Businesses in Nigeria can securely request and receive payments directly from their customers without any hassles using PayU’s innovative and secure product called PayU Receive.
PayU Receive is a secure payment solution that facilitates business-to-business and business-to-consumer payments easily via email or SMS. It allows businesses to make use of PayU’s safe and secure payment services by allowing them to send payment requests via email or sms to their customers. Customers then have the flexibility of paying via their bank cards or their bank accounts.
This is a convenient way for businesses to receive payment as they simply need their customers’ email address or mobile phone numbers to which a payment link can be sent. They can also send payment reminders to their customers thereby increasing the efficiency of collections on overdue accounts.
“This payment solution aligns with PayU’s experience in over 16 markets globally, including Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, Middle East and Africa, where our technological solutions are changing the payment landscape. We hope to empower more business owners in Nigeria with innovations like PayU Receive which helps improve collection of payments from customers both locally and internationally.” Juliet Nwanguma, Country Manager, PayU Nigeria said.
With PayU Receive, merchants can send local and international payment requests via email or SMS for goods and services to their customers anywhere in the world, even if they do not have a website.
These payment requests can be branded with the merchant’s company logo, look and feel. In addition, the payment request can be adapted to a merchant’s type of communication like invoices, email quotes, statements etc.
“We believe PayU Receive is an innovative solution which further encourages cashless payments particularly to merchants that take frequent orders from customers. It allows them to accept prepayment of goods and services instead of accepting cash on delivery.” said Nwanguma.

“PayU Receive is our response to numerous enquiries from merchants asking for a convenient, safe and secure way to receive electronic payments from customers without having a website or the need for integration.”

DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has announced that the company has signed on as title sponsor for the 2018 DHL eCommerce MoneyAfrica Conference & Exhibition (Confex), which will be hosted at the new East Wing of the Cape Town International Convention Center on the 14^th and 15^th of March 2018.
The DHL eCommerce MoneyAfrica Confex has established itself as one of Africa’s biggest opportunities to bring stakeholders in the fintech and e-commerce sectors together.

Next year’s event will feature presentations and knowledge sharing from an array of African and international thought leaders, geared at enabling participants to formulate innovative strategies to unlock more opportunities on the continent. Delegates from some of the continent’s biggest tech, retail, banking and legal firms will also be in attendance.
Steve Burd, Vice President of Sales for DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa, explains that the partnership between DHL and eCommerce MoneyAfrica stemmed from great synergy in their objectives.

“As the market leaders in international express logistics in Africa, we have extensive first-hand experience of the positive impact that e-commerce has on the continent. ‘Brand Africa’ has become increasingly popular across the globe and we’re thrilled to work with thousands of customers across the continent, helping them expand their brand across borders. The evolution of the DHL eCommerce Money Africa is a wonderful platform for DHL to further connect and support the industry.”
He adds that the development of e-commerce in Africa continues to unlock major opportunities for growth. “Historically, international trade was often overlooked or ignored by start-ups and SMEs, due to perceived complexities. But if you have the right partner, international trade can be hassle free. The world is so well connected that customers now have access to any product, irrespective of their location. This means that even small businesses can now compete on a level playing field.”
PwC recently released a report which shows that mobile subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa increased from 174 million in 2007 to around 772 million by 2016. This amounts to 344% growth in under ten years, over three times the rate at which mobile phone usage grew in the rest of the world. “This presents a huge opportunity for Intra-Africa trade too.”
Burd points to data collected by market research portal, Statista, which reports that e-commerce revenue in Africa and the Middle East amounted to $16 651 million in 2017, and is expected to grow by 11.7 percent per year in both these regions. It’s a truly exciting time for e-commerce in Africa!”
“Through this new partnership, we would like to help businesses understand key logistics considerations, but more importantly, advise them how to plan for and overcome any logistical challenges. DHL is working in collaboration with the organisers of DHL eCommerce MoneyAfrica Confex to ensure that next year’s event is the best one yet. The event is considered the ‘meeting place for the African e-commerce industry’ and we look forward to supporting this very important growth market with our global expertise and over 40 years’ experience in Africa,” adds Burd.
Shannon Mackrill, Joint Managing Director at Kinetic Events, the organizers of the DHL eCcommerce MoneyAfrica Confex adds: “Accelerating e-commerce in Africa is Kinetic’s vision for the show in 2018, and partnering with industry giant DHL brings us one step closer to realizing this vision. A commitment of this level from DHL to the e-commerce sector in Africa is indicative of the direction the industry is moving towards and this, coupled with increased attendance and sponsorship in 2018, bodes well for the future of Africa’s e-commerce economy.”

