The newly inaugurated Nigeria Egypt Cultural and Socio Economic Forum (NECSEF) is a model business association focused on promoting successful economic relations between Nigeria and Egypt.

NECSEF’s aspiration is to be the one stop organisation and preferred gateway for conducting business in Nigeria by Egyptians, providing trust and the ability to engage with highly influential people who can provide access and market intelligence into every aspect of the Nigerian market.

NECSEF organised its first conference in collaboration with Nigeria Embassy in Cairo, and strategic partners Egyptian African Businessmen’s Association (EABA) on the 10^th – 12^th October 2022 to a roaring success.

The conference titled Nigeria – Egypt Trade Conference & B2B Meeting attracted over 300 high level business leaders and government officials. The event took place at the conference halls of the stunning St. Regis hotel Almasa, in the new federal capital territory, Cairo Egypt.

The idea for the conference according to Mr. Mahmood Ahmadu, chairman of NECSEF and OIS, the main organisers, was to strengthen bilateral trade relations between the two largest African economies, Nigeria and Egypt with the aspiration to boost trade from the current of circa $180 million US.

The NECSEF chairman Mr Ahmadu and Dr Yousry El Sharkawi EABA chairman made a joint announcement that an agreement of $30 million dollars was signed during the conference as part of strengthening bilateral relations.

Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country with over 225 million people, and Egypt is the third most populous country in Africa with over 104 million people. Egypt enjoys a mixed economy strong in tourism, agriculture, construction, fossil fuels with an emerging ICT sector.

Nigeria on the other hand has a mixed economy focused upon petroleum, and a growing agriculture sector, it also has an emerging market with expanding technology, service, financial and communications sectors.

There is great demand in Nigeria for Egyptian products and it’s really a promising market for Egyptian investments with some great Egyptian companies already operating in Nigeria.

A great percentage of Nigeria’s exports to Egypt are petroleum and gas products followed by agricultural commodities.

The objectives of the conference in part was to reach a new and viable vision with a view of mobilizing the private sector, civil society and business community of both countries to increase trade and actively participate in African development.

The well attended event was spaced out over three days; with the first day being the main conference with many high level speakers, attended by government leaders, senior members of several diplomatic missions, and leaders from the business sector.

The second day was a highly interactive B2B session, matchmaking several sectors with hundreds of the delegates where Nigerian and Egyptian business people participated in pitching and introducing their various businesses.

The third day was all about tours and external visits to some of Egypt’s most iconic centers. Delegates chose from one of two tour options, either a visit to the world famous Suez Canal Economic Zone, an innovative and self-sustaining industrial development and commercial hub, or the world class International Medical Center, a military hospital that is one of the largest in the Middle East.

Read Also – Nigerian tech company OIS opens latest offices in Cairo to offer Visa, Passport, BVN, NIN services in Egypt.

The dignitaries who graced the event included Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, Minister of Water Resources Suleiman Adamu, Minister of State Works and Housing, Minister of State Industry, Trade and Investment, Ambassador Mariam Katagum, H.E Nura Abba Rimi, Nigerian Ambassor in Egypt, Mr Anthony Nwachukwu, Vice President of Innovate 1 Pay, Mr Babatunde Irukera, CEO Federal Competition & Consumer Protection, Mr Khalifa Abdullahi, Chairman KK Kingdom Group, Dr Kassim Gidado from Nigeria Arab Gulf Chamber of Commerce.

Also in attendance was Dr Yousry El-Sharkawi, chairman Egyptian African Businessmen’s Association (EABA) Walid Gamal El Din, Chairman of the General Authority Economic Zone, Suez Canal, Dr Sherif El-Gabaly, chairman African Affairs, Egyptian House of Representatives, Eng. Ahmed Sameer,

Egyptian Ministry of Trade & Industry, Mr Walid Jamal Eldin, chairman of the Egyptian Nigeria Business Council among many others.

There were senior representatives from Nigeria Export Promotion Council, Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission, Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Export & Import Bank (Afreximbank), PWC, AFDB and others.

