By Modupe Gbadeyanka

One of Africa’s leading integrated payments and digital commerce companies, Interswitch, has reinforced its commitment to advancing financial inclusion and innovation.

The firm sponsored the 2024 International Financial Inclusion Conference (IFIC) put together by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in collaboration with The World Bank, the Bankers’ Committee, and the Financial Inclusion Steering Committee.

From November 12 to 13, 2024, stakeholders in the financial sector converged on Landmark Event Centre, Lagos to deliberate on the theme, Inclusive Growth: Harnessing Inclusion for Economic Development.

During a plenary session titled New Frontiers in Innovation: Accelerating Digital Financial Services for Financial Inclusion and Development, the Managing Director for Payment Processing and Switching at Interswitch Purepay, Mr Akeem Lawal, underscored the transformative potential of public-private partnerships, emphasising that financial inclusion is essential to driving Nigeria’s economic prosperity.

He noted, however, that challenges such as limited access, inadequate infrastructure, identity barriers, and low literacy levels continue to hinder progress.

Addressing these issues, he stressed, requires innovative solutions bolstered by robust public-private collaborations.

Mr Lawal also shared valuable insights into how these partnerships can accelerate the adoption of digital financial services and enhance the Nigerian payment system, “For Interswitch, public-private partnerships have been instrumental in addressing industry challenges.”

“Years ago, we partnered with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to digitise tax collection, resolving significant revenue collection issues. More recently, we collaborated with the Lagos State Government to tackle critical healthcare challenges through the LAGSHIP initiative.

“These partnerships exemplify our dedication to leveraging innovation and collaboration to deliver sustainable solutions that drive financial inclusion and economic growth. We are committed to applying this model to future initiatives,” said Mr Lawal.

He added, “Public-private collaborations are essential to sustainable development. At Interswitch, we remain committed to leveraging technology to deliver secure, accessible, and affordable financial services that empower individuals and businesses across Africa.”

The plenary session further explored global best practices, success stories and actionable strategies to expand digital financial services, highlighting solutions to improve access for underserved populations.

The International Financial Inclusion Conference served as a critical platform for stakeholders to come together and align with a shared vision of fostering a more inclusive financial ecosystem.

Consequently, Interswitch showcased its unwavering commitment to driving financial empowerment and economic growth through innovation and technology.

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

One of the leading lenders in Africa, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), has celebrated the issuance of the $400 million Eurobond at the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

The financial institution opened the market today at the London bourse, with members of the company’s board and management in attendance.

Last month, Ecobank sold the five-year senior unsecured papers to investors at a coupon rate of 10.125 per cent payable semi-annually in arrears.

The firm asked for the funds for general corporate purposes, including refinancing the $350 million senior bridge-to-bond loan facility it secured in March 2024.

Speaking at the LSE, the chief executive of Ecobank, Mr Jeremy Awori, said, “Our successful Notes issuance demonstrates how Ecobank is blazing the trail for sub-Saharan African financial institutions and corporates in accessing the international capital markets.

“The notes are ETI’s third issuance on the international bond markets and the first public Eurobond issuance by a financial institution in sub-Saharan Africa since 2021.

“With the bond more than 2.1 times oversubscribed, the strong demand demonstrates international and African investors’ approval and trust in the progress of our Growth, Transformation and Returns Strategy.”

On his part, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Mr Ayo Adepoju, said, “We really appreciate the support and partnership from Absa, Africa Finance Corporation, African Export-Import Bank, Mashreq, and Standard Chartered Bank, who acted as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners, and Renaissance Capital Africa, who served as the Financial Adviser for the transaction.

“We deeply value and appreciate the strong support from our Development Finance Institution partners, including the Africa Finance Corporation, Proparco, and the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank, who helped anchor the transaction.

“We also thank our bond investors for their ongoing support of ETI and look forward to continuing our engagement and working together to successfully execute our business strategy.”

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

Members of the public have been warned of the rising fraudulent foreign currency transfer claims with the use of SWIFT MT103, SWIFT Ack copy and others.

This alarm was raised in a statement signed by the Acting Director for Corporate Communications of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs Hakama Sidi Ali, on Tuesday night.

She stated that in recent times, the apex bank had been “inundated with claims by private entities, individuals, law firms and government agencies that foreign currency funds allegedly transferred to them by foreign entities have yet to be credited to their accounts with Nigerian banks.”

“In some instances, the claimants alleged that the funds were withheld by either the beneficiary bank in Nigeria or the CBN and requested the assistance of the bank towards releasing the funds to them,” she narrated.

But she noted that when such cases were looked into, it was discovered that most of the SWIFT Ack copy and SWIFT MT103 usually attached as evidence of remittance to beneficiary banks in Nigeria were not reliable.

According to her, the SWIFT messages are always not traceable on the SWIFT platform, and the funds have not been received to enable their application to the beneficiary’s account.

The statement explained that, “In a situation where a fund transfer beneficiary’s receiving bank claims non-receipt of funds remitted by the foreign entity (sending customer), instead of escalating such issue to CBN or Law Enforcement Agencies, the standard practice is for the sending customer to contact the sending bank to send a tracer to trace where the fund is hanging and recall it.”

“For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to state emphatically that the CBN neither provides correspondent banking services for Nigerian banks in foreign payments nor maintains accounts for private business entities. Consequently, petitioners’ claim that the alleged expected inflows for onward credit into the accounts of private business entities are trapped in the CBN is not only spurious but deceitful.”

“The general public is therefore advised to be careful with such unauthentic SWIFT messages and documents containing spurious claims of non-application of substantial foreign currency funds allegedly transferred into the beneficiary’s account.

“The CBN will not hesitate to report any bank customer making unsubstantiated and illegitimate claims to law enforcement agencies for investigation and prosecution,” the statement said.