Also included in this year’s Confex is a selection of master classes designed for SMEs looking to advance their ecommerce capabilities. The courses will provide practical, immediately applicable guidance from industry experts within the ecommerce ecosystem.

L-R:, Managing Director Vodacom Business Nigeria, Mr Lanre Kolade, Managing Director Avon Healthcare Limited, Ms. Adesimbo Ukiri, and Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, Mr. Ben Akabueze at the recently held CEO Forum, in Lagos.

As Technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data Analytics continue to transform and disrupt the business world, the Managing Director of Vodacom Business Nigeria, Lanre Kolade, calls on Nigerian businesses to adopt new technologies to drive productivity and efficiency to remain competitive.

Speaking at the recently held CEO Forum Nigeria 2017, an annual thought leadership initiative in collaboration with McKinsey & Co, Kolade said “Technology such as IoT enables growth across business sectors. Today, many organisations are using this technology to cut costs, reduce risk, increase revenue and efficiency.”

Businesses in the Africa are gradually adopting IoT, with Nigeria being one of the leading IoT markets in Africa. This adoption is driven by the increasing availability of affordable smart devices, coupled with the need for enterprises to deliver shareholder value. According to the Vodafone’s Global IoT barometer report 2017, the adoption of IoT has grown significantly from 12% in 2013 to 29% in 2017 and 49% of these adopters use IoT in conjunction with analytics to improve business decision-making.

In Africa, disruptive technologies such as IoT hold significant potential and the opportunities are found in different sectors. From Finance and Insurance to Manufacturing and Agriculture, including the Education sector, organization of all sizes are using IoT to optimize processes, automate production and monitor the supply chain. Speaking further at the event, Lanre Kolade said “We can use technology to disrupt education, with broadband penetration, digitization becomes possible and education contents will be more accessible to all in Nigeria”.

Vodacom is using technology to address challenges in, education, healthcare and agriculture in Africa. Vodacom recently deployed IoT solution for education and healthcare in Kaduna state using a mobile school management solution which provides real-time visibility of all administrative activities at over 4000 schools. The healthcare solution monitors stock level and distribution of essential medicines in over 250 medicine dispensary facilities in the state.

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has saved the Federal Government the sum of N3 billion on a single cleared IT Project of an Agency through its commitment as the government’s clearinghouse for all IT procurement and services in the public sector.

Amid growing concerns about the mismanagement of huge investment of public funds on IT Projects in MDAs, NITDA has offered a glimmer of hope that the Federal Government shall be getting a handle on wasteful and duplicative IT procurement and services in MDAs.

As an unbiased watchdog of government, the Director General has ensured that there is transparency, accountability, efficiency and effectiveness in the process of obtaining clearance from NITDA targeted at extracting maximum value from MDAs’ investments on IT projects.

President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has called for strict compliance to the IT Project’s Clearance  directive by all government establishments to ensure that governments ICT procurements are transparent, align  with government’s IT  shared  vision and policy, save costs through promotion of shared services, avoid duplication, ensure interoperability of IT systems and improve efficiency across government, enforce the patronage of indigenous companies where capacity exist thus fostering digital economy through effective regulation and local content development as well as uphold the highest standards for service delivery.

The President made this declaration at the opening ceremony of this year’s e-Nigeria International Conference and Exhibition held from Tuesday 7^th to Thursday 9^th November, 2017. He also used the event to commend the Agency’s efforts at enforcing Federal Government’s directive on ensuring that all ICT projects are cleared before they are implemented.

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is an Agency under the Federal Ministry of Communications. The Agency was created in April 2001 to implement the Nigerian Information Technology Policy and coordinate general IT development and regulation in the country. Specifically, Section 6(a & c) of the Act mandates NITDA to create a framework for the planning, research, development, standardization, application, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and regulation of Information Technology practices, activities and systems in Nigeria; and render advisory services in all information technology matters to the public and private sectors.