MTN Nigeria PLC (MTN) yesterday announced that Nigeria has become the first country in West Africa to trial 5G technology and applications.

The result of a strong collaboration between the Ministry of Communications Technology and Digital Economy, the Nigerian Communications Commission, MTN and Huawei (Abuja), ZTE (Calabar) and Ericsson (Lagos.)

This immersive demo and experience will travel across three Nigerian cities to showcase the capabilities of 5G and its potential to enable economic growth, and social inclusion.

By working together, MTN and its partner – Huawei, were able to provide a glimpse into a range of 5G use cases and applications at a test Lab designed to show proof-of-concept in Abuja.

Standing alongside former Super Eagles captain, legendary Joseph Yobo, attendees got to match their skills against an artificial-intelligence powered goalie; immerse themselves in a high-speed, low-latency virtual reality gaming world; experience ultra-high speed streaming and downloads on 5G devices; and engage in discourse with life-like holographic projections.

3D holographic communication has potential applications for education, medical imaging, video conferencing and gaming, and requires about four times as much data as a streamed 4K video. That means that 5G is best suited to support this kind of application on a mobile network and to enable its use. It also demonstrates how 5G has the potential to support key socio-economic objectives Nigeria has set for itself, and to be a key contributor to the emergence of a fully digital economy.

MTN was honoured to host the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami; the Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye, and the Chairman, the Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Garba Danbatta; House of Representatives, Committee on Communications, Honourable Akeem Adeyemi at the launch event, without whom the demo would not have been possible.

Speaking shortly after taking a tour of the exhibition booths, Dr. Pantami underlined the potential of 5G for sustainable growth. “I believe as long as we are able to handle the potential challenges, the deployment of 5G is very critical to our economy, because of so many advantages of 5G, the issue of latency, speed and many more.”

Stressing the importance of an enabling regulatory framework and protecting telecommunications infrastructure, Dr. Pantami stated that on the instruction of the President, he has signed a draft Executive Order declaring telecommunications infrastructure ‘critical national infrastructure’ which has been forwarded to the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation for review.

The Minister referred to the proposed Executive Order as a short-term measure, stressing that the President has instructed that a proper legislation be facilitated to deal conclusively with threats to telecommunications infrastructure.

Highlighting the importance of partnerships, Ferdi Moolman, the Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria said:

“Pushing boundaries is easier when your aspirations are supported by likeminded people. We are here today because of the support and guidance of the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and the Nigerian Communications Commission who provided the trial spectrum used for this.”

Also key to this achievement are our equipment vendors who shared our vision, and whose capabilities were brought to bear in making the 5G trials across the country a reality.  We are grateful for these partners, our customers and everyone who made it possible. Today’s success underlines the fact that we are good together.”

Mazen Mroue, Chief Operating Officer, MTN Nigeria stated that “In collaboration with our technical partners and the support of the Federal Government, we are proudly putting Nigeria on the 5G technology map.  As we continue to invest in technology solutions to meet the wide needs of our customers, MTN will continue to strengthen these partnerships as we move to build our 5G capacity in future, guided by the standards and spectrum set by the Nigerian Communications Commission.”

In addition to the bandwidth increase for seamless video streaming or the next social application playground, 5G technology supports real-time, ultra-reliable communication between massive numbers of devices.

It creates vast possibilities in innovation and transformation, and will immensely improve quality of living, as users gain a better experience of services and technology in general – from financial services, healthcare, education, and even public service delivery to more leisurely purposes, such as video streaming services, gaming and even self-driving cars.

“5G offers tremendous benefits in terms of speed, latency (less delays), efficiency and security. This pilot offers a unique opportunity for us to explore use-cases and applications in Nigeria, and we are excited about its potential for our country and our company”noted Mohammed Rufai,  Chief Technical officer, MTN Nigeria.

Following the successful demonstration in Abuja, the 5G-demo train moves to Calabar and Lagos. In addition to which 5G trials will be run in four other cities across the country. The 5G trial will run for three months utilizing trial spectrum allocated to MTN by the NCC.

Verve, a leading payments technology and card business in Africa, held a first transaction event in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Verve Global cardholders can now use their cards on Discover Global Network to transact in more than 185 countries and territories, including Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The first transaction event took place at Emperor Retail outlet, City Walk by Meraas Al Safa Str. Dubai. Senior executive members of Verve International were joined at the event by key partners including Jerry Fosker, a senior Executive from Discover Global Network, Shamsudeen Fashola; Group Head Retail Banking FCMB, Margaret Okhoya; Product Manager Card Services FCMB, Lanre Oladimeji; Group Head Retail Banking Zenith Bank, Nneka Onwuegbuche; Product Manager, Card Services Zenith Bank, among others.

