Banking
FCMB Offers N1.5m for AgriTech Epic Pitch 2020
By Adedapo Adesanya
As part of its pursuit towards improving Nigeria’s agriculture value chain, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has announced the 2020 edition of the FCMB Agritech Epic Pitch, through which it plans to sustain funding for early to growth-stage entrepreneurs to grow and scale their Agritech businesses.
This year’s edition, the third of its type, will be implemented through Hub One (the bank’s tech hub located in Lagos, Nigeria) in partnership with Passion Incubator, a Lagos-based early-stage tech incubator and accelerator.
For this edition, FCMB will be providing grant funding of N1.5 million to two tech start-ups in the agriculture sector to support their business growth as well as access to free word-class workspace, steady market and a robust network that stimulates innovation, collaboration and business growth.
In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the FCMB Agritech Epic Pitch 2020 is the first virtual edition of the initiative but is positioned to deliver the same value to participants, as demonstrated in previous editions.
Speaking on this, Mrs Rolayo Akhigbe, Divisional Head, Transaction Banking, FCMB said, “We are passionate about supporting Nigeria’s tech ecosystem and this initiative is one of the ways through which we are building and accelerating the growth of the Agritech Startups in Nigeria, as well as the larger African continent.”
Also commenting, Mr Kudzai Gumunyu, Divisional Head, Agric Business added, “This initiative plays an important role in helping young and driven Nigerian entrepreneurs grow their Agric-focused business.
“This mission would eventually build investible, sustainable and scalable AgriTech businesses that can contribute to the nation’s employment rate as well as the growth of the nation’s GDP”.
The application for the program is currently open and will run till July 24, 2020.
The bank called on entrepreneurs in the Agritech space to apply by visiting https://on.fcmb.com/AEP.
The program will also feature a virtual conference with the theme “Redefining and repositioning Agricultural value chains during and post the COVID-19 era”, which will bring together some global experts to discuss and share some insights on the Agricultural value chains.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Global financial payments giant, Visa, has made a strategic investment of $10 million in Nigerian fintech unicorn, Moniepoint, to expand its services and deepen financial inclusion on the African continent.
This development comes three months after Moniepoint raised $110 million in a Series C funding round that made the company a unicorn.
With the new play, Visa joins other investors, including Development Partners International, Google’s Africa Investment Fund, Verod Capital, Lightrock, QED Investors, Novastar Ventures, British International Investment (BII), FMO (the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank), Global Ventures and Endeavor Catalyst as equity partners.
This partnership will combine Moniepoint’s local expertise and innovative business model with Visa’s global resources and capabilities to offer payment solutions to businesses and entities.
Moniepoint provides banking and payment services to small and medium businesses and retail banking. It is one of the market leaders in Nigeria’s agent banking space, with over 300,000 POS agents and has processed billions of transactions since it was founded in 2015.
The new Visa’s investment will further help Moniepoint expand its services and deepen financial inclusion on a continent that still has a comparatively low rate of financial services adoption.
Moniepoint will leverage Visa’s Cybersource system to gain better visibility into transactions. Additionally, it plans to integrate with Visa Direct for remittances and money transfers as it looks to expand into markets within and outside Africa.
Speaking on the move, Mr Tosin Eniolorunda, Founder and Group CEO of Moniepoint said, “Visa’s backing is a strong endorsement of our vision to digitize and support African businesses at scale.
“We aim to deepen financial inclusion, enabling SMEs to access the tools and resources they need to thrive in an increasingly digital economy.”
On his part, Mr Andrew Torre, Regional President, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at Visa, noted that, “Moniepoint has built an impressive platform that directly addresses the needs of Africa’s SMEs, a critical segment in enabling economic development.
”By making financial services and digital payments more accessible and efficient, Moniepoint is helping transform how businesses operate in Nigeria and beyond.
“We are excited to support their next phase of growth and innovation,” he added.
By Dipo Olowookere
Efforts are being made by the management of a rapidly growing financial technology (fintech) company,
Bankit Microfinance Bank (MFB), to grow its loan and gaming services.
The firm said this is one of its targets for 2025 to solidify its position as a leading platform for comprehensive, simplified banking activities after it recorded remarkable growth in 2024 with different milestones as a result of its competitive edge and cutting-edge technology.
The digital financial services provider said it was already talking to its various partners on how to ensure customers get more access to credit facilities for different needs.
It said nothing would be spared to revolutionise digital banking in Nigeria, especially with a focus on innovation, customer protection, and financial inclusion.
Last year, Bankit MFB, within its first few weeks of operations, successfully registered over 50,000 users on its platform, a testament to its innovative simple banking approach to digital banking.
This year, the small lender has an ambitious plan to increase this by 900 per cent to a record 500,000 businesses in 2025.
Business Post gathered that in 2024, the financial institution recorded impressive transaction values, exceeding N100 million, with an impressive 90 per cent transaction success rate.
Since joining the business, it has introduced web banking and other innovative banking products, with more in development.
With the financial services sector not immune to fraud, Bankit MFB said it prioritises the protection of customers’ funds, expressing its commitment to diversifying its digital services to enhance customer experience.
Bankit MFB is a financial institution licenced to operate in the country by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which is dedicated to providing innovative, customer-centric financial solutions to individuals and others.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, launch a foreign exchange (FX) code designed to boost the integrity of the market.
A statement from the banking sector regulator on Wednesday said the FX code would be unveiled at its headquarters in Abuja next week.
It explained the forex code will serve as a guideline for the ethical conduct of FX dealers in the Nigerian forex landscape.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria has approved the release of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange (FX) Code as a guideline to the banking industry to promote the ethical conduct of Authorised Dealers in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.
“The bank will formally launch the code at the CBN Head Office Auditorium, Abuja, on Tuesday, January 28, 2025,” the statement read.
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