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Fraud Prevention: Opay to Enforce KYC Requirements For Customers in March 2024

By
Ojukwu Emmanuel
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0

Nigerian Fintech company Opay has announced plans to enforce a stricter Know Your Customer (KYC) requirement starting from March 2024, to mitigate fraud on the platform.

This move is coming after the startup was scrutinized for revealing significant weaknesses in its platform. Multiple tests were reported to have exposed vulnerabilities, particularly in the facial identity system, raising concerns about the platform’s susceptibility to exploitation by malicious actors.

There was a viral video shared by a user displaying how users can open an account using other people’s bank account numbers.

At that time, checks showed that OPay continued to allow new users to sign up to its platform without proper verification.

According to reports, during the onboarding process on the platform, people were allegedly allowed to impersonate others by opening accounts in their names.

Multiple tests show that OPay’s basic account verification process for tier 1 is weak, and the facial identity system is porous, which could allow bad actors to register for the service and begin carrying out transactions within 60 seconds.

In a bid to strengthen security on the platform, OPay has now initiated the enforcement of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) and National Identity Number (NIN) requirements for wallet opening. Customers whose accounts are not KYC compliant will be blocked.

In line with this, OPay announced its partnership with Nigerian financial services company Interswitch, to curb these issues. With the Interswitch Payment Gateway (IPG), the partnership seeks to reduce transaction friction by offering consumers a safe and easy way to make payments.

Opay beef of security on the platform is coming on the heels of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) directives on Know-Your-Customer (KYC), mandating all accounts and wallets for individuals to have BVN and/or NIN before March 1, 2024.

CBN also mandated that no new accounts or wallets should be opened without BVN or NIN. The director, of Card Business, OPay, Priscilla Olayemi, averred that the company in adhering to these new directives, has commenced the first two stages of the KYC.

Explaining further, she stated that, users under tier one accounts, cannot log in to carry out financial transactions without providing their BVN or NIN.

Also, the director of partnerships OPay, I.K Odiase, posited that any fraudulent account will be removed from the OPay platform, beginning March 1, 2024, while pleading with customers to confirm that the information provided while opening their accounts matches the information in their NIN and BVN.

Amid growing concerns stemming from high-profile fraud incidents and critiques of lenient KYC standards, Nigeria is promoting financial system stability by reinforcing KYC procedures.

The new rules come as an amendment to Section 1.5.3 of the Regulatory Framework for Bank Verification Number (BVN) Operations and Watchlist for the Nigerian Banking Industry.

OPay’s proactive approach towards enhanced KYC and secure transactions demonstrates the startup’s commitment to protecting users and fostering a trustworthy financial ecosystem in Nigeria.

Skai introduces world’s first hydrogen powered vertical takeoff and landing aircraft

By
Paul Ugbede Godwin
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0

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, and it has the potential to revolutionize the aviation industry. That’s why BMW-backed company Alaka’i Technologies has developed the world’s first hydrogen-powered vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, called Skai.

Skai is designed to offer a clean, efficient, and versatile way of traveling in urban and rural areas. Unlike conventional helicopters or planes, Skai does not rely on fossil fuels or batteries, but uses hydrogen fuel cells to generate electricity for its six rotors. This means that Skai has zero emissions, low noise, and a longer range than other VTOL vehicles.

Skai can carry up to five passengers or 450 kg of cargo and can fly for up to four hours or 650 km on a single tank of hydrogen. Skai can also be operated remotely or autonomously, making it suitable for various applications such as air taxi, emergency response, cargo delivery, or personal transportation.

Skai is not just a concept, but a reality. Alaka’i Technologies has already built and tested a full-scale prototype of Skai and has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct further flight tests. The company aims to launch Skai commercially in the next few years and has partnered with BMW Designworks to create a sleek and comfortable interior for Skai.