Source – https://expressday.ng/

<strong>$30m trade agreement signed at the recently concluded Nigeria – Egypt Trade Conference in Cairo Egypt</strong>
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CBN – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has granted operating licences to 10 additional international money transfer operators (IMTOs) as part of efforts to boost diaspora remittances.

With the new licences issued, the total number of IMTOs operating in the country now stands at 57.
In an updated post on its website yesterday, CBN listed the newly-licensed operators as Transfercorp Limited/VFD Group; Comot Trading Nigeria Limited; Direkt Wire UK Limited; Gabtrans UK Limited in partnership with Moneyto Limited; GDM Transfer PTY Limited; Innovate 1 Pay Limited; Paysend Plc; SANAA Capital LLC (Money4 Diaspora Services LLC); Swift Payment Limited and WI-PAY Global LLC.

The CBN has in recent times been designing policies to encourage further inflows of the foreign currencies.

CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, had said reforms to increase diaspora remittances into the country would support the economy and help reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He had said if the country could have inflows of about $10 billion to $15 billion, this would have a significant effect on the economy amidst the current fiscal constraints.

The central bank has said all diaspora remittances must go through the deposit money banks rather than mortgage or fintech institutions.

Read Also – Mahmood Ahmadu Shares Lessons Learnt in 2020

The CBN governor had said: “Since I became the CBN governor, I have been hearing about the size of diaspora remittances; some say $20 billion, in fact some say it’s about $30 billion. Honestly, I have been looking for the $30 billion or $20 billion, I have not seen it.

“But this time, I have decided that I will focus to see those billions of dollars. You know what, I am not only expecting $20 billion, if we get even up to $10 billion to $15 billion, I can tell you it can help the Nigerian economy.

“Pakistan, Indonesia and others generate an average of $2 billion monthly in diaspora remittances and this has helped to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on their economy.” He also emphasised the need to introduce transparency in the administration of diaspora remittances.

Source – https://www.thisdaylive.com/

CBN Licenses 10 More International Money Transfer Operators
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Clubhouse – Cancel culture, woke wars, fake news, performative activism… social media has become less social and more soul-sucking.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are the latest high profile names to shun the socials. Meghan Markle was apparently the most trolled person in the world in 2019, an experience she described as ‘almost unsurvivable’ and, according to reports, she and Harry have no plans to revive their platforms. But perhaps Clubhouse would suit them better?

A new invite-only ‘drop-in audio chat’ app, Clubhouse is the next big thing with the cool set. Think of it as a digital Soho House meets Raya. Here’s everything you need to know (while you wait patiently for your invite).

What is Clubhouse?

It was launched in spring 2020, at the height of the pandemic, by Silicon Valley types Paul Davison and Rohan Seth. The idea a spokesperson told us is to create “a social experience that is focused on connection, learning, and authentic conversations, where people close the app feeling better than they did when they opened it, because they have deepened friendships, met new people and learned. 

Read Also – Mena – learning from the African experience in fintech

“The focus is on dialogue and connection, rather than likes or followers.”

Imagine if Ted Talks, Soho House and your favourite podcast platform all had a lovechild, it would be something like this, except on Clubhouse you can be part of the conversation too. A merciful break from our current camera-on, top-up dressing Zoom lives, it’s audio-only because they say: “Voice adds texture and fidelity to conversations that can be lacking in other venues. The intonation, inflection, and emotion that are conveyed through voice allow people to pick up on nuance and empathise with each other.”

Source – https://www.standard.co.uk/

Clubhouse: the invite-only app everyone’s talking about
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Meghan – Wherever you stand on the rift between the Sussexes and Buckingham Palace, there’s no denying that the (not-so) civil war between royal households seems to be reaching a crescendo.

The latest accusations, those of bullying from former staffers by the Duchess of Sussex, are emotionally-charged: that they had been personally “humiliated” and left “completely destroyed” are some of the descriptions of the emotional impact of the Duchess’ alleged behaviour on employees, as reported by the Times.

The accusations have only added fuel to the fire of the toxic infighting between the two houses since the Sussexes stated their bombshell wish to leave the royal family in January last year.

