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Economy

Sage Summit Tour Targets Business Builders

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By Dipo Olowookere

Sage, the market leader for integrated accounting, payroll & HR, and payment systems, will highlight technologies taking business builders to a future of invisible accounting at the Sage Summit Tour in Johannesburg.

Sage customers and business partners from around Africa and the Middle East will gather at the Sandton Convention Centre from 7-9 March 2017 to learn about new technologies, digital transformation and the future of work.

Sage CEO, Mr Stephen Kelly, will share insights about how Sage is levelling the playing field for customers – and it’s just the start of a technology revolution all enterprises of all sizes need to be a part of to compete and grow.

Other speakers include Valter Adão, Head of Digital at Deloitte Africa, Justin Spratt, Head of Business, Sub-Saharan Africa at Uber and Gil Oved, co-founder and co-CEO of The Creative Counsel.

“Business builders and entrepreneurs don’t go into business because they want to wrestle with red-tape and manage admin. Our vision is to make those tasks invisible by 2020 by automating the back-office functions so we can free business builders up to follow their dreams,” said Sage CEO, Stephen Kelly. “At the Sage Summit Tour, they will get inspiration from other entrepreneurs, experts, and peers about how they can take their businesses into a future of invisible admin.”

The digital future of work

Speakers at the Sage Summit Tour will focus on how digital native young professionals and exciting emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, mobility and automated data collection are reshaping the workplace.

Ahead of the Sage Summit Tour, Sage has been discussing these ideas in a series of podcasts, Invisible Admin: Conversations about the future of work.

Said Anton van Heerden, Managing Director and Executive Vice-President, Africa & Middle East at Sage: “Technologies such as artificial intelligence are the answer to the everyday pain points people are facing now. Our work at Sage allows us to use these advances to address the immediate challenges our customers face today. We are helping to free them from mundane admin tasks so that they can focus on creativity, growth and innovation.”

Invisible admin and accounting

Invisible accounting will be built on the back of three powerful emerging technologies, as illustrated in Leading the Invisible Accounting Revolution (http://APO.af/O0dd4h), a new white paper from Sage and Ovum:

    Artificial Intelligence will enable users to interact with accounting systems via conversational interfaces. It will also elevate back-office automation and the processing of massive amounts of data.

    Blockchain technology promises to transform how frictionless processes can take place, where money transfers, for example, can flow in an automated manner and be auditable and compliant.

    The Internet of Things will transform the supply chain and deliver superior efficiencies and lower costs.

Together, these technologies will enable an era of seamless business processes, continuous budgeting and agile accounting.

Release of the Payments Landscape Report

The Sage Summit Tour will also reflect on the results of its Payments Landscape Report for South Africa, which shows that consumers are increasingly demanding choice when they pay.

The majority (96%) of South African consumers surveyed claim it’s important for businesses to offer customers a diverse range of payment methods. South Africans feel strongly enough to act on it, with 90% claiming they would be more likely to shop somewhere that offered them multiple ways to pay.

Investing in the community, inspiring change

Sage will update delegates about how the Sage Foundation is making a difference for communities and non-profit organisations across Africa and Middle East with its approach to social investment. The company unveiled its $1,000,000 Challenge in partnership with parkrun.

This global fundraising challenge is going around the world with the Sage Summit Series, to make sure Sage transforms more communities. The three inspiring local based community partners are: SA Teen Entrepreneurs, SOS Children’s Villages and Dignity Dreams. Sage colleagues, customers and partners will be partnering with parkrun on 8 March 2017 at Woodmead Country Club to raise money for the three non-profit charities.

Dipo Olowookere is a journalist based in Nigeria that has passion for reporting business news stories. At his leisure time, he watches football and supports 3SC of Ibadan. Mr Olowookere can be reached via [email protected]

Economy

UBN Property Sinks OTC Bourse by 0.48% at Midweek

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UBN Property

By Adedapo Adesanya

UBN Property Plc further sank the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange in the red territory by 0.48 per cent on Wednesday, April 23.

The property investment company lost 7 Kobo of its share value to settle at N2.10 per unit compared with the preceding day’s price of N2.17 per unit.

