FinancialTechnology - Oct/Nov. 2014

financialtechnology Card Schemes with African Origins Should Get Priority - Paul Jacquaye, CEO, Clydestone www.ftr-africa.com

Banking | Insurance | Capital Markets

An eMaginations Publication

October/November 2014

2025:

40 Start-up Entrepreneurs Debut @DEMO Africa 2014

The End of Banks as We Know IT

editorialpage

DEMO Africa: Giving Roots and Wings to Ideas‌

w

Brick+House: 17, Yinusa Adeniji Street, off Toyin Street, Ikeja-Lagos

hen, on September 25, 2014, 40 start-ups from Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa mount the African stage to demonstrate ideas, innovations, engage venture capitalists and convince investors on why their ideas should be bankrolled, the market would be expecting the birth of another Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg.

The market would be eagerly waiting for a plethora of ideas that would rock our world, that would change the way we work, the way we live and the way we think. One thing is sure, though; the market would not wait in vain. As DEMO has proved in its 22 years of existence, several innovations that have disrupted the markets were birthed at previous editions of DEMO. What is DEMO Africa? For the uninitiated, pardon my exuberance. DEMO Africa is a flag launch pad for emerging technology and trends. Each year, over 400 people from the world attend DEMO Africa to experience innovation at its birth.

At each DEMO event, hand-selected new products are unveiled to the world for the very first time to global media and corporate acquirers, partners and buyers. In its over two decades, over 50 companies have been acquired by technology giants such as Adobe, Cisco, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Nokia, etc.

Some ideas that got wings and roots from DEMO in the past are Adobe Acrobat, Google's first venture into mobile search, Shopping.com, Palm Computing and Placeware, the foundation for Microsoft Live Meeting, etc.

Welcome to DEMO Africa 2014.

3 financialtechnology

As Nigeria hosts DEMO Africa 2014 in Lagos, this trend continues. While the 40 start-ups step on the big stage to demonstrate their ideas before angel investors and buyers, many initiatives would be endued with wings to soar, to set trends and make the world a better place for you and me.

contents Yele Okeremi:

Story of a Serial Software Entrepreneur 5

smartceo

Card Schemes with African Origins Should Get Priority -PAUL JACQUAYE, CEO, CLYDESTONE

Most of the transactions in Africa are cash based.

This can be attributed to the low penetration of financial services to the masses. The adoption of bank accounts has lagged behind that of mobile telephony

financialtechnology

4

8

X-GENERATION How new Trading Platform Drives NSE towards Emerging Market In a recent presentation on “Technology Strategy for the Nigerian Capital Market,� Executive Director, Market Operations and Technology of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Ade Bajomo, explained that technology will play a significant role in driving the exchange towards emerging market

18

The End of Banks as We Know IT How did the dinosaur become extinct? There is no clear answer.

However, research shows that the animal disappeared from the earth about 65 million years previously

12

Will Southern African Banks Survive ICT Revolution?

It is unarguable that the internet has left an indelible print on the history of the entire human race. The world, as we know it, has changed for many generations unborn because of the role of ICT

15

Nations versus the World A trend that I am watching very closely is the steady rise in Financial Regulations pertaining to global issues. Typical here is national regulators wanting to tax internet transactions. Also, national regulators making

11

interface The logical progression for any country that wants to move to electronic cash is cheque - MD/CEO, PFS, Yele Okeremi

Yele Okeremi:

Story of a Serial Software Entrepreneur

Rarzack Olaegbe

Financial Systems [PFS], a wholly owned indigenous software development company. PFS' innovative solutions are operating several computers, serving numerous clients in Nigeria and 27 African countries.

Some of its cutting-edge software technologies include an integrated account reconciliation solution and electronic payment processing, security and remittance as well as an end-to-end outward and inward cheque clearing solutions among others. Its flagship software, Clirec, a reconciliation solution is

regarded as the catalyst that engineered the company's growth, as most banks in Nigeria currently deploy it.

Clirec received honours for providing complete access to “reconciliation functions and processes with fully integrated accounts reconciliation modules� with multi-currency and multi-lingual capabilities� in 2012. However, through its ingenious software solutions, PFS has successfully positioned itself as a foremost force in the financial software development in Nigeria. This positioning was responsible for the cheque truncation project

5 financialtechnology

O

ne person does not truly build a great company. It takes a community. It takes collaboration with others. It takes openness to do so. That is what Yele Okeremi, a Computer Scientist, did by collaborating with Philip Ayeni, a Chartered Accountant, to start a business entity 20 years ago in the heart of Yaba, a Lagos suburb. Today that business, formerly PEEAARR Consulting, in recognition of its core competence as provider of financial software, metamorphosed into Precise

interface

commissioned by the Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN] in collaboration with Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement Systems [NIBSS], which the company executed.

banks in Nigeria and other markets.

Reports estimated that the average investment for financial software importation annually by Nigerian companies range from $4 billion.

The successful implementation of the project enabled the CBN to truncate the settlement life cycle of a cheque to one day [T+1]. Meaning: cheques presented for settlement are resolved within stipulated date in the country. This exercise is operational in all CBN’s branches and banks in Nigeria. It was a giant leap for the CBN towards the realisation of its cashless policy regime.

However, according to Gartner Inc. worldwide, software-as-a-service (SaaS) revenue is forecast to reach $14.5 billion in 2012, a 17.9 percent increase from 2011 revenue of $12.3 billion. SaaS-based delivery will experience healthy growth through 2015, when world-wide revenue would reach $22.1 billion. Some of the software players that would benefit in this revenue would include Expert Edge, SystemSpecs, Programos, CSA, PFS, Signal Alliance and Infosoft, etc. According to Yele, exposure, discipline and focus are responsible for the company's growth. Despite that, he says, “We are still a small company”. However, the prestigious All World Network and the Tony Elumelu Foundation disagreed. In the foundation's Nigeria Fast Growth 50 companies [Nigeria50] survey recently, PFS is ranked 36th.

“Cheque processes can be extremely fast.

What we did with cheque truncation is to take it beyond the limit. The technology is available, as such cheque truncation can be extremely fast. It is now T+1. We can actually achieve T+0 with the right technology. The CBN knows that the logical progression for any country that desires to move to electronic payment is cheque. The CBN entrusted the cheque truncation process to a Nigerian company.

financialtechnology

6

This shows the confidence CBN reposed in indigenous companies”, Yele informed financialtechnology in Lagos. Aside the CBN’s cheque truncation project, PFS is involved in other offshore projects and agencies such as Microsoft Corporation, Ernst Reiner Gmbh & Co. KG, Germany, Arit of Africa, International Marketing partners, etc. As a member of the Presidential Initiative for development of the software industry and CBN Working Group on automated clearinghouse and cheque truncation, PFS was recognised in 2010 at the fourth IT Edge West Africa Convergence Forum as the “Innovative Leader in Financial Software Solution”. It ranked fourth among top 50 West African IT companies.

Foreign investors had approached the management for stakes, but running the company as a manager and entrepreneur, he says foreign investors have different orientation, which is quite “different from our own”. Besides, he explained, the company engages in responsible

The CBN knows that the logical progression for any country that desires to move to electronic payment is cheque. collaboration. “I am an advocate of evolution, not a big bang”. This is responsible for the steady growth of the company that started in March 1, 1994, twenty years ago. Nevertheless, with the rising business costs, stricter regulations and spiking software acquisition costs, companies are searching for locally developed and supported, environmentalfriendly alternatives. PFS offers these benefits and more, and it is working with

Equally, it got an award for emerging one of Nigeria’s Fast Growth 50 companies that are growing at 100% annually, employing over 6,500 people, 76% of which plan to start another company, which represent over 15 industries in the national economy and 54% of which have helped employees to start businesses.

Tony Elumelu, founder of the foundation, informed that the Nigeria 50 would shine a unique spotlight on the pipeline of fastgrowing businesses led by Nigerian entrepreneur and business leaders, who are driving Nigeria's economic transformation.

Nigeria 50 is poised to generate muchneeded excitement about entrepreneurship and its role in the future prosperity of Nigeria. This is another side of the Nigerian story that needs to be heard, a story of innovation, ambition and success. That is the story of PFS because one person does not build a successful company.

smartceo CEO, SystemSpecs Limited

The Prefferred Just within seven years of its development, Remita, the premium electronic payment platform from SystemSpecs has become the preferred platform deployed by banks, governments, corporate organizations and individuals for epayment, collection and payroll processing. It takes a SmartCEO to build a smart platform that helps corporations and individuals to seamlessly adopt e-payment practice, which is the cardinal objective of the CBN's cashless policy.

7 financialtechnology

John Tani Obaro

banking technology

Card Schemes with African Origins Should Get Priority -Paul Jacquaye- CEO, Clydestone

financialtechnology

8

Paul Jacquaye is a serial entrepreneur, always seeking challenging opportunities as well as pioneering roles, to create new or grow businesses with the aim of creating employment and wealth. Paul has been in the ICT industry for 25 years pioneering innovative ideas and business in the Ghanaian Payment Industry ranging from Transaction Switching and Cheque Codeline Clearing. He is currently the CEO of Clydestone Ghana Ltd, a leading provider of payments systems in Ghana. Clydestone under the G-switch (Global Switch) brand offers a range of innovative products to the financial sector in Ghana and Africa.

banktechnology

As you are aware, most of the transactions in Africa are cash based. This can be attributed to the low penetration of financial services to the masses. The adoption of bank accounts has lagged behind that of mobile telephony. There is a need for governments to work with the private sector to promote “financial inclusion�, which is the latest buzzword in use, to bank the populace.

The mobile telephony providers can propel this drive; however, the jostling for position and relevance in this regard is slowing down penetration. This is where regulation, supervision and ownership need clarity and direction. Whether it is bank-led or mobile-company led approach should be adopted. With different Central Banks adopting different regulatory regimes for mobile banking, it would be a matter of time before the right model is adopted. The failure of Mpesa to flourish in other markets apart from Kenya is a clear example. The mistrust between the banks and mobile companies is another factor.

Who will own the customer? The recent development in Kenya is rather interesting with Equity Banks acquisition of a mobile license; there are very interesting times ahead.

Eventually, l believe the consumer will benefit in the long run. Once

financial penetration is achieved, integration will become more relevant and can help propel growth of African economies as more money will be held in the banking system and movement of people and goods will be much more fluid.

create the enabling environment and supervision, which will allow independent players in the industry to flourish.

The advent of National Switches across the region is laudable; however, they must work hand in What role can independent hand with the independent payment schemes, processors and providers if we are to see switches play in the integration of exponential growth over time. Card e-payment systems in Africa? schemes with African origins must Independent providers of payment complement the foreign ones with systems have a major role to play. priority given to local schemes to The only problem is that regulators enable them grow. are of the view that they must have a monopoly in the payment systems Your company has been in the space. Private sector-led growth is forefront of integration of more sustainable in the long term. I payment infrastructure across believe that the regulators should Africa by interconnecting with Interswitch in Nigeria and Kenswitch in Kenya. What are your experiences, challenges and prospects?

Our integration of G-switch to Interswitch and Kenswitch has been exciting. I see this as a major milestone in the African payment industry. Private switch provider achieving interoperability and convenience for cardholders from Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya.

