TECHDIGEST – Youth Partnership For Africa’s Development (YOUPAD), recognise Ambassador Segun H. Olugbile, the Managing Director of Araba Technologies and one of the prized facilitator of the Nigeria School in Internet Governance (NSIG) for his contribution to Africa and was awarded the ‘Pan African Technology Icon of the Year’ award by the Youth Partnership For Africa’s Development, YOUPAD.

YOUPAD is a pan African Youth league with a core objective of building the youth in leadership and Entrepreneurship for the purpose of providing Africa with intellectually equipped youth to ensure a future Africa of our dreams achieved through an integrated, peaceful and prosperous African driven by her citizens and representing a dynamic youth force in the international arena.

YOUPAD delegates was in the recipient office, all the way from Rwanda to present the award to Olugbile, in person. The team of delegates led by Hon. Coubally Bn Hameed, stated that Olugbile’s hard work and contribution to National Building and Development in the technology ecosystem was recognised by the league.

According to YOUPAD, this award is part of the Thomas Sankara Leadership Prize.

Amb. Olugbile in receiving the award dedicated it to God and all stakeholders seeking good governance and development through technology. 

“It is extremely amazing for me, without knowing that some groups are watching and inspired by my work in Nigeria, ECOWAS, AU, and at United Nations. All excellent glory and honour belong to the Almighty God alone in my humble adoration always,” He said.

On his own parts, Mr Hameed eulogize the recipient for his charity to less Privileged and the downtrodden in the society as well as exemplary lifestyle which promotes the African moral values that worthy of emulation by the youth including others too numerous to be mentioned in prints.

He also revealed that some organization have bought into the idea of the association and are supporting, which includes Rwanda Chamber of Commerce and Service, Nigerian Association of Chamber of Commerce, Mines, Industry and Agriculture, International Chamber of Commerce, Ghana, South African Chamber of Commerce, among others.

“We are hoping to bring onboard similar bodies in other African countries with time”, he said.

” For the sake of our dear continent, you shouldn’t allow your high leadership providence to end at this level, you should take it to a high level politically where your good work and policy making can affect a larger number of people so when the leadership that will take over from us visits Nigeria, they will hear of your good work in higher places”, Mr Hameed requested.

DNS Africa Media and Communications recognise the Award and the Recipients. We say a big congratulations to this leader and mentor.

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TECHDIGEST – The Federation of Agricultural Commodity Association of Nigeria (FACAN) the apex umbrella body for Agricultural Commodity Associations in the country has concluded a plan to register and onboard all its associations and members on the eNaira platform in a strategic partnership with Araba technologies Ltd (Arabatech).

The plan is a fallout from the recently concluded national meeting of the association’s National Working Committee and presidents of Associations under its jurisdictions held on the 29th of September this year, with the active participation of Arabatech and CBN representatives. Mr. Victor Iyama, the National President of FACAN reiterates the hope that the eNaira will be of immense benefit to all the members of the Association in the long run down to the grassroots level since some members are traders, or processors, while most of the members are the farmers at the grassroots. He charges the members present to educate their members at the grassroots as has been done now. The President is particularly happy for the use of *997# USSD without the need for BVN or NIN for farmers at the grassroots level to be onboarded. The statement was made during the formal launching of the eNaira onboarding partnership with Arabatech.

The CBN team is led by Mr, Joseph Angaye the deputy director of IT and CBDC officials, while the Arabatech Team is led by Mr. Segun Olugbile who is the MD/CEO of the company.

READ ALSO: eNaira: Changing the Narrative of Financial Transactions in Nigeria

The plan is aimed at deepening the use of eNaira among farmers and agro-allied merchants ecosystem in the agricultural sector of the economy.

Arabatech entered into a strategic partnership with the Federation of Agriculture Commodity Associations of Nigeria (FACAN) to commence the eNaira campaign and onboarding of its 50 million members and associations under FACAN across the country.

The National Working Committee and Presidents of Associations unanimously pass a resolution for the approval of FACAN eNaira onboarding of members and therefore call for close collaboration with the CBN and Arabtech towards the successful implementation of the initiative within the timeline.

FACAN is an apex umbrella body for the Agricultural Commodity Associations in the country, and an initiative of the Federal Government established through a public-private partnership arrangement as a one-stop-shop between the government and the organized private sector in Agriculture and a link between the private Agricultural Commodity Practitioners. The Association provides members with maximum benefits for the overall development of agricultural commodities in the country.

