McPherson University Champions,  welcome again to Tekedia Institute. Very excited to host all of you here. Please the Zoom link is now in the Board. I hope to meet all on Saturday to discuss innovation, business growth and the wealth in nations. It is always transformational – and I am confident that you will see a hopeful, promising and abundant future, out of your capabilities and the promises of tomorrow. 

Yes, the future is full of abundance, and innovation will fix frictions which are challenges nations, communities and firms are facing. Those who have the capabilities to fix those challenges win the trophies. Yes, they become champions across domains in academic, business, political and other human endeavors. Everyone is invited on that mission because we are agents to make the world a better place.

Saturday, Aug 21, 2021 at 5pm WAT.

Tekedia CollegeBoost >> co-learning with university students and innovators of tomorrow

Does your business operate on Speed or Velocity? At Tekedia Mini-MBA, we educate on the physics of business systems. It is possible you are operating on speed. We will help you have Velocity which is a playbook with a Clear Direction. Let’s co-learn on how to unlock the opportunities in your firm.

Registration for the 6th edition of Tekedia Mini-MBA (Sept 13 – Dec 6, 2021) opens. Tekedia Mini-MBA, from Tekedia Institute, is an innovation management 12-week program, optimized for business execution and growth, with digital operational overlay. It runs 100% online. The theme is Innovation, Growth & Digital Execution – Techniques for Building Category-King Companies. All contents are self-paced, recorded and archived which means participants do not have to be at any scheduled time to consume contents. Our programs are designed for ALL sectors, from fintech to construction, healthcare to manufacturing, agriculture to real estate, etc.

Join our school here https://www.tekedia.com/mmba6/ . Class begins with The Innovation and Growth of Firms on Sept 13.

He is a very brilliant young man. He graduated from the prestigious University of Lagos with First Class in Botany. He loves the environment and has worked to see how we protect, sustain and keep life going here.  In PwC, he was an Assistant Manager on Sustainability and Climate Change, becoming one of the early experts in Africa in that domain. Today, he leads sustainability in Coronation Group, one of Africa’s leading financial services platforms.

Dr. Tiwalade Adeniyi, a PhD graduate of the University of Lagos, and  Tekedia Institute Faculty will teach fundraising on the tenets of ESG (environmental, social, and governance ) tomorrow. Zoom link in the Board.

Thur, Aug 19, 7pm WAT | Mastering ESG-Anchored Global Fundraising – Dr. Tiwalade Adeniyi, Sustainability Lead, Coronation Group

Tekedia Mini-MBA >> learn from the best. Registration continues for the next edition which begins next month here.

A federal court in Abuja has frozen the accounts of 6 online investment firms. The companies are Bamboo Systems Technology Limited, Rise Vest Technologies Limited, Bamboo Systems Technology Limited OPNS, Chaka Technologies Limited, CTL/Business Expenses, and Trove Technologies Limited. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has requested for the freeze to enable it conduct forex related investigations on the companies: “The CBN now accuses the companies of engaging in “illicit forex transactions”. The freeze will remain till Feb 2022. These firms help Nigerians buy foreign stocks, bonds and other financial securities.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has secured a court order to freeze the accounts of some fintech companies for 180 days. The Federal High Court in Abuja granted the prayer of the apex bank to put the financial activities of the investment firms on hold pending the conclusion of its investigation into their alleged forex misconduct.

The companies include Rise Vest Technologies Limited, Bamboo Systems Technology Limited, Bamboo Systems Technology Limited OPNS, Chaka Technologies Limited, CTL/Business Expenses, and Trove Technologies Limited.

The court document reveals that the financial regulator is investigating ‘illegal foreign exchange transactions’ by the affected companies, which is weakening the naira.

If you look at it, the apex bank thinks they could be weighing on the value of Naira against dollars since technically they are importing “foreign financial products” into Nigeria thereby re-adjusting Nigeria’s balance of payments.

This does not look good at all for the startups.

Bamboo: “We’re aware of the recent reports about us. Our legal and government relations teams are looking into it but we thought it was important to let you know that your money remains safe with Bamboo and will always be readily accessible.”

 Risevest: “About the latest news about us and our FX dealings, you can be sure that your investments and funds are safely managed, that funding and withdrawals will continue to be processed as normal, and that our U.S operations remain intact. We will work with regulators, as we always have to ensure that all issues raised are properly addressed. However, this does not affect our users or their investments, which are managed by regulated third-parties in all jurisdictions in which we operate.”

Comment on LinkedIn Feed

Comment 1: CBN has not gone beyond its boundaries. AML/CFT act, CBN act, etc give room for their intervention and regulation. It might be seen in some quarters as being unhealthy for foreign investments but there are many foreign investments coming into Nigeria daily that are not affected. The companies should show that they are legitimate and do not mean to throw spanners into Nigeria’s balance of payment.

My Response: “CBN has not gone beyond its boundaries” – that is the problem with Nigeria. I do not actually agree with you on this. Nigeria is a country where people do crazy things to show they have the power. CBN can do all the investigations it wants to do without freezing these firms for 6 months. So, what if they conclude and nothing bad happened? Would they compensate for the reputational damage to the startups? We cannot give excuses when the government is using its incompetence to harm innocent companies and people. 

