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One thing is certain: the greatest banks of the future would be technology companies which offer banking services and not banks that just use technologies. For that redesign to happen, banks have to become native tech firms. And part of the processes would be mutating from what they do today to what their customers will expect in the future.

Standard Chartered Bank has drawn the first blood in Nigeria: many branches will be closed as the march to mobile banking and broad digital banking playbook accelerates.

Over the last few years, the banking profession in South Africa has been restructured and pockets of protests have been happening as workers lose their jobs to ATMs, chatbots and other digital systems. 

As I noted in my 2022 Outlook message, this is the application utility era and many things will change. If you work in the banking and insurance sectors today, now is the time to deepen your capabilities with tech readiness. Nothing will be the same again because our biggest competitor as I noted in Harvard recently is algorithms and AI systems.

Yet, there is no need to be afraid if you can adapt: technology will destroy some jobs but will also create new types of jobs. The issue is if you are able to be employable for the new types of jobs! Time to go back and learn new things.

Standard Chartered Plc will close about half of its Nigeria branches as the company emphasizes digital banking, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg for its report Monday (Jan. 10), starting with some office closures in December and leaving the London lender with 13 branches when it’s done.

That number is down from 25 across the west African country, according to a document seen by Bloomberg News.

Standard Chartered will focus on bolstering its mobile banking capabilities and recruiting employees who can better assist new customers and handle cash deposits and withdrawals across Africa’s biggest economy, said Bloomberg’s sources, who asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly.

A Standard Chartered spokeswoman declined to comment when reached by Bloomberg and said the company would address future plans at the “appropriate time.”

Former Lagos governor Bola Tinubu has made it public: big interest in the Nigerian presidency. Yes, visiting President Buhari on Monday, he made his intention clear that he would like to succeed Buhari in Aso Rock. Call him the frontrunner for APC for the presidential ticket.

With Tinubu in, the Vice President of the nation, Prof Osinbajo seems boxed now as any declaration would be seen as a confrontation with his former boss. But it may not matter, as they say in politics, no permanent enemy or friend, just permanent interest!

With Tinubu’s declaration, the high-voltage tribal warfare will ramp up in the next few months. Yes, if Southwest wants to provide the next president, arguing that it is the turn for the South, the North can flip that point making it clear that by Southwest not yielding to the Southeast, the whole argument for North to cede power becomes voidable. 

In other words, what the South expects the North to do is the same thing Southeast expects Southwest to do. But since Tinubu has broken it, expect new permutations in the next coming months in Nigeria.

The three big tribes will determine the next election but the North holds the ace on whom to anoint. Kano and Zamfara states closely track the whole Southeast and by the time you add other states, it is over.

There is a high likelihood that the North will retain power because Tinubu’s declaration has made it clear that fairness, equity and balance are not central in anyone’s spirit but only when it favours that person. If you want the North to relinquish power, you should also expect that power to go to the Southeast which is yet to test “power”. If not, do not expect someone to do what you cannot do for your neighbour!

But does my political sagacity cut it? Pure distractions indeed. During Jonathan’s government, Southeast had all the key posts but nothing changed in the region. That Obasanjo was president changed nothing in his state. Buhari’s kinsmen in Katsina state are kidnapped weekly and he has not done much to stop the paralysis. People, north, south, east or west, is not the real deal.

But what is the deal?  Eliminate state of origin and enshrine state of residence. That way, the game moves to competence over ancestral roots. For me, that is the only way to look for the best and avoid the politics of tribes and geography. But where that is not the case, let’s rotate the damn office for fairness and equity since we’re already doing a quota system in everything!

Tinubu Reveals Intention to Contest 2023 Nigeria Presidential Election (full text)

One Policy That Will Change Nigeria For Good – Abolish “State of Origin” for “State of Residence”

There is a lot of hype around how the success of a business is dependent on the validity of the idea, and as a result, a lot of founders cherish that AHA moment. What we mostly refer to as the AHA moment is the exact time the entrepreneur realizes that he could make a business out of this idea.

Guess the first thing most people do when they have a business idea?

They rush online to check if such a business exists, or if someone else has done it already. Nine out of ten times, they will discover that the idea has already been done by someone else. Sometimes, it appears as though all the problems have been solved already. Like there is nothing to be done anymore. It always seems like someone else has done what we want to do, and sometimes, those people have already failed at the same business idea you are just conceptualizing.

Let me state first before going on, that every business idea is valid. Someone else might be solving the same problem, but if you probe further, you could find a segment of the audience that is underserved. You could find a better way to do the same thing. You could find a faster way too, or even a cheaper way.

There is room for competition if you know what you are doing.

But! No matter how valid the idea is, there are points you want to consider.

Does your market need the solution you are bringing?

You could have an idea that is solving a real problem, but no one wants it. It may be too complex for the market to understand. It may be too advanced, or maybe too expensive. To tick the first box on your idea, you want to confirm that the market needs the solution and will be willing to pay for it.

