Africa’s leading integrated payments and digital commerce company, Interswitch is set to, yet again headline the Interswitch One Africa Music scheduled to hold in New York, and Dubai, this year.

This is the company’s third consecutive headline-sponsorship of the music festival that celebrates and showcases Africa’s music and creative talents to the world.

As a company that gives back, Interswitch has announced that it will be rewarding 20 lucky customers with an all-expenses-paid trip to the Dubai concert to experience the electrifying performances by some of Africa’s biggest artistes, alongside other global stars. The lucky winners from the ‘Never Stop Vibing’ campaign will be selected from a monthly raffle draw that will hold at the end of August, September and October 2022.

To qualify for the draw and win a ticket to Africa’s biggest music fest, interested participants are advised to download the Quickteller app and conduct a minimum of three (3) transactions every month, from August 1, 2022, to October 31, 2022.

Interswitch has consistently headlined the show for three consecutive years, enabling the African music industry and elevating African artistry to reach a global audience, rooted in its belief in taking African talent beyond the continent for wider recognition and consumption.

Interswitch’s sponsorship of the music fest is an expression of its desire to strive for value realization, engaging customers’ passion points, providing rewarding brand experiences and connecting music lovers with their favourite artistes.

Speaking on the sponsorship, Olawale Akanbi, Group Head, Growth Marketing – Merchant & Ecosystem, Interswitch Group, said that Interswitch’s consistent support of the music fest mirrors the company’s desire to throw its weight behind the growth of African talents across industries, from tech to music.

He added, “We make conscious efforts to tap into opportunities that showcase African talents to a global audience, sustaining the international momentum which has been gained by Afrobeats music, while fostering collaboration that leads to growth.”

Also remarking on the campaign, Priscilla Iyari, Brand Manager, Quickteller, Interswitch Group noted that Interswitch’s renewal of its sponsorship is a commitment to reaching consumers at their various touchpoints, especially their passion points & lifestyle, beyond just payments.

Iyari said, “We are excited to headline the Interswitch One Africa Music Fest again this year. It serves as another customer-engaging avenue to reward our loyal customers with an experience of a lifetime’’. She further stated that the brand continues to demonstrate its support for the African music industry by curating and sponsoring initiatives such as Quickteller Barz and Notes, DJ Kaywise’s Joor party, as well as other concerts.

The Interswitch One Africa Music Fest brings together artistes from across Africa who will share the stage with other renowned performers from other parts of the globe to thrill fans and music lovers with hit collections.

Artistes such as Wizkid, Davido, Tiwa Savage, Burna Boy, Omawumi, and Flavour, among others have graced the events held in three different cities: New York, London, and Dubai, in the past. The line-up this year promises to be just as star-studded.

Prof. Umar Danbatta

Executive Vice-Chairman/CEO

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)

Professor Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice-Chairman/CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will deliver the keynote address as Distinguished Guest Speaker at the public presentation of Business Journal newspaper on Friday, September 16, 2022 at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja (Lagos).

The event would be Chaired by Mr. O. S. Thomas, the Commissioner for Insurance/CEO, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) while renowned economist and financial expert, Dr. Biodun Adedipe will review the preview edition of Business Journal newspaper.

Danbatta will deliver a paper on: The Media in National Development: A Case Study of the Telecom Revolution in Nigeria.

Commenting on the development, Prince Cookey, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Business Journal said:

“The decision of Professor Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice-Chairman/CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to deliver the keynote address as Distinguished Guest Speaker at the Business Journal newspaper public presentation event represents a positive milestone in our journey to become the leading business/financial Media Group in Africa. The newspaper segment joins the already existing online and magazine segments on a tripod of value creation for stakeholders across key sectors of the Nigerian economy-for the benefit of decision-makers in the public sector and professionals in the Organised Private Sector (OPS).

The NCC remains a key stakeholder in media engagement in Nigeria through robust partnership and professional capacity development. And since assumption of office, Danbatta has continued to provide strategic leadership for the telecom industry as a regulator to the benefit of the government, network operators and subscribers. The trajectory of his impressive and impeccable career is anchored on humility, progress and professionalism. We are indeed grateful to him for this great honour.”

The theme of the Business Journal newspaper public presentation is: The Media in National Development: Successes, Challenges & Prospects.”

L-R: Dr. Chike Walter Duru, Internal Communications Manager, Nigeria ID4D; Nonye Ujam, Government Affairs Lead, Microsoft; Musa Odole Solomon, Project Co-ordinator, Nigeria ID4D and Mouktar Adamu, External Communications Manager, Nigeria ID4D, during the visit.