Speaking at the launch in Dubai, Mitchell Elegbe, Interswitch Group Managing Director expressed his excitement, stating that the decision to bring Verve Global to Dubai was a strategic one: “Dubai is an important destination of choice for business and leisure as well as being a popular destination for Nigerians.”

The transaction in Dubai comes following the successful launch of Verve Global in New York in August this year and marks Verve International’s first entrance into the UAE region.

Elegbe continued: “As we approach the Dubai Expo 2020, we believe this is the right time to expand into a region with a rapidly evolving payments market. The launch in Dubai will provide an efficient way for new and existing Verve Global cardholders to transact whenever they visit the region.”

Expressing his gratitude to stakeholders and partners present, Mike Ogbalu III, Chief Executive Officer, Verve International, reiterated the mission and vision of Verve, stating its core objective of making seamless payment solutions available to Nigerians and Africans in every part of the world.

“We are very delighted that a domestic card scheme of African origin can be used to make payments across the world. We express our gratitude to all our partners, particularly Zenith Bank and First City Monument Bank, who have joined us today. One of the biggest assets of Verve International is our partners (both those who are here in Dubai and all others). Thank you for joining us on this epic journey to plant our footprints all over the world. We are very confident that you will remain with us as we continue to take bold steps”, he said.

By Elvis Eromosele

Technology enthusiasts are big on the power of new and emerging technologies to disrupt existing realities. Consider how personal computers, smartphones, and the internet caused disruptions. Today, we are talking about autonomous vehicles, 3D printing, robotics, artificial intelligence, wearables, and the likes. Oh, the possibilities!

History has shown however that people can also be the cause of disruptions-eccentric, unconventional, uncommon, nonconformist and courageous people.

While the jury is still out on whether, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami fits the bill, his actions so far, nonetheless, point to a deep empathy for the long-suffering Nigerian telecoms consumer.

On resumption of office, he quickly kicked against and later formally kicked out the plan by telecoms service providers to introduce new charges for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD). The USSD is used by customers for financial transactions.

The Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) tackled the minister. ALTON’s Administrative Secretary, Gbolahan Awonuga, slammed the minister for interference

noting that the N4.00 charge was determined by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the country’s telecom regulator before the minister’s appointment.

According to Gbolahan, “The issue is not policy, but regulation which has a legal document backing it. “We are confusing regulation with policy. There was a determination on this USSD, even before the appointment of the Minister,” he stated.

Next, the minister directed the NCC to work at reducing data cost and curb incidences of illegal deductions from customers’ account within five working days. This is something that telecoms consumers have complained about for eons.

ALTON’s Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo insisted that the service providers were not making illegal deductions, contrary to complaints being made by subscribers. He explained that the smartphones being used by the subscribers were to blame for such deductions.

In his words: “If you are using a smartphone naturally you have all these updates and downloads that are unsolicited but you get it whether you want it or not but that is what keeps your phone up-to-date. Most of those deductions are traceable to that.”

On the proposed slash of the cost of data, ALTON said, “Price is not a policy issue; price is determined by market forces. Price cannot be set by policy pronouncement.”

Dr. Pantami latest directive is an order to service providers to stop further exploitation of subscribers through the automatic activation of the voicemail service on their platforms.

By law, the voicemail service should be optional on operators’ platforms. But in practice, it has historically been offered as a mandatory call feature by MNOs resulting in loss of millions of call units by subscribers to the advantage of operators.

According to the statement credited to Dr. Pantami, “The Voicemail service should be accessed at the discretion of the subscriber and not by default.”

Expectedly, ALTON again quickly responded to the minister’s directive insisting that the minister’s intervention amounted to unnecessary interference.

ALTON said that voicemail not a major “policy issue” within the meaning of section 23 &24 of the Nigeria Communication Act (NCA) which empowers the Minister to formulate “general policy for the communications sector…” after consultations organised by the NCC.

ALTON appears poised to tackle the Minister at every point. It has certainly given Dr. Pantami a frosty welcome.

The association has also proven feisty. It appears poised for a fight at every turn. It is unwilling to budge. It would not the relent. In its books, the operators can do no wrong.

It is not surprising, ALTON is anxious to defend its members, promote their interest and advocate their position. ALTON is doing its job, as an advocate for its members.

Sadly, only one side has an advocate, the service providers. Who is talking on behalf of the customers?

No one!

An association of telecoms customers and subscribers would if it existed. The NCC should if it were doing its job. Currently, however, no one is speaking for the telecoms consumer. The minister is thus automatically a hero to the much-deprived Nigerian telecoms consumers and customers.

