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Central Bank Of Nigeria Grants Flutterwave Switching And Processing License

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Nigerian and African-focused fintech company, Flutterwave has been granted a switching and processing license by the Central Bank Of Nigeria, which is regarded as CBN’s most valuable payments processing license.

Recall that the CBN last two years, in line with its commitment to promote a strong and credible payment system, approved new license categorizations for payment service providers, Banks, and other financial institutions in the country.

This license allows Flutterwave to offer transaction switching and card processing services to customers. Others include non-bank acquiring, agency banking, and payment gateway services.

The switching and processing license will allow Flutterwave to enable transactions between banks, Fintechs, and other financial institutions. The company will also be able to process card transactions, participate in agency banking and offer various payment services without any intermediary.

Before this license, Flutterwave operated with its Payment Solution Service Provider (PSSP) and International Money Transfer Operator (IMTO) licenses.

Commenting on this, the CEO and founder of Flutterwave, Olugbenga Agboola disclosed that Flutterwave securing its switching and processing license is big news for the company, its partners, customers, investors, and other stakeholders as Flutterwave has always sought to develop a world-class and secure payment infrastructure.

In his words;

”This is big news for our customers, partners, investors, and other stakeholders. It is an important milestone in our growth story. Building a thriving payments ecosystem in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is in line with our goals of developing a world-class and secure payment infrastructure for global merchants and payment service providers across the continent”.

Flutterwave’s Chief Regulatory And Government Affairs Officer, Oluwabankole Falade disclosed that going through the application process in order to secure a switching and processing license for the company was a rigorous process, however, the company and the whole team are thrilled that they have finally been granted the license by Nigeria’s apex bank.

See what he said;

”We’re thrilled to have been issued this license after fulfilling all of the regulatory requirements. The application process was very rigorous and included a detailed review of our operations as a business. As a switch, we have more responsibilities and will continue to work with regulators to ensure we meet and exceed their expectations”.

Also reacting to this news, is Flutterwave’s Head of Product Marketing, Onyedikachim Nwankwo, who disclosed that the license will enable the company to offer more value to its customers.

In his words;

”The License will allow us to offer more services and explore more payment use cases for our ecosystem. With this license, we can offer more value to our customers while taking more control of our value chain to enable an improved payments experience for our enterprise medium scale and retail customers”.

Lately, this period has no doubt been an interesting time for Flutterwave, even as it deals with regulatory hurdles in its key markets. The company seem unperturbed by such a challenge, as it has continued to forge ahead by making significant giant strides in the Fintech sector.

A recent publication on Tekedia disclosed that Flutterwave is preparing for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange in the United States, as it intends to use the proceeds from its listing to grow its expansion into new African opportunities. And now, the company has secured a switching and processing license from the Central Bank Of Nigeria. Indeed, Flutterwave has positioned itself for exponential growth.

At $3 billion, the company is currently the highest valued African startup. Following its recent achievements, the company will definitely witness an increase in valuation as the company is visibly hitting on all cylinders.

POS Transactions In Nigeria See 29.3% Growth, Hits N4.6 Trillion In 7 Months

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In the last five years, point of sale (POS) transactions have become the most preferred option for a lot of Nigerian Bank customers. These customers would rather prefer to visit POS outlets to carry out transactions, because it saves them time and energy that they would have spent in the bank, either to withdraw or deposit cash.

Due to the preference of POS to carry out transactions among Nigerians, it has witnessed a huge leap in transactions, as the figures have jumped to N4.6 trillion in the first seven months of 2022.

This growth recorded a 29.3% increase, compared to N3.56 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2021, and a staggering 90.3% increase when compared to the same period of 2020.

Also, the volume of transactions rose by 25% year-on-year from N543.7 million to N679.8 million in the same period. Notably, the volume and value of cheque transactions dropped in the same period.

A total of N1.83 trillion was recorded through cheques in the first 7 months across 2.4 million transactions, a decline compared to 2021.

Between 2017 and 2022, the number of POS terminals in Nigeria grew significantly, with around 155 thousand terminals, while as of April 2022, the figure reached roughly 1.1 million.

With all these statistics in POS transactions above-mentioned, there is no disputing the fact that the payment system has come to stay. POS dominance in the country has grown in leaps and bounds, as their outlets are littered around almost every nook and cranny in the country, catering to customers’ needs in areas of withdrawals, transfers, and cash deposits.

