E-Financial
MasterCard Takes Cashless, E-Payment Messages to “Restaurant Week”
MasterCard, a multinational financial services corporation, said it is delighted with the efforts of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the financial institutions in ensuring a topnotch e-payment system in Nigeria.
Speaking to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek on the commencement of first MasterCard Restaurant Week presented by Lost in Lagos, Omokehinde Ojomuyide, vice president and Area Business Head, MasterCard West Africa, said that the Company’s participation was born out of desire to give its card holders and food-lovers, a priceless treat and promote cashless policy.
Ojomuyide told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek that “Restaurant Week is a new thing in Nigeria, but not in other parts of the world. Lost in Lagos said, the State is now filled with new business activities and focused feeding us; fine dining, cool environment and good service, so we need to showcase those restaurants.
“They are partnering with 28 out of the many restaurants in Lagos to say over a 21-day period, please give people the best offer you have. So, they came to us and shared the idea and we thought it wise to do something that impact on the people positively.
“We are happy that the number of people using MasterCard in Nigeria is impressive. The growth we have heard in the past three years is a welcome development. We are seeing the transition from cash to card payments”.
Satisfied with the pace of e-payment and card system adoption she said, “I do not think MasterCard will ever be satisfied until all transactions are electronic. So, it is a journey. In fact, every country that has embraced card system of payment must have passed through this phase. Even the US and UK have been doing this for over 50 years and they still have cash in circulation. So, you will never be satisfied, because our role is to move from cash to electronic payment. It just means we are going to be in the business for a long time.
“Having said we will never be satisfied until there is no cash, I would say that the growth Nigeria has made in the past three years, considering the unique challenges you have in Nigeria, it is good. You cannot take Nigeria in isolation. You cannot expect the cashless to be 100% successful without looking at the fact that having electricity always is a basic requirement for the terminals to be operational, communication has to be topnotch. There are challenges are easing away, which is good news for the industry and the country at large. The CBN and the banks are working round the clock to ensure the cashless and card payment systems are successful”.
According to the organizers, from 1 November – 21 November 2014, MasterCard cardholders will be able to enjoy the best dining experiences that Lagos has to offer at exceptional prices.
Famous the world over, Restaurant Week is a culinary event that celebrates all the qualities that define a great restaurant: high standards in food and presentation, ambiance and service.
Held in several cities including Amsterdam, New York, Singapore, Beijing and now Lagos, Restaurant Week gives food-lovers the opportunity to dine at top restaurants at discounted set-menu prices.
MasterCard Restaurant Week will include special menus from 28 of the city’s top restaurants including Spice Route, Fusion, Bistro 7, Oje, Viceroy and Bar Campione as well as a handful of exclusive, fine dining, establishments like Izanagi, Rooftop and Medici Restaurant among others.
“MasterCard Restaurant Week will change the way people look at dining out in Lagos as it will give food-lovers the opportunity to experience new restaurants that they may have been unable to try before,” said Tannaz Bahnam, founder of Lost in Lagos. “Each of the participating restaurants is known for their excellent cuisine and service, ensuring that restaurant-goers will enjoy an unforgettable dining experience,” she says.
Over the three-week promotional period, all participating restaurants will offer a three-course set menu including a choice of appetizers, main dishes and desserts.
Diners can select from an exclusive MasterCard Restaurant Week menu at a set price starting from N4,000 for lunch, N6,000 for dinner and N10,000 for fine dining.
To redeem these offers, MasterCard cardholders need to register on MasterCard’s Priceless Africa (www.pricelessafrica.com) platform.
“Consumers in Nigeria have a strong affinity for dining out, and through MasterCard Restaurant Week, we can reward our valued cardholders by offering an unrivalled experience that not only helps them to pursue their passion for great food, but encourages a continual shift from cash to electronic payments,” explained Ojomuyide.
MasterCard launched the Priceless Africa consumer loyalty platform in Nigeria in 2013.
Dedicated to bringing consumers closer to their passions while celebrating the spirit of Africa, the popular campaign offers a collection of special discounts and rare experiences, curated just for MasterCard cardholders.
MasterCard operates the world’s fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories.
Mastercard and TeamApt Ltd., a subsidiary of Moniepoint Inc. and a provider of financial infrastructure and payment solutions, have entered a strategic collaboration to strengthen digital payment capabilities for businesses and financial institutions across Africa.
