Last year, I coined the word “fintechnolization” – a construct that every digital platform must have a maturity state of offering a fintech solution. I had watched all great digital platforms on how they ended up providing fintech solutions even when they began in an unrelated sector. It was also on that framework that I started Tekedia Capital since Tekedia itself is a platform. In that piece, I made a call that in 2021, I would start a financial services solution on Tekedia!
In our last investment cycle, we deployed $3.5 million, validating that call. Yes, if you have thousands of people coming to your platform, you must find a way to offer a financial services solution if indeed you are a platform.
From one of the best in the world, Andreessen Horowitz, the experts just put out apiece titled “Every Company Will Spin Out a Fintech Company”. Thank you Nnamdi for sharing that piece today. It validates my hypothesis that our digital startups must incorporate elements of financial services irrespective of whatever they do, upon becoming organic platforms.
In 2003, the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo established the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission with the sole responsibility of getting rid of economic and financial crimes in the country. From the leadership era of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu to the current chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, the Commission has carried out a number of arrests and successfully executed persons found guilty of various crimes.
In spite of the Commission’s activities, social commentators, political leaders and public affairs, locally and internationally, have always perceived the Commission has been selective in arresting and prosecuting some politically and economically exposed citizens across the country.
Beyond the public perception and representation of the Commission’s activities in digital and physical spaces, this piece interrogates the recent statistics jointly released in a statistical report of women and men, which establishes the Commission’s performance in terms of number of persons arrested and prosecuted between 2017 and 2019 for economic crime, financial crime, bribery and corruption, cyber crime, embezzlement, advance fee fraud, bank fraud and money laundering.
For these crimes, the Commission was able to arrest 17, 474 persons and prosecuted 1,744 persons during the three-year period [see Exhibit 1]. Looking at the number of persons convicted against those arrested, analysis indicates 9.98% conviction success rate. Our analysis further suggests that the Commission appeared to deploy its resources towards ending crimes that are being committed by Nigerians with low socioeconomic and political status.
For instance, the Commission’s data reveal an exponential increase in both arrest and conviction of offenders of cybercrime. “In 2017, 2018 and 2019 the number of males arrested for cybercrime were 277; 319 and 878 as against 21; 48 and 73 females respectively. Out of these, 134, 151 and 390 males were convicted in 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively, while only 8 females were convicted in 2019,” the Statistical Report says.
Exhibit 1: Performance across crimes categories
Source: Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, 2017-2019; National Bureau of Statistics, 2020; Infoprations Analysis, 2021
Crime by crime conviction success rate analysis reveals that offenders of economic crime, advance fee fraud, money laundering and bank fraud were more convicted than those who committed bribery and corruption, financial crime and embezzlement crimes during the period. Our analyst notes that the disparity in arrests and convictions could be linked with a number of factors. The poor criminal justice system remains key obstacle to more convictions. Concerned stakeholders are expected to work out more strategies and right political will for the arrest and prosecution of offenders.
Exhibit 2: Commission’s Conviction Success Rate based on Number of Arrested and Convicted Persons [in %]
Source: Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, 2017-2019; National Bureau of Statistics, 2020; Infoprations Analysis, 2021
The early bird registration deadline for the 6th edition of Tekedia Institute Mini-MBA (Sept 13-Dec 5) is today, Aug 28. Our program is online, self-paced, and costs $140 (or N50,000 naira) per person. It involves pre-recorded and live Zoom sessions, facilitated by executives from the finest companies you admire.
We have many goodies if you beat the deadline including attending our Innovation Week and Career Week free besides access to my books, and certificate courses at Facyber.com. You will also have access to the critics-loved The Dangote System (yes, bring it on, lol).
Beat the deadline and join the best school. Click and register and my team will get you in. They run 24/7 because now we serve 39 countries. Become an innovator and a champion of markets; click and register here.
Cristiano Ronaldo makes it back to Manchester United in a €15 million deal with a potential €8m addition. He will sign a two year contract to reconnect to the old club after 12 years. On business, this is superb but on sports and trophies, this is poor. They will get more TV rights but that is it!
Ronaldo is a legend. He scored more than 80 goals in Italy in 3 years. But under him Juventus degraded. Before his arrival, Juve was easily winning the league – 9 straight! In Ronaldo’s last session, the Old Lady was 4th. Notice that they made no progress on the Champions League: lost to Ajax in quarterfinals and last 16 to Lyon and Porto. Largely, Juve won only one knockout game with him. Not his fault except that he was in the midst!
Ronaldo will score many goals in Old Trafford. But scoring goals without creating goals or having others who do, will rarely win Champions League. He scored many goals in Italy, winning the battle but if you check, he lost the war. I do think that ManU needs a different type of player because ManU lacks consistency in structure in the midfield. The ManU coach Solskjaer was an open book which other coaches read quickly!
I am never a good footballer but in secondary school, my nickname was Sausa: the football strategist and analyst. What a village boy! Welcome home Ronaldo, nevertheless.
Updated After Facebook and LinkedIn Comments
General response on my Cristiano Ronaldo’s piece. Yes, my problem is that I wrote something unpalatable about a god to many. I would not have written that piece if I am currently in Lagos. CR is a god and Manchester United is a temple. The altar remains the streets of Lagos and beyond where fans congregate on any ManU game.
So, I am aware that I was going against the crusaders of the Red Devils for pointing out that CR won his battles in Italy with many goals but lost the war of bringing Champions League to the Old Lady. But if you believe in numbers, my point is clear.
But when it comes to gods, even numbers are meaningless. CR, I am with you on this. Break the nets and may we forget our problems in Nigeria from those goals!
Good People, join me to congratulate a good friend, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Malam Mele Kyari, for what he is doing in NNPC. He continues to improve the numbers, hitting a N287 billion profit after tax in 2020. If NNPC becomes this efficient, I posit that by 2025, it would be delivering at least N1 trillion per year to Nigeria.
“For NNPC family, this is a very proud moment for us and for our shareholders because we no longer declare losses. We moved from loss of N803 billion in 2018, reduced to N1.7 billion in 2019 and in 2020, we are making profit after tax of N287 billion, this is in no doubt a huge progress but no means sufficient….We saw the opportunity to be more efficient by automating our system and processes that made thing work faster and ultimately reduced logistic cost that added additional cost to our business, Borrowing at lower rate in 2020 also helped us to reduce cost of production,’ GMD NNPC
To the NNPC Team, congrats for great execution. Yet, we MUST still do better. I do think that Nigeria needs to run compounding acceleration on value realizable from our energy assets to go ahead of the inflection point of any energy flip. Sure, moving from red to black is a welcome development. Now, SCALE that black fast!!!