I believe that we have led the way for cooperation amongst Africans for the benefit of Africans. We hope we can bring more participants in the African payment space to join the trio.

I believe that we have led the way for cooperation amongst Africans for the benefit of Africans. We hope we can bring more participants in the African payment space to join the trio. This in the long run will provide cheaper access to financial services and intermediation. The initial objectives of our interconnection to both switches are being achieved. However, if we can come together to launch one scheme card to operate in all countries, that

9 financialtechnology

w

hat is the role of integrated epayment system in boosting cross-border trades in Africa?

banktechnology

2014 the figure is over 4 billion. We expect to see more growth in acquiring as we sign on more banks for acquiring.

At the agreement signing between Clydestone and Kenswitch to integrate

G-switch to Kenswitch

will be awesome. The benefits will be for all the participants and cardholders alike.

financialtechnology

10

World Bank is promoting the development of national switches across Africa. Is this not a threat to the growth and development of independent e-payment firms?

What roles should national switches play in Africa's e-payment integration?

The World Bank's project is laudable.

The bank expects various governments to establish the necessary payment systems infrastructure that will enable interoperability. I do believe that this will go a long way to aid the private providers to ride on this and offer complimentary services. The national switches should, therefore, ensure that their role should be that of enablers, rather than competitors.

The English speaking West African countries have recorded little or no success in the integration of the regional e-payment platforms compare to their Francophone

counterparts. What is responsible for this and what is the way forward?

I think this has to do with harmonization. As you are aware, the Francophone countries have a common currency and this has worked in their favour. Settlement of transactions are, therefore, simple and straightforward. The English speaking countries have different currencies and this has been a major deterrent. The plan to introduce the common currency, the ECU, has not been achieved. I believe if the introduction of the ECU can quickened then they can achieve their aims in the medium term.

How is China Union Pay acquiring doing on your network? Can you benchmark the transaction’s performance in Kenya and Ghana?

Union Pay transactions are growing significantly. We are seeing 100% growth year on year and this is very encouraging. When we started acquiring Union Pay transactions in 2009, Union Pay had issued just over 2.1 billion cards. However, as at June

We are also working with banks for issuing. With the formation of Union Pay International, Clydestone is now a Principal Acquiring Member and Third Party Service Provider for Switching/Gateway Services, Systems Operation and Terminal Operation for Union Pay Card Issuance and Acquiring. Transactions in Ghana are much higher than Kenya. We attribute this to certain factors of interoperability of devices, which we are resolving. We expect to see significant growth in Kenya in the very near future.

Russia has threatened to promote a rival card association to tackle VISA and MasterCard’s duopoly. Which way for Africa?

The way forward will be the integration of national and private sector switches across the continent.

The national switches in collaboration with other private sector providers must also regulate switching for local currency transactions.

The international card schemes should only process cross-border scheme transactions. Therefore, it is paramount that all local cards must be controlled and switched locally and not internationally. Local cheques and electronic clearinghouse transactions are processed locally, so l believe this should be extended to card transactions. Russia is late compared to what Union Pay and RuPay India, for example, have achieved. However, l am of the view that they can start now.

Barry Cofetzee

barrycoetzee@financialtechnologyafrica.com

Nations versus the World A trend that I am watching very closely is the steady rise in financial regulations pertaining to global issues. Typical here is national regulators wanting to tax internet transactions. Also, national regulators making rulings around Bitcoin.

cheaper on Amazon compared to a local merchant, then they should be allowed to.

Especially if the product is not available in the country. However, this price difference could actually just be caused by evading local taxes. Tax evasion may be illegal.

Bitcoin is designed to work across borders seamlessly. Bitcoin is in essence, electronic cash. However, cash is mostly created and ruled over by each nation state on the planet. So, will the rulers of this national cash allow someone, beyond their control, to operate another form of cash within their national territory?. In most cases the answer is a simple and unequivocal NO. Politicians and Central Bankers are not keen to give up control of the cash in their countries. There are several good and valid reasons for this.

So, national financial regulators are being motivated by their political masters to stop tax evasion by their online citizens and stop the conversion of local cash into electronic currencies and wallets. Domestic merchants are on the side of the regulators. They are definitely losing out to the non tax paying online stores.

This is what you were (hopefully) elected to do by the majority of the citizens within your borders. It is your duty to do this. So if you have a system of consumption tax (VAT, GST, etc) that is law within your borders, why would you let some of your citizens evade this by buying from merchants on the internet which do not obey your rules.

This would be vastly unfair to the merchants within your borders that do (hopefully) obey the rules. Furthermore, these citizens are depriving the national wallet of the tax that they are not paying on their goods. No government likes this.

As you are not paying taxes on goods, their prices at internet merchants will definitely be cheaper than at national merchants who have to charge what the national laws dictate. This is a spiral of death for governments on certain merchants (especially books and music). It is also definitely unfair to not have even playing fields for business.

These problems are obviously bigger in nations where taxes are very high, or where governments are very inefficient and corrupt. It is questionable whether these governments are serving their citizens well and whether they deserve the power and the income they get from their citizens.

From a citizen point of view, the situation is very different. Where there are unreasonable governments, citizens want to move their money to safer places. Even if this means giving it to a company in a foreign country.

Furthermore, if a citizen can buy a product

The tax authorities are on the side of the regulators. Not only do they want to get their consumption tax from the sale of goods, they would like to tax the profits that these internet businesses make from operating in their country.

That is the sad truth. With all our borderless internet and globalised business, the economy of the planet is still defined by the business that goes on in each nation state. The nations that are ahead in these technologies are attracting a huge amount of business in states that are lagging, but giving the taxes to the states that they reside in.

These losing nations are rising in opposition to this obvious imbalance and unfairness. The trouble is, the outcome of this uprising may not be good for anybody. The trouble is that the nation states that are benefitting from this process are promoting the borderless, taxless world that suits them without dealing with the inequality that their system is creating. We have seen this before, and it did not end nicely.

I predict that 2014 is the year that the losers in this system will start fighting back. My only hope is that they will not focus their revenge on their citizens (easy to do), but the nations that are creating this imbalance (much more difficult).

11 financialtechnology

Cash is an important part of the economy of a country. Note “economy of a country�. The nation state is defined. The economy is to be controlled within its borders. It is against every definition to take a portion of the economy and give this over to undefined and unregulated international organisation, or company, that by definition, is probably situated in another country. This is not an unreasonable position if you are a government.

You should be able to regulate and manage the economy within your borders.

This is already going on all over the world.

Amazon and PayPal being the biggest drivers. By funding your PayPal account you are essentially taking cash out of your nation and placing it in an American owned company. You can then use this to buy goods from merchants all over the internet without paying any taxes to your nation.

banktechnology

The End of Banks as We Know IT

Technology is changing practically everything in the world. It has changed banking and will continue to change it as technological innovations continue. But are Nigerian banks well poised to change or will they wait to be left behind?

Rarzack Olaegbe

financialtechnology

12

h

ow did the dinosaur become extinct? There is no clear answer.

However, research shows that the animal disappeared from the earth about 65 million years ago. Scientists debated whether dinosaurs became extinct gradually or all at once. Some claimed the dinosaurs' extinction was caused by biological changes that made them less competitive with other organisms, especially the mammals that were just beginning to appear. On the other hand, it was argued, overpopulation was responsible for dinosaurs' extinction. The theory was

stretched further on the basis that the mammals ate too many dinosaur eggs for the animals to reproduce themselves. Others believed that disease, from rickets to constipation, wiped out dinosaurs. Changes in climate, continental drift, volcanic eruptions and shifts in the earth's axis, orbit, and/or magnetic field have also been said to have wiped out dinosaurs.

Another theory postulated that lack of sunlight, which would kill plants, would have a domino effect on other organisms in the food chain including the dinosaurs. Whatever might be held responsible for the extinction of dinosaurs, it is still around today and could eat

up any organism, living and non-living that fails to adapt to environmental changes. Come on, how could a creature as big and dreadful as dinosaur vanish from the face of the earth? In case you are wondering, let us stretch our imaginations further and throw up some elements that no one expected would evaporate. Aside dinosaur, why did 'the unsinkable' Titanic ship sink? How did the largest, most luxurious ocean liner of its time, crashed into an iceberg on its maiden voyage in 1912, killing over 1,500 of its 2,200 passengers? Why did a colossus like Daily Times newspapers with its spread, government backing and influence cease to exist? The following would answer these

banktechnology

that held the steel hull plates together. Why had it cracked, experts wondered? If the official inquiries were wrong, was the invincible Titanic weak? A few years after the wreck was discovered, the first pieces of the ship were brought to the surface, raising even more eyebrows when they seemed to offer physical evidence that “low-quality steel” might have caused the disaster.

In an article published in Physics World, it was said that metallurgists, Foecke and McCarty, suggested the rivets that held the ship's hull together were not uniform in composition or quality and were not inserted in a uniform fashion. This may have been the result of a cost-cutting exercise and meant that the part of the hull that hit the iceberg was substantially weaker than the main body of the ship.

Threats to Traditional Banks As dinosaurs, DTN and Titanic went under.

Traditional bank brands, as they operate now, are also up against threats that may lead to their extinction. According to Head of Financial Services, PwC Nigeria, Gabriel Ukpeh, in a new report by PricewaterhouseCoopers suggested that between 2025 and 2030, a market economy without banks of the traditional kind might exist.

DTN was printing half a million copies for circulation daily with one title. DTN became a colossus. At its peak, Nigerian government in 1977 took over total control of DTN. It prospered. However, it was bleeding.

Therefore, like all bleeding government’s enterprises with overbearing political pressures, financial impropriety and recklessness, death is a matter of time. In 2004, the Bureau of Public Enterprises [BPE] in line with the resolve of the Obasanjo's administration to shed the weight of nonperforming parastatals and agencies by privatizing them, DTN was sold. It did not recover.

The Titanic What sent Titanic to the bottom of the ocean was not a single factor. It was a chain of factors. One hundred years ago, Titanic, called 'virtually unsinkable' struck an iceberg and sank within three hours, taking many of her passengers and crew with her. In What Really Sank the Titanic: New Forensic Discoveries, Jennifer Hooper McCarty, a materials scientist at Oregon Health and Science University, and Tim Foecke, a scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, argued that it was not the ship's steel that was weak; it was the rivets, the all-important metal pins

For the banks, these threats are coming from one big source, - technology. Already, some technology platforms such as Remita, eTranzact, Quickteller and Paga have become the payment platforms of choice. These platforms offered what the banks could not give, - sheer convenience.

M-Pesa in Kenya has proven quite rightly that bank customers can send and receive cash safely, quickly and cheaply. The success of MPesa in East Africa was attributed to speed, convenience of completing transactions and its ability to reach the region's banked and unbanked population in both the urban and rural areas. M-Pesa offers a branchless banking service and users are able to complete basic banking transactions without visiting a bank branch. If sending and receiving cash is the core reason a bank’s customer visits the bank, then technology would serve that purpose well.