If you are looking for a vehicle that combines innovation, performance, and sustainability, look no further than the Skai. The Skai is a hydrogen-powered electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that is designed by BMW and Alaka’i Technologies. The Skai is the ultimate expression of BMW’s motto: “The Ultimate Driving Machine”.

The Skai can carry up to five passengers and has a range of 400 miles. It can fly at speeds of up to 118 mph and has a cruising altitude of 10,000 feet. The Skai is powered by six hydrogen fuel cells that produce zero emissions and can be refueled in minutes. The Skai also has a backup battery system and a ballistic parachute for safety.

The Skai is not just a vehicle, it is a vision for the future of mobility. The Skai aims to revolutionize urban transportation by offering a fast, convenient, and eco-friendly way to travel. The Skai can take off and land from any flat surface, eliminating the need for roads, bridges, or parking lots. The Skai can also fly over traffic jams, reducing congestion and pollution.

The Skai is more than just a flying car, it is a flying masterpiece. The Skai combines BMW’s expertise in design, engineering, and quality with Alaka’i’s experience in aerospace and hydrogen technology. The Skai has a sleek and elegant appearance that reflects its efficiency and functionality. The Skai has a spacious and comfortable cabin that offers panoramic views of the sky and the ground. The Skai has a simple and intuitive interface that allows the pilot to control the aircraft with ease.

The Skai is the ultimate expression of BMW’s motto: “The Ultimate Driving Machine”. It is a vehicle that delivers unparalleled performance, innovation, and sustainability. It is a vehicle that will change the way we move, live, and work. It is a vehicle that will make you feel like you are flying.

Skai is more than just an aircraft; it is a vision for the future of mobility. By harnessing the power of hydrogen, Skai offers a sustainable and flexible solution for moving people and goods across the sky. Skai is the ultimate expression of BMW’s motto: “The Ultimate Driving Machine”.

M-Pesa Outages: The Implication on The Kenyan Economy And The Need For More Mobile Money Platforms to Emerge

By
Ojukwu Emmanuel
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0

Kenyan mobile network Safaricom has come under heavy scrutiny, over the recent power outage that occurred on the mobile money platform M-Pesa.

Recall that M-Pesa was hit with downtime on Monday, inconveniencing millions of customers who rely on it for payment transactions.

The outage saw millions of Kenyans who rely on M-Pesa for their financial transactions such as paying for utilities like electricity, fuel, and parking fees, or purchasing items such as food and medicine in supermarkets and chemists stranded with unpaid bills.

This prompted the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) to summon the company to shed light on the recent outage, which has rocked businesses and inconvenienced customers.

Safaricom, which has 27.7 million subscribers, explained in a statement that they suffered a technical issue and their services were being restored. The company said in a public notice that the outage had been fully resolved as of Tuesday, apologizing to its users.

The company wrote,

“We experienced service intermittency with PayBill payments that resulted in some transactions not being completed on M-Pesa. The technical issue has since been resolved, and we continue to monitor the services closely. We apologize for any inconvenience that this disruption may have caused.”

Meanwhile, this is not M-PESA’s first outage. The mobile money went down for over two hours in early January 2024 and had a service outage in July 2023. These recurring outages affect the platform functionalities such as sending and receiving money, linked bank services, and other payment services.

Thousands of Kenyans have begun to feel discouraged from using the mobile service to make transactions because of the outages. However, other competing products can not match M-PESA’s market dominance, which would have given Kenyans more options.

The Implication of M-Pesa Outages on The Kenyan Economy 

M-Pesa is seen as a de facto national payment system in Kenya, which makes it a critical part of the economy. The mobile money platform accounts for about 99.9 percent of the value of mobile money transactions, underlining the entrenchment of the platform in the economy of the East African country.

M-PESA has been the market leader in Kenya, accounting for 96.5% of the market in 2023, followed by competitors Airtel Money and T-Kash. By March 2023, M-PESA had processed 26 billion transactions.