We like to BAN, SUSPEND, BAN. Tesla would have been suspended if it was trading in Nigeria with Elon Musk leading it. But even in Elon’s way, America continues to find how to work with him because America respects what he does. 

Watch out – these 6 firms will relocate to Estonia, Dubai and Ireland and continue to operate, denying Nigeria the tax receipts. It takes one thing: peer to peer reconciliations.

Comment #2: With respect, there are two things you’re missing, Sir.

One; No one is disputing that the CBN has that power, especially because it was a court, not even the CBN that froze the accounts. That point is moot. The question Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe is posing is not whether they have the power – it is whether they ought to have used that power the way they did, which is why the post highlighted the potential damage that could be done to the startups over the 6-month period, and the lack of restitution if they are eventually found to be innocent.

Two, your assessment that the people in CBN are only oriented toward control and compliance, and not business development, is a massive problem. They must be BOTH. The purpose of the CBN is not merely to act as police – it must also act as facilitators to stimulate the economy and there are myriad different approaches they could have taken to resolve this in a way that doesn’t damage the statups involved and by extension, investor confidence in the ecosystem.

They can only regulate and enforce compliance as long as there is a viable economy to do that in.

CBN Freezes Some Fintech Firms’ Accounts, Raising Concerns About The Future of Nigerian Startups

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has secured a court order to freeze the accounts of some fintech companies for 180 days. The Federal High Court in Abuja granted the prayer of the apex bank to put the financial activities of the investment firms on hold pending the conclusion of its investigation into their alleged forex misconduct.

The companies include Rise Vest Technologies Limited, Bamboo Systems Technology Limited, Bamboo Systems Technology Limited OPNS, Chaka Technologies Limited, CTL/Business Expenses, and Trove Technologies Limited.

The court document reveals that the financial regulator is investigating ‘illegal foreign exchange transactions’ by the affected companies, which is weakening the naira.

In the motion ex parte marked FCH/ABJ/CS/822/2021 and filed at the High Court on August 4, CBN through its counsel Michael Kaase Aondoakaa, submitted that “the investigation being carried out concerns what has been discovered to be serious infractions by the defendants/respondents in connection with some foreign exchange transactions, and non-documentation by the defendants/respondents in violation of the extant laws and regulations, particularly the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act and the Central Bank of Nigeria foreign exchange manual.

“That more specifically, there is a grave allegation that the defendants/respondents are engaged in illegal foreign exchange transactions, accessing/procuring of foreign exchange via their banks from the Nigerian foreign exchange market via several bureau de change, international money transfer operators and have transferred cash deposit of more than S10,000.00 (Ten thousand dollars) to various accounts overseas contrary to provisions of extant laws and regulations and also traded in foreign securities and cryptocurrencies in contravention to CBN Circular referenced TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/012 and BSD/DIR/PUB/LAB/014/001, dated February 5, 2021, and July 01, 2015.

“It is evident that Rise Vest Technologies Limited, Bamboo Systems Technology Limited, Chaka Technologies Limited and Trove Technologies Limited are complicit in operating without a license as asset management companies and utilizing FX sourced from the Nigerian FX market for purchasing foreign bonds/shares in contravention of CBN’s directive.”

In his ruling, Ahmed Mohammed said: “Having listened to senior counsel to the applicant, on the motion ex parte filed in August, it is granted as prayed.”

He added that anyone who feels aggrieved about the freezing order is entitled to approach the court within the period to seek redress while the matter was adjourned to February 20, 2022, for hearing.

In response to this development, one of the affected fintech firms, Risevest, said its operation will not in any way be affected by the court order.

“With regard to the latest news about us and our FX dealings, you can be sure that your investments and funds are safely managed, that funding and withdrawals will continue to be processed as normal, and that all our US operations remain intact.

“We will work with regulators, as we always have to ensure that all issues raised are properly addressed. However, this does not affect our users’ investments, which are managed by regulated third parties in all jurisdictions in which we operate,” Rise said in a statement.

Chaka, an asset management firm, which recently secured license from Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), was among the affected companies, increasing the concern that the development has ignited.

There is increasing concern that regulatory decisions of watch dogs in the Nigerian tech ecosystem is killing innovation and spooking investors. A reference point is the proposed National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) bill that has been heavily criticized that it would spell doom for startups if it becomes law.

The Nigerian fintech industry has witnessed unprecedented growth, defying the strains of the pandemic, offering the country hope of economic growth in the near future. It is believed that the bountiful future prospects of the fintech industry is being threatened by regulations.

A six-month embargo on the companies’ account for alleged offenses has been criticized as harsh and unprogressive, as it follows the pattern the CBN displayed against End SARS protesters, whose bank accounts were frozen for months on unfounded allegations of terrorism.

While regulation is necessary to stabilize Nigeria’s young fintech sector, the regulators have been urged to adopt solution-based approaches in handling regulatory issues involving the companies, especially innovative startups.