In 'The future shape of banking', the report said the barriers for non-banks to provide

13 financialtechnology

questions. Daily Times On June 1, 1926, Daily Times of Nigeria [DTN] began publishing. It was Nigeria's premier newspaper company and one of the earliest in Africa. In June 1963, DTN became a public company with listed shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange [NSE]. On September 1, 1975, Nigerian government the National Insurance Corporation of Nigeria (NICON) acquired 60% equity of the company. In the 70s, DTN was a household name in Nigeria. It dominated the publishing industry and had several titles circulating in major cities and towns in Nigeria, neighbouring Ghana and Cameroun with offices in London, New York and East Africa. Lagos Weekend, Sporting Times, Business Times, Times Homes Studies, and Times Review, etc were some of the popular titles.

banktechnology

'core' banking services had continued to decline. However, banks retain some substantial advantages to help them to prevent this from happening; banks' brands and reputations remain powerful, shored up by familiarity, experience and regulation.

Banks still have advantages and alternative providers suffer from a lack of trust. However, to be part of the future, banks need to invest heavily, rediscover and reassert their core role in society, and secure the ongoing support of policymakers.

He explained that the biggest danger for banks is if they lose sight of customer transactions to other players in the value chain, thereby, also losing insight into customer behaviours and allowing the power of their brands to diminish. However, in April 2014, the Financial Times reported that Facebook was on the verge of securing approval from Ireland's apex bank to become an 'e-money' institution. With this, Facebook would issue units of stored monetary value that represent a claim against the company.

financialtechnology

14

New non-bank entrants and technological advances will challenge banks' business models and fundamental change is inevitable.

The only question is, how much of banks' traditional territory the new entrants will occupy?

“Banking services will migrate increasingly away from physical, tangible distribution into technology enabled channels. Banks will have to redefine the power of their brands as a less risky and more reliable platform if they are to remain competitive in the fast paced markets of today”, he said.

How a typical Traditional Bank works According to research, the pillars of traditional banking (deposits & loans) rest upon the foundation of capital. All banks need access to capital, which is leveraged with deposits and then prudently converted into loans that generate jobs and economic growth. Once capital is invested, it is leveraged through the collection of deposits that represent the savings or liquid reserves of individuals and businesses. The collection of these deposits is facilitated by the fact that they are insured by

that his saving accounts with the State Bank of India, has been credited with 1,000 rupees. The pharmacist also enters some numbers on his cellphone. The cash on the countertop is now rightfully his, as if he had made an ATM withdrawal, so his bank account is debited 1,000 rupees.

the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).

NDIC was established on 15 June 1988 to strengthen the safety net for the newly liberalized banking sector. Depositors have ready access to their deposits through a number of tools (i.e. checks, debit cards, internet, and other electronic transfers, etc).

The combination of capital and NDIC insured deposits constitutes the basis for money that can be disbursed in loans. However, how many traditional banks give loans to SMEs? End of Money?

In The End of Money, David Wolman wrote about the Missionary, Messenger, Counterfeiters, Loyalists, Patriot, Traitor, Revolutionaries and Emissary. In the Revolutionaries chapter, Wolman shows Sonu Kumar who owns a dusty electronics repair shop on a rutted dirt road west of the Indian capital of Delhi.

A customer hands Kumar two crumpled 100 rupes notes [worth about $5], which vanishes into his shirt pocket. According to the author, until recently those bank notes and Kumar's earnings would have stayed in his pocket or crammed into a hiding spot on his upstairs apartment.

However, on the opposite side of the road from Kumar's shop stands a cluttered drugstore, where the owner, Lakhnlal Sharma, fills prescriptions and sells multivitamins, shampoos and prepaid minutes for cell phones and bank accounts. Therefore, Kumar, 21, walks over to Sharma's store. Kumar places his 1,000 rupees worth of bills on the counter, pulls out his cheap Nokia cellphone, and starts punching few codes [page 163]. A moment later, he receives a text message confirming

Threats from Technology could Force Traditional Banking into Extinction Technology that powers this transaction is being heralded as one of the twenty-first century's most promising weapons in the battle against poverty. Nevertheless, threats from technology like this could eventually force the traditional banks into extinction! As if that is not enough, the Gates Foundation has committed tens of millions of dollars to support a kind of financial innovation that has nothing to do with Wall Street's latest Byzantine products and everything to do with the humble cellphone programme Kumar used to deposit his 1,000 rupees.

In furtherance of that commitment, in November 2010, Melinda and Bill Gates announced a $500 million vow, which would help promote these types of advances in basic financial services, recognizing that merely having the means to “sock money away” empowers people.

Dinosaur's Syndrome Dinosaur flourished for 150 million years. In Nigeria, traditional banks have been around for over 100 years. Banks have a long way to go before they can claim the same sort of success as the dinosaurs. What should the traditional banks do differently? Traditional banks could heed Ukpeh's piece of advice: “…to be part of the future, banks need to invest heavily, rediscover and reassert their core role in society and secure the ongoing support of policy makers”.

Or they can do one of four things: Traditional banks could ride on the wings of technology, become nimble of feet and adopt to change quickly or face extinction. That way, they would be immune from dinosaur's syndrome.

&Markets

ideas

Ian Ndlovu ianndlovu@financialtechnologyafrica.com

Will Southern African Banks Survive ICT Revolution?

It is a controversial issue whether brick and mortar financial institutions will survive the onslaught of fast-paced technological changes. From the look of things, banks as we know them may cease to exist in a few years time. As a student of change in the finance industry, I follow with keen interest the changes that are taking place in the financial sector. As the chair of Microsoft, Bill Gates said: “the world needs banking but it does not need banks.” Obviously honest people who earn their living from brick and mortar banks may not be happy with this grim prediction of Gates.

Nevertheless, one needs to take his prediction quite seriously. Data lend weight to the claims of the software fundi.

ICT has a multi-faceted impact on the banking industry. Over the past seven years, there has been a revolution, which has swept East and Southern Africa like a hurricane, leaving many with broken limbs so to speak in the banking sector. At present the Safaricom spearheaded mobile money project in Kenya, called M-pesa or M-money has nearly 20 million direct subscribers. This statistic excludes those people, economic sectors, government agencies that are indirectly impacted by M-pesa.

number of banks, seeing that they cannot fight the strong tide of technological changes in Zimbabwe are now part of the Ecocash project. Ecocash has saved jobs in declining industries in Zimbabwe such as the snail-mail based quasi-state outfit called Zimpost. According to www.leader.co.za 800 million people in Africa do not have access to bank accounts, but 70 percent do own cellphones.

At a mobile money conference in Tanzania in November in 2012, some industry watchers opined that the mainstream banking sector and mainstream banking services remain untouched by mobile money transactions due to the small to medium scale volumes that they cater for and the attendant security concerns that are involved in conducting transactions via the cellular phone. What such sentiments ignore is that every big or great thing today started small and, that numerous tireless tributaries feed every perennial river. From the foregoing, the current low value or low volume transactions will give way to large volume transactions once the legal frameworks and telecommunication infrastructures are aligned with technology changes. It is understood that the banking industry will change, lending credence to the prognostications of industry watchers such as Gates.

Last week, it was reported that the M-pesa hurricane swept its way through Mozambique. Mozambique as one of the world's lowest per capita countries due to a protracted civil war, which ended in the early 1990s, stands to benefit in terms of a simplified and a faster payments solution. The Econet inspired Ecocash payments revolution with an estimated over two million subscribers out of a potential eight million subscribers has taken Zimbabwe by storm.

Approximately US$150 million is moved in the economy on a monthly basis through Ecocash. A

Accordingly, Wits Business School alumnus, Charles Rowlinson, saw the opportunity to “bank the unbanked and the under-banked” and co-started WIZZIT with Brian Richardson in 2002. In South Africa, the gains of mobile banking have been mixed mainly because at the onset of the e-banking revolution it was erroneously assumed that what the unbanked population lacked was a bank account. It was assumed that the financially excluded needed to be annexed to the operations of the established brick and mortar banking structures. Carmen Nobel says, “In many developing countries it's common for a person to have a mobile phone but not a bank account. In fact, over one billion people fit this description, and the number is only likely to increase.”

This view is corroborated by the findings of Harvard scholar, Professor V. Kasturi Rangan, which maintained that between WIZZIT and M-pesa “the more successful of the two, M-pesa, realized that the intended customers didn't really want bank accounts at all—they wanted effective ways to send money home to their families.”

This is the main reason Vodacom of South Africa is working on modalities to introduce M-pesa in South Africa. The few cases discussed above amply demonstrate that ICT revolution in Africa has achieved much. The sweeping hyper-technology changes still have more to achieve by bettering people's livelihoods and bringing convenience to hundreds of millions of Africans that are operating in the fringes of economic activity.

15 financialtechnology

It is unarguable that the internet has left an indelible print on the history of the entire human race. The world, as we know it, has changed for many generations unborn because of the role of ICT on business, social, political, academic and military operations. The internet is a massive worldwide library whose literary stock is updated virtually every second or nanosecond. It is an open secret that the internet, just like any tool invented by man, can be misused. The same can be said of the internet since it is like a double-edged sword. It may give an organisation a cutting edge or it may cut an organisation to pieces.

It depends on how it is used. This column would look at the contributions of the internet to the banking industry in Southern Africa.

capital market technology

West African Capital Markets Integration will increase Foreign port-folio investors - Kyari Bukar CEO, Central Securities Clearing System, Kyari Bukar, has said by becoming a common market, West African Exchanges will ultimately deepen the liquidity, deepen the opportunity, increase the number of securities available and foreign portfolio investors.

financialtechnology

16

The capital market regulators recently initiated the transaction cost analysis.

What is it all about and what is the objective? t is an initiative that the three entities - the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the CSCS took. The objective is actually to understand the total cost of an investor. This is because as an investor, you buy shares and the reason you are buying shares is to make money. Of course, there are participants, so

i

you pay fees when you are buying shares and also pay fees when you are exiting. Now, we needed to benchmark ourselves against other markets as many portfolio investors look at various markets and allocate their resources to the markets based on many criteria and a lot of that has to do with how free or open to move in and out of the market, etc. But there are also some people who look at the transaction cost before they go in. So in a nutshell, with the transaction cost analysis, we want to understand our total cost and the cost we are talking about is not only the explicit cost that is the amount you pay the broker, the CSCS, SEC, NSE, but even the intrinsic cost. What do I

mean by intrinsic cost? If the bid spread in the market is huge, it is a cost to the buyer. If there is inefficiency in the market and when you buy, you are locked in for a certain period of time or when you sell you are locked in for certain period of time, which is a cost that you are foregoing, because those securities are not available for you to do something else.

So, those could also be intrinsic cost. So, once you understand that, to be competitive, you reposition yourself. It may result in reduction of some of the fees so that we become more competitive. But unless you study it, you may not really know the truth.

So, understanding the cost, understanding

capitalmarkettechnology

to him and you copy us, so that we can follow up on it. The mistake that some people make is that when they see that their account has been sold completely by the stockbroker, they now send me a letter of complaint.

Can you throw more light on the ongoing integration of capital markets in West Africa?

It is the entire capital markets that we are integrating, so, it is not just the stock exchanges. But why are we integrating? It gives people in the West African region a larger market.

For example, the Nigerian capital market is around $100 billion; whereas the capital market of the French speaking West African countries is around $29 billion; Ghana is around $20 billion, so when you get those markets together, it would amount to around $300 billion. So, there would be more opportunities in investing in more securities than you will have if you remain a separate country. Secondly, we would also have an integrated method of going in and out of those countries. It is like the Nigerian passport, it is an ECOWAS passport. What that means is that you necessarily do not need a visa to go to any ECOWAS country.

