DD
MM
YYYY

PAGES

DD
MM
YYYY

spot_img

PAGES

Home Blog Page 6617

MTN Begins the Dislocation of Nigeria’s Banking Competitive Space

1

MTN Nigeria begins the dislocation of Nigeria’s banking sector. Yes, MTN MoMo Agency is expanding and banking will never be the same; Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Ibadan and Kano are done, with the beautiful Owerri next. There is something amazing about telcos – they know how to build a tribe. It requires a special capability and compensation model to have those airtime sellers diligently do their jobs across every part of Nigeria. If they deploy such know-hows in the mobile money domain, MTN will have more “banking” customers than all total unique bank customers in Nigeria combined, by 2025 (that number is less than 40 million today using BVN). 

Change is coming and even fintechs will experience a new dimension of competition. MTN Nigeria begins with 61 million customers into MoMo agency – that is more than the population of South Africa. As Samuel reports, the agents came out in Kano because everyone hopes the airtime party model will continue into MoMo agency. They will not be disappointed because telcos are vertically amazing when it comes to taking care of their tribes and chains of command!

The launch witnessed a massive turn up of traders who were introduced to the platform; many were registered as MoMo agents, and there was a raffle draw that enabled attendees to win gifts of household items.

MoMo was launched in August 29, 2019, as part of MTN’s support to Central Bank of Nigeria’ drive for financial inclusion. Since then, it captured Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. MTN said that the next city MoMo will be launched in is Owerri.

Banks and fintechs – the beast has arrived, and you need new playbooks. The liberation (of customers) is here and a new basis of competition is playing. Your playbook must evolve, otherwise, it would be extinction.

MTN Nigeria Takes MoMo Agent to Kano

 

MTN Nigeria Takes MoMo Agent to Kano

1

Y’hello Digital Financial Services (YDFS) Limited, a subsidiary of MTN Nigeria, has launched its financial service product named MoMo Agent in Kano.

The launch was held at Danbatta and Wudil markets in Kano. Speaking at the event, the Senior Manager, Sales and Distribution, MTN Nigeria, Kano, Kumar Abubakar, said there is need to bridge the gap between the banked and unbanked, especially in Danbatta area of Kano.

He said that a large number of the town’s populace are either unbanked or underbanked.

“About 75 percent of the population in this part of Kano are financially excluded; they have not been covered and find it difficult to do cash transactions,” he said.

MTN has 61 million subscribers in Nigeria; four million of them are in Kano. However, Abubakar said the company is going to leverage on the voluminous number of subscribers to close the existing gap in financial services in the state.

“If you look at other competition we have in Nigeria, you will see that they have restrictions. They have a lot of plans in Nigeria but they don’t have coverage.

“So, what we leverage on is our customer base such that everywhere you go you will find an agent close to you and effect your transaction. What we are planning is to cover beyond the INEC’s polling unit per community in order to have a wide reach-out for transaction,” Abubakar added.

The launch witnessed a massive turn up of traders who were introduced to the platform; many were registered as MoMo agents, and there was a raffle draw that enabled attendees to win gifts of household items.

MoMo was launched in August 29, 2019, as part of MTN’s support to Central Bank of Nigeria’ drive for financial inclusion. Since then, it captured Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. MTN said that the next city MoMo will be launched in is Owerri.

Abukakar explained that the target of YDFS is to have 50,000 people before the end of the year. He noted that Kano already has 3,000 agents.

“The idea behind the regional launch and sensitization event is part of the YDFS’s mission to put financial services within easy reach of every bankable Nigerian. With MoMo Agent service complementing existing banking services via extending access to simple money transfer services and other financial services nationwide, the subsidiary plans on rolling out about 500, 000 Agents across Nigeria, as well as the Federal Capital Territory,” he said.

Hello, is it me you’re looking for? Telecoms and Politics in Africa

0
Glo

I see MTN has been in the news too often lately… That got me thinking about my reflections on the telecoms landscape in the past decade going back to my observations and reporting of “A preliminary assessment of Middle East investments in sub-Saharan Africa: Insights from the mobile telecom sector.”