CBN appoints Arabatech as one of the official Partner-Agents for the eNaira wallet adoption and onboarding campaign in the country. The campaign is in furtherance of the CBN Digital Financial Inclusion Strategy and Programme which is aimed at achieving inclusive adoption of central bank digital currency eNaira across the county. The eNaira is targeted at the banked and unbanked merchants and individuals in the country.

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TECHDIGEST – The Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, in charge of Economic Policies, Kingsley Obiora, has said that the eNaira launched by their apex bank will facilitate efficient, and reliable payments for electronic transactions.

He made this known while delivering his opening remark during the ‘Abuja eNaira Merchants Mega Events’ held at the Abuja Chambers of Commerce and Industry Conference Centre.

The event was organized by CBN, in collaboration with Arabatech, Pnail, and the Abuja chambers of Commerce and Industry, ACCI.

Obiora explained that the introduction of the eNaira by the CBN has immediately put Nigeria in the global spotlight as the first African country to launch the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

He said: “As a complement to the existing forms of CBN-issued legal tender currency, the eNaira serves as both a store of value and a medium of exchange, offering improved efficiency in Nigeria’s payment ecosystem.

“This event therefore seeks to bring together regulators, partners, merchants and other key stakeholders to further deepen the adoption of the eNaira, thereby enhance Nigeria’s quest for economic development that is supported by a world class payment system infrastructure”.

The apex bank Deputy Governor assured merchants that the CBN will continue to innovate and upgrade the eNaira platform to serve business and deepen the digital economy in Nigeria.

“Merchants such as petrol stations, supermarkets, e-commerce and other businesses not only have significant roles to play in driving the adoption of eNaira, but can also leverage on the opportunities offered by eNaira to improve cash management and make savings in operating the cost,” Obiora said.

He further disclosed that CBN has approved a reward scheme for merchants and other users of eNaira.

According to him, “This reward scheme includes providing merchants with the required promotional (marketing) materials, subsidizing the current merchant service charge by 50% and activation of a nationwide sensitization which early business adopters of eNaira can leverage on to market its wider adoption.

“Value added services on the platform includes branch/sub wallets, employees management (i.e roles and permissions) as well as interoperability with other enterprise applications.

“These services are provided in a secure environment as the eNaira platform was built using a very secure security protocol”.

On his part, President of the Abuja Chambers of Commerce and industry, (ACCI), Dr. Al- Mujtaba Abubakar, highlighted the importance of the eNaira project, saying: “If fully embraced, there are several benefits attached to it’s for the business community. Some of the benefits include; speedy delivery, safe, simple trading, transactional opportunities to customers and end users”.

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By Abbas Badmus

TECHDIGEST – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, has urged Nigerians to come on board the new digital offering, as it has the capacity to increase Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by $29 billion over the next 10 years, as earlier declared by President Muhammadu Buhari, while also eliminating failed transactions.

Emefiele stated this in Abuja at an eNaira Merchant Mega event organised by the CBN in collaboration with Arabatech and the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI).

Represented by Kingsley Obiora, the Deputy Governor, Economic Policies of the CBN, Emefiele said the event sought to bring together regulators, partners, merchants and other key stakeholders to further deepen the adoption of the eNaira and thereby enhance Nigeria’s quest for economic development that is supported by a world-class payment system infrastructure.

He assured that the apex bank will continue to innovate and upgrade the eNaira platform by partnering with Fintechs and putting in place a robust Help Desk to provide support for merchants and other users towards ensuring seamless adoption of the eNaira.

He noted that merchants such as petrol stations, supermarkets, e-Commerce and other businesses not only have significant roles to play in driving the adoption of the eNaira, but can also leverage the opportunities offered by eNaira to improve cash management and make significant savings in operating cost.

“More specifically, benefits to the merchants include reduced cash handling costs, elimination of failed transactions, instant settlement, increased speed of transactions, improvement in records keeping and elimination of challenges associated with giving change to customers, amongst others.