The Duchess denies the allegations of the former staffers, saying Meghan is “saddened” as a bullying victim herself and saying it is part of a “calculated smear campaign” ahead of her Oprah interview on Sunday.

The Palace has said it was “very concerned” about the claims and “will not tolerate bullying or harassment in the workplace”. The monarchy’s “men in grey suits” were accused in the Times report of doing “absolutely nothing” to protect the alleged victims, despite being aware of the allegations.

So who are the key figures in the claims and counterclaims of bullying? From ex-Sussex squad members coming forward to the Hollywood dream team fighting the Duke and Duchess’ PR battle from LA, these are all the major players in the royal drama.

First, an explainer. The term “The Firm” has been banded around in royal coverage a lot this week after the Duchess of Sussex talked about the “active role that the Firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us” in her interview with Oprah.

Read Also – Mena – learning from the African experience in fintech

The term has long been used to refer to the royal institution and was reportedly coined by Prince Philip to describe the family he was marrying into. In the film The King’s Speech, King George VI is heard claiming, “We’re not a family, we’re a firm” and given recent events within the royal family, it’s not hard to see why a more business-like label might sometimes seem appropriate.

Source – https://www.standard.co.uk/

Meghan – Who are the key players at war
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Covid – People with asthma who are eligible for a coronavirus vaccine are being refused it by some GPs who are not following government guidance, the BBC has found.

An NHS England letter sent to GPs in mid-February says people who have “ever had an emergency asthma admission” to hospital fall into priority group six, which is currently being vaccinated.

But some patients are being told a hospital admission within the past 12 months is required.

GPs say they look at various factors.

These include age and ethnicity, as well as some degree of clinical judgement, the Royal College of GPs said.

‘Scared witless’

Sonja Chenier, 47, from Colchester, has had three hospital admissions in the past 15 years and takes multiple medications daily for her asthma.

Her GP surgery told her she wasn’t eligible for the vaccine yet because her hospital admissions weren’t in the past year, and so “it wasn’t relevant”. She was told to expect a call for a vaccine along with her age group in around June.

“I was really shocked and so upset I put the phone down and sobbed,” she said. “I’m due to go back to work in schools next week and I’m absolutely scared witless.

“I’d just like some clear clarification on where the ‘within the last 12 months’ criteria has come from.”

Peter Smith, a 37-year-old from Bristol, said his GP dismissed the NHS guidance as “irrelevant”.

He had four hospital stays because of his asthma when he was younger – twice after an emergency ambulance was called – and says respiratory illnesses like flu are a trigger for him now.

He says his GP “alluded to the fact that my admissions weren’t recent”.

Read Also – Mena – learning from the African experience in fintech

“GPs are working hard and providing a great service, and I don’t want to queue jump,” he said. “I just wish it was all clearer.”

Others spoke of feeling “anxious” and “frustrated”, with their mental health suffering after a year of trying to be careful with their condition, which they were told at the start of the pandemic put them in the clinically vulnerable group.

Now some younger asthma sufferers in their 20s face a much longer wait to get the jab.

‘Different interpretations’

Charity Asthma UK says a lot of people have been in touch with them to report a similar issue, and they’ve had thousands of calls to their helpline asking for advice on covid and the vaccine rollout over the past year.

Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation, said: “We know that there are different interpretations of the official guidance from GP surgery staff and we’re not sure why exactly this is happening.

“We know that GPs are very busy and trying to vaccinate so many people quickly, and keep on top of very complex daily new information about Covid-19 and the vaccination programme.

Source – https://www.bbc.co.uk/

Covid: Asthma patients refused vaccine by some GPs
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Mena – Mahmood Ahmadu is the chairman of Innovate 1 Pay, a Nigerian financial technology (fintech) company established in 2012, providing online payment solutions for retail and wholesale mobile remittances, mobile money and currency card payments. The largest domestic service provider of this nature in its home country, the company has since spread its operations to 24 different nations.