The mobile money parent company Safaricom owns the majority of the mobile infrastructure in Kenya, so it enjoys an almost total monopoly over the mobile payments space.

Considering that 43% of Kenya’s GDP flows through M-Pesa, a prolonged interruption would substantially disrupt economic activity.

This means that incessant outages on the service would bring transactions to a grinding halt, freezing commerce in its tracks. Also, businesses, large and small, would face crippling losses, and the flow of money would stagnate. The ripple effect would reverberate through supply chains, potentially dampening the entire economic engine.

A 2016 Treasury report and subsequent Treasury reports have often warned that a collapse of the M-Pesa service could, for instance, cause widespread disruption in the economy. This saw M-Pesa classified as a systemic risk to the country’s economy, underlining its crucial role.

While M-Pesa’s ubiquity may seem like a monopoly, it’s crucial to remember that competition does exist in the mobile money space. However, M-Pesa’s first-mover advantage and deep integration into the Kenyan economy have given it a substantial lead.

This however raises concerns about potential anti-competitive practices and the need for a leveled playing field for other players.

The Central Bank of Kenya, among other government agencies, has been attempting to make other mobile money products attractive to Kenyans. However, the development has yet to pick up as locals still prefer using the M-Pesa platform.

It is worth noting that the M-Pesa downtime serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerability inherent in such a centralized system.

This calls for the need for Diversification of Service Providers, to foster a competitive mobile money landscape that can reduce reliance on a single platform and provide users with alternative options in case of outages.

How to hedge your sports bet

By
TI Partners
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1

As any seasoned punter will tell you, the world of sports betting is fraught with unpredictability. Smart bettors understand that while there are no guarantees of winning, certain strategies can protect your bankroll and potentially reduce losses over the long term. One such strategy is hedging your bets. Not to be confused with a lack of confidence, hedging is a calculated approach to manage risk and ensure that, no matter the outcome of an event, you come away with something. Surprisingly, you can hedge a sportbet in various ways, which is crucial to a structured and thoughtful betting strategy.

Hedging involves placing a bet on opposing outcomes of the same event, or across different events, so as to lock in profits or minimize losses. In essence, it acts as an insurance policy against your original wager. It’s a common technique in financial markets and can be just as effective when applied to sports betting. Here’s how you can hedge your sports bet comprehensively.

Understanding when to hedge

Hedging isn’t a one-size-fits-all strategy; there are specific scenarios where it makes the most sense. For instance, during a multi-leg parlay when the first few legs have won and the last leg is still to be played. Instead of risking the entire parlay on that final game, you can bet against your original wager to ensure you walk away with winnings, regardless of the outcome.

Another scenario is when there’s a significant windfall expected if an underdog you’ve bet on is close to winning. If the potential loss is too great for comfort, you can hedge by betting on the favorite to reduce risk.

Methods of hedging a bet

  1. Direct hedging: This is when you place a hedge bet directly against your original wager. If you bet on Team A to win, you later place a bet on Team B to win.
  2. Lay betting: Using a betting exchange, you can ‘lay’ a bet against your original bet. This means you would bet that your original pick won’t win.
  3. Futures bets: For outright market bets placed well in advance of the event, such as predicting a season’s champion, you can hedge as the season progresses and the odds change.

Calculating the hedge bet

Determining the exact amount to hedge can be the difference between making a profit and breaking even or a loss. You’ll need to consider the odds for the hedging bet and the potential returns from your original bet. Use the following formulas to calculate your hedge bet amount:

  1. Lock in profit: hedge bet amount = (Potential Profit from Original Bet / Hedge Bet Odds) + 1
  2. Break even: hedge bet amount = Potential Payout from Original Bet / (Hedge Bet Odds + 1)

Keep in mind that these calculations assume the best-case scenarios and don’t account for the vigorish (bookmaker’s commission).

