E-Business
CBi Unveils Web-Based Solution to Help MSMEs
Convention on Business Integrity (CBi), in collaboration with ActionAid and Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), have unveiled a web-based solution (ethicsqed.cbinigeria.com) to help Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) meet COSO 2013 standards.
The unveiling was detailed in a communique made available to the media in Lagos on Tuesday.
Mr Soji Apampa, chief executive officer, Convention on Business Integrity (CBi), explained that the web-based designed aimed at preparing MSMEs meet the COSO 2013 standards on internal controls and to establish certifiable anti-bribery, anti-corruption standards (ABAC).
Apampa said that notwithstanding the various challenges faced by businesses in Nigeria, MSMEs could distinguish themselves from other organisations by being compliant with international standards as a competitive edge and subscribing to the COSO 2013 framework.
He said that donor organizations as well as development banks have had cause to stop MSMEs from participating in their activities because of integrity issues in a process called Debarment.
“MSMEs in Nigeria are severely challenged by issues of undercapitalization, lack of records, difficulty to access of bank credit, high cost of doing business, irregular power supply.
“Additionally, inability to separate personal finances from business, corruption, infrastructural inadequacies like bad roads, government lack of interest in the sector, amongst a host of others summarily explain their challenges.
“Issues such as falsification of their year of incorporation, doctoring the value of reference contracts and tampering with the experience of key personnel.
“However, compliance with international standards and subscribing to the framework can help address these challenges and put your business in a vantage position to ensure competitiveness,” he said.
Presenting the business model of the platform, Mr Maduka Okafor, Information Technology Manager, Integrity Organization Limited, explained that the value proposition of the platform was to enable MSMEs understand ethical and anti-corruption standards.
Okafor explained that it also served as a marketplace of service providers, who provide regulatory interface services and also help MSMEs internally assess themselves and show credible evidence of conformance with standards and regulations.
He said that the customer segments expected to make use of the platform are International Donor Agencies, Banks and Other Financial Institutions, Venture Capital Firms, Large Enterprise Companies and most importantly MSMEs.
The manager disclosed that the key partners supporting the initiative are Center for International Private Enterprise CIPE, Department for International Development (DFID), other international donor agencies, financial institutions and service providers.
Okafor said that the platform was secure and compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) standards on data protection and covered the requirements needed to comply with the COSO 2013 framework.
“It includes segments such as having a controlled environment, risk assessments, controlled activities and information and communication.
A panel session headed by Mr Solomon Aderoju, chairman, Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), agreed that more incentives could be used as a motivation tool to drive the usage of the platform amongt other benefits.
“MSMEs remain the backbone of major developed economies and they are important contributors to employment, economic and export growth.
“While MSMEs contribute 48 per cent of national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), account for 96 per cent of the private sector and 84 per cent of national employment; they are still faced with challenges hampering their growth.
“It is thus important for MSMEs to work towards thriving in this economy by differentiating themselves from the crowd and building processes on systems, not on individuals, in order to ensure sustainability,” he said.
Gartner predicts that by 2028, 75 percent of enterprise software engineers will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) code assistants, up from less than 10 percent, currently.
According to a Gartner poll of 598 global respondents conducted in the third quarter of 2023, 63 percent of organisations are now testing, deploying, or have previously implemented AI code assistants.
AI code assistants provide for more capabilities than only code development and completion, notes the research firm.
According to Gartner, the use of AI code assistants can lead to higher work satisfaction and retention, resulting in lower turnover costs.
Philip Walsh, senior principal analyst at Gartner, comments: “Software engineering leaders must determine ROI and build a business case as they scale their rollouts of AI code assistants.
“However, traditional ROI frameworks steer engineering leaders toward metrics centred on cost reduction. This narrow perspective fails to capture the full value of AI code assistants.”
Gartner notes that software engineering leaders must “reframe the ROI conversation from cost reduction to value generations”.
Walsh adds: “Calculating time savings on code generation is a good place to begin building a more robust value story. To convey the full enterprise value story for AI code assistants, software engineering leaders should connect value enablers to impacts, and then analyse the overall return to the organisation.”
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has said that the planned national ID card will be issued to applicants by their banks.
NIMC said it is working with the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) to deliver the cards to applicants.
“The card will be issued through the applicants’ respective banks in line with existing protocols with the issuance of the Debit/Credit cards,” the agency said at the weekend update on its official X handle.
KEY FACTS ABOUT THE PROPOSED NEW GENERAL MULTIPURPOSE NATIONAL IDENTITY CARD
- The new National ID Card is a single, convenient, and General multipurpose card (GMPC) , eliminating the need for multiple cards—not three.
- The single GMPC has multiple use cases:…
— NIMC (@nimc_ng) April 12, 2024
It said applicants need to request their cards with their NIN “through the self-service online portal, NIMC offices, or their respective banks”.
“The card will be powered by the AFRIGO card scheme, an indigenous scheme powered by NIBSS,” NIMC said.
“The card can be picked up by holders at the designated center or delivered to the applicants at the requested location at an extra cost to be borne by the applicants,” the update read.
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has said that the new national Identity card, powered by AfriGo Card, is a single card with multiple services.
NIMC made the clarification against the confusion and criticisms that have trailed the AfriGo Card , touted as a National Domestic Card Scheme.
NIMC is launching the AfriGo Card, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS), and has had appointed SecureID, a Lagos headquartered company to manufacture the Card Scheme
Making clarification on the card, Kayode Adegoke, head of Corporate Communications of the NIMC, said the General multipurpose card (GMPC) will eliminate the need for multiple cards.
“The new National ID Card is a single, convenient, and General multi-purpose card (GMPC), eliminating the need for multiple cards—not three.
“The single GMPC has multiple use cases: Payments/Financial, Government intervention/services, travel, etc.
“The National Identity Management Commission is working with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System to deliver the payment and financial use cases.
“The card will be powered by the AFRIGO card scheme, an indigenous scheme powered by NIBSS. Applicants for the card will have to request with their NIN through the self-service online portal, NIMC offices, or their respective banks.
“The card will be issued through the applicants’ respective banks, in line with existing protocols with the issuance of the Debit/Credit cards.
“The card can be picked up by holders at the designated centre or delivered to the applicants at the requested location at an extra cost to be borne by the applicants,” he said.
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