“The availability of eNaira payment options on e-Commerce merchant platforms such as Remita is expected to complement the existing digital payment system, translating to about a 50% increment in e-commerce transactions and at a lower cost. Also, the implementation of cross-border transactions in phase 3 of the eNaira project is expected to increase cross-border trade by about 30%

“Furthermore, a lower transaction cost is expected to increase the usage (transaction volume and value) of eNaira and improve income generation by businesses. In this vein, I am pleased to inform you that the Bank recently approved a reward scheme for merchants and other users of the eNaira. This reward scheme includes providing merchants with the required promotional (marketing) materials, subsidising the current Merchant Service Charge by 50% and activation of a nationwide sensitization that early business adopters of eNaira can leverage to market its wider adoption.

“It is imperative to note that the eNaira platform can now facilitate payments using QR Codes, USSD, Wallet ID and eNaira Wallet tag. Value-added services on the platform include branch/sub wallets, employee management (i.e., roles and permissions) as well as interoperability with other enterprise applications. These services are provided in a secure environment as the eNaira platform was built using a very secure security protocol” he said.

The President, ACCI, Dr Al-Mujtaba Abubakar, said the event was targeted at merchants, traders, cooperative societies, business associations, supermarkets, hotels, restaurant chains, service providers, private school owners, transporters, Small and Medium Business Enterprises among others, to help them understand the importance of the eNaira.

“This eNaira event comes at a good time to educate the business community on its benefits and importance because despite the high expectations and hype around the CBN digital currency, the eNaira, the business community is yet to embrace it fully. Newspaper research recently revealed that major retailers and vendors in the country are yet to adopt it about 10 months after the launch.

“If fully embraced, there are several benefits attached to it for the business community. Some of the benefits include; speedy delivery, safe, and simple trading and transactional opportunities to customers and end-users,” he said.

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TECHDIGEST – The Central Bank of Nigeria in Collaboration with Arabatech, Pnail and Abuja Chambers of Commerce set to organize first Abuja e-Naira Merchant Mega Events for Nigerians business communities to participate is few days to come.

The mega event, scheduled to hold on Saturday, 27th August, 2022 at Abuja Chambers Of Commerce Convention Centre is expected to host participants including Merchants, Traders, Cooperative Societies, Business Association, Supermarket, Hotels, Restaurant Chains, Service Providers, Private Schools Owners, Transporters, Small and Medium Business Enterprises among others.

The e-Naira is a Central Bank of Nigeria digital currency backed by law and issued by the CBN as a legal tender. It is the digital form of the current physical naira with monetary value.

READ ALSO: CBN, Arabatech, Others invite Nigerians For e-Naira Merchant Mega Event

As part of the benefits of the event, there will be  direct onboarding of merchants, and empowerment with endless possibilities when one is enrolled as e-Naira Merchant Agents and equally onboard his business.

Participants are expected to reserve their seats by registering through clicking on the provided link ( www.arabatech.ng/register) or making calls through these phone numbers: 09086998710, 08098899277.

There is virtual participation for Abuja eNaira Merchants Mega Event, zoom link for those who want to participate virtually. Register in advance for this Event here:
https://cbn-gov-ng.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwpcuCorzwiHtZyogc1ugaCEOasSBcNBAJn

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Be free to share with your network and business owners.

Recall that, e-Naira project is part of the digital financial inclusion programme of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

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By Abbas Badmus

TECHDIGEST – The Central Bank of Nigeria in Collaboration with Arabatech, Pnail and Abuja Chambers of Commerce and Industry have invited Nigerians business communities to participate in the upcoming Abuja E-Naira Merchant Event.

The mega event, scheduled to hold on Saturday, 27th August, 2022 at Abuja Chambers Of Commerce Convention Centre is expected to host participants including Merchants, Traders, Cooperative Societies, Business Association, Supermarket, Hotels, Restaurant Chains, Service Providers, Private Schools Owners, Transporters, Small and Medium Business Enterprises among others.

The e-Naira is a Central Bank of Nigeria digital currency backed by law and issued by the CBN as a legal tender. It is the digital form of the Naira used as cash.

As part of the benefits of the event, there will be empowerment and endless possibilities when one is enrolled as e-Naira Merchant Agents and equally onboard his business.

Participants are expected to reserve their seats by registering through clicking on the provided link or visit www.arabatech.ng or making calls through these phone numbers: 09086998710, 08098899277.

Recall that, e-Naira project is part of the digital financial inclusion programme of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

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