As part of this collaboration, TeamApt will operate directly on Mastercard’s global payments network as a non-bank acquirer, enhancing its ability to onboard credible and licensed entities to deliver seamless payment acceptance, transaction processing and acquiring services. This will further expand its card acceptance infrastructure, allowing more merchants to accept Mastercard payments across in-store, online and mobile channels.
The collaboration integrates TeamApt’s switching infrastructure with Mastercard’s network to facilitate secure, high-volume transactions across online and in-store channels. With Nigeria being home to more than 40 million micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and small businesses identifying digital solutions as vital to scaling, according to Mastercard’s 2026 SME Confidence Index, expanding payment acceptance remains an important opportunity for growth.
By combining TeamApt’s deep local market expertise with Mastercard’s global scale, businesses and individuals will benefit from more reliable transactions, stronger security and faster, safer and more accessible digital payment experiences.
“Expanding digital payment acceptance is one of the fastest ways to support small businesses across Africa to compete, grow, and reach more customers. By working with TeamApt, we are equipping MSMEs and informal sector businesses in Nigeria with robust, secure infrastructure to seamlessly process transactions across multiple channels. This collaboration brings more businesses into the digital economy, unlocking vital new opportunities for growth, credit access, and cross-border trade,” said Folasade Femi-Lawal, country manager, West Africa at Mastercard
“This collaboration with Mastercard represents an important step forward in our commitment to removing barriers within the payments ecosystem. For years, TeamApt has focused on building infrastructure that helps financial institutions and businesses grow with confidence. By working closely with Mastercard, we are extending those capabilities, enabling businesses to accept payments more seamlessly and giving users the freedom to transact securely both locally and internationally,” said Dennis Ajalie, Chief Executive Officer of TeamApt.
The collaboration also delivers international value, enabling Mastercard cards supported by TeamApt’s infrastructure to be used across millions of merchant locations worldwide. Customers gain the convenience of secure global payments, while merchants can more easily serve both local and international customers.
A Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-licensed switching and processing company, TeamApt has, for over a decade, built and operated critical financial infrastructure that powers banks, fintechs and other institutions. The company’s technology supports secure and reliable transaction processing across multiple payment channels, enabling businesses and consumers to participate more easily in the digital economy.
This collaboration further underscores the strength of Moniepoint’s ecosystem. With operations and agent coverage across all 774 local government areas in Nigeria, Moniepoint has established one of the nation’s most extensive financial services networks, positioning the group to drive meaningful scale and adoption of digital payment solutions.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued an urgent directive requiring all capital market-regulated entities (CMREs) to immediately subscribe to Nigeria’s Sanctions (NigSac) Alerts system.
Effective immediately, failure to comply with this, or other AML/CFT regulations, may result in severe fines, suspension of operations, or revocation of registration.
This follows fresh designations by both local and international authorities of individuals and Bureau de Change operators for alleged direct involvement in terrorism financing and material support to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
The directive, according to three circulars issued by the apex capital market regulator, requires a mandatory compliance measure with threats of fines, operational suspension, or outright registration revocation for non-compliance.
The directive, pursuant to the implementation of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) statements on high-risk jurisdictions, signals an escalation in Nigeria’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime.
The SEC’s broader circular implementing FATF high-risk jurisdiction statements reflects Nigeria’s heightened exposure to international scrutiny. SEC, in line with directives from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), now requires CMREs to terminate all correspondent banking relationships with listed high-risk jurisdictions, business entities and individuals.
“In line with the provisions of the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act (TPPA), 2022, the Nigeria Sanctions Committee (NSC) has designated six (6) Individuals and three (3) Entities as terrorist financiers and subsequently added them to the Nigeria Sanctions List,” SEC stated in circular to all market operators.
The circular mandated all capital market regulated entities and individuals to do the following:
“Immediately, identify and freeze, without prior notice, all funds, assets, and any other economic resources belonging to the designated persons and entities in their possession and report same to the Secretariat of the Nigeria Sanctions Committee;
“Report to the Secretariat of the Nigeria Sanctions Committee any assets frozen or actions taken in compliance with the designation, including attempted transactions;
“Immediately file a suspicious transactions report to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) for further analysis on the financial activities;
“Report as a suspicious transactions report to the NFIU, all cases of name matching in financial transactions prior to or after receipt of this Sanctions List;
“Subsequently prohibit dealings with the designated persons and entities; and continue to check for transactions relating to the designated persons and entities and report findings to the Nigeria Sanctions Committee through [email protected]”, SEC stated.
