News
CIBN Commences Tutorial Session for Agency Banking Certification Examination
Tutorial sessions for the students registered for the October 2024 diet examinations for Agency Banking Certification of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) have begun.
The first in the series of the tutorial session commenced on Saturday July 20, 2024 and will end on Sunday July 28, 2024.The dates for subsequent sessions being jointly organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria and FIC Professionals Network Plc, will be announced later.
The organisers are being supported by the industry associations comprising of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN), Association of Mobile Money Operators of Nigeria (AMMON) and Association of Mobile Bank Operators (AMBO).
The sessions will focus on the four modules of the Foundation level of the Certification and avail the students the tips on how to prepare for and pass the examinations.
It would be recalled that CIBN unveiled the agency banking certification programme last year for Point of Sales (POS) agents, NIN /BVN agents, Agent network managers, customer service officers, agent banking personnel in the banks and Fintech companies.
One of the organisers, Mr. Segun Shonubi, Executive Director, FIC Professionals Network Plc stated that the main purpose of the tutorial sessions was to help the students to better understand the course and enhance their performance in the examinations.
The examinations which have been scheduled for Tuesday, October 8, 2024 and Wednesday, October 9, 2024 will be conducted through Remote Online Proctoring to enable students write from the comforts of their homes or any place of their choices.
In addition, plans are being put in place for practice questions to be made available for the students on the Institute’s e-learning platform. This is to enable the students to practice and get acquainted with the format to aid their preparations.
Registration for the examinations is still open to interested students via www.myabc.ng till September16, 2024.
Mr Ken Opara, former President and Chairman of Council, CIBN, said the Agent banking certification program (ABC) was introduced to address capacity challenge in the ecosystem.
“Agent banking has been the key driver of financial inclusion, which creates financial access points and ultimately eradicating poverty.
“It is democratizing banking services, taking it to the grass root and connecting to the nooks and crane of the country.
“The certification programme, which details provides all round knowledge, practical engagement with industry experts and participation in standard procedures for conducting Agent banking business in Nigeria,” he said.
Fasasi Sarafadeen Atanda, member, CIBN sub-committee on Agent Banking Certification programme, said that Nigerians can now look forward to more knowledgeable and professional POS Agents, mobile money agents, bank customer service desk that knows what to do when you are debited by POS, more understanding from security agents that will see certified agents and treat cases from agent transaction professionally etc.
“It has been a lot of work from the ideation, to conception, to proposition, to adoption and to commission in the programme.
“There is a lot of complains about proliferation of unregistered agents in the ecosystem. What we are doing is banking because when you are doing cash -in cash- out, account opening among others. Most of these services require professionalism.
“The account opening that we pushed for, resulted to not palatable experience because greater per centage of accounts opened at agent location were used for fraud. This actually made some banks to stop account opening at agent location.
“Not every agent can handle Biometric Verification Number and National Identity Number, any agent that wants to handle these registrations must be certified by CIBN. We have seen that most of the error seen in the process are from agent location.
“They do sharp practices, unethical practices, not doing due-diligence due to poor training and lack of professionalism, if they had pass through this process of certification, they would have been trained on maintaining ethical standard,” he said.
Accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) adoption could increase Africa’s GDP by up to 4% over the next decade, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In a report released on Tuesday, titled Africa Can Grow Faster With AI—If It Moves Now, economists from the IMF’s Africa Department say current levels of AI adoption and utilisation are expected to contribute just 0.2% to the region’s GDP over the next 10 years.
However, the report says stronger adoption, supported by the right infrastructure and policies, could raise the economic impact to about 4% by extending AI beyond today’s digitally connected firms.
Martin Schindler and other IMF economists say: “AI adoption in sub-Saharan Africa currently lags well behind every other region. If richer economies race ahead while African firms and governments lag, the productivity gap between the region and the rest of the world will only widen.”
Early signs of AI adoption are emerging across Africa, with countries including Zimbabwe, Kenya, Egypt and Nigeria developing AI strategies.
Telecommunications operators, including Vodacom, Econet, Africell and MTN, are also integrating AI into their operations and networks.
Other examples include chatbots supporting teaching and learning in Nigeria and the South African Revenue Service’s use of data analytics for targeted tax audits.