It is also interesting to note that the growth of the alternative payment system has spurred banks to leverage the opportunities in the digital banking space amid rising competition from fintech companies.

However, there are several factors that have contributed to the growth of POS transactions in Nigeria.

Factors That Have Contributed To The Growth Of POS Transactions in Nigeria

1.) Convenience

Using POS transactions no doubt offers customers convenience, as it saves time and energy that would have been spent in banks. These days, there is hardly any day that passes without the presence of long queues at different banking halls across the country.

This often discourages customers who would rather prefer to visit POS outlets despite their charges, than visit banks even with zero charges. It has also helped in bringing services closer to rural areas that do not have as many banks accessible to them, saving customers the stress of embarking on long distances to carry out transactions.

2.) Security

Recall that the CBN established POS systems to drive a cashless policy in Nigeria. This cashless policy has no doubt helped to curb the rate of theft, as people are now more security conscious as they no longer carry huge money around.

Most especially when it comes to huge transfer of money, customers will prefer to visit a POS outlet to transfer such amount of the money mostly through their atm cards.

3.) Job Unemployment

Nigeria is currently ravaged by a high unemployment rate, which currently stands at 33.3 percent . Due to this, a lot of citizens, especially youths are taking up the POS business, which has become a lifesaver for them where they are able to sustain themselves.

No doubt the surge in POS transactions will continue to increase as it is evident that most Nigerians are shifting away from traditional payment method like cheques which have been on a decline since the cashless policy in 2012.

The Call to Business Execution – Join Tekedia Mini-MBA

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We are in the final week of Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 8 after 12 weeks. It has been a wonderful journey in our community. On Tuesday, we looked at Winning in Markets. Today, the conversation is titled “The Call to Business Execution”. Largely, it is ACTION time and we need to go to the markets, and apply the constructs, capabilities and frameworks we have mastered. Until it is done, it has not been done!

How do we get things done? How do we execute in markets? Connect with the Zoom link in the Board.

Meanwhile, registration for the next edition of Tekedia Mini-MBA (Sept 12 – Dec 3, 2022) continues. It is $140 (or N60k) for the 12-week program which is self-paced and wholly online, if you beat the early bird deadline. Join us, and co-learn with me, and other amazing faculty. Register here https://school.tekedia.com/course/mmba9/

 

 

The Regulatory Framework Governing Holding Companies, Groups of Companies and Consortiums in Nigeria

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It is not exactly uncommon to see company letterheads, advertisements and product labellings identifying the manufacturing company or business with the appendage title of ‘Xyz Group of Companies’ or ‘Wazobia Holding Company’ or seeing big projects in sectors like the Construction Industry said to be carried out by an ‘ABC Consortium’.

The examples mentioned above are simply unique types of Corporate structures different from the typical limited liability/PLC set-up.

This article will be dealing with the topic of Holding Companies, Groups of companies and Consortiums, specifically the topics of :-

– The definitions of Holding Companies, Groups of Companies and Consortiums in Nigeria.

– The Regulatory Framework governing Holding Companies, Groups of Companies and Consortiums in Nigeria.

– The Registration procedures for each of these company types.

– The outstanding operational structures of these company types where they exist.

What is a Group of Companies, a Holding Company & a Consortium?

A group of companies is a corporate structure made up of 3 or more related companies having common shareholders coming together to form a composite umbrella structure with each of the companies being associates.

This structure differs from a company limited by shares being Incorporated by 2 or more shareholders in the form of companies.

A Holding company on the other hand is a company structure specifically designed by law to engage in the business of holding/acquiring controlling/majority stock interests in various companies/subsidiaries and subsequently maintaining an oversight function over these subsidiary companies.

A Consortium is a Corporate structure that functions as a union of various companies coming together to achieve a common business objective usually in the form of a joint venture/enterprise, specific project, or a special purpose vehicle.

It should be noted that no company in Nigeria is allowed to use the appendages (?) of “Group of Companies”, “Holding Company”, or “Consortium” without the proper Regulatory approval.

What is the Regulatory Framework governing Groups of Companies, Holding Companies and Consortiums in Nigeria?

Holding Companies, Groups of Companies and Consortiums are licensed, regulated and supervised by the Corporate Affairs Commission(CAC) through the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020.

What is the licensing/registration procedure for a Group of Companies, a Holding company and a Consortium?

