Economy
Harnessing Mobile Payment to Boost Economic Growth
By Adeniyi Ogunfowoke
Not only in Nigeria but across the continent of Africa, mobile penetration has significantly increased. The Jumia Mobile Report 2018 found that Nigeria remains Africa’s largest mobile market, with about 162 million subscribers and a penetration rate of 84%. This has been complemented by the fact that mobile phones are now affordable. In 2014, phones sold on Jumia were priced an average of $216 and by 2017 this price had gone down to $100. In Africa, the price dipped from $165 to $96 in the same period.
The laudable rise means that more and more Africans will utilise their mobile or smartphone for all kinds of activities or functions including communication, shopping and importantly payment. Today, mobile payment has grown compared to 10 years ago. Thanks to increased usage of mobile phones to transact business. The Nigeria Bureau of Statistics reported that the volume and value of Mobile Payment transactions in the first quarter of 2018 grew by 7.0 per cent to N329 billion from N307 billion in Q4’17.
These figures show that mobile payment can contribute abundantly to the growth of the Nigerian economy with the help of the Central Bank of Nigeria and Fintechs.
Role of banks
The Nigerian banking system has been completely revolutionised by technology. It has forced banks-new or old generation to become creative and innovative. Some of the innovations that have disrupted the banking sector are mobile apps and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data USSD (quick code). With these two, you can perform any transaction whether you have an internet enabled phone or not.
Fintechs
Fintechs are no longer new in Nigeria. They serve as payment gateways for businesses and they have made mobile or web transaction seamless. For the millions of shoppers who buy items, book hotels and order food with their Jumia app, the payment gateway is Jumia Pay. With Jumia Pay, refunds are easily processed and orders are easily paid for.
An uncomplicated synergy between banks and Fintechs with the regulation of the CBN (as well as shielding the financial sector from fraudsters) will definitely lead to economic development for Nigeria.
Harnessing mobile payments for economic growth
The phenomenal growth of fintech is helping organisations in Nigeria deliver a new generation of innovative products and services.
To achieve this and successfully harness the power of mobile, organisations in Nigeria’s mobile banking and payments ecosystem must deliver compelling and responsive end-user experiences. They must also implement strong and secure authentication methods that instil confidence among users in mobile banking and payments.
Delivering superior user experiences
End-users today expect websites to deliver the same experience on mobile as they do on personal computers. For Jumia, Nigeria’s no 1 shopping destination, the app has been designed in such a way that its users do not find it difficult to navigate. So, when it comes to delivering superior user experiences in mobile apps, Jumia is number one.
Ensuring security
For mobile commerce and electronic banking to deliver its benefits across Nigeria, delivering a secure mobile experience, regardless of device and network, is compulsory.
As more and more business-critical applications and financial services adopt the public or private cloud, it has become essential to protect organisations and users from criminal efforts to steal data or conduct financial malfeasance. Mobile devices are now being targeted because they may serve as a back-channel into a network, thus making a network-centric security approach inadequate for an increasingly mobile-based economy. Security within a mobile commerce ecosystem needs to be intelligence-driven and provide the flexibility and scalability to adapt to dynamic requirements.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has defended its decision to allow Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to invest in the parent companies of their custodians, insisting that adequate safeguards are in place to protect contributors’ funds.
The director-general of the pension regulator, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, speaking on Tuesday during the Meet the Press Briefing at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the commission’s decision to relax the investment restriction followed a comprehensive risk assessment that found minimal conflict of interest.
She explained that under PenCom’s investment regulations, PFAs are only permitted to invest pension assets in carefully selected instruments that meet stringent criteria, including profitability, strong credit ratings and proven track records.
According to her, the commission regularly reviews its investment regulations, conducts routine examinations and spot checks on PFAs to ensure strict compliance with established risk management guidelines.
“PFAs cannot just go into the stock market and buy any kind of stock. There are strict guidelines. Companies must demonstrate profitability, have a proven track record and satisfy other criteria before pension funds can invest,” she said.
Ms Oloworaran noted that each PFA also operates under the oversight of a board, an investment committee and a risk management committee, providing additional layers of governance to safeguard contributors’ funds.
She said PenCom recently issued a circular allowing PFAs to invest in the parent companies of their custodians after determining that the potential conflict of interest was negligible.
The PenCom boss explained that the parent companies involved are largely Tier-1 banks, including First Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Zenith Bank, which she described as A-rated institutions with strong financial foundations.
She said the policy was intended to widen investment opportunities for pension funds without compromising safety.
Using Stanbic IBTC as an example, Ms Oloworaran explained that if its custodian is Zenith Bank, the previous restriction prevented the pension administrator from investing in Zenith Bank shares despite the bank’s strong performance.
“We reviewed the risks and any potential conflict of interest and found the risks to be very low. That is why we opened that investment window,” she said.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Analysts at Meristem Research have predicted that the inflation rate for June 2026 in Nigeria should marginally rise to 15.95 per cent on a year-on-year basis from the 15.93 per cent reported in May 2026.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is expected to release inflation numbers for last month later today, Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
In its report sighted by Business Post, Meristem Research said it expects inflationary pressures to re-emerge across key economies in the near term, as the re-escalation of the US-Iran conflict has reignited upward pressure on global oil prices.
It disclosed that this marks a sharp reversal from most of June, when the ceasefire between the two countries helped drive oil prices lower, raising expectations of some relief on the inflation front.
With conflicts now flaring up again, oil prices are likely to increase again, and the anticipated easing in energy-driven inflation may not materialise as broadly as earlier envisaged.
“Nonetheless, some relief is likely from the food segment, where robust supply conditions across major producing regions and softening demand should continue to ease food price pressures,” it stated.
The team also explained that it projected a 15.95 per cent inflation rate because of the lingering effects of persistent food price pressures.
“However, we expect core inflation to moderate as the sharp reversal in energy prices begins to filter through to transportation, distribution, and other energy-related costs, easing underlying price pressures.
“On a month-on-month basis, the combined effect of lower petrol prices, a relatively stable Naira, and the gradual pass-through of reduced energy costs across the supply chain should exert further downward pressure on inflation.
“Based on our assessment, food inflation is expected to remain the key swing factor, as seasonal pre-harvest supply constraints are likely to offset some of the gains from lower logistics costs,” it said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and Afriland Properties Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.61 per cent on Tuesday, July 14.
CSCS Plc saw its stock value drop N9.08 to close at N82.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N91.48 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc slid by 17 Kobo to sell at N15.00 per unit versus N15.70 per unit.
The losses recorded by the two securities pulled back the market capitalisation by N41.64 billion to N2.546 trillion from N2.587 trillion, and cracked the NASD Security Index (NSI) by 69.36 points to 4,242.31 points from 4,311.67 points.
It was observed that the exchange witnessed two price advancers during the session, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which gained N1.37 to end at N151.37 per share compared with the previous day’s N150.00 per share, and Food Concepts Plc chalked up 5 Kobo to settle at N2.50 per unit versus N2.45 per unit.
The volume of securities traded by market participants surged by 50.7 per cent to 13.7 million units from the previous 9.1 million units, while the value of securities went down by 79.7 per cent to N65.2 million from N320.4 million, and the number of deals crashed by 3.6 per cent to 27 deals from the previous session’s 28 deals.
At the close of transactions, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with the sale of 3.4 billion units for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc, which exchanged 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units transacted for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the trading day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