The article summed up as follows:

in order to derive any medium? to long?term opportunities in the African mobile telephony market, both existing and potential investors would need to ponder over a number of concerns and/or questions arising from this article—notably, what are the key drivers behind this growth? Who are the key players driving this pattern of investments? Why the renewed interest in Africa from Middle East telcos? How has the landscape changed in terms of innovation and value added?

Answers to these parting questions remain: especially in terms of drivers and value-added.

In a follow on article,  Entrepreneurship Development in Africa: Insights from Nigeria’s and Zimbabwe’s Telecoms, political connections was observed as a driver or break depending on whose side you’re on.

Here we highlighted the challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurship development in two sub Saharan African (SSA) contexts as a point of departure. The study explored two countries with nothing in common besides the metropolitan (or colonial if you like) history.

Both case illustrations signpost emerging issues in enterprise development through compelling success stories of entrepreneurship initiatives despite infrastructural challenges and unstable economic and political landscapes experienced in the two SSA countries in recent years.

Drilling down from the country level evaluation, the enterprises and their founders are profiled with a view to generating areas for future research exploration.

Specifically, Nigeria’s Globacom, founded by Mike Adenuga, and Econet Wireless, founded by Zimbabwean Strive Masiyiwa, contribute, we hope, to current discourse on a “new generation” and perhaps learning from the “old guard” of enterprise development in SSA.

It was our hope that the article, back then and even more so now that the discourse: “would make for a good class discussion/ debate for academics teaching on entrepreneurship, innovation, and international business subject areas – and especially those in African universities or those outside the region, but also delivering courses related to that discipline.”

Where is the value added?

Read More:

Madichie, N. O. (2011). A preliminary assessment of Middle East investments in sub?Saharan Africa: Insights from the mobile telecom sector. Thunderbird International Business Review53(1), 79-92.

Madichie, N. O., Mpofu, K., & Kolo, J. (2017). “Entrepreneurship Development in Africa: Insights from Nigeria’s and Zimbabwe’s Telecoms”. In Entrepreneurship Development in Africa: Insights from Nigeria’s and Zimbabwe’s Telecoms. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004351615_009

5 Mindset Shifts An Entrepreneur Must Make

0

Change is incredibly constant. Accepting it, and learning from it, and understanding that, is a serious mental hurdle for entrepreneurs, as their businesses, customers and market shifts over time.

Entrepreneurs are like farmers. They must plant to harvest. However, there’s more to just planting and waiting for the harvest. Entrepreneurs must ensure that they prepare the ground, fight the weeds and of course, the stubborn pests that attack their plants. Imagine the rigours that farmers faced. Let’s imagine that after all what a farmer goes through to plant, then he gets a very low yield during the harvest.

What will he do?

If he quits, then he was never a farmer. He perhaps had jumped into the profession because of the gains he envisaged. The same is applicable to every entrepreneur out there. It doesn’t matter what type of business you are running. Building a productive business is all about having the proper mind frame. Being an entrepreneur isn’t just about mindset, however, it has to do with skills and nice ideas.

You must be ready. Something I always ask many people out there – ”are you ready?”

Being ready is more than answering – ”oh yes!”

You have to sit down and think it through. You have to think about the loss, the setbacks, the rejection, and the impossibility. You just have to be a smart thinker and a goal-getter at all costs.

Here are five mindset shifts that will help an entrepreneur:

  • There is no right time:
    It is tempting to wait until the proper timing before beginning your business. Sadly, the proper time never really comes. It will happen after you make it happen, in spite of all obstacles in your personal life. An entrepreneur must get the timing right. If you have to wait for the perfect time, you may have to wait forever.
  • Not knowing is not allowed:
    There are many things you will not know-how as an entrepreneur. This could be scary, however, it’s not a problem. The mindset shift here is realizing that all of the knowledge is out there. It might be stored on the net, in a book, or someone’s head; however, it’s there, and you can find it. Everything else is by simply observing. Eventually, of course, you will also hire individuals to take on any tasks that you have got no ability to handle. Ignorance is never an excuse.
  • Money is just a number:
    You need money to run your business, thus, in fact, you do have to get serious about making it. However, you also cannot let yourself get intimidated by large sums of money. If the thought of handling $10 million scares you, then you’re likely to start sabotaging yourself and your business to stay in your comfort zone. As a business owner, always look at your revenue and decipher how to add a couple of additional zeros. It’s just adding zeros. Always remind yourself that money is just a mere number.
  • Setbacks are not signs:
    Many entrepreneurs drawback when they encounter a setback. You’re guaranteed to encounter setbacks. Conquering setbacks is your new job description in the entrepreneurship journey. An occurrence isn’t a symptom from the universe that you have created a terrible mistake. it is not a reason to quit. Instead, they are a reason to get even better at what you are doing.
  • It is not all about you:
    When you make a business work then you may deserve all of the rewards that go together with your successes. However, customers will tell if your only real interest is in enriching yourself. You cannot have a business if your merchandise or services do not make other people’s lives better. Concentrate on that first then the cash will follow.