Now, the regulator in this market is SEC. The self regulating organisation in this market is the NSE. The NSE can punish stockbrokers and their punishment is usually drastic.

When a stockbroking firm is suspended, they won't be able to make a living. So, the first point of call for anybody that has complaint about any of the market operators is the NSE. If you are opening an account for the first time, I would encourage you to start by shopping for the right broker. Don't go and open an account with a stockbroker whose firm has been suspended or whose licence has been withdrawn. By investing your money through the right stockbroking house, you have taken care of most of the significant risk and such people have the credibility of not selling your shares without your permission. But I do agree that we need to have strong sensitisation campaign.

The integration process that we have started is going to be in phases. The first phase is like the common passport. That is, we are going to use that same concept of the ECOWAS passport, so that stockbrokers can go into other markets, but they need to meet the minimum standards. Once they meet the minimum standards, then they have the common passport methodology. It is called the sponsored access process. A sponsored access process means if I am a stockbroker in Nigeria, and a stockbroker in Ghana wants to come to Nigeria to buy shares, I will provide them access on my system. Now, when they come in, it is not that I will be their stockbroker, but the person is coming into Nigeria as a stockbroker. So, it is the risk management system of my country that will deal with him rather than the other risk management system. They can also place their orders directly. That way, they would also have a settlement bank. With that process, our market can have more stockbrokers participating in the market and our stockbrokers can also participate in

Ghana or any of the nine French speaking West African countries in the region.

They have an interesting model, those nine countries. They have a common currency –the CFA; they have one CSC, which is an equivalent of our own CSCS; they also have one central bank and their SEC is also one.

These are nine countries that already have an integrated financial market. So, the only ones that are still separate are the English speaking countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia and others. Therefore, by becoming a common market, we will ultimately deepen the liquidity, deepen the opportunity, increase the number of securities available and foreign portfolio investors. Instead of going to different countries, you can go to one country and have a gateway to all. So, it is an interesting strategy of growth.

There are allegations that some stockbrokers sell investors' securities without their consent. What is the CSCS doing to tackle such situation?

The issue of a stockbroker selling your shares without your consent; whether they do it in this market or in another market, is a fraudulent thing. We have a mechanism for checkmating that and that is our SMS alert system and any transaction that happens on your account, you will be notified by the CSCS via SMS or e-mail. But, you have to provide us your phone numbers and how you do that is through your stockbroker. If you do not trust your stockbroker, you write

Previously, there used be trade alert in the market, but recently the X-alert was introduced; what is the difference between the two?

The old trade alert system is based on a percentage of the value of the transaction and it is on both the buy and the sell sides and it is 0.6 per cent. So, the total trade alert fee is 1.2 per cent of the value of the transaction. We decided that the CSCS and the NSE charge a fixed fee of N4 per transaction.

We decided to use the N4 charge rather than the fixed per cent charge because if use the statistics that we had in 2013 and use the trade alert charge, it would amount to about N1.2 billion. If we use the same amount of transactions and charge N4 per transaction, the total charge for 2013 would amount to less than N12 million. N12 million versus N1.2 billion, you discover that the reduction in fee is massive. So, the new system is far cheaper in terms of transaction cost to the entire market and it is a huge reduction in fees and the quality of transaction is not affected in any way.

17 financialtechnology

the dynamics of both the explicit and intrinsic, then taking an action in the market means that you are taking an informed action, rather than just a blind reaction. So, that is the reason for the transaction cost analysis.

capitalmarkettechnology

capitalmarkettechnology

X-GENE RATION How the New Trading Platform Drives NSE Towards Emerging Market

One of the technologies for capital markets' emergence is robust trading platform.

According to Bajomo, an efficient exchange should have a high performance multi-product, multi-asset

financialtechnology

18

platform, highly scalable to cater for wider participation of growing middleclass and investing segment of the population, supports global investor participation and offers features such as direct market access and automated trading among others. These and other criteria must have determined the choice of X-Gen by NSE when it was considering the replacement of Horizon. The Horizon trading platform had reached its 'end of life' and will no longer be supported by its suppliers from mid 2013. NSE had been using Horizon since 1999.

END OF LIFE FOR HORIZON (OLD TRADING PLATFORM) In 2012, the NSE’s council approved XGen platform programme, the largest and most wide-ranging programme undertaken by the exchange with the core objectives of implementing a state-of-theart trading platform, X-Stream, to replace Horizon, replacing the end-of-day stock manager

the development would reinforce Nigeria's position as a regional financial centre, adding that the new technology serves as a testimony that the NSE has succeeded in achieving one of its key goals of providing 21st century technologies to support the growth of the Nigerian Capital Market

ADE BAJOMO Executive Director, Market Operations and Technology, NSE

OSCAR ONYEMA Chief Executive Officer, NSE a smooth transition. After a 12-month focused, disciplined and intensive project management and implementation involving the NSE, its technical partners and broker dealer community, the new platform went live in October, 2013. An elated Bajomo said

database with a real-time management information (MI) report database; upgrading the information technology (IT) infrastructure within the NSE ; improving IT security policy and controls and streamlining internal processes to facilitate

“We believe that the successful implementation of this modern, worldclass trading technology suite is a significant development that will change the experience of doing business in not only the Nigerian capital market but in Africa”, Bajomo said. Chief Executive Officer, NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, said, “The NSE has always been focused on investing in technology, but with X-GEN, our trading platform is now among the most advanced in the world and that further extends our leadership position in Africa”.

X-GEN: GAME CHANGER X-Gen is a high-performance, robust and scalable, multi-asset, multi-market matching trading engine. It has a highly flexible and configurable market structure that can be enhanced to support the auctioning process and trading of Treasury Bills, a wide range of Fixed Income securities (including FGN Bonds), Equities, Exchange Traded Funds, Commodities and Derivatives.

Based on NASDAQ OMX's proven X-Stream technology, X-Gen will favourably position the NSE as having the fastest trading engine in Africa. Investors, through stockbrokers, will have real-time access to market prices, their portfolios and will be able to execute market orders in near real-time on a wide range of devices including smart phones.

This will encourage wider participation of the growing middle-class and investing segment of the Nigerian population as well as support global investor participation.

8 Reasons NSE Change the Old Trading Platform

8

REASONS

1

The former trading platform reached its 'end of life' and will no longer be supported by its suppliers from mid 2013.

5

2

Opportunities for automation (straight through processing) will be lost, leading to poor level of price transparency and operational efficiency for both investors and operators as activities outside of trade matching remain largely manual.

6

3

Opportunities to scale the market with more companies, achieve $1T capitalisation and increase the retail investor base, reaching out to the rural areas will not be possible.

4

The Exchange will lack the ability to offer more products (and especially hedging products) such as Options and Financial Futures, required for a fully functional capital market.

7 8

The Nigerian Capital market's aspirations to move from frontier to emerging market status, WFE membership and inclusion in the MSCI Emerging market index, all critical for attracting significant order flows and competing with the leading African (an emerging market) Exchanges, will not be achieved.

Nigeria's Vision 2020 for the capital market will not be realised and its current position as the leading capital market in West Africa jeopardised in the medium term as other Exchanges, such as Ghana, continue in their steady technology investments.

Opportunities to diversify the income base that can be used to grow the Exchange (such as market data) will be lost.

The uptime and operational viability of the Exchange will be significantly impacted without investments in modern business continuity approaches, with detrimental impact on not just the market but the wider economy.

19 financialtechnology

i

n a recent presentation on the “Technology Strategy for the Nigerian Capital Market” Executive Director, Market Oper ations and Technology of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Ade Bajomo, explained that technology will play a significant role in driving the exchange towards emerging market. “A critical prerequisite for frontier market emergence is enabling technology, facilitating operational efficiency within the markets and their ecosystems”, he said.

insurance technology Congratulations on your first solution in Africa's largest economy, Nigeria. Why did it take MicroEnsure so long to work in Nigeria, being the largest and most dynamic economy in Africa? e're very happy to launch in Nigeria. As you know, MicroEnsure has been coming to Nigeria over three years. This market research and development period was the longest lead-time we have had in any market, but it was intentional; we wanted to ensure that we had the right partners and the right strategy in the market. Nigeria is an exciting and dynamic economy; we had to make sure we got it right from the start, so we took our time.

w

However, after our exciting launch first week in August 2014 with Airtel and Cornerstone, supported by the National Insurance Commission, we are certain it was worth the wait. We are also looking forward to launching products very soon with other partners such as microfinance bank, Credit Direct Limited with insurers such as FBN Life and others. We want to support the growth of insurance for every Nigerian.

financialtechnology

22

This is the first time you will come to market with two-in-one solution - life and hospitalization insurance. What informed your switch of strategy?

It is true. We often launch either stand-alone products with our telecom partners, as in Malawi, Pakistan and Bangladesh or three-inone products, as in Ghana and Burkina Faso.

With Airtel and Cornerstone, we felt that life and hospitalization cover offered a clear, reliable set of benefits that the everyday person would be excited to enjoy, and to share with their loved ones. The message of our product is easy: just dial *259# on Airtel to register, then top up N1,000 or more on your Airtel line, and the next month you will enjoy free life insurance and hospital cash cover.

Keep topping up each month with Airtel and you

can enjoy cover every subsequent month; in short, use more Airtel, get more insurance! You can enjoy up to N500,000 of free life cover and up to N50,000 of free hospital cash cover, and it's really free - no gimmicks. If you top up N1, 000, none of that airtime is taken away. Airtel pays for your insurance cover free. Airtel simply wants to reward its loyal customers with a valuable insurance cover that will help their customers in time of need. No one knows what could happen, but with Airtel Insurance and Cornerstone, the future is assured.

What differentiate your free live cover from other products like Yello Cover, Padi4Life, etc that exist before your launch?

The microinsurance market in Nigeria is becoming very exciting. However, our product stands apart from all the rest. First, it's free and is the only mobile insurance product that is truly free in the market. Secondly, the hospital cash cover pays out for any hospitalization of three nights or more at any hospital recognised

by NHIS, for any medical reason, with no exclusions. If you stay at any hospital for three nights or more, it does not matter which illness Airtel Insurance, underwritten by Cornerstone, will pay you money. We want to show Nigerians that insurance can really work without the wahala that insurance customers usually experience before making their claims.

Thirdly, our product does not require the complex documentation that often must be presented before your claim is considered. With Airtel Insurance, you just call 121 on Airtel, and we will start your claim. MicroEnsure will work with each claimant to bring documentation that is accessible and reliable for claims. Other schemes require seven or eight documents to prove a claim; for most claims, we only require one or two documents as evidence, since in many rural environments, claims documentation is very difficult to get. Our product is the first one that is truly open to all Nigerians.

Fourthly, our coverage levels are higher than our competitors. Our competitors only offer N100, 000 for life cover whereas we offer up to N500,000. Likewise, one of our competitor's

schemes only pays out N35,000 for medical claims and it is paid only if the hospitalization was due to an accident. In our case, we cover hospitalizations that result from both accident and natural illness; and we offer up to N50,000 in cover.