A great advantage that emerging economies have, when they adopt breakthrough technologies, is the ability to pivot rapidly, and expand capabilities without having to worry about high volumes of existing systems and infrastructure becoming redundant. With game changing digital innovations entering the fray in recent years, it has become possible for such nations to leapfrog several generations in technology. And perhaps the best example of such exponential transformation can be seen in the African fintech industry.

In the past few years, Africa has witnessed the rise of a dynamic startup ecosystem, which is attracting huge amounts of venture capital. Tech hubs, with multiple new companies making a name for themselves with innovative solutions, have emerged in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, with nations like Tanzania, Ghana and Senegal close behind. In the case of fintech, the boom is also related to the sector filling a gap in services that traditional banking had not been able to address. In addition to delivering effective alternatives that have transformed the state of financial inclusion in the continent, a surge in internet and mobile penetration in Africa, has lent further momentum to the industry.

An appropriate solution meets an unusual ecosystem

The Global Findex Database 2017, the most recent version of the report which is the world’s most comprehensive record of payments, savings, borrowing and risk management, found that Africa was home to the largest unbanked and underbanked population in the world. Naturally, these circumstances present the ideal opportunity for fintech solution providers, to turn a challenge into an opportunity.

At the same time, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has estimated that Africa has the largest informal economy of all continents. With so much commercial activity unreached by formal investment, lending and insurance services, the sheer scale of the opportunity should be obvious. The amount of venture capital available to African startups exceeded the $1 billion mark for the first time in 2018, and the bulk of these funds were captured by fintech companies. Nigeria, which is the both the most populated nation in Africa with 206 million inhabitants, as well as its largest economy, has been attracting – and generating – the largest amount of venture capital on the continent. In fact, many African fintech companies, both Nigerian and from other nations, have taken to making their mark in the Nigerian market, before they proceed to scale up operations elsewhere. 

What do these developments mean for Mena?

Markets like Africa, India and Brazil have had digital wallets and payment platforms operating successfully for well over a decade. So what does this tell us about the possibilities that fintech can unlock within the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region? Well, the answer to that is a bit complex, given the cross section of economies that fall within the category.

For one thing, 2020 proved the contribution that fintech made to providing much needed resilience, as an alternative to traditional banking during a global crisis. African migrant workers, and those cut off from loved ones during lockdowns, used digital wallets and payment platforms extensively, to ensure that money got to their dependents. The large number of similar expatriate workers in the Mena region present a similar opportunity, given the huge volume of remittances that such individuals send to their home countries. For those in higher income brackets, services such as e-commerce and online insurance facilities – and many more emerging financial services – present an equally vibrant market, for entrepreneurs to address. 

But, perhaps the most significant lesson to be learnt from the success of fintech in Africa, is that end users have overcome any reluctance they might have had to transfer money online – especially with regards to security concerns. According to a 2019 IMF policy paper on fintech in Sub-Saharan Africa, fintech is emerging as a major technological enabler in the region. It has transformed financial inclusion indices, and is serving as a catalyst for innovation in sectors as varied as agriculture and infrastructure.

Despite a huge subset of the mobile phones in this region being ‘feature phones’ – as opposed to smartphones – Sub-Saharan Africa now has in excess of 400 million registered mobile money accounts. One of the lessons to be learned here is that even those sections of humanity who live in the lesser developed regions of the world have overcome any security related reticence. But the truly impressive feat that operators within the Mena region can emulate is, the creativity involved in delivering services within technological limitations imposed by handsets that much of the world would now consider archaic. Fintech companies within the Mena region, with significantly more tech-endowed customers to target, can learn a lot from the resourcefulness with which fintech in Africa has developed solutions that can deliver services, even if the user does not have access to a device that can host apps.

Taking inspiration from a solution driven mindset

We often limit the scope of the term ‘financial inclusion’. It should not be seen solely in terms of bringing financial services to the unbanked. On the contrary, the perspective we need to adopt should be about reaching the ‘unreached’, in more sophisticated categories of financial services. Can developers in Mena expand the reach of wealth management, online trading, travel insurance, and dozens of other specialised services, using app based platforms? Nearly all of these services have debuted as app interfaces, but often with limited options. Can fintech in Mena take inspiration from its African counterparts, and develop true functionality and convenience, in high end financial services – especially given their market has, on average, more advanced devices to leverage? The answer to that rhetorical question is an obvious and resounding yes!