As a result, the market capitalisation of the bourse went down by N9.19 billion to N1.908 trillion from N1.917 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) slumped by 105.70 points to 3,259.08 points from the previous session’s 3,274.78 points.

There was a 500.5 per cent rise in the volume of securities transacted in the midweek session to 1.05 million units from the 174,634 units traded in the previous trading day.

However, the value of transactions decreased by 9.1 per cent to N2.6 million from N2.86 million and the number of deals dropped by 31.3 per cent to 11 deals from 16 deals.

At the close of business, Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units sold for N4.9 billion, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 71.2 million units valued at N24.2 million.

Okitipupa Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 153.6 million valued at N4.9 billion, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with the sale of 14.8 million units for N572.0 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with a turnover of 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million.

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Economy

FG to Sell N1.2trn Bonds in Q2 2025

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FGN Retail Bonds

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

Between April and June 2025, the federal government intends to sell bonds between N900 billion and N1.2 trillion to investors.

This information was revealed by the Debt Management Office (DMO) in its Bond Issuance Calendar for Q2 2025

The sales will take place once in a month, precisely on April 28, May 26, and June 23, according to the data released by the DMO.

It was stated that the debt office will offer the debt instrument in two maturities, with N300 billion and N400 billion offered for sale at each auction.

In April and May, the DMO will reopen the 19.30 per cent FGN APR 2029 and 19.89 per cent FGN MAY 2033 bonds, and in June, it will introduce the FGN JAN 2030 and FGN JAN 2032 and five and seven-year, respectively.

In April, the APR 2029 bond will have a remaining tenor of four years, while the MAY 2033 bond will have six years and one month left.

By May, those terms shorten to three years and eleven months, and six years, respectively. Both bonds retain their original coupon rates of 19.30 per cent and 19.89 per cent.

The DMO has also released details for its April auction. The Federal Government plans to raise N350bn through the reopening of the APR 2029 and MAY 2033 bonds.

According to the circular, N200bn will be offered in the APR 2029 and N150bn in the MAY 2033. The auction will be held on Monday, April 28, with settlement on Wednesday, April 30.

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Economy

Naira Loses 35 Kobo Against Dollar at Official Market

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Official FX Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira marginally depleted against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Wednesday, April 23.

During the session, it lost 35 Kobo or 0.02 per cent against the greenback to sell for N1,603.51/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,603.16/$1.

Also, in the same official FX market, the value of the local currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling yesterday by N17.31 to quote at N2,137.55/£1 versus Tuesday’s closing price of N2,120.24/£1 and tumbled against the Euro by N19.89 to close at N1,837.58/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,817.69/€1.

However, in the parallel market segment, the domestic currency appreciated against the Dollar during the trading day by N5 to trade at N1,605/$1 versus the previous day’s N1,610/$1.

The Nigerian Naira has been under pressure lately after a recent ease in concerns about the country’s FX reserves, which have been been dropping.

A look at the digital currency market showed that it was bearish at midweek due to profit-taking amid declining US Dollar index, which is largely tied to mixed signals out of the world’s largest economy.

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump said he had no intention to fire US Federal Reserve Chair, Mr Jerome Powell, and that a deal with China (which is facing tariffs as high as 245 per cent on some items) would significantly reduce some of its levies.

The mixed signals and frequent tone shift are worrying traders, however, who continue to monitor comments for further cues on positioning, with market analysts noting that trade frictions, geopolitical jitters, and regulatory issues continue to cast long shadows on assets like crypto.

Dogecoin (DOGE) dipped by 4.9 per cent to sell at $0.1730, Ripple (XRP) fell by 3.9 per cent to $2.17, Litecoin (LTC) declined by 2.3 per cent to $82.23, and Binance Coin (BNB) depreciated by 2.2 per cent to $604.59.

In addition, Cardano (ADA) slumped by 1.9 per cent to $0.6837, Solana (SOL) also lost 1.9 per cent to close at $148.13. Bitcoin (BTC) slid by 1.3 per cent to $92,479.80, and Ethereum (ETH) crashed by 1.1 per cent to $1,770.12, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.

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