage system, marking a significant contribution to the country’s Just Energy Transition program that aims to decarbonise the economy thanks to renewable energy sources.
The facility will supply 75 MW of dispatchable renewable electricity to the national grid continuously between 5:00 a.m. and 9:30 p.m., under a 20-year power purchase agreement signed with Eskom. This represents more than 400 GWh of electricity per year, equivalent to the consumption of approximately 200,000 South African households.
“We are delighted, together with our partners Reatile Renewables and Hydra Storage Holding, to bring the Hydra project into operation. It enables us to supply dispatchable renewable power to the South African grid, thereby strengthening the country’s energy security while decarbonising its electricity generation.
This project reinforces our renewable production capacity in South Africa, the continent’s largest power market in terms of electricity consumption”, said Magali Pailhé, Managing Director of TotalEnergies Southern Africa.
Hydra project has been developed by a consortium composed of TotalEnergies (35%), Hydra Storage Holding (35%) and Reatile Renewables (30%). It is part of the South Africa’s Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme launched by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy.
General News
BOI Pledges to Drive Nigeria’s Cocoa and Dairy Sectors with 70% of its €85m EIB Facility
Bank of Industry (BOI) has secured a €60 million credit facility from the European Investment Bank to fund Nigeria’s cocoa and dairy value addition drive, with a focus on processing, ingredients and chocolate manufacturing.
Dr. Olasupo Olusi, Managing Director/CEO of BOI, disclosed this on Tuesday, during the Africa Cocoa Summit convened in Abuja by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment with the aim of transitioning Africa from exporting raw beans to local processing and branding.
Also known as the Cocoa Value Addition Summit with the theme: ‘From Bean to Brand,’ it was attended by leaders and stakeholders from Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Cameroon who signed the Abuja Declaration to establish the Cocoa Value Addition Alliance (CVAA).
According to Olusi, the €60 million forms part of the €85 million EIB–BOI facility, backed by the European Union under the Global Gateway initiative, and designed specifically to strengthen these critical sectors in Nigeria.
“This agreement reinforces the Bank of Industry’s commitment to unlocking long-term, affordable finance for priority sectors that drive inclusive growth. Approximately 70% of the €85 million financing facility will be channeled to Nigeria’s cocoa and dairy sectors, which BOI considers among the industries with the greatest potential to create jobs and retain foreign exchange earnings.”
“We are particularly focused on cocoa value chains, which provide livelihoods for thousands of Nigerians. Through this initiative, we aim to enhance productivity, value addition, and market linkages that will directly improve the incomes of farmers and processors,” he said.
The BOI MD said that the bank would prioritise lending to processors, cooperatives, and MSMEs that add value locally, rather than only to traders exporting raw beans, adding that the era of celebrating volume of raw exports must end, as Nigeria loses billions by shipping beans and importing finished chocolate. According to him, the goal is to create factories around cocoa communities so that value, jobs, and taxes remain in Nigeria.
However, Olusi noted that financing alone is not enough, and as such, BOI will complement the loans with technical assistance on compliance, climate standards, and access to the EU market. BOI, he said, will also support farmers and processors to meet the EU Deforestation Regulation and other international environmental and social standards.
Citing BOI’s track record, Olusi said the bank disbursed over ₦164 billion in 2025 to more than 3,500 agro and food-processing businesses. The support financed factories, mills, packhouses, and cold chains, and linked nearly 48,000 smallholder farmers into industrial value chains.
He said the new financing would target the entire ecosystem, from nurseries and farmer cooperatives to grinding plants, ingredient factories, packaging lines, and chocolate manufacturers.
Speaking also at the summit, President Bola Tinubu called for a decisive shift from Africa’s long-standing dependence on exporting raw cocoa beans, urging producing countries to prioritise value addition and capture a larger share of the global chocolate industry’s wealth.
The President who was represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, noted that although Africa accounts for about 70 per cent of global cocoa production, the continent retains only six cents of every dollar generated by the global chocolate industry.
He stressed that Nigeria was committed to processing more of its cocoa locally, expanding chocolate manufacturing, building indigenous brands and competing more effectively in international markets, rather than continuing to export raw cocoa beans.