Source – https://www.wamda.com/

Mena – learning from the African experience in fintech
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Fintech – The coronavirus pandemic continues to turn the world and our lives upside down, with the outbreak forcing governments to put into place measures that reduce the risk of contamination, and focus on pre-emptive processes.  The strain on the economy is palpable, and is an impending catastrophe that could exceed the crash of 2008, and the Great Depression a century ago, if left unchecked. Besides asking people to practice social distancing and enforcing lockdowns to avoid the spread of the contagion, governments have another source of contamination they need to worry about: banknotes. The latest Fintech innovations can help mitigate the risk of transmission of the virus, by reducing the need to use physical money.

Viruses and pathogens are known to live on surfaces for up to 48 hours. Some researchers are speculating that the Covid-19 virus could survive even longer on certain materials. Paper money, reportedly, can host live viruses for 17 days.  Polymer notes are believed to be thrice as clean, yet they too can carry certain pathogen from anywhere between six hours to a day. The only way to minimize infection is for the authorities to promote contactless cash transactions. Even then, there is the danger of microbes being transferred by cards at ATMs and checkout registers, in supermarkets and stores.

A solution whose time has come

While we have seen a growing shift to cashless transactions in recent years, the current situation demands that we should renew efforts to totally digitalize payment systems, while ensuring that are accessible to everyone, to help protect us from the current pandemic. As we begin to accept the major changes this disruption has already caused in our lives, as the ‘new normal’, Fintech companies around the world are working with governments and banks to make the switch to a seamless cashless culture possible. The main thrust is on ensuring that the elderly, those underserved by traditional banking, and the most vulnerable segments of our society are not left behind.

There are many benefits to a cashless society. For one, it can provide the opportunity for governments to set out more easily enforceable fiscal guidelines, to help strengthen the economy and make it more transparent. During a recession people tend to hoard cash, forcing governments to lower interest rates in a bid to stimulate the economy. Going cashless would mean that people would not be able to take money out of the financial system, taking considerable stress off central banks and the lending mechanism. A cashless society would also make it harder to evade taxes, conceal earnings or illegal transactions. Cash payments can be anonymous, which creates avenues for white collar crime, including fraud, counterfeiting, bribery, corruption, and even terror funding. Fintech models can offer fraud-preventing technology and encryption, biometrics and Blockchain technology, to make payments and transactions safer than ever.

So what’s the downside?

Of course, one can point out a few problems that could arise from a totally cashless society as well. Innovation brings with it a degree of risk and concerns over privacy. How do we know that the payment gateway we decide to use will protect our data? Technology cannot be totally glitch-free and data breaches can occur – especially with hacking being a perennial menace. Using online payment portals also increases the risk of cyber-crimes such as identity theft, and fake transactions. For conspiracy theorists there is Big Brother’s surveillance tactics where your every move, financial or otherwise, could be tracked by the state.

While these concerns are all possible to address, the Covid-19 crisis is highlighting another very important limitation widespread deployment of cashless Fintech innovations currently face. While the more affluent sections of society are already able to access the latest technology and digital tools, sections of society that are economically vulnerable could find themselves even more marginalized. The need for Fintech solutions, which every consumer, from the daily wage or migrant worker to small business owner can access, is a bottleneck that remains to be addressed.

An inclusive and empowering solution

While Europe, North America, Japan, and most other developed economies, are going increasingly cashless already, emerging economies like India, Brazil and several African countries – including Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa – have been leading a quiet digital payment revolution of their own. India has been ahead of the curve since demonetization was imposed in November 2016. Digital India has been the government’s flagship vision of transforming the country into a digital society and economy. Several South American nations have made substaintial strides in recent years as well. Fintech innovators in Africa have also been earning themselves a name, as enablers of accessible grassroots money transfers mechanisms, in largely informal economies, and in the context of the largest concentration of humans underserved by traditional banking.