The reality is that illnesses lead to hospitalization about ten times as much as accidents do, so our product is designed to pay claims, not to avoid them. What is more, though our coverage levels are higher, our product is cheaper, even free. So our competitors charge, at least, N3,500 per year for their cheapest products, we charge the customer nothing, just request their loyalty to Airtel.

Is your hospitalization insurance a health insurance scheme? What differentiates it from Yello Mobile Health recently launched

insurancetechnology

- Peter Gross, Regional Director Africa, MicroEnsure Peter Gross, Micro-Ensure, Africa Regional Director, the world's No.1 micro-insurance provider, in this interview with FEMI ADENIRAN, spoke on Airtel Insurance two-in-one solution and how it will change the way insurance is sold and bought in Nigeria. Excerpts.

by MTN Nigeria?

We welcome all competition in the market, as we believe that competition is best for Nigerian consumers. Yello Mobile Health is a great product, and we are happy it has launched. It costs N12, 000 per year, however, it is only accessible to the top 3-5% of the economy: those who are accustomed to having and paying for insurance. With our free product, we expect to provide millions of Nigerians with their first insurance policies, and then when they claim after any hospitalization of three nights or more, they will receive money - as much as N50, 000, depending on their Airtel airtime recharge from the previous month.

We are not paying medical bills; the customer will still have to do so on his/her own. However, when one receives the free insurance benefits from Airtel and Cornerstone, he/she will have

seen that insurance can really work, and won't have had to pay even one kobo as insurance premium. One will not have to read a long list of insured illnesses to see if his/her illness qualifies, as in typical insurance policies, he/she will simply receive the cash when he/she claims after any hospitalization of three nights or more.

Through Airtel Insurance, we will build a unique profile of millions of everyday Nigerians who have never been insured. We will ask them what covers they would like to have in the future, and moving forward we will be able to launch health insurance covers that offer more benefits, not only hospitalization, as we are covering now. In order to offer better covers to more Nigerians in the future, though, we will need to build the customer base and risk profile that only Airtel Insurance will allow us to build. Therefore, this way, we look up to Yello Mobile Health as our

What is the role of each of the ecosystem in this scheme? Micro-Ensure, Airtel and Cornerstone Insurance and what are the benefits to each party?

Airtel and Cornerstone have been great partners for MicroEnsure in this initiative. Airtel is the marketer of the product; they are known and trusted by Nigerians, and this product, we all hope, will help them to become the most loved brand in Nigeria.

Cornerstone, meanwhile, is the licensed underwriter bearing the risk of the product. As a trustworthy, well-capitalized and professional insurance company, they are truly the bedrock of the product and they will pay valid claims quickly. MicroEnsure, meanwhile, is the back office of the product: as a microinsurance service provider, we provide technical support and insights from our global microinsurance experience to ensure that Airtel Insurance works as advertised.

What are your milestones in countries you are currently operating in Africa?

We are currently serving over six million people across all our operating markets in Africa, and over 11 million worldwide. We have grown over 500% in Africa in 2014 alone, and we are proud to be the fastest growing insurance organisation on the continent by outreach. Having launched large products with Airtel, Barclays and other top brands across Africa, so far, in 2014, the future is bright for both MicroEnsure and the customers we serve. We hope to bring partnerships that are even more exciting to the market in the coming months. Therefore, although it took us three years to come to Nigeria, this launch is not the end of the story. It is just the beginning. We welcome any partners who want to find out how insurance can make a difference for their customers.

22 financialtechnology

Airtel Insurance: Reward to Loyal Customers

"big brother", so to speak, as it offers outpatient care as well as inpatient care. However, we believe we will be able to build more health products over time with ever-increasing benefits that cover many more Nigerians for a much lower price - that is our goal.

insurancetechnology

Seven Reasons Nigeria Has Low Insurance Penetration INSURERS ARE RISK-AVERSE

1

Nigeria insurers are risk-averse. While this bodes well for underwriting, it is an unfortunate disposition in terms of growth and innovation. Other industries face risk, banks face risk, telecoms face risk, etc and yet insurers act as though theirs is the only industry that is exposed, as though they face too many embedded hurdles to innovate as fast as other industries.

Thankfully, regulation is not one of those hurdles.

NAICOM has been on the leading edge of micro insurance regulation in Africa and has shown real willingness to help the sector change. Only a few insurers in Nigeria, though, have embraced the opportunities, thus far.

RELUNCTANCE TO EMBRACE ICT

financialtechnology

22

FAULTY ASSUMPTION ABOUT MICRO INSURANCE

POOR DELIVERY CHANNELS

Faulty assumptions in the insurance community have ultimately led to faulty products such as low-value credit life products: 0.5%-6+percentage of loan; heavy conditions and exclusions, which erode consumer trust; insurance processes that do not account for rural realities and administrative systems that cannot handle millions of clients.

UNDUE INFLUENCE OF UNDERWRITERS

Delivery channels remain the biggest single constraints to insurance development in Nigeria.

Existing delivery channels often do not recognise opportunities that exist in micro insurance or the secondary benefits. Mobile, cards and online channels would help address insurance industry distribution challenges.

TRUST QUESTIONS

5

Against global best practices, underwriters run insurance companies in Nigeria, and that is plainly hampering growth. Telecoms have grown so large so quickly not because they are especially good at providing communication services - Nigerian cell phone users know this too well - but rather they have grown because they excel at marketing, at meeting customer needs, at creating aspirational products and communities that users want to join. Insurers need to take this same approach, using people inside their businesses who are up to date on technological changes, in order to meet the challenge and opportunity represented by ICT.

6

Insurance penetration is low in Nigeria because on the buying side people think insurance products are too expensive, they do not trust the insurers enough; they think insurance products are not available and they feel that no one has explained the products to them.

ABSENCE OF BRANCHLESS BANKING & INSURANCE

4

Only a few insurers in Nigeria, though, have embraced the opportunities provide by technology or ICT, thus far. Part of this has to do with perceptions regarding huge costs of integrating ICT. Nigerian insurers believe that technology means a revamp of IT systems, and they shy away from what they perceive as a multi-million-dollar price tag.

Evolving customer technologies such as online distribution channels, mobile devices, price comparison websites, social networking, customer analytics and predictive modeling will determine how well a carrier will survive in the insurance industry in future.

3

2

7

Branchless banking represents a significantly cheaper alternative to conventional branchbased financial services that allow financial institutions and other commercial actors offer financial services outside traditional bank premises by using delivery channels like retail agents, mobile phone, etc.

Financial inclusion such as insurance and banking services is growing in most countries, but often not because of the expansion of conventional banking channels such as branches and ATMs.

African Insurers Must Address Looming Technology Challenge The African Insurance Organisation has long warned that lack of ICT infrastructure is holding the African insurance market back. The additional challenge of getting legacy systems to provide improved risk management and mobile services is forcing insurers to rethink their systems’ strategy. Head of African Operations for SSP, a leading provider of insurance technology to insurers across the continent, Rhys Collins, says modern technology overcomes these challenges and this is increasingly drawing new players into the African insurance market. Both Hollard and Sanlam, for example, have had good success in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania,

Zambia, Botswana and Nigeria and are believed to be eyeing other opportunities across the continent. “The tighter regulatory and governance requirements are good for the industry but the flipside for insurers is that many will need to make major changes to their administration systems”.

As well as regulatory changes, SSP says the growth in mobile is the other key trend to watch in the African insurance market. Unlike other markets, the African consumer is by-passing the desktop internet connection and going directly to hand-held devices. “With the likes of MPesa and Fundamo processing billions of

dollars in transactions every year, and mobile use in Africa continuing to grow at a rapid pace, insurers need to raise their game.” He believes that to deliver insurance products and services effectively on the ground, insurers and managing agents need a strong core insurance system and ICT infrastructure in place. “There's no denying that Africa has entered the age of mobile. Insurers and managing agents need to consider and embrace this and use the many advantages it offers to enhance their offering, or stand the risk of being left behind. To do this, they need a modern, flexible insurance solution”.

Obviously, this is easier for new start-ups, but for firms with existing legacy solutions, complex and risky transformation projects are not always popular in boardrooms. However, by adopting a gradual approach to legacy modernisation such as SSP's Enhance and Evolve approach, insurers can address their most urgent business priorities proactively. “They can extend the life of their existing systems and can be only replaced when the time is right, in line with their long-term strategic priorities”, concludes Collins.

40 Start-up Entrepreneurs Debut @ DEMO Africa 2014 DEMO Africa 2014 will again launch 40 of the most innovative start-ups in Africa and highlight some new and best technology innovations from the continent. The 40 finalists have gone through three rigorous screening processes with the final vetting and adjudication done by a pan-African panel of judges comprising entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and academia.

Judges are Dele Akinsade, Bob Mbori, Victor Okigbo, Lukonga Lidunda and Martin Butler.

Others include Rebecca Enonchong, Stephen Gugu, Ali Hussein, Muchiri Nyaga, Toby Shapshak, Moses Sitati and Richard Tanksley.

Over 400 compelling applications were processed, which were short-listed to 242 ventures before selecting the final 40. These ventures address opportunities in diverse sectors such as agriculture, health, education, manufacturing, retail, media & entertainment. Others are communication, transport and logistics, energy, finance, banking, water and sanitation and waste management as well as recycling. On September 25 and 26, these 40 entrepreneurs will present individual plan to a global audience of investors, media, strategic buyers, C-level executives and other entrepreneurs.

Nigeria leads with a large chunk of the final 40, followed by Kenya, Ghana and Egypt. Rwanda, Tanzania, South Africa and Ethiopia have two representatives each, while Tunisia, Benin, Cameroon, Uganda and Zimbabwe have equally earned their space at the DEMO Africa platform.

BUSINESS

DESCRIPTION

CEO

CONNECT FINANCE

Allows companies to manage their finances, create invoices, quotations, sales orders, payments, etc

ASIM

An integrated tool with QuickBooks and SAP Business One to produce rich, real-time business intelligence

Mark Migue Mwaura

Kenya

CHURA

Allows interoperability between different mobile networks in a multi-SIM environment

Stephanie Gaku

Kenya

CRIBPARK

A catalogue of home designs, a web shop, and projects management tool

Oladapo Ayodeji

Nigeria

CUBE

Enables anyone (whether individual or business entity) to accept card payments in person with their phone

Titi Obala

Nigeria

FEEDBACKPLUS

Allows customers give feedback to different organizations online or through a mobile app.