However, the IMF says AI adoption must extend beyond these early use cases to deliver meaningful economic benefits.
“For the region, AI’s main promise is not about replacing office workers, but boosting productivity across the economy—helping informal firms manage inventory, enabling farmers to increase yields, and supporting mid-sized firms to transition to formality and export readiness,” the report reads.
The IMF is urging governments to prioritise investment in reliable electricity, affordable broadband, data infrastructure and digital skills to support wider AI adoption.
Many African countries, including Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon, continue to face electricity shortages, while broadband services remain costly and coverage is uneven.
The Fund believes stronger investment in power, connectivity, regional data infrastructure and digital skills would help unlock AI’s economic potential.
National Population Commission (NPC) has commenced the nationwide digital registration of births and deaths under the Electronic Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (E-CRVS) system to strengthen legal identity management and improve demographic data.
Speaking at a press briefing in Lokoja on Tuesday, Mr Afolabi Yori, federal commissioner representing Kogi, said the initiative became operational nationwide on July 1, through the VitalReg platform.
Yori described the development as a landmark in Nigeria’s civil registration system, noting that it would modernise birth and death registration through a technology-driven platform that meets international standards.
He said the digital platform would improve service delivery, strengthen data integrity and ensure that every birth and death occurring in Nigeria was accurately documented and securely stored.
According to him, civil registration is more than an administrative process, as it provides reliable statistics that support public policy formulation, resource allocation and national development planning.
“Nigeria records an estimated five million births annually, yet millions of births and deaths remain unregistered.
“Birth registration coverage currently stands at about 57 per cent nationwide, while death registration remains below 20 per cent,” he said.
The commissioner said that the commission had established 4,011 functional registration centres across the country’s 774 local government areas and was working to expand the number to about 8,000.
He added that the commission was strengthening collaboration with stakeholders to improve the capacity of registration personnel and ensure prompt documentation of vital events through the VitalReg platform.
Yori said the platform would provide faster registration services, 24-hour online access, digital certificate issuance where applicable, and reduce paperwork, waiting time and unnecessary travel.
He disclosed that the platform was being operated under a Public-Private Partnership with Barnks-forte Technologies Ltd. as the commission’s technical partner to ensure system availability, cybersecurity and continuous technological improvement.
He called on parents, healthcare institutions, traditional and religious leaders, civil society organisations, development partners and the media to support the initiative by encouraging the prompt registration of births and deaths.
Earlier, Samuel Omonakpeme, director in Kogi, NPC State, described the commencement of the digital registration system as another milestone in efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s Civil Registration and Vital Statistics system.
Omonakpeme stated that the initiative aligns with the Federal Government’s digital transformation agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 16.9, which seeks to provide legal identity for all.
He appreciated the Federal Government, the leadership of the commission, UNICEF and other development partners for supporting the implementation of the initiative.
The state director also urged parents, guardians, health institutions, community leaders, religious organisations and the media to mobilise public support for the timely registration of all births and deaths.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that ICT personnel of the commission, led by Ehimoni Kolawole, conducted a live demonstration of the digital birth registration process using the VitalReg platform.
The demonstration showed that the registration process captures the biodata of both parents, while at least one parent must possess a valid National Identification Number (NIN) to complete the registration of a newborn.
Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC) has alerted its customers to a fraudulent message circulating on social media, falsely claiming that electricity consumers can receive an additional 20 per cent bonus units when recharging their prepaid meters through unofficial channels.
In a statement issued by the company’s management on Monday, YEDC described the claim as false and urged customers to disregard the misleading information, stressing that it did not originate from the company.
According to the statement, YEDC does not offer bonus electricity units through individuals, agents, personal bank accounts, phone numbers, or social media contacts.
The company advised customers to purchase electricity tokens only through approved cashless payment platforms, including the YEDC Pay App, OPay, Interswitch, and other authorised vending channels, or to visit the nearest YEDC office for assistance.
YEDC also cautioned customers against sharing their meter details or personal information, or making payments to unauthorised persons claiming to represent the company.
The company further urged customers to rely exclusively on information disseminated through its official communication channels to avoid falling victim to fraud.
The management thanked customers for their continued cooperation and reaffirmed its commitment to serving them.
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