Looking beyond this current health crisis, the evidence for cashless mechanisms enabling a fairer and more financially inclusive model of the economy, is mounting.  The advantages extend to small and medium enterprises as well, including reduced operating costs and enhanced efficiencies. However, the execution of such a transformation will need the insightful and proactive joint efforts of governments and Fintech innovators. As mammoth as the task may appear on the surface, the widespread financial inclusion and small scale entrepreneurship it will empower, make a more than compelling case for taking on the challenge.

Read Also – Defamation of Character by Unfair Victimization

About Innovate 1 Pay

Nigerian Fintech company and payment services provider Innovate 1 Pay was established in 2012. It provides online payment solutions for retail and wholesale mobile remittances, mobile money and currency card payments. The largest domestic service provider of this nature in its home country, the company has since spread its operations to 24 different nations and trades in over 60. The company’s online wallet accepts Visa, MasterCard, Internet Banking, debit and credit cards, as well as offering customers the ability to store money in an online wallet, for easy and secure payments. The Innovate 1 Pay payment gateway is a comprehensive one-stop solution, enabling quick foreign currency transfers and offering touch points integrated with several banks, payment processors, mobile money operators and more.

About Mr Mahmood Ahmadu, Chairman of Online Integrated Solutions

As the Chairman of Innovate 1 Pay and Online Integrated Solutions, Mr Mahmood Ahmadu’s entrepreneurial vision has empowered financial inclusion across Africa. Under his stewardship Online Integrated Solutions has emerged as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for Caribbean and African businesses, and a point of contact between these regions and global markets, particularly the Middle East and Far East Asia. With an MBA from Nassarawa University in Nigeria, Mr Ahmadu invested in his first successful company in the early 80’s, emerging as a bright star among earlier pioneers of trading in GSM, in northern Nigeria. He launched Innovate 1 pay in 2012, as a pioneering African Fintech company, with a vision to pursue holistic global integration of underserved markets. Mr Ahmadu is a strong believer is giving people and businesses the tools to empower themselves and leverage their talents, to becoming competitive innovators at a global scale.

Source – http://uaebusiness.com/

Fintech can secure the world from the economic impact of pandemics
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Fintech – OPINION-ED BY MR. MAHMOOD AHMADU – An article published at the end of Q1 2018, in the Raconteur – the business, technology and finance insights publication of the Times group in the UK – noted that instances of customers using banking apps in the UK had risen by 354%, in the previous 5 years. A little over a year later, in July 2019, The Guardian was reporting that 71% of customers, in the UK market, could be expected to be mobile banking app users by 2024.

Compare these unequivocal statistics to those from a very different cross section of users in India, one of the most rapidly changing of all emerging markets, and the numbers are equally staggering. According to TechSci Research, digital banking will  grow at a CAGR of over 22% in India, between 2019 and 2024. Taking a global view of the trend towards digital Fintech solutions confirms that the UK and India are not peculiar examples of enthusiastic digitization over the period in question. EY’s Global FinTech Adoption Index 2019 report found that 64% of digitally active consumers across 27 countries were already using digital banking solution – a near doubling of the figure within the previous two years.

However, with the Covid-19 pandemic transforming the economic climate around the world, in very fundamental ways, these reports and estimations – optimistic as they already were, at the time – might well fall short of the real world changes we witness.

An agile solution, for the most vulnerable market segments

Given the social distancing and self-quarantining practices, which have come to be the foremost defence against the spread of the virus, some of the advantages that Fintech solutions present to customers are obvious. However, it’s the post-pandemic reactivation of the global economy that may end up being an even more appropriate context, for a further surge in the adoption of digital banking and payment solutions.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) represent in excess of half the GDP of most countries and seven out of every ten employment opportunities. Due to their dependence on physical shopfronts and minimally automated production, these have been some of the hardest hit businesses, because of the extended lockdowns the world is currently experiencing. Government relief packages notwithstanding, the long term survival of the crucial section of economic activity depends on the creation of a viable new model, which is compatible with the inevitable limitations the world will be forced to operate within. According to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a humungous $5.2 trillion per year is required to address the unmet financing needs of SMEs worldwide. Given the existentialist threat that the Covid-19 pandemic represents to these businesses, the urgent need to bridge this gap cannot be overstated.