A Group of Companies

You need to have the following to register a group of companies:-

– An online application for the consent of the Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission after carrying out a name availability search & reservation.

– At least 3 or more existing proposed subsidiaries/component companies.

– Certificates of Incorporation of the 3 proposed subsidiary companies.

– Company resolutions of each of the subsidiaries consenting to the umbrella company union.

– Before commencing the process of registering a group of companies, it is important to first satisfy to date all outstanding CAC  obligations(in the form of annual returns) of the component/companies that are to make up the group of companies.

– A statement that the share capital of the group shall not be less than the highest capital of any of the subsidiaries in the proposed group.

– Compliance with Section 733 of CAMA 2020 requiring the publishing by companies of statements in the prescribed form as in the 14th schedule, specifically companies such as banks and insurance companies.

– Registration.

A Holding Company

Registering a holding company will require:-

– At least 2 subsidiary companies.

– A statement by the majority of the directors of the holding company that it shall take up more than 50%  of the nominal share capital of each of Its subsidiaries within 90 days of incorporation.

– Compliance with Section 733 of CAMA 2020.

Consortiums

To register a consortium you need the following:-

– An application for the consent of the Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission, after a name availability search and reservation.

– Evidence of at least 3 companies forming the consortium in the form of Certificates of Incorporation.

– Evidence of registration in Nigeria where one of the companies in the proposed consortium is a foreign company.

– A resolution by each of the companies agreeing to the creation of the consortium.

– A Statutory declaration to wind up the Consortium in accordance with the Companies and Allied Matters Act upon the conclusion of its business objects.

– The insertion of a winding- up clause in the article of the Consortium.

– A statement of the object clause in the consortium’s MEMART (Memorandum/Articles of Association).

– Proof of updated annual return filing records of the consortium’s component companies.

– Evidence of compliance with Section 733 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020

Conclusion:- It is hoped from the above write-up that a basic clear.  understanding of the Legal/Regulatory Framework governing Holding Companies, Groups of Companies and Consortiums. Further knowledge about these company structures, as well other specialized companies like Investment Holding Companies, will require further consultations with your lawyer.

The ultimate guide to promoting your home cleaning business

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Running a house cleaning business is no walk in the park, and promoting it is another ball game altogether. You always have to be at your A-game to constantly hunt clients so that you always have more work in the pipeline, which can be backbreaking work. What if we told you that you could get multiple clients through the door if you have the right marketing strategy in place?

What qualifies as the “perfect” marketing strategy for a small home cleaning business? There’s no one right answer to that question, but there are a few evergreen marketing strategies you can use to promote your cleaning business. However, keep in mind that every business is different, so you might have to tailor them to your specific target audience to get the best results. Read on to learn about the best marketing strategies for promoting your home cleaning business.

Create a conversion-focused website

Your website is one of the most important tools in your marketing arsenal. It’s the first place potential customers will go to learn about your business, so it’s important to make sure it’s informative, user-friendly, and up-to-date. 

Include clear information about your services, pricing, and contact information. And be sure to showcase your work with before and after photos or customer testimonials. If you don’t have the time or resources to create a website from scratch, you can use a platform like WordPress or Wix to build a professional-looking site quickly and easily.

If you’re offering limited-time discounts, make sure to mention them on a vibrant flyer on your website’s front page and make them stand out so it’s the first thing a potential customer sees when they visit your website. You can craft stunning posters in a few clicks using an online graphic design tool like PosterMyWall, which contains several dozens of home cleaning flyers.

Build a website blog

Content is the fundamental building block of all things digital marketing. Without good content, you won’t get traction, and without traction, you can’t promote your brand. One of the best ways to increase customer engagement is by having a website blog, where you share your brand’s story and educate your target audience by posting valuable content.

Remember, the articles you post should add direct value to your potential customers. For example, you could write an article on the best vacuum cleaners in the market that can halve the time an average homeowner spends on cleaning. Such content shows that you’re genuinely invested in serving your customers and are serious about your work.

Not only does this make you appear as the expert in your industry but also exudes your brand’s authenticity and reliability. Of course, you can subtly segue into advertising your services and highlight what you offer that the competition doesn’t. You could make a promotional video about your services and embed it at the end of the article, but make sure you aren’t overly sales-y as that will only repel potential customers.