Final words;
These aren’t the only breakthroughs you may experience as an entrepreneur. Failing to make these breakthroughs means passing up on opportunities which will take you to the next level. These are a few things you cannot afford to do completely.

As an entrepreneur, you’re to be blamed  for the failure and success of your company; no one else is. You need to take ownership of your results. You are accountable. You need to become a pacesetter and lead people to work for you.

Before You Get Married!

0

The concept of a full housewife should be totally eradicated in Africa. I mean, no lady should go into marriage without having a clear understanding of what to do.

Every time I read about broken homes on the internet. I hear it on the radio and even see it on TV. It really saddens me to see how the young generation has bastardized marriage. There is no respect for the vows that were said at the altar.

I could vividly remember a marriage that lasted a month. Despite all that was spent on the wedding, couples no longer see eye to eye. The only reason the husband gave – ”She is too lazy. All she does is just sit at home and eats. I can’t continue to live with such a lazy person.”

I could understand his pain. Perhaps, the sole responsibility of carrying the whole burden of the home scares him to death. I asked if the wife learned any craft that she could build as a career but he said no.

Really? Hell no! She had no skills. All she could boast of is her first-degree certificate. Of course, I know how important the certificate is, but for a country like Nigeria, it is not enough. Especially when the job is not coming, a graduate could sit for donkey years looking for a job.

If you look at most of the failed marriages that we have, you will discover that the major reason for this common problem is ”finance.”

Lack of finance in the home is mainly the reason why the husband comes home angry. The thought of him paying for rent, home upkeep, children’s education, family and relatives’ needs, can be overwhelming.

Let’s be realistic, I am not against any man being irresponsible. No! Far from it. But if we must tell ourselves the bitter truth, then we must definitely agree that a woman who doesn’t have a job or skills, is not good for marriage. The bills are too much for a man who had spent almost everything he saved on wedding.

It might have worked for our grandparents in the past, but I doubt if it will work now. We are in a jet world. Everything has changed. We are in a world where multiple streams of income are needed to run a home smoothly. So if you ask me, I will advise all the ladies to go into a marriage like a complementing partner.

But honestly, some ladies are not there yet. They do not even have a clear path to follow. No wonder they get treated badly in marriage. Shame on the man who does that though, we must educate our women to stop future occurrence of this barbaric act.

I read a response on one of my articles titled, ”You must get married syndrome”. I wrote about the desperation to go into marriage. Here’s what a reader, Goodness Somtochukwu shared with me: ”Unfortunately, even some girls have adopted this mindset of getting married early even without a job or skill set.

”My 18-year-old friend was telling me the other day that once she’s done with school, she will get married. Time waits for no man. What will she be doing single?

”I was like really?
Like, she’s got no dreams to pursue.
She told me that what’s the need when she will marry a rich husband and will just have to give birth to kids and cook.

”Got me shocked.

”I always tell them that a man should be the icing on the cake for you and not the main cake. The same way some rush into marriage, that’s the same way they rush out.”

Any lady that goes into marriage with this type of mindset may never go far. It is really the wrong mindset anyone can have.

I made research from different homes. Couples who fight are mostly the ones who don’t have jobs. Being without a job makes them bitter and sad at everything. This tends to trigger their temper against any form of offence.

But for how long do we have to live like this? Marriage is meant to be enjoyed and not endured. A lady is supposed to be a helpmate and not a liability.

Therefore, dear single ladies, take your time to grow career-wise. Do not rush into any marriage. Be sure you have a clear path you want to follow. Develop a skill set that can enhance you while you are searching for a job.

A man should be the icing on the cake and not the cake itself.