The need for Fintech and legacy banking to collaborate

Although they were see as disruptors to the status quo until recently, the efficacy of Fintech innovations is not solely restricted to giving individual customers and SMEs access to capital and financial inclusion. On the contrary, according to Capgemini’s Open X Readiness Index – which benchmarks the capability of traditional banks to collaborate with startups – 48% of Gen Y and tech savvy customers are likely to switch their banks, in part due to their inability to integrate well with digital payment platforms. The inability to adopt some of the more flexible and leaner banking and payment options, which Fintech service providers are making available to their customers, could spell disaster for traditional banking. At possibly the most delicate time for the global economy in more than a century, any such upheaval could have catastrophic real world consequences.

Read Also – Defamation of Character by Unfair Victimization

However, such integration had already come up against challenges, even prior to the very sensitive economic environment precipitated by the pandemic. According to the annual World Fintech Report 2020, also issued by Capgemini, there were several hurdles to the closer integration of established banks and Fintech innovators, prior to the pandemic. For instance, the study found that a mere 21% of banks thought their existing digital systems were agile enough to collaborate with the new breed of innovators, and 70% of Fintech companies expressed serious reservations about the culture and organizational structure of their bank partners.

Nevertheless, for the global economy to remain resilient in the face of the current disruption and its aftermath, the wholesale integration of digital payment platforms and banking solutions, into the existing financial system, is inevitable. In a recent report, Amsterdam based VC Finch Capital projects that while some initial pain will be involved for both Fintech disruptors and traditional banks, a very significant upsurge in the digitization of the global banking services will be integral to restoring some semblance of normalcy, post Covid-19.

Agile, low cost, accessible and egalitarian

In the road to recovery, post Covid-19, if those most vulnerable at the bottom of the economic pyramid were to fall down, the entire edifice would collapse. With 36 million unemployment claims reported in the US – ostensibly the world’s leading economy – such a possibility cannot be dismissed as alarmist. At such a time, the sizable injection of liquidity, which governments around the world have initiated, needs to be bolstered by blanket financial inclusion and flexible payment options. It is in this context that Fintech has emerged as an enabler of the most appropriate solutions for navigating the current crisis, as well as ushering in a world of empowered new possibilities, beyond these immediate concerns.

As the Chairman of Innovate 1 Pay and Online Integrated Solutions, Mr Mahmood Ahmadu’s entrepreneurial vision has empowered financial inclusion across Africa. Under his stewardship Online Integrated Solutions has emerged as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for Caribbean and African businesses, and a point of contact between these regions and global markets, particularly the Middle East and Far East Asia.

Views in this opinion-ed are those solely from the guest author 

Fintech – The global pandemic has created new opportunities – Mahmood Ahmadu
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COVID-19 – The UAE Central Bank recently more than doubled the size of the stimulus package for the economy, to deal with the current crisis, while also allowing banks and finance companies to extend the deferment of both principal and interest repayments until the end of the year.

The reserve requirement for demand deposit has also been halved, from 14 to 7 per cent.

This was stated by Mahmood Ahmadu, Chairman of Fintech Solution, during an exclusive interview with Gulf Today, adding that the emphasis is on increasing liquidity in the financial sector and we strongly believe that agile solutions, such as the ones Fintech companies are facilitating, will play a critical role in the expanding the flow of this influx of capital, throughout the entire economy.

Talking about the local market, Ahmadu underscored the positive impact that the ease of money transfer, currency exchange and P2P lending, which Fintech facilitates, is likely to have in the wake of the UAE central bank’s sizable Covid-19 stimulus package.