Omoniyi Falodun

Nigeria

FOODSTANTLY

An online marketplace which provides customers with fresh and cooked food + home delivery services

Uchay Ariola

Nigeria

HUTBAY

A platform that helps real estate consumers find and share vital information about real estate, mortgages and agents

Olatunji Owolabi

Nigeria

INSTACARE

Enables real time verification and authentication of beneficiary's health insurance

Michael Ike

Nigeria

INTEGRATED MEDICS

A web based application package to computerize any large-scale hospital

Oladapo Gbenle

Nigeria

IROFIT

Mobile card payment system that allows merchants to accept card payments without an internet connection

Omoniyi Olawale

Nigeria

JIFUNZA

Provides everyone equal access to the learning, loving and LOL that digital content offers

Derek Blair

Rwanda

KITIWA

Helps ordinary Africans send and receive money using the bitcoin technology

Nikunj Honda

Nigeria

LOCNAME

An application that gives a short, unique name to your address, which you can share easily in just 2 seconds

Zeinab Alashry

Egypt

MATIBABU

A phone application for early, non-invasive malaria diagnosis with a custom piece of hardware (Matiscope)

Gitta Brian

Uganda

MERGIMS

An online platform that will enable African immigrants to pay tuition fees, airtime and utility bills for their loves ones back home

Mihire Louis - Antine

Rwanda

MOBILEJOBS (MJOBS)

web and mobile job alert and recruitment service

Solomon Bleay

Ethiopia

MUZIK

A virtual assistant for feature phones

Patrick Mveng

Cameroon

VOTO MOBILE

A mobile phone notification and survey platform

Kevin Schuster

Ghana

Tope Olutola

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

Nigeria

4 0 S TA R T U P E N T R E P R E N E U R S BUSINESS

DESCRIPTION

CEO

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

MYECOMPUS.NET

An online teaching and learning platform

Cecil Nukator

Ghana

NERVE

Delivers cost effective, higher quality and mobile convergent smart devices and services

Silas Okwocha

Nigeria

NIKWELI

A mobile-to-web job matching platform that connects employers and job seekers for lower skill, “blue collar” type positions

Tiffany Tong

Tanzania

ONLINE HISAB

A cloud based accounting package for Ethiopian SMEs that are looking for an affordable and easy to use solution

Asmeret Gebre

Ethiopia

ORADIAN

A cloud based core banking system for microfinance

Antonio Separovi

Nigeria

PAYSAIL

A simple way for businesses and accountants to better manage payroll

Osborn Kwarteng

Ghana

PAYSAIL

A ride sharing technology platform offering monthly subscription transportation service for daily commuters

Karim El Mansi

Egypt

PLIBY

An education technology company focused on local content for digital devices

Ogunlana Olomide

Nigeria

SAISAI

A wireless mesh network distributing free access to wireless hot spots in public areas and public transportation

Christopher A. Manzero

Zimbabwe

SHAMBA TECHNOLOGIES

Renewable technology company that designs domestic power products for families in Africa without power

Oliver Kynaston

Tanzania

SMARTPESA

Allows merchants to accept credit card payments using a mobile phone, comprising low cost card reader, app and server-side processing

Barry Levett

South Africa

An agribusiness solution designed to shorten the distribution channels of agricultural produce while facilitating fast trade between farmers and their prospective buyers.

Mbuvi Nyamai

Kenya

SPACEPOINTE

An e-commerce marketplace which focuses on the African retailer

Sayu Abend

Nigeria

SPELLAFRICA INITIATIVE

A set of proprietary apps for all Smartphone operating systems.

It is a soft phone running on your current Smartphone

Elvis Austins

Nigeria

Delivers innovative software solutions for Tech-based service providers including Telecom operators, Internet Service Providers, Cloud-based service providers, and pay TV

Mohamed Esmat

Egypt

SPELLAFRICA INITIATIVE

A digital collection of African stories for kids and eCommerce retail site for animation inspired items

Brian Asingia

Kenya

SPELLAFRICA INITIATIVE

A digital collection of African stories for kids and eCommerce retail site for animation inspired items

Brian Asingia

Kenya

VALURAHA TRADER

A platform that simulates the African Financial Markets, enabling one to interact with various investment instruments under actual market conditions using virtual money

Betty Mutimba

Kenya

VIGO

A fully responsive website building tool allowing African entrepreneurs and business owners to create their own website from any device, including a feature phone

Carl Wallace

Kenya

WHAT’SIN

Mobile application platform service allows consumers with chemical allergies to instantly find the correct information when they scan a product UPC

Wassim Zoghlami

Tunisia

SOKONECT

TELECOSYS

SmartPesa Seeks Strategic Partners in New Markets -Barry Levett, co-founder, SmartPesa, South Africa Journey so far The journey has been smooth through prototyping and development but the transition to a commercial enterprise is always tricky.

Obtaining the first major client is a milestone and key that we deliver beyond expectations so that other financial institutions can adopt our technology.

that major networking opportunities will pop up.

Proven team of developers We have a great development pipeline and a team that has proven it can deliver. That is our focus right now: to continue to build the business and make it more valuable. We will happily discuss acquisitions when it arises. But, it is not our focus.

SmartPesa platform is the lowest cost and most flexible system of its kind. It supports wide range of card readers and back-end payment systems; no major changes are required by implementing banks' infrastructure. We have a powerful and adaptable merchant information and management system that provides analytics up-to-date information to merchants.

Self-funding The development of the solution has been ongoing for over a year. We incorporated our company seven months ago, and transferred all intellectual property to the company. So far, we have selffunded the business and the two co-founders hold the shares.

Seeking strategic partners DEMO is an important milestone for us, as we plan to use the platform as a launch pad for our product internationally. We seek strategic partners (financial institutions) to take SmartPesa into new markets. DEMO will, undoubtedly, attract senior investors who are interested in Africa and the emerging markets and so we are confident

Co-founders We are two co-founders. Thorsten Neumann is the technical lead and main system developer. Barry Levett is the business and financial lead. Our background is from the financial services with over 40 years combined experience. Thorsten handles technical while Barry manages international merger, acquisition and investment management.

Chura Enables Subscribers Navigate MNOs, Mobile Money Carriers with one SIM

– Byron Sitawa, CEO, Chura, Kenya

Valuable entrepreneurial lessons The journey has been exciting. Our start-up has given us the opportunity to exercise our creativity and taught us valuable lessons along the way. The company is incorporated, jointly owned by five co-founders and has been in existence for 15 months. Our services have been available since December 2013.

Forging strategic partnership We expect to network with industry leaders, investors and professionals. We are hoping to forge partnerships that will help in growing our brand with the aim of releasing it to other African markets.

Preparing for eventuality

We are aware that over 50 demonstrating companies at DEMO were acquired in the last four years alone, hence, are you prepared for such eventuality?

We enable sharing and access of airtime, mobile money across disparate network We are linking mobile users to available mobile networks and their services from their single SIM card of choice. We allow sharing and access of airtime and mobile money across disparate network operators systems. We do this in an efficient and convenient way.

Team leader My name is Byron Sitawa. I am a systems support and analyst at Chura Limited. An Industrial Chemistry graduate from the University of Nairobi. I am passionate about applying technology to solve immediate problems in the community.

Nerve, Best Smartphone for Africa by Africans - Silas Okwoche, co-founder, Ideacentric It is time for Africa It has been an adventurous journey, so far. There were days that even getting a photocopy done was a budgetary challenge, and of course, there were many sleepless nights coding and designing, but it has been fun. We are closer than ever to the break of dawn. Our company, Ideacentric, has a passion to provide tailored, high quality mobile devices for the next billion people in Africa. These tools will allow our people to gain greater personal productivity and increased participation in the Information Age, which will allow them to solve problems facing our communities.

Over the last 19 months, we have constructed some of the most innovative indigenous smartphone and mobile services that fit the lifestyle of the population in emerging nations. The brand name of our device line is Nerve. With Nerve, we wish to communicate a show-andtell message that inspires courage, audacity and effrontery in our people. Innovation that happens in other parts of the world can happen here. It is time for Africa!

Small but agile team We started in late 2011 with in-house mobile device product development and bill-paying web application services for diverse clients. We are structured as a limited liability company with a small but agile team that even amazes me with how we shuffle core hardware/software development with business development skills (it is a start-up thing I guess). We also have an advisory board with veterans in the technology industry. With success in current talks with local and foreign investors, our board will expand and become formidable. Our team wakes up every day and spends every breathing moment working on mobile products to improve the quality of life in emerging nations.

We have developed three convergence smartphone devices and a lowcost media server in our Nerve line, which would debut at DEMO Africa 2014 along with our tailored mobile services.

Taking Nerve to the public For us, DEMO Africa serves as a hard deadline to make sure we bring all the awesomeness we have been developing behind the scenes into the public eye. The event is a driver for us. What we expect from DEMO Africa is a critical mass of potential investors and partners when we get on stage. And we believe this expectations will be met.

Innovating and moving towards IPO Over vision is to be instrumental in building a foremost global technology company of African origin. We want our story told like those

of InfoSys, Alibaba and Google. We are, thus, open to opportunities that bring stellar growth. As a start-up co-founder, one gets attached to his "baby" and so, I naturally would lean more towards innovating and growing to the point of an IPO rather than an outright acquisition.

Crafting the best smartphone for African users Most phone makers develop their products with the western customers in mind and sell what they can in Africa. We have taken the reverse approach to construct what we believe to be the best smartphone for African users. We designed it in Lagos and currently manufacture offshore but more of Nerve's production process will be done locally from next year and will grow as we achieve scale. Our devices are based on two unique propositions: Desktop convergence and relevance mobile services. Desktop convergence essentially means that finally one costeffective device can provide PC-like productivity for the masses in Nigeria and beyond. Our target customers currently do not own PCs and most likely still use feature phones or just need a consummate device.

We have, thus, engineered our smartphone models to grant varying degrees of these convergence features. For instance, the Nerve Nile (all our devices are named after African natural heritages) is enabled with a full Linux OS available alongside our custom Android OS and the device can be paired wirelessly with any HDMI screen to serve as a computer.

On the mobile services side, we offer a content distribution (music, audio, books, etc), local app discovery and a cloud storage service. So, with a Nerve phone, a user has more ways to employ his device to improve work or play as well as front line access to local content and cloud storage. Therefore, Nerve is a device for Africa by Africans that allows you to connect and enjoy a richer digital world.

Co-founders I am Silas Okwoche. I co-founded and run Nerve in Lagos, Nigeria.

Before Nerve, I was involved in a product development and web/cloud services deployment for government and SMEs. I have built up an impressive list of clientele including Federal Ministries of Justice, Educations and local partners for HP, Oracle, etc and many SMEs. Our current Nerve team has a combined experience of over a decade in various aspects of technology and business. I have a degree in Engineering from Ahmadu Bell University [ABU] with an international MBA in view from BSN. I have taken courses in project management from PMI and entrepreneurship from Stanford University. I enjoy techie work but I still find time to read extensively, play lawn tennis and do fancy cooking.

With Foodstantly.com, Food Sellers Get Access to 60million+ Nigerians Online - Uche Ariolu, CEO/Founder, Foodstantly

Buying and selling food online Foodstantly is an online marketplace for food. We enable the buying and selling of food online. We provide farmers, food traders and restaurants with the technology and business solutions to set up online shops and sell directly to consumers. Consumers get easy to use mobile web interface to shop for foodstuff, farm produce and meals direct from farms, traders and restaurants.

With our services, consumers save time and avoid traffic hassles by taking delivery of foodstuff, farm produce or cooked meal in the comfort of their homes or offices. It has been a challenging journey. We have learnt a lot. We have made mistakes and learnt from them and working hard to build a product that will simplify the way Africans shop for food and farm produce.

It has been more challenging being self-funded, however, we anticipate access to investors through our selection among the top 40 tech start-ups in Africa. We need to scale. We have validated our products, and we are acquiring more registered users and sellers. However, we have to really tap the market and realize the full potential of our business and grow this to be the Amazon of food in Africa. Currently, we have users registered across the country as well as sellers registered across the country. We have farmers, traders and restaurants in Lagos, Kaduna, Jos , Abuja, Port Harcourt and other cities selling on our platform to bulk or retail buyers within and outside their states. It's a B2C and B2B Platform. This is new in Nigeria, so we are still learning and still building our product to simplify access to food and food distribution in Nigeria and Africa at large.