Some say the Minister may have political ambition and he is seeking public appeal. Well, he is getting it. He deserves it.

This is because the issues he has raised are germane, valid and real pain points for the telecoms consumer, over the years.

From the customers’ point of view, the planned introduction of USSD charges was uncalled for. The Minister knocking it down was simply fulfilling the aspiration of the customers.

Ilegals deduction and high cost of data are a perennial and vexed issue in the sector. The operators conveniently ignore talks about it.

Plus, Nigerians generally believe that data is overpriced. The operators see no need to justify what they charge. It’s a take or leave it sort of transaction, a supplier’s market. This is why ALTON’s talk about market forces is untenable.

Nigerians have complained of data disappearing fast for years. What has the NCC done about it? The operators and the association constantly offer excuses.

Now that someone is speaking for the customers, resistance is expected. So, ALTON’s aggressive posturing is understandable. It has to protect its source of revenue. The telecoms operators are content to hide behind the association. They won’t want to be seen openly or directly contending against the Minister.

While it is in order to commend the Minister for his willingness to address these vexed issues, it is equally prudent to call for caution. There are rules to this game. And since we are not in a “juggle” everything can’t be achieved by administrative fiat.

The Minister must meet with the ministry’s legal team. He should get them to look at the law and counsel him where he can intervene directly and where he would need the regulator to work out an agreeable solution.

He should meet with the commission, to share his vision for the ministry. Together, they can then work out what is possible within the ambit of the law. Immediately afterward, the Minister can meet with the telecoms operators and then the general public.

The Minister must understand that the operators do have genuine grievances. There are issues around right of way, multiple taxation and the regular wanton vandalisation of telecom infrastructure across the country.

He must support efforts to declared telecom infrastructure as a critical national infrastructure. He should be willing to work assiduously to help improve ease of doing business for telcos.

ALTON, on its part, however, can make its point and indeed make its position known without being antagonistic and unduly confrontational. ALTON should be an advocate and not an antagonist.

The Ministry was appointed to work for all Nigerians, the customers and the businesses people alike.

The purpose of disruption is to dislocate the status quo, realign forces and enforce change.

If the Minister’s disruption brings about change then it is a win for the Nigerian telecoms consumer, in particular, and the industry at large.

Interswitch Group has been recognised as the inaugural winner of the Linkedin Sub-Saharan Africa Rising Star award at the 2019 edition of the Linkedin Talent Awards hosted in Johannesburg, South Africa.

This prestigious accolade was presented to the company at the South African LinkedIn Talent Awards ceremony, which took place at the Level Three Premium venue in the heart of Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa.

For Interswitch, a leading technology-driven company focused on the digitisation of payments in Nigeria and other countries in Africa, this award is a reflection of the deliberate investment the company makes in its people and in shaping its employer brand, including unique approaches to talent attraction, nurturing and engagement, which have resulted in the phenomenal growth attested to by Linkedin’s peer-ranking analytics.

The LinkedIn Talent Awards, in their second edition in Africa, are designed to recognise organisations that invest in understanding, engaging and developing talent based on a company’s page and engagement on LinkedIn.

Currently operating in 12 locations across the world and recognising organisations in four regions including the Middle East and Africa, the LinkedIn Talent Awards are powered by insights and driven by data. Using carefully crafted criteria, LinkedIn evaluates the performance results and impact of its corporate customers to identify finalists and winners.

Expressing her delight at this recognition, Tolulope Agiri, Group Chief Human Resources Officer at Interswitch said:“We are extremely proud and excited to be the inaugural recipient of the Linkedin Sub-Saharan Africa Rising Star Award. This recognition means a lot to us, and we’d like to thank the Linkedin team for putting this awards initiative in place, and particularly for creating such a valuable platform in which employers are able to leverage on and build upon to drive a wide variety of talent engagement initiatives. This recognition is a strong testament to the inherent value in collaboration, not only between Interswitch with the Linkedin team, but also internally between our different teams.”

Also commenting on the milestone, Cherry Eromosele, Group Chief Marketing & Communications Officer stated that “It’s a really exciting time to be at Interswitch, and I’m particularly so very proud of this award, which is the culmination of quite a few years of dedicated effort, commitment and drive towards improving the way we tell our stories and engage with increasingly discerning audiences across platforms. Essentially, through LinkedIn, we have been able to expose the Interswitch story and philosophy to the wider world outside of Interswitch, and I daresay it further strengthens our resolve and inspiration to continue to re-inventing our approach to content marketing in the best ways possible with content that is relevant and valuable embedded at the core.”

