A Positive Step towards e-Business Implementation in Nigeria

The following piece was sent to me by my friend and former colleague, Chima Akwaja, who works for The Financial Standard newspaper in Lagos, Nigeria. It shows how Nigerian banking and finance sector is introducing innovative products and services which can boost the growing e-business culture in the country. Happy reading:

Nigerians Excited by CashCard’s Fund Transfer Capabilities

Nigerians have continued to express excitement over the fund transfer capability of the Cashcard, the pre-funded card powered by Interswitch, Nigeria’s premier transaction switching and payment processing provider. Aside from fund transfer, CashCard can be used for just about any transaction which range from making purchases on the Internet, buying groceries at the supermarket through a point of sale (POS) terminal to withdrawing cash from Automated Teller Machines (ATM).
Cashcard is a card that is pre-funded with cash which can then be used for the purchase of goods and services or any other transactions. Unlike a debit card, a holder of a CashCard does not need to operate or own a bank account. This is so because a CashCard is directly linked to a virtual account such that information and the cash value on the card are resident in a central database. This can be accessed through any of the various terminals such as ATMs, Point of Sale terminal (POS), mobile phone and website that are connected to the Interswitch network.
A spokesperson for InterSwitch stated that CashCard is not only used for payment and cash withdrawals, it is also used for funds transfer. The funds transfer capability of CashCard is one of the strongest features of the product. When a fund transfer is done from the CashCard website, a notification of the transfer is sent to the receiver through an email and sms. To put the card’s capability to the test, fund transfer can be made from one CashCard to another. This can be affected through the CashCard’s website, POS terminals and some designated bank branches. Funds can also be transferred from one CashCard to any bank account located in any of the 23 banks on the InterSwitch network. Today, the 23 banks include GTBank, Zenith Bank, Intercontinental Bank, First Bank, Afribank, UBA Group, Wema Bank, Unity Bank, Bank PHB, ETB and Skye Bank. Others are Fidelity Bank, Sterling Bank, Oceanic Bank and Ecobank, First Inland, Diamond Bank, FCMB, IBTC Chartered Bank, Union, Springbank and Access banks.
To verify the capability of the CashCard, opinions of various end-users were sought. One of the respondents is Mr. Matthew Adeleke, an engineer who works with a construction company in Lagos. He had transferred cash from his CashCard to the CashCards of his children who are undergraduates at the University of Abuja at a critical time “when traveling is not an option”.
He said “With my CashCard, I don’t have to go to the bank to transfer money to my children in the University of Abuja. Instead of traveling, all I have to do is to log on to the Internet and access the CashCard’s website (www.mynigeriacashcard.com) in thecomfort of my office. And, believe me, within minutes, the transaction is completed. It is so convenient.”
Mrs. Joyce Esohe Maiyaki, who works with one of the GSM companies, another cardholder, also attested to CashCard’s ability to transfer fund to any of the 23 banks.“Until I started using CashCard three months ago, I never knew that any fund transfer machine can handle inter-bank transfer within the country. With my CashCard now I transfer money to any account on the Interswitch network just at a token”, she said, adding that CashCard has come to solve the problems associated with money transfer in the country. Mr. Peter Ewesor, a businessman of repute who is an earlier adopter of e-payment systems said that he has always believed in the card payment option in thecountry.
“Cashcard, for me, is just taking it to another level. It is convenient, and it makes it easy for me to transfer fund to my business associates in other states whenever the need arises”, he said. He corroborated the fact that the charges are minimal compared to what is obtainable on other money transfer platforms. The standard charges on CashCard money transfer is N100, this is also one of the advantages that is driving the fast adoption of this product. This coupled with the fact that it provides online real-time monitoring of all transactions activities done gives the method of payment an edge over others.
Mr. Mitchell Elegbe, managing director, InterSwitch, said “the adoption of CashCard will reduce the dependence of the economy on physical cash, while making it possible for the under-banked and un-banked to enjoy the benefits of banking without operating abank account.”

Another Visitation by the Gods?

A friend of mine alerted me to the latest visitation by the gods on our dear homeland.

I visited the Internet and the gory details accosted my sight! Why?

Another plane crash!

Pray, what have we done differently from the rest of the world? Not too long ago, there was the air disaster that sent mainly school children to an untimely death. Now, I hear a religious leader as well as some political leaders were involved in the current disaster.

Those of you nearer home, please let us know if anybody closer to us was involved. But I pray for the souls of the departed. May God forgive them their sins and bring them to eternal life, Amen. As I join millions of other Nigerians in mourning those affected by this mishap, I think the time has come for the federal government to 'sanitise' the air operations in the country as they have done to the financial sector.

Quite frankly, anybody who uses Nigeria's local flights knows that it's only a matter of time before such air disasters become a constant feature of the country's life. The reason is very simple: those who do not give due regard to life are bound to pay the price of losing it in avoidable circumstances.

Our maintenance culture is very poor. Each time you board a flight in Nigeria, you say your last prayer. If God, in his infinite mercy spares you for that day, then you live for another day. But this is not the way it should be.

The government must set benchmarks below which no airline operator can stay in business. And such benchmarks should be enforced by the enforcement agents regularly visiting and evaluating the air worthiness of the aircrafts that ply the country's local (and even, international) routes. More importantly, those assigned to such tasks must resist the temptation of getting their palms greesed with blood-tainted money in the name of bribery.

God bless Nigeria.

