In celebration of Father’s Day, QNET, a leading global e-commerce company, reaffirms its dedication to empowering dads around the world with business opportunities and wellness solutions. Acknowledging the crucial role fathers have in families and communities, QNET is providing them with the chance to excel effortlessly in their roles through its direct selling business opportunity, along with products that enhance their wellness and lifestyle.

A recent report on Balancing work and dad duties in Nigeria recognises the sacrifices incredible Nigerian fathers make to be providers and active caregivers.

The report highlights the challenges fathers face in balancing work and family life. Understanding these challenges, QNET is dedicated to empowering aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly fathers, by providing them with the tools and support they need to succeed.

For fathers who aim to build a better future for their families, the company offers a platform that not only helps kick-start their businesses but also nurtures their growth. Through QNET’s business platform, fathers gain access to comprehensive product and business training and customer support, ensuring that they have the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive and feel empowered in their entrepreneurial journey.

“We believe that every father deserves the chance to succeed both professionally and personally,” said Biram Fall, Regional General Manager, QNET Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Our mission is to provide fathers with the opportunities and resources they need to achieve their goals and support their families.

“Through our business opportunities and health-promoting products, we are dedicated to empowering fathers to build better lives for themselves and their loved ones.”

In addition to business opportunities, QNET offers a variety of products designed to help men lead healthier and more fulfilling lives.

This Father’s Day, QNET is highlighting two exceptional products that exemplify this commitment: QAlive and the Bernhard H. Mayer 150th Anniversary timepiece.

QAlive is a plant-based supplement that naturally increases testosterone levels for men’s complete health and performance. Packed with essential nutrients and antioxidants, QAlive supports immune function, boosts energy levels, and helps fathers stay healthy and active.

The Bernhard H. Mayer 150th Anniversary watch is more than just a timepiece; it symbolizes sophistication and success. Designed with precision and style, it is perfect for the modern father who values both functionality and elegance. With its advanced features and sleek design, the Bernhard H. Mayer wristwatch is a testament to QNET’s dedication to quality and innovation.

“Fatherhood is a journey of resilience, sacrifice, and unwavering love. We recognize the profound impact fathers have on shaping the future.

“This Father’s Day, we stand alongside fathers worldwide, offering not just products, but distinct products created through extensive research.

“These products have been rigorously tested and proven effective in promoting good health and wellbeing” remarked Hakeem Ajisafe, Chief Executive Officer, Transblue Limited.

This Father’s Day, QNET invites everyone to celebrate the fathers who work tirelessly to provide for their families and communities. By offering unparalleled business opportunities and top-tier health products, QNET continues to support and empower fathers to reach their full potential.

South Africa’s TV giant MultiChoice posted a pretax loss of 706 million rand ($38 million) for the year ending in March, the company said Wednesday citing weak local currencies and a drop in subscribers.

The company is the subject of a takeover bid by France’s Canal+, which already holds more than 35 percent of MultiChoice’s shares.

“Volatile and weaker local currencies, power challenges in markets like South Africa, and a weak consumer environment due to rising inflation and high interest rates have created an extremely challenging environment,” MultiChoice said.

The loss followed a 921 million rand profit before taxes reported the year before.

It was compounded by a nine percent decline in subscriptions.

Business in South Africa suffered from 275 days of rolling power cuts, which discouraged potential subscribers without backup power, it said.

Group revenue was also down five percent to 56 billion rand, but the firm said that were it not for currency swings, it would have been up three percent.

Africa’s largest pay TV enterprise, said it would accelerate a cost saving programme, prioritise customer retention, leverage sports renewals and further develop local content.

Its Showmax video streaming business, which re-launched in February, was showing “encouraging early traction” with the paying subscriber base growing by 16 percent, the company said.

In April, Canal+, a subsidiary of the Vivendi group led by billionaire Vincent Bollore, made a firm offer to acquire all MultiChoice shares it does not currently own.

Upping an earlier rejected bid, it offered 125 rand per share, an amount deemed “fair and reasonable” by an independent board appointed by the South African firm.

Canal+ is present in 25 African countries through 16 subsidiaries, and has eight million subscribers, according to the French group.

Its stake in MultiChoice, Africa’s largest pay TV enterprise, has allowed it to gain a foothold in English-speaking and Portuguese-speaking nations across the continent.