Pros and cons of hedging

Before you begin to hedge your sports bets routinely, consider the advantages and disadvantages of this strategy:

Pros Cons
Minimizes potential losses Can reduce overall profits
 Locks in profits from risky bets  Requires additional capital
Provides emotional security Can be complex and time-consuming
Beneficial in volatile betting markets Misjudging can lead to magnified losses

 

 A step-by-step guide to hedging your sports bet

  1. Assess the Risk: Evaluate the potential outcome of your original bet and decide whether the risk of losing outweighs the potential winnings.
  2. Monitor the Odds: Odds can change; continuously monitor them to determine the right moment to place your hedge bet.
  3. Calculate Your Hedge: Use one of the formulas above to determine the appropriate hedge bet amount.
  4. Place Your Hedge Bet: Once you’ve calculated the amount, place your hedge bet at the right odds to ensure the desired outcome.
  5. Evaluate the Outcome: After the event, analyze the result of your hedge strategy and consider how it could be refined for future bets.

Practical tips for hedging:

  • stay informed, keep track of any changes that might affect the outcome of the bet;
  • be patient, wait for the optimal moment when the odds are most favorable for hedging;
  • understand the market, some sports and bet types are better suited for hedging than others;
  • use betting calculators, they can simplify the math behind hedging;
  • keep a log of your bets and hedging actions to analyze over time.

Remember, the goal of hedging isn’t just to prevent losses, but to make strategic decisions that contribute to long-term betting success.

When not to hedge

It’s important to know when hedging might not be the best decision. If the potential payout is small, or if hedging undermines a well-thought-out long-term betting strategy, it might be better to stick to your original bet. Additionally, in cases where you are supremely confident in the outcome, or if the odds for hedging are particularly poor, forgoing the hedge could be more profitable.

Hedging a sports bet is less about avoiding losses and more about risk management. By understanding the scenarios in which it’s beneficial, how to calculate your bets, and acknowledging the pros and cons, you can make informed decisions that elevate your betting from a chance hobby to a more systematic form of investment.

Why Unilever’s Omo and Lux Faded in Nigeria

By
Ndubuisi Ekekwe
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0

It is what it is: markets release waves and only great companies have the right antennas to pick the signals.  Those which do not, fade over time. This can be at a company- or a brand-level. We’re seeing that play out in Nigeria as Unilever Nigeria discontinues some iconic brands in the nation: “Unilever Nigeria, one of the leading consumer goods companies in the country, has announced that it will stop the production and sale of two of its popular brands, Omo and Lux, effective from February 1, 2024.”

Yes, Omo and Lux will be gone. Unilever’s Lux has no chance in this age where many Nigerians are becoming “whiter” and “fairer” to the extent you may mistake your ex-classmates a few years down the line. So, Nivea (which whitens skin) killed Lux while Ariel took down Omo. The Ariel frontal assault on Omo was through sachetization (making small packages) where Omo’s big box was disintermediated. Since that happened in the 1990s, Omo has not recovered. Omo used to be the king and its main competitor was Elephant. But Ariel arrived and knocked them out.

As a student in FUTO, I was among the regional sales network for Royal Crown, a haircare maker. My distribution center was then Hotel De General Nwankpi in Orlu. It was a great business and I saw first hand how innovation worked. Kessingsheen Hair Cream was very popular also.

But the Royal  Crown came and caused wahala. But Royal Crown then quickly faded with the likes of Soulmate using effective pricing and stylist support system to win market share. Stylists (yes, hairdressers) were the most important entry points.

For the fall of Omo and Lux, you will read about high prices of raw materials and forex difficulties as the core reasons why Unilever is exiting this personal care category. Those are nonsensical excuses when you consider that Ariel is also a foreign product (from P&G), and Germany-based Nivea has no production plant in Nigeria, which means they are also operating within the same market dynamics. The key difference: they make products people want and in this age, young people are loyal to brands only when those brands serve them well.

Implications of Unilever Nigeria Stopping Production, Sale of Omo and Lux

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