Ready to cook, ready to eat The company was incorporated in June 2013. However, the platform began testing late January 2014. It's a limited liability company. At present, we have two products line: Ready to cook: which is for consumers to buy foodstuffs and farm produce online direct from farmers and food traders. Ready to eat: this is for restaurant discovery and online meal ordering where consumers in the comfort of their offices and homes order food from restaurants, fast food operators, caterers, and it's delivered to them. We have a third product line in the making.

New opportunities, partnerships, mentorship Already we are receiving world-class mentorship that has really given us new

insight to doing business. We expect our selection among top 40 for Demo 2014 to open up new opportunities, partnerships, mentors, board membership and expose us to potential investors to grow the business beyond what we have now.

Simplifying how Africans shop for food Well, our focus is to build on our vision and grow this business to something that can affect the lives of Africans and simplify the way Africans access and shop for food. If an acquisition is aligned with that goal and vision, then my board may discuss it and decide. We are giving food-sellers access to over 60 million Nigerians, who are active online We remove the hassles, stress, cost and inconvenience that consumers experience in accessing and shopping for food all over Africa. For the sellers we give them the technology and business solutions to sell to more customers, irrespective of physical barriers. We are giving them access to over 60 million Nigerians who are active online and this is done at no cost. Now farmers can cut out middlemen and sell to consumers, thereby, driving down the cost of food. Traders in the market can receive orders on their mobile phone via SMS and dispatch to consumers who may be busy professionals in the office. Now restaurants can reverse the norm by meeting the consumers at their workplace or home instead of waiting for consumers to come to them.

Barrister at food I am Uche Ariolu. I am a lawyer but a serial entrepreneur at heart. I love using technology to solve problems in our society and grow that into scalable business.

I am a graduate of the University of Calabar and the Law School and a product of Fate Foundation aspiring entrepreneurship programme. I have been a player in the ICT outsourcing industry for years and have set up a series of ICT and food based business from my university days. One of my ventures is www.ticketmypal.com, which is a mobile web platform for event discovery and online ticket sales. It enables event organizers, musicians, comedians, seminar organizers and companies to PoS, manage and monetize their events, shows, seminars and conference. They can sell ticket online to attendees. It allows them to reach more attendees who can buy or access their events just by buying tickets online. They also spend less on promotions. I am the CEO and founder of Foodstantly.com, which aims to be the Amazon for food in Africa.

SpellAfrica Initiative Gives English Lessons via Mobile Devices - Elvis Austins, CEO, SpellAfrica, Nigeria

Passion, dedication and resilience That journey has been okay, with lots of difficulties. Just like every other start-ups that are incubated in an emerging continent like Africa, we have had our difficult times, but passion, dedication and resilience have kept us going.

looking at getting adequate publicity. I am also looking at raising funds and networking with strategic partners. We are quite aware that over 50 demonstrating companies were acquired in the last four years alone and we are prepared for such eventuality. I guess that is the dream of every start-up CEO.

Hybrid social enterprise We started in late 2010 and registered in March 2011. The SpellAfrica Initiative is a hybrid social enterprise. We currently have three products in the market all of which align with our mission of helping African youths to learn better English skills.

English lessons via mobile devices We are providing English lessons via mobile devices for the purpose of developing young Africans

Raising funds and networking with strategic partners For me, DEMO Africa is a big opportunity for start-ups to showcase their work to the rest of the world. My expectations are quite big. I am

An enthusiastic social entrepreneur I am Elvis, the CEO. I am an enthusiastic social entrepreneur, a fellow of several social entrepreneurship fellowships. I am a member of the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL).

Pearl Dream Digital Ecosystem Illustrates Stories - Franco Abbott, CEO, The Pearl Dream, Kenya

Magic in Africa is in the culture The Pearl Dream was incorporated in April 2013. It is established on our strong belief that the magic in Africa is in the culture, connections and heritage of its people. We launched earlier in 2014 with the goal to connect the billions in the continent and hundreds of millions in the Diaspora through digitizing the old tradition of African storytelling. Since then our team has created over 100 authentic African stories.

Number 1 brand for accessing authentic African experiences globally The Pearl Dream is just over a year old. The company's goal is to be the No. 1 brand for accessing authentic African experiences globally. Its current offering is the DreamAfrica app, which is on mobile, web, and soon smart TVs like Roku. For $1.99 per month, users unlock the magic of Africa and gain unlimited access to our digital collection of African stories for kids. As the founders of the company, I am the CEO and Brian Asingia is the COO. We met in college and we have 50/50 ownership structure.

Building relationships with long term investors DEMO Africa will be a great opportunity to meet and build relationships with long-term investors, strategic content creation and distribution partners. We are happy to announce that the The Pearl Dream will be collaborating with Ghana's Alltel Ltd to preinstall DreamAfrica app on the K-Pad and K-Phone.

If you want to go far, go together At The Pearl Dream, we believe in the value of culture, connections and heritage. We also believe in the old African saying that, if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together. Therefore, we are always open to engage with anyone who believes in the magic, culture, connections and heritage of Africans. Focused on building a long term, sustainable company, we will always be open to strategic partnerships and

opportunities that align with our values and long term value creation for our content creators and users worldwide.

Our digital ecosystem of illustrated stories We believe that the magic in Africa is in the connections, culture and heritage that is shared by billions in the continent. There is an opportunity to connect Africans on the continent and those in the Diaspora, through the timeless tradition of African storytelling that they know and have always loved. Our digital ecosystem of illus trated stories, audio recordings, animations and games will create a timeless link across genenations. We are passionate about connecting storytellers with a global audience.

College boys I am Franco Abbott, the CEO and was born in Kenya; I attended college at Lafayette after finishing high school at Alliance Boys High School. I met my co-founder and chairman, Brian Asingia in college where we bonded during long hours of engineering studies. My priority for The Pearl Dream is to raise the $1.5 million, which will allow us to animate the 100+ stories currently in our library. In addition to my team, I look forward to reaching agreements with telecom to allow easy and convenient access to our authentic African content through Dream Africa.

For the successful hosting of DEMO Africa in Nigeria, Minister for Communication Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson, eightmember Local Organizing Committee [LOC] was inaugurated in March 2014.

LOC members are: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Yele Okeremi | Chairman Tunji Eleso Bunmi Okunowo Victor Okigbo Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu Kolawole Oyeneyin Dr. Vincent Olatunji Babafemi Ogungbamila

DEMO Africa Local Organizing Committee – Profile Yele Okeremi, MD/CEO, Precise Financial Systems [PFS] Okeremi has a lengthy professional IT career as a programmer, system analyst, IT manager, head of systems and logistics spanning across IT and financial sectors. He is a leading icon in software development in Nigeria and is a member of the Presidential Initiative for developing the software industry in Nigeria. He is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science (with Economics) from the Obafemi Awolowo University and MBA. He is an alumnus of the Wits Business School, Johannesburg South Africa and the prestigious Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He has passion for the development of intellectual capital of the black race and continues to advocate his position that irrespective of the conditions of the black man, the black man is by no means inferior in intelligence to anyone else in the world.

Tunji Eleso, Director, Pre-Incubation, CcHUBS

Eleso's domain expert is in strategy and business advisory. He has B.Sc. in Estate Management from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Nigeria and M.Sc. in Development Finance from University of Manchester, UK. Before joining the CcHUBS, he had stint as Policy Specialist at Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access [EFINA], a financial sector development firm. He was also a senior associate at Capital Partners, a strategy and business advisory firm.

He worked as Staff Accountant at Ernst & Young, Lagos; a professional services firm.

Bunmi Okunowo, SA on IT to Minister of Communication Tech Okunowo has rich experiences in private and public sectors. He is vast in Government Operations and Relations. He has worked extensively to shape key Federal Government ICT initiatives, policy and execution, having worked closely with the minister. He is a Certified Systems Integration Solution Architect and Certified IT Delivery Manager and a Specialist in Business Continuity Institute (SBCI), with certifications in ITIL, COBIT and Business Continuity Management.

He has years of experience in the design and implementation of e-Government Solutions, Government Enterprise Solution, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions, E-commerce applications, Enterprise Groupware & Messaging, Business Applications (Oracle ERP, SAP SRM, Microsoft ERP, Knowledge Management and IBM WebSphere Suites).

Victor Okigbo, Director, InfoSoft Okigbo is an information architect, strategy, planning and market insights expert, applicaiton designer, entrepreneur and investor. An articulate and expressive visionary generalist with deep skills in diverse technical fields, Okigbo has over 20 years experience in software development, sales and marketing, market research, sales-force automation and systems management.

He started writing computer programmes in his early teens, publishing code listings in popular computer magazines as a schoolboy in England. Whilst obtaining a degree in pure mathematics, he founded Matrix Consulting and Image Graphics, companies, which he folded into his brother's InfoSoft Nigeria, Nigeria's foremost software development company. At InfoSoft, he oversaw the development of the server and communications applications for Paycard, Nigeria's first e-payment system; Online 2000, the first online banking application and X-Trac, leading share registration management application.

Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu, MD/CEO, InfoGraphics Mba-Uzoukwu has over 20 years of an eclectic career spanning marketing communications, digital design, strategy, change transformation and software development in private and public sectors. Working with a young and dynamic team, he has successfully led his team to transform the understanding of multimedia technology as a strategic tool for business growth, and in the process, built an interactive software development and services company recognized for pioneering innovative solutions. In 2005, Microsoft recognised his leadership of InfoGraphics for excellence in execution through adherence to Microsoft best-practices, implementation guidance and effective and customeracknowledged internal process methodology with the two prestigious awards: the 2005 Microsoft Partner of the Year for Enterprise Solutions and Regional Partner of the Year (Nigeria/Ghana).

Global recognition came in 2006 with the Regional Winner, Microsoft Worldwide Partner Awards to consolidate its position as a foremost software design firm in Nigeria and the leading Information Worker and Collaborative Portals solutions provider in West Africa. As GM, Microsoft - Anglophone West Africa - MbaUzoukwu had the mandate to assist Microsoft to achieve local relevance and growth through its partner ecosystem, and demonstrate commitment to the countries in which it operates. He accelerated Microsoft's growing presence in five countries.

Kolawole Oyeneyin, CEO, Venia Group Oyeneyin's Venia Group is a business start-up, investment and strategy consulting company, creating business hubs, launch pads, serviced and virtual office spaces for entrepreneurs, SMEs and multi-nationals; providing access to finance, business structuring and advisory services. His Venia Hub has been featured by the BBC's 'Hubs in Africa, showcasing innovation and creativity.

Prior to this, Oyeneyin was an analyst with Electronic Data Systems (EDS) and a senior Business Analyst for Hewlett-Packard (HP), UK. He returned to Nigeria in 2009 to run one of Nigeria's prestigious international schools, the Lekki British School. As a firm believer in young people's ability to lead change in Nigeria, he founded Sleeves Up Youth Empowerment Foundation, simply known as “Sleeves Up Nigeria�, a platform for proactive action on Good Governance, Advocacy, Education, Healthcare, Job/Wealth Creation and Community Development.