According to the President, cocoa value addition remains a key component of the Renewed Hope Agenda and the country’s broader industrialisation strategy, and disclosed that investors are developing a 70,000-tonne cocoa processing facility in Shagamu, Ogun State, while Nigeria’s cocoa grinding capacity has already surpassed 120,000 tonnes annually.
Earlier, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, said the summit aligns with the Federal Government’s ambition of building a one-trillion-dollar economy by 2030.
She observed that despite Nigeria’s significant contribution to global cocoa production, the country continues to earn only a small fraction of the value created across the cocoa value chain.
According to Oduwole, the Federal Government is promoting greater value addition through manufacturing incentives, investment promotion and stronger collaboration among relevant institutions.
She added that the government would also deepen market access by leveraging existing trade partnerships and opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), while encouraging investors to take advantage of regional and global value chains to unlock the sector’s full economic potential.
Also speaking, the Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, described the summit as another milestone in implementing Nigeria’s Industrial Policy, and announced plans for the establishment of the Cocoa Value Addition Alliance, bringing together Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon, countries that collectively account for about 75 percent of global cocoa production.
According to Enoh, the alliance is designed to strengthen regional cooperation, promote local processing, and enable producing countries to capture greater value from the global cocoa market.
“We are not here to disrupt existing partnerships but to expand them,” he said.
Enoh urged African cocoa-producing nations to move beyond exporting raw beans and instead focus on developing branded cocoa products capable of competing successfully in global markets.
On his part, the Chief Executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Dr. Ransford Abbey, urged African cocoa-producing countries to deepen domestic processing.
“I am here to support the effort and commit to a joint effort towards increasing value for our hardworking cocoa farmers and our respective economies,” Abbey said.
He said Africa produced about 75 per cent of the world’s cocoa but earned less than 10 per cent of the global chocolate industry’s wealth.
“This system cannot continue. We must shift the paradigm from exporting raw poverty to creating refined wealth right here on the African continent,” he said, adding that stronger regional collaboration, investment and technology transfer will help African countries capture greater value from the global cocoa economy.
The Head of Cooperation of the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr. Massimo De Luca, reiterated the importance of value addition in the cocoa value chain. While expressing the support of the EU, he called on governments of the various countries to ensure they play their part in ensuring that proper framework necessary for the success of the initiative was established and clarified.
FAAN to Replace Physical ID Check with V-Pass Biometric Verification
World Bank Says 79 Percent of Nigerians Still Trapped in Poverty despite Reforms
SEC Begins Drive to Recover Unclaimed Dividends
ntel Plays Down Calls and Data Services, Moves to BET Agenda
Nigeria Facing Rising Cybercrime Losses – Report
NRC, Ponzi Scheme Collapses Resulting Loss of Billions of Naira
Nigeria Launches FreeTV Nationwide
NASENI Moves to Digitize CCB’s 5m Assets Declaration and Operations
Lebara Nigeria Launches Lebara Play, Africa’s First Telecom-Owned Micro-Drama Platform
CANAL+ Partners Samsung to Pre-Load DStv Stream on New Samsung TVs In Nigeria, Other African Countries
E-Business3 days agoTD Africa Sponsors Check Point Secure 360 Summit to Boost Cybersecurity in Nigeria
Telecom3 days agoMTN Foundation, MUSON Celebrate Emerging Music Talents at 2026 Graduation Ceremony
Telecom3 days agoNITDA Calls for Digital Infrastructure Expansion to Drive Nigeria’s Industrialisation
News3 days agoGuinness Rolls Out Nationwide Consumer Rewards Promotion
E-Financial3 days agoNext Currency Crisis May Turn $300Bn in Stablecoins into National Currencies
General News3 days agoFirst Trustees Advocates Estate Planning as an Essential Tool in Every Wealth Creation Strategy
E-Financial3 days agoGigbanc Nigerian Fintech Startup Closes Shop after 3 Years
Broadcasting3 days agoMbunabo, Nigerian Filmmaker Accuses Ghana TV Stations of Pirating Nollywood Films