American multinational technology company, Microsoft Corporation says it is willing to partner the Nigeria Digital Identification for Development (ID4D) project in the areas of capacity development and data protection.

Microsoft’s Government Affairs Lead, Nonye Ujam disclosed this during a working visit to the Nigeria ID4D project office in Abuja.

According to a Press Release signed by the Manager, Communications of the Nigeria Digital ID4D, Dr. Walter Duru and made available to newsmen, Ujam lauded the ID4D project for its timely intervention in the areas of data protection and digital identity in Nigeria, expressing the readiness of Microsoft to collaborate with the project to succeed.

“We are here to ensure that we support you to make things work very well. We are happy with the achievements Nigeria ID4D has recorded in such a short period.”

“Microsoft Corporation has made a lot of investments and interventions in capacity development and cyber security. Beyond supporting governments in the area of capacity development, Microsoft meets their stakeholders where they are, hand-hold and close identified gaps. As people are working hard to upgrade and update themselves, that is how hard the bad players are working to update their skills. This is why we must take data protection and cyber security very seriously.”

Responding, Project Coordinator, Nigeria Digital Identification for Development, Musa Odole Solomon expressed the readiness of the project to partner with Microsoft.

“We are open to collaborating with as many relevant stakeholders as possible to ensure that the project succeeds. We want the capacity of ecosystem implementing partners enhanced.”

Speaking on data protection in Nigeria, Solomon stressed that “the project is working very hard to ensure that a principal law is in place. We are constrained by time, considering the fact that elections are close. We are battling to ensure that we balance the urgency with quality. It will not just be done quickly, but also done very well. Stakeholders’ engagement is an ongoing activity and Microsoft is our major stakeholder. We are ready and willing to work with you.”

“We are happy with your interest in capacity development. We operate an ecosystem model and our implementing partners need to benefit from the capacity building plans. It is one of our deliverables and we are willing to partner with Microsoft to close gaps in capacity.”

Solomon used the occasion to call on Microsoft Corporation to consider extending support to the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and other ecosystem implementing partners.

The Co-ordinator used the occasion to invite Microsoft to the second leg of Focus Group Discussion on Nigeria’s Data Protection law, scheduled to hold at Lagos on the 1^st of September, 2022.

Part of the activities lined up for the Lagos engagement is a courtesy call on the leadership of Microsoft Corporation in Nigeria. Conversations will center around data protection, capacity development and other areas of collaboration.

On the project coordinator’s team that received Ujam were the Internal and external communications Managers of the project, Dr. Walter Duru and Mouktar Adamu.

The Nigeria Digital Identification for Development (ID4D) project is a Nigerian project, jointly funded by the World Bank, European Investment Bank and French Development Agency.

Africa’s leading integrated payments and digital commerce company, Interswitch, has been engaged by the Adamawa State Government to enhance digital revenue collection, payment collections and processing with its Interswitch Collections Solution (Paydirect).

Interswitch Collections Solution is a platform that enables government agencies and corporate organisations to collect and monitor revenue across various channels such as banks, Point of Sales (PoS) terminals, Internet banking, and the Quickteller (web, mobile, ATM, and USSD) platform.

The use of this platform by the state government will ensure transparency in revenue collection, and bills payment while checking revenue leakages.

Adamawa State Government will also benefit from the ease of use the platform offers as well as centralised view of all revenue collected by its agencies and online real-time reporting and monitoring.

To support the state government’s drive to engender open governance, accountability and strategic planning, the payment platform will reduce reconciliation issues, improve efficiency, and ensure access to detailed business intelligence reports for effective decision-making.

Speaking on the partnership, the Managing Director, Interswitch Industry Ecosystems, Chinyere Don-Okhuofu, stated, “This strategic collaboration aligns with our overarching goal of facilitating safe, secure, and seamless payment options for Nigerians through our digital payment platforms. The robust payment platform was designed to help the governments to achieve strong economic growth and foster sustainable development for Nigeria.”

Also speaking about the alliance, the Regional Head of Sales, North, Interswitch Group, Thomas Ezeh, said “Interswitch is committed to empowering the Adamawa government to collect Internally Generated Revenue efficiently and effectively. Our goal, among other things, is to help governments at all levels and agencies to achieve their revenue targets.

“We encourage all government agencies to come on board as we believe that digital revenue collection and payment have the potential to attract investments and boost economic growth.”

Due to the trust in Interswitch’s robust payment solutions, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB), Kaduna and Kano States have partnered with the African payment giant for seamless filing and payment of tax, duties and examination registration.

This attests to​​ Interswitch’s commitment to delivering robust and efficient payment solutions that align with global standards.