Oyeneyin graduated with Honours in Computer Science from the University of Nottingham, UK. He's a member of the British Computer Society and Associate of Nigeria Leadership Initiative (NLI). He is on the board of Redeemers Business School (RBS) and was recently nominated as 2012 Entrepreneur of the Year by The Future Awards.

Dr. Vincent Olatunji, Director, Corporate Strategy & Research, NITDA Dr. Vincent Olatunji is the Director Corporate Strategy & Research at National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). He holds a PhD in Geography and Planning from the University of Lagos and a Diploma in Computer Science.

Babafemi Ogungbamila, CIO, Interswitch Ogungbamila specializes in enterprise systems architectures and development, systems development process definition, tools and improvement, project management for systems development projects, epayment devices such as ATMs, PoS terminals, self-service kiosks, mobile phones, PDAs and systems integration.

22% 92% $4.5 FACTS: From a survey of demonstrators over DEMO's 22 years history, below are some findings illustrating the long-extending benefits a DEMO launch has on your business:

Source: 2009 DEMO demonstrator research study conducted by BluePoint Ventures.

Of past demonstrators received funding within 60 days as a direct result of a DEMO launch

Who secured funding, did so within 9 months of DEMO

62% 92% Received over $1 million in funding mostly from venture and angel investors

Said DEMO's press coverage was excellent/good

Billion dollars raised by DEMO companies in the months/years following the debut of DEMO

50

DEMO companies that have been acquired by tech giants such as Adobe, Cisco, Google, Microsoft, Nokia, Symantec, Viacom, Yahoo and more

FACTS BEHIND THE LISTING OF 1

3

ON NSE

2

4

6

5

7

9

8

10

12 11

13

1. Mrs. Omobola Johnson, Minister of Communication Technology; and Mr. Austin Okere, Group CEO, CWG PLC. 2. L-R; Mr Oscar Onyema, CEO, NSE; Mr. Austin Okere; Mr. Philip Obioha, Chief Operating Officer, CWG PLC; and Mr Haruna Jalo- Waziri, ED, Business Development, NSE 3. L-R; Mr. Oscar Onyema,; Mrs. Omobola Johnson and Mr. Austin Okere; 4.

L-R; Mr. Oscar Onyema and Mr. Austin Okere;. 5. Mr. Austin Okere (middle); Mr. Haruna Jalo- Waziri, ED, Business Development, NSE (right); and Mr Oscar Onyema, (left) 6. L-R; Mr. Austin Okere, Mr. Abiodun B. Fawunmi. Chief Information Technology Service Section, United Nations; Mr. James Agada, Chief Technology Officer, CWG Plc; Mr. Philips Obioha, Chief Operating Officer, CWG PLC; and Mr. Ravi Sharma, Abraaj 7. L-R; Mr. Haruna Jalo Waziri; Mr. Adeolu Bajomo, ED, Market Operations and Technology, NSE; Mr. Oscar Onyema; Mr. Austin Okere, Mr. Philips Obioha, COO, CWG Plc; Mr. James Agada andMrs. Taba Peterside, GM, Listing Sales and Retention. 8. 3rd Right: Mr. Oscar Onyema, Mr. Austin Okere, Mrs. Omobola Johnson and some of the esteemed Stock Brokers at the event. 9. 5th right, Mr. Austin Okere, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, Mr. Oscar Onyema and other dignitaries at the event. 10. L-R; Mr. Adeolu Bajomo, Mrs Omobola Johnson, Mr. Oscar Onyema and Mr. Austin Okere. 11. A cross-section of NSE trading floor and the dignitaries on the podium 12. A cross -section of participants at the event. L-R; Mr. Haruna Jalo- Waziri, Mr. Adeolu Bajomo, Mr. Oscar Onyema, Mr. Austin Okere, Mr. Philips Obioha and Mr. James Agada.

news TANZANIA

Tigo's World's First Mobile Money Service Excites Users

KENYA

Equity to Wait for Kenya Parliament, CA Verdict

ETHIOPIA

EthSwitch Selects SmartVista for Transactions Switching Ethiopian banks consortium EthSwitch has selected Swiss-based BPC Banking Technologies' SmartVista for national switching operations in Ethiopia. The company zeroed in on SmartVista because of its functionality, and advanced technology, BPC said.

Millicom, the international telecommunications and media company has launched Tigo's operation in Tanzania with the world's first mobile money service that offers users opportunity to automatically earn a return on their balance directly to their wallets with no need for a separate registration.

Called Tigo Wekeza - “Tigo Invests” - the service allows over 3.5 million Tigo Pesa users access to quarterly payments based on the balance held in their accounts. In line with their personal cultural belief, Tigo Pesa users have the option to nominate a nonprofit beneficiary.

SEYCHELLES

Central Bank Selects ProgressSoft to Implement ETF Solution ProgressSoft, the leading provider of realtime payment solutions, has won the implementation of phase II of the Seychelles Electronic Fund Transfer (SEFT) launched earlier in August 2013 with the cooperation of the Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS), the commercial banks based in the Seychelles and the Seychelles Credit Union (SCU).

SEFT facilitated and improved the interbank funds transfer service by providing a common platform for all participating members to conduct their transfers in an efficient and safe manner. This covers all banks of the Seychelles islands including Barclays Bank, Mauritius Commercial Bank, Bank of Baroda, Habib Bank, Nouvobanq, and the Seychelles Savings Bank.

Equity Bank will have to wait a little longer before rolling out its Mobile Virtual Network Operator services in Kenya, subject to approval by the Kenyan Parliament and board of the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).

The committee on Energy, Communication and Information said CA and Central Bank of Kenya [CBK] need to sit and give a verdict to ensure security of customers is guaranteed. Equity plans to introduce paper-thin SIM cards to help its customers access the bank's mobile money service without needing to use dual-SIM phones. CEO, James Mwangi, said the bank's SIM cards will consist of 0.1 millimeter thick film that can be layered on an active side of customers' original SIM cards, without affecting the customers' original service providers' network reception.

Interswitch Acquires Paynet Group

Interswitch Transnational Holding and Paynet Group will merge their businesses in bid to accelerate their expansion plans. According to the deal, Interswitch will acquire a majority shareholding in Paynet that will see Paynet's existing shareholders become shareholders of Interswitch Group. Three years ago, Interswitch acquired Bankom in Uganda and named it Interswitch East Africa. The new deal will create an unrivalled payment infrastructure across East and West Africa, uniting financial institutions on a single network, integrating transaction solutions seamlessly into businesses, and creating a secure and convenient way to make cross-border transactions.

Formed by the Ethiopian banks to work towards connecting the banks to a central transaction-switching platform, EthSwitch will provide customers access to money and other banking services through ATM, PoS, mobile and internet channels. Ethiopian Bankers' Association and the National Bank of Ethiopia backed EthSwitch. CEO, Bizuneh Bekele, said, "Our goal is to make inter-bank retail payments processing easier, while increasing security and transparency.”

NIGERIA

First Non-Bank Credit Card Launched Effort by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to make the Nigerian economy cashless got a boost recently with the introduction of the first non-bank credit card. After the launch, O3 Capital Nigeria, promoters of the product became the first non-bank credit card issuer in Nigeria.

CEO, Abimbola Pinhiero, said the Nigerian economy would not move to the next level without consumers’ effective lending. Pinhiero said the World Bank and IMF economic growth forecast for Nigeria will not be sustained if all Nigerians do not work together to sustain the growth.

He disclosed that there are only 100,000 credit cards across banks in Nigeria, adding that with a population of 160 million, the country deserved, at least, a million credit cards.

news

NIGERIA

Paga, PocketMoni, Others Ink Deal with MATS

Merchant and Agent Transactions Services [MATS] has signed 10 landmark agreements and actively integrating them for agency transactions in Nigeria. The firm is deploying own proprietary software, point of transaction kiosks and staffed agency network to serve licensed providers in Nigeria.

MATS had successfully signed up and integrated 10 licensed Mobile Money providers in Nigeria, the largest of such initiative in West and Central Africa. It will enable licensed operators lower their operational cost, accelerate roll out and the reach of mobile financial services as well as agency banking.

The firms are FETS, VCash, Teasy mobile, Clicknpay, Readycash, Paga, eTranzact, Fortis MobileMoney, Fidelity Bank, Heritage Bank for agent aggregation and agency banking.

GHANA

Fidelity Bank Selects IBM to Manage Infrastructure

At the U.S. Africa Business Forum in Washington, D.C, Ghana's Fidelity Bank selected IBM to manage its IT infrastructure for five years.

The deal will help the bank deliver advanced customer services and secure its reputation as a dynamic financial services institution in West Africa.

One of the largest banks in Ghana, Fidelity Bank seeks to enhance its operational efficiencies as it embarks on a new strategic direction, developing growth plans and strategies for new markets, products and services.

ZIMBABWE

Mobile Money Users Outnumber Banked Population

Zimbabwe has joined countries where more people use mobile money than those who have bank accounts; online money transfer company, WorldRemit said. A study conducted by FBC Securities in October last year, said only 14% of Zimbabwe's 13 million population have bank accounts (approximately 1.8 million Zimbabweans). However, active mobile money accounts held with two of Zimbabwe's biggest mobile network operators number around five million.

Econet has four million EcoCash users while Telecel Zimbabwe has 600,000. Growth in Zimbabwe's mobile money market has meant that the likes of WorldRemit have inked deals with Econet to enable expat Zimbabweans to send money to their friends and relatives who have EcoCash mobile wallets.

Bitcoin ATM Network Starts Biometric Authentication Bitcoin ATM manufacturer, Robocoin will use PalmSecure biometric technology from Fujitu to strengthen authentication in its worldwide network of kiosks. The company currently relies on mobile phone and PIN as access control mechanisms.

CEO, Jordan Kelly, informed that the firm did research other forms of authentication including other biometric technologies, but settled on PalmSecure for its simple enrollment and speed of authentication at the kiosk. The 'cool' factor was also a consideration. “PalmSecure technology for authentication is consistent with the image we want to project as an innovative company providing world-class services to our customers", Kelly said.

ZIMBABWE

Cross Platforms: MasterCard to Issue 3 Million EcoCash Cards

International electronic payments firm MasterCard will issue three million debit cards under its partnership with Econet Wireless mobile money system, EcoCash. EcoCash has over 3.5 million subscribers and executives at MasterCard and Econet are hoping that at least three million of these users will be interested in using the debit card.

Carlton Goredema, representative for MasterCard in Southern Africa, said the company will “issue three million cards in Zimbabwe” and encouraged the speedy shift from cash to electronic payments.

SOUTH AFRICA

BankservAfrica Partners Lusis Payments

BankservAfrica has revealed a partnership with Lusis Payments to provide Tango, a payment switching and processing software solution, in South Africa and across the African continent.

The bank's interoperable switching platform has been running on Tango software since April 2012, and as a result BankservAfrica became a reseller in early 2014. The agreement allows the bank to offer Tango transaction switching service for switching, authenticating and authorising transactions across multiple channels.

Executive responsible for this solution, Anton van der Merwe, explained that Tango system can be configured to meet a firm's required functional requirements or an organisation can choose the full end-to-end solution.