Interswitch Group was nominated in the ‘Rising Star’ Category for Sub-Saharan Africa alongside Debswana Diamond Company (Botswana) and Union Bank of Nigeria. LinkedIn analyzes the performance, results and impact of thousands of companies across various regions globally to determine outstanding performers who are then short-listed as finalists with respective category winners in specific geographical regions then awarded at an annual grand ceremony.

Linkedin remains the world’s largest professional network with nearly 660+ million users in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, with a vision of creating economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.

Interswitch Limited, a leading technology-driven company focused on the digitisation of payments in Nigeria and other countries in Africa, and Visa Inc., the world leader in digital payments have announced a strategic partnership that will further advance the digital payments ecosystem across Africa.

As part of the agreement, Visa will acquire a significant minority equity stake in Interswitch.

The investment makes Interswitch one of the most valuable African FinTech businesses with a valuation of US$1 billion. Visa will join globally renowned investors, Helios Investment Partners,TA Associates and IFC, as shareholders in Interswitch, alongside Company management.

Founded in 2002, Interswitch disrupted the traditional cash-based payments value chain in Nigeria by introducing electronic payments processing and switching services. Today, Interswitch is a leading player in Nigeria’s developing financial ecosystem with omni-channel capabilities across the payments value chain, processing over 500 million transactions per month in May 2019.

In 2018, electronic payments in Africa accounted for only 12 per cent of transactions by volume, compared to 54 per cent in Europe and 79 per cent in North America. Sub-Saharan Africa is the fastest-growing digital payments market in the world, with electronic payment volume expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 35 per cent from 2018 to 2023in the region (excluding South Africa).

This progress is expected to be driven by the deepening payments infrastructure, population and urbanisation growth, GDP growth above the global average, increased mobile and internet penetration, as well as a supportive regulatory landscape for electronic payments and financial inclusion.

Interswitch’s core market, Nigeria, is the largest economy in Africa with a rapidly growing electronic payments market. Point of sale (“POS”) and ATM transactions per adult grew at a CAGR of 94 per cent and 59 per cent from 2013 to 2018, respectively.

In Nigeria, there were only 11 card transactions per adult per annum in 2018 compared to 92 in markets like South Africa,126 in Brazil and 465 in the UK. Despite this market under-penetration, POS card transactions in Nigeria are expected to grow at a CAGR of 63 per cent between 2018 and 2023.

In addition to its switching and processing services, Interswitch owns Verve, the largest domestic debit card scheme in Africa with more than 19 million cards activated on its network as of May 2019.

The business also operates Quickteller, a leading multichannel consumer payments platform, driving financial inclusion across Nigeria with over 270,000 access points, as of 2018, from which consumers can initiate peer-to-peer transfers, bill payments, airtime purchases, and other e-commerce transactions, processing over 42 million transactions monthly as of 31 July 2019 (equivalent to over NGN560 billion (US$1.5 billion) through direct, indirect and Paypoint channels).

Interswitch’s unique market capabilities and strong consumer proposition, has enabled it to deliver consecutive years of sustainable profitable growth.

The partnership will create an instant acceptance network across Africa to benefit consumers and merchants and facilitate greater connectivity for communities. Both parties will also retain their respective independent solutions, and Interswitch will retain its scheme neutral strategy.

Mitchell Elegbe, Founder and Chief Executive of Interswitch, said; “Sub-Saharan Africa is the fastest growing payments market in the world, with growth driven by a young and dynamic population, rapidly evolving consumer behaviour, and an increasing desire for payment solutions that can be accepted across the continent and abroad. I am delighted that Interswitch has formed a partnership with Visa, with whom we plan to drive the next phase of transformation in the African payments landscape.”

Andrew Torre, Regional President CEMEA, Visa, said; “Africa is a priority region for us, and we continually seek strategic partnerships with local players to further strengthenour leadership position and enhance the payments ecosystem across the continent. This partnership aligns with our global strategy to work with and invest in innovative partners, and we look forward to working with Interswitch to provide new consumer and merchant experiences and support the rapid growth of digital commerce across Africa.”

BabatundeSoyoye, Helios’s co-founder and Managing Partner, added, “A strategic investment by Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, into Interswitch is a substantial endorsement of the Company’s expertise in African payments. As an active investor in leading African payments businesses, we see tremendous opportunities to digitise payments across the continent and have worked closely with Interswitch’s management team to build a high quality and scalable platform geared to address some of these opportunities. We look forward to further collaboration with the Company alongside Visa.”

The transaction is subject to the relevant regulatory approvals and is expected to close by Q1 2020.

FT Partners acted as exclusive strategic and financial advisor to Interswitch on this transaction.