Flutterwave adds Nigeria's eNaira as payment option for merchants

Africa-focused fintech firm Flutterwave said on Wednesday it has added Nigeria's eNaira as a payment option for merchants, a move that could help boost adoption of the digital currency.

Nigeria, the first African nation to launch a digital currency, is targeting 8 million users for the app launched in October. But adoption has been slow as lenders worry the app would compete with their online platforms and reduce fee revenue.

Flutterwave said that over 1 million merchants now accept eNaira payments from their customers.

"We... are confident that this number will grow further as we continue to innovate and expand," Flutterwave said in a statement.

Nigeria aims to expand usage of its eNaira digital currency by attracting users without bank accounts after a first phase adoption saw 850,000 downloads by bank customers.

The west African country is battling to stabilise its weakening currency, curb rising inflation and boost growth after economic disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Chijioke Ohuocha

Reuters

Nigeria’s first Technology Reality Show opens in Lagos

Unveiling the show, known as Scinovate, the Lagos State Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr Hakeem Fahm, said the show would boost innovation in the state, especially among the younger segment of the population.

Farm said