By Christian Bwakira, Group Chief Commercial Officer at Onafriq

Mobile money has exploded across African economies as an enabler of financial inclusion by bringing in large swaths of the population that remained unbanked into the fold to participate in economies across the continent.

According to GSMA’s 2024 State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money, registered mobile money accounts grew by 12% to 1.75 billion in 2023 while transaction values for international remittances via mobile money grew to almost $29 billion and merchant payments by 14% to around $74 billion.

Today, consumers can do anything with a mobile wallet that they can accomplish with a traditional bank account or card. In Kenya, where the mobile money market reached $133.2 billion in 2023 and M-Pesa holds a 96.5% market share, consumers can buy groceries from a grocer, purchase goods from the market, pay electricity bills or top up airtime with a simple code from M-Pesa. But, they’re not guaranteed to be able to do so outside of the country, region, or with international properties.

While many of the world’s largest digital merchants have started accepting mobile money payments, most international merchants still do not. This has meant that utilising mobile money in the global commercial space is cumbersome, resulting in a gap between financial inclusion locally within the continent and access to the global financial system. Essentially, this means that individuals using mobile money can’t do things like make payments on an international airline’s website or pay for a Netflix account, small businesses can’t purchase ads on social media platforms like Facebook or search engines like Google, and content creators can’t get paid by the social media platforms they make content on.

Fortunately, card scheme payment rails have the ability to bridge that gap as cards continue to be the preferred payment method for consumers and merchants alike. That’s why it’s imperative to move beyond the idea that African economies will not adopt cards because of mobile money and instead look towards increased interoperability between mobile money wallets and card networks.

Connecting Africa to itself and the world

Much like the continent itself, the payments environment in Africa is highly dynamic and diverse. Across individuals and countries, payment types can vary significantly, resulting in a splintered and disconnected payment ecosystem. For example, when purchasing from Takealot in South Africa, consumers have the option to pay by credit card, an electronic fund transfer (EFT) from their bank or use domestic-flavoured payment solutions such as PayFast, Ozow or Discovery Miles. However, international merchants or companies would have to integrate with each of these different payment service providers individually in every single economy on the continent in order to cater to a wide range of consumers, which is simply not feasible.

According to the World Economic Forum, the varied technical standards, laws and regulations that span countries across Africa contribute to the fact that historically many digital payment methods were closed loops and not interoperable with one another. Additionally, established mobile money interoperability in countries was usually limited to cases such as person-to-person transfers while merchant payments weren’t really considered.

But, advancements in payments interoperability technologies as well as strategic partnerships are facilitating the innovation needed to both achieve the desired convenience, speed and accessibility within the payments space while also enabling merchants to accept payments from and people to make payments to anyone .

Although before, people would need to transfer funds from their mobile wallet to a bank account and then use the bank-issued card to make a payment, this interoperability between the two legacy platforms—mobile wallet and card—means that both individuals and businesses are able to make direct payments by simply linking the two together.

Onafriq’s own partnership and subsequent acquisition of GTP, the number one processor for prepaid cards in Africa, in 2022 underscores the importance of card and mobile wallet interoperability by enabling participation in the global digital commerce environment, connecting traditional card scheme ecosystems such as Visa and Mastercard to the mobile money world.

Now, instead of a prefunded card where money can only be loaded on and not withdrawn, users can easily move money between their card and wallet. And, with digital cards, card networks can now be embedded directly onto the wallet app instead of carrying around a physical card. Even global players like Visa and Mastercard are realising that the only way to be successful in Africa is to play hand in hand with mobile money clients and cater to their needs – as evidenced by Mastercard’s $200 million minority stake in MTN’s fintech division.

Making borders matter less

As the world, and Africa, becomes more connected and digitalised, consumers are branching out in terms of where they’re purchasing goods from and merchants are catering to a more global customer base.

As such, African businesses and consumers alike should be able to make payments to any destination easily and through whichever payment channel they prefer. Cross-border payments need to become faster, cheaper, more transparent and accessible, while also ensuring their safety and security.

Payments interoperability between mobile money and cards will enable an ecosystem whereby you don’t need to link different payment methods, systems, and currencies to one another to ensure that no matter where you are, where you’re sending money to, or where you’re purchasing from, there is nothing standing in your way.

Ultimately, ensuring that these different payment products are able to understand and speak to each other is enabling a more inclusive and accessible financial services landscape, making it as easy as possible for people to perform transactions in a way that is both affordable and reliable.