In contrast to what has been the norm for decades in developed economies, a huge section of the developing world’s population is still underserved by traditional banking mechanisms, with the recent Covid- 19 crisis acting as a dark reminder of the ramification of this disparity.  Although great strides have been made in this regard in recent years – particularly in India, South East Asia, Brazil and some other South American nations – universal global financial inclusion remains an unattained goal.

In this context, the case for Fintech solutions that facilitate electronic transfer of funds, provide basic insurance cover, and extend micro loan facilities, is compelling. For instance, mobile banking, crowdfunding and P2P lending, make it possible for rural innovators and entrepreneurs, in the remotest of areas, to establish small community oriented enterprises. Skilled as well as unskilled workers are able to look for more lucrative employment, further away from home, empowered by quick and easy money transfers to their dependants.  

According to the 2017 Global Findex Database issued by the World Bank in April 2018 – which is the most recent version of this report – marginally over two-thirds of the population in the MENA region are unbanked. More than 60% of the UAE’s current working population is outside the traditional banking system because such institutions find it difficult to work with customers earning less than Dh 5,000 per month.

The UAE’s large low income expatriate worker population sends regular remittances to their countries of origin, and Fintech is emerging as the best avenue to service their needs.   Ahmadu, Chairman of Fintech solution provider Innovate 1 Pay – which has operations in 24 different nations and trading in over 60 – spoke about some of the advantages Fintech solutions have over traditional banking, in servicing some of these niche needs for the unbanked and marginalised communities.

ALSO, READ – Covid-19: Mahmood Ahmadu and other KT’s partners Sends Hope

“Expat remittances from the UAE were around Dh165 billion in 2019”, said Ahmadu. “These funds stimulate considerable economic activity in the worker’s home countries, so easing this process goes beyond simply facilitating the individual. What’s also significant is that, in recent years, a greater proportion of these funds have been transferred through exchange houses and Fintech solutions, as compared to traditional banking channels”.

“These services are even more significant currently, given the huge economic disruption that the Covid-19 pandemic has unleashed. The infusion of these remittances can be the difference between resilience, and the total collapse of a remote community in the current situation, literally a matter of life and death”, he added.

Continue Read From Source – https://www.gulftoday.ae/

COVID-19 – UAE Central Bank’s package supports economy
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DAD-of-five has been left with just 30p in coppers to live off until the end of the month after a “mix up” with his Universal Credit payment.

Adrian Keal, 48, says he can’t afford to put the heating on so instead has to wrap himself up in a duvet to keep warm, reports HullLive.

The unemployed dad from Hull was expecting to be paid £600 Universal Credit on December 27 but instead received nothing for his welfare payment.

Instead, he’s been told he’ll have to wait until January 27 and now he believes that he is at risk of losing his one-bed flat.

Adrian said: “I’m probably going to lose everything. My 15-year-old son has even offered to give me money, which I have obviously refused, it’s embarrassing.”

The Department for Work and Pensions had warned him two days before Christmas that he wasn’t likely to receive any extra cash because he’d earned “too much” that month.

Adrian was paid holiday pay worth £265 on top of his wages of £215 on December 4 from his former employer, where he worked a powder coating job earning £300 a week.

But the DWP say that they have evidence Adrian received £1,337.99 in total between November 20 and December 12, including an advance payment of £620.

He was let go from his job a month before Christmas and signed on to Universal Credit to help him get by.

But critics of the new welfare system say that it has pushed thousands of households further into debt.

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The Sun is campaigning to Make Universal Credit Work by making sure Brits are paid faster, they get to keep more of what they earn and get childcare costs paid upfront.

Adrian says that he told the DWP that the extra holiday pay he’d received from his work wasn’t enough to get him through the festive season.

Now, he’s relying on emergency gas and electric but reckons it won’t last him the month. He only has enough food to last him a week.

“I’ve asked my landlord for an extension [on the rent], but he’s probably going to kick me out and then I’ll be homeless,” Adrian said.

Adrian, who has no savings to fall back on, used his severance pay from work to cover the bills, a new phone and Christmas presents for his son.

He says he tried to get help from the council and the DWP but wasn’t able to get anywhere.

Dad has just 30p after Universal Credit mix-up
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