OECD Information Technology Outlook for 2006

Information technology (IT) and broadband are major drivers of economic change, restructuring businesses, affecting skills and employment, and contributing to growth and consumer benefits. In this volume, OECD describes recent market dynamics and trends in industries supplying IT goods and services and offers an overview of the globalisation of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector and the rise of ICT-enabled international sourcing.

The OECD Information Technology Outlook 2006 also analyses the development and impact of the changing global distribution of services activities and the rise of China and India as significant suppliers of ICT-related goods and services. ICT skills across the economy are also examined to provide insights into the dynamics of job creation and international sourcing. <<More>>

ITU Publishes its 2006 Report

The eighth edition of ITU's World Telecommunication/ICT Development Report has been published. The 2006 edition's theme is "Measuring ICT for Social and Economic Development" and was specifically prepared for the World Telecommunication Development Conference which took place in March this year. Besides looking at the progress made in measuring the impact of ICT on social and economic development, the report provides the latest telecommunication/ICT indicators for some 180 economies wordwide. [[Details]]

Microsoft Plans to Bridge the Digital Divide in Africa

Microsoft has pledged to bridge the digital divide in Africa in order to accelerate the continent's drive for economic growth. Microsoft's chairman for Africa Cheick Modibo Diarra told a news conference in Nairobi that Africa is one of the last frontiers where challenges and opportunities thrive in the spheres of education, health, technical, production and infrastructure.

"Increased access to technology has been identified as a prerequisite for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) over the next decade ... broadening digital inclusion to millions of people must be a shared public/private effort," said Diarra, who is currently in Kenya to address the Youth Empowerment Summit, which has opened in Nairobi. <<Details>>

ICT Journalism Awards for Nigerian Journalists

I got an email from my friend and former colleague, Chima Akwaja who is also Associate Editor at the Financial Standard newspaper in Nigeria regarding the recent ICT Awards to some African journalists. The detail is reproduced below. Happy reading. Dili

Six Nigerian journalists have won awards in different categories at the African media awards on Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) at the 10th Highway Africa conference held in Grahamstown, South Africa, last week carting away six out of the 22 awards.

The awards which came in two folds included the SABC-Highway Africa awards for Innovative Use of New Media in Africa and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa’s sponsored African Information Society Initiative (UNECA/ AISI.) The five journalists namely Mr. Chima Akwaja of Financial Standard newspaper, Mr. Don Pedro Aganbi of the ICT Africa on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Mr. Emmanual Okwuke of New Age and Ms. Evelyn Tagbo, as well as Mr. Segun Oruame of ITEdge magazine, emerged first and second category winners in the African Information Society Initiative (AISI) awards sponsored by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

Mr. Remmy Nweke, senior ICT reporter with Champion Newspapers and a pioneer member of the Highway Africa News Agency (HANA) editorial team, won the HANA
journalist of the year and was presented with Fujitsu/Siemens laptop and a souvenir. Last year also, Nigeria got over six awards at HA, especially through the UNECA/AISI.
The Highway Africa awards were organised by Journalism Department of Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa in partnership with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). It is in recognition and promotion of creative, innovative and appropriate use of new media technology on the continent. AISI was put together by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) based in Ethiopia. Both awards were presented simultaneously at a ceremony well-attended at the Guy Berger Auditorium, Grahamstown, and last week. Cameroon also got four out of the total awards for grab at HA-06.

In addition, the SABC-HA award on individual/student category went to David Kezio-Musoke a HANA journalist from Uganda, while the non-profit category was grabbed by Jo’s Toolkit, a website created for student and grassroots media created by two fourth-year new media students, Carly Riz and Gregor Rohrig, even as the corporate award went to Andnetwork (African News Dimension’s Network).

While Nigeria took the first categories in the AISI-GTZ Media awards on promoting the Information Society (IS) on TV, AISI-IDRC award on Reporting on ICT policy and AISI-OSIWA reporting on ICTs and Rural communities, Nigeria also got the second categories AISI-IICD award on local content and local content applications in that order.

Cameroon, on the other hand, went home with the first prize AISI-GTZ awards on promoting the Information Society, through Ms Marie Noelle Guichi and Ms Bapidi-Mbom Didier Parfait on print and radio respectively. While also Mr Roger Taakam and Ms Jeanine Fankam emerged first in the local content as well as reporting on research and innovation categories in that order.

Uganda, nevertheless, got two winners in the first and second categories of AISI-OSIWA best female reporter and reporting on research and innovation through Ms Ester Nakkazi and Mr. David Muwanga respectively. Other countries that won in the single categories at the AISI awards include Ghanaian Jacob Kofi Mensah who took second category on Promoting IS for print, Kenyan Eric Ombok also on second category on radio. Equally, Algerian Laid Zaghlami came first in the local content applications, Malian Salif Sanogo came second on promoting IS on Tv, with Mr. Guedegbe Gerard of Benin coming second category in Reporting on ICTs and rural communities and Zambian Timothy Kasonde Kasolo also coming second in Reporting on ICT policy.

An Invitation to Share E-Kola!

The Kolanut is very simbolic in my own part of the world. One of the ways, for instance, for a guest to demonstrate true love and hospitality to a visitor is to offer the nut. In most cases, such presentations are followed by momentary supplications to Chukwu-Abiama (God Almighty) asking for blessings to those who would partake of the eating of the nut. The blessings, among others, would include the health, prosperity, longevity of the eaters of the Kola. And, of course, for the success of the reasons that informed the gathering.
So, please come and share with me this E-Kola since our medium of gathering is virtual!
Dili