What about the other factors the come into play?

Some ideas are right and the market could need them. But is the timing right? Are all the factors in place? For instance, a lot of internet-based business ideas that are thriving now would have died off if the founders implement them in the 1990s. The internet broadband penetration at that time was still very low, even for very developed countries. That means an online streaming platform that would have withered off, but now, there is room for several of such businesses to thrive because the needed technology is in place. You need the right factors and technology in place.

Can I find out from the market what an ideal solution would be?

Sometimes, the idea that triggered your AHA moment might not trigger an AHA from your customer. Yes, your customer might not be impressed by your almighty novel idea. Often, you could find that your customer has a clearer picture of what he would like the solution to look like. This is often the rationale behind a market survey. The problem you want to solve is right in front of you, but if you do not ask the customer the right questions, you may not find out the best way to solve it.

Does your customer believe you can deliver on your crazy idea?

One last thing to know. While convincing yourself that you can create that solution, you also need your customer to believe that you can deliver on it.

All Progressive Congress (APC) chieftain, Bola Ahmed Tinubu visited the State House, Abuja, on Monday where he made his intention to run for the office of the president known.

Tinibu revealed his desire to contest the 2023 presidential election during a media briefing, after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

Below is an edited transcript of the briefing.

Q: Why are you here?

T: I came to see the President on general issues concerning Nigeria, including our political party, APC. Security issues, the achievement, and the New Year agenda. That’s all I can tell you. The new strategy that we must have party congresses and all that.

Q: President Buhari recently said he does not want to divulge his favorite for the APC 2023 presidential ticket. Have you informed him about your ambition?

T: I can answer that with a categorical yes. I’ve informed the President of my intention but I have not informed Nigerians yet. I’m still consulting. And I have no problem consulting. And I’ve not set a parameter of limitation to the extent of how many people will I consult. You will soon hear, all you want to hear is the categorical declaration. You’ve gotten that truth from me that I have informed Mr. President of my ambition, and you don’t expect more answers than that.

Q: What was his response?

T: That’s our business. He is a Democrat. He didn’t ask me to stop. He didn’t ask me not to attempt and pursue my ambition; it is a lifelong ambition. So, why do I expect him to say more than that? Why do you? You are running a democratic dispensation, and you must adopt the principles and the values, and the virtues of democracy. That’s it.

Q: We have seen a number of support groups, drumming up support for your ambition, that of Vice President Osinbajo and Governor of Kogi state too. What’s your perspective on this? How do you see a potential race between you and these other persons for the APC ticket?

T: I don’t want to discuss individuals now. I must discuss myself. I have the confidence, the vision, the capacity to rule, build on the foundation of Mr. President, and turn Nigeria better. I have done that with commitment and unyielding you know, in Lagos State. You’ve seen that experience and the capacity to turn things around and that is what we are doing. You know, the confusion, the drift of the past in PDP is being corrected. And you can’t take away from that. As we are today, go back to the data on how many barrels of oil were we producing when we first came in and what it is today. At the time we came in we did not pay the counterpart funds to start our rail line. Today you enjoy the comfort of having rail from Lagos to Ibadan, you have the Kaduna and you have the one for Kano State on the aggressive pipeline, you see excellent infrastructure. I just came from Azare and I have seen good roads, the carnage of dying on motor vehicles is reducing except you know, lack of compliance with a lot of Nigerian drivers and VIOs. Let us think back, let us be intellectually inquisitive as to the past and the present and what the future holds for Nigeria.

Q: Tinubu as Nigeria’s President, what do we hope to see?

T: You want my manifesto now? Not yet. Not yet.

Q: I would like you to speak on the direct primaries and the convention. And secondly, what would be your response to those that say, the cap of being a kingmaker fits you more than you throwing yourself into the ring, you should remain a kingmaker.

T: First of all, the National Assembly and the president must be encouraged to review and review again. Whatever they come up with electoral amendment is what we must comply with. There is no unlimited elasticity in what we face, because we have to plan and plan well, and be able to manage the time effectively. The great roadmap to success is the ability of a leader to do what he must do at the right time that it should be done. So that to me, the electoral amendment point we will still look at that collectively. And it is our country. It’s our democracy. We had adopted it and we will pursue it rigorously.

About the cap of kingmaker. I’ve never seen the cap of a kingmaker before. That is the truth. And I’ve never seen where it is written in the rule book anywhere in any country, that a kingmaker cannot be a king, unless you commit murder. So, whatever is your attribute is your own opinion. Me, I want to pursue my ambition without the title of a kingmaker. You can write your literature and your story based upon your own perception.

Q: What about the (APC) Convention?

T: It is certain that we are going to get it.

Q: When next month?

T: Oh, well. I’m not a spokesperson for the party. And the President is the leader of the party. So, expect convention, maybe if that’s added to your own anxiety, or the other party’s anxiety, it is good for us. We will get it and we will get it done properly.