Join the right social media platforms

You must have heard marketers constantly rave about how great social media marketing is. It actually is, but you need to be at the right place to make it work. Most business owners wrongly assume that the more social media platforms you can market on, the better. Truth be told, that’s not an effective strategy.

You need to narrow down your social media marketing efforts only to those platforms where your target audience is hanging out. For example, the best place for a recruitment company is LinkedIn. Similarly, a luxury apparel brand would do well on Instagram. As a home cleaning business, you might find your audience on Facebook or Instagram because they’re the most widely used social media platforms today.

Use social media to your advantage

Once you have figured out which social media platforms to focus your marketing efforts on, it’s time to get on with the hard work — building traction on your channels. It can take a lot of time and patience to build a social media following, and unfortunately, there’s no shortcut for that. The key ingredient to a successful social media marketing strategy is valuable content and audience engagement.

As mentioned earlier, content is the bread and butter of digital marketing. You need to regularly post on your social media channels to keep the audience engaged. You could post the URLs of articles on your website blog and insert a catchy caption relevant to the blog post. Alternatively, you could post a banner advertising your upcoming discount for the first 50 customers. Use these Instagram post templates to make your digital discount flyers stand out. 

Once you’ve built traction, you could speed up your leads with paid social media ads. These are exceptionally beneficial because they target users who are most likely to buy your services. That’s because social media platforms monitor their users’ search interests and show them ads based on their interests.

Email marketing can give you a big boost

People normally underestimate the power of email marketing and consider it an obsolete marketing tool. However, when used correctly, it can push your business to great heights! What most businesses do wrong is they fail to segment their target audience before sending out the “perfect email.” First, you have to understand which email to send to whom.

Every business has different segments of target audiences. For example, as a home cleaning business, you could be catering to a family living in their own house, a single person living in a studio apartment, a landlord who wants cleaning services for a bunch of properties, or commercial clients that need their office cleaned thrice every week. All these audiences have subtle differences, so sending one email to all of them won’t work.

What you need to do is craft an email for each market segment, specifically tailored to their needs. Your email should be concise and have visuals. People are too busy to read your email and would rather look at an image containing the message you’re trying to convey. I suggest using dynamic email templates from PosterMyWall’s catalog and incorporating them into your emails. Customize the email in their easy to use Email Maker, download the HTML email file and use it for your email campaign.

SEO can take you to the moon

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is perhaps your biggest opportunity to shine. For those of you who don’t know what it is, it’s a set of best practices that improve your website’s ranking on Google. Every business’s main aim is to get their websites listed on Google’s first page results. The higher the ranking, the more visitors you’ll get to your website, and the higher the chances of you securing leads.

SEO isn’t a one-time thing but a continual effort to keep your website afloat with Google’s ever-changing algorithms. As a rule of thumb, all your website blog articles, YouTube video captions, and social media posts should contain relevant keywords. Keywords are the most searched phrases on Google, and if you incorporate them into your content strategy, your SEO rating would automatically improve.

Another thing that improves your site’s SEO score is its user-friendliness and responsiveness. A great user experience (both on desktops and phones) would mean visitors would stay at your website for longer. Google considers that a good sign and gives you bonus points for that.

Online reviews can make quite the dent

When people search for a product or service on Google, they almost always search for reviews from other users who have used it before. Reviews are the key to gaining honest insight about a product for a potential customer. Therefore, you must have positive reviews from your customers on your Google My Business page or other review sites.

Of course, you can’t force someone to leave a positive review, so the only way you can get them is by offering exceptional customer service and after-sales service. When you go above and beyond to ensure your clients receive a satisfactory service, your clients will surely return the favor by giving you a positive review.

These positive reviews will snowball into more and more clients over time. Just make sure your level of dedication to serving customers doesn’t decline over time — you wouldn’t want too many bad reviews about your home cleaning service as that will hurt your brand image.

A final piece of advice

Crafting a marketing strategy and figuring out the marketing mix that works just right for you can be a cumbersome process. You’ll certainly have to experiment with several strategies and tailor them to your business to see what works for you. The process can be akin to finding a needle in the haystack, but you can circumvent that (at least a little bit) by researching your competition’s marketing strategy.

For example, you could look up another home cleaning business in your area and see what kind of content they post, how large their social media following is, and what social media platforms they’re on to narrow down your options. This will give you a clear idea of the playing field you need to concentrate on — if it works for them, it’ll work for you too.