“Take Note that at all times, any unusual or suspicious transactions shall be promptly reported to the NFIU,” SEC warned.
According to the capital market apex regulator, the circular takes immediate effect and failure to comply with the directives constitutes a violation of the Investments and Securities Act, 2025, and the SEC AML/CFT Rules and Regulations and such failure would attract appropriate regulatory sanctions, including fines, suspension of operations, or revocation of registration.
The directive implies that capital market operators should immediately audit their AML/CFT technology stacks to ensure NigSac Alerts subscription and automated flagging capability.
CMREs are required to file suspicious transactions reports with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) for any name matching with designated individuals and entities, whether such matches occur pre- or post-transaction.
The obligation extends to reporting all funds frozen and actions taken in compliance with designations to the NSC Secretariat via [email protected].
The designations also create secondary compliance obligations: CMREs must now maintain watchlists that incorporate designations from both the NSC and US Treasury, as regulatory expectations implicitly track international sanctions coordination.
For institutional investors and fund managers, this translates to enhanced due diligence on counterparty relationships, particularly where transactions flow through informal financial infrastructure or jurisdictions flagged under FATF increased monitoring status.
The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has raised CHF350 million, about $430 million, through a five-year digital bond, marking a major step in the use of regulated digital financial infrastructure by an African institution.
The transaction is the first time an African institution has issued a digital bond that is listed, traded and settled on a regulated digital exchange. It is also the largest digital bond ever issued in the Swiss franc market, according to AFC.
The deal strengthens AFC’s access to international investors as the Lagos based development finance institution seeks to diversify its sources of funding and raise more long-term capital for infrastructure and industrial projects across Africa.
The bond carries a coupon of 1.4925 percent and forms part of AFC’s wider $500 million benchmark funding programme issued in June 2026. Despite a difficult global environment marked by geopolitical tensions, the transaction attracted strong investor demand.
AFC is rated A with a positive outlook by S&P Global Ratings and A3 with a stable outlook by Moody’s Ratings, giving the institution an investment grade profile in international debt markets.
Swiss investors accounted for about 90 percent of demand, while international investors made up the remaining 10 percent. Banks and other financial institutions accounted for 57 percent of the order book, followed by asset managers at 37 percent and hedge funds at 6 percent.
“This transaction is about far more than achieving competitive pricing. It marks another significant milestone in AFC’s funding journey and underscores the confidence global investors continue to place in our strategy, credit strength, and development impact,” Samaila Zubairu, President and Chief Executive Officer of AFC, said.
Zubairu said continued diversification and innovation in AFC’s funding strategy would be important to mobilising the long term capital needed to support Africa’s industrialisation and economic transformation.
The transaction is AFC’s fourth and largest Swiss franc denominated issuance. It follows a CHF150 million green bond issued in 2020, which was the corporation’s first green bond transaction.
Banji Fehintola, Executive Board Member and Head of Financial Services at AFC, described the latest issuance as an important milestone for the corporation’s funding programme.
“Pricing the largest digital bond ever issued in the Swiss Franc market reflects not only the strength of AFC’s credit but the depth of trust that Swiss and international investors have placed in our strategy over time,” Fehintola said.
The bond was issued under AFC’s $5 billion Global Medium Term Note Programme and is structured as a tokenised security using distributed ledger technology. Ownership is recorded on a regulated digital register, while settlement takes place through regulated digital market infrastructure.
The notes are listed and admitted for trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange and deposited with SIX Digital Exchange. Clearing and settlement are handled through SIX SIS AG.
The structure gives AFC access to an alternative form of capital markets infrastructure while showing how distributed ledger technology can be used in institutional debt markets under established regulatory standards.
The proceeds will be used for AFC’s general funding needs, supporting its capacity to finance infrastructure and industrial projects across Africa.
Commerzbank AG acted as technical lead for the transaction, while Deutsche Bank AG London Branch, through its Zurich branch, also participated in arranging the deal.
For AFC, the issuance adds to a series of capital markets transactions designed to broaden its funding base and reduce dependence on a narrow group of financing sources.
The strong demand also points to continued investor appetite for African development finance institutions with established credit profiles, particularly those capable of accessing international markets while using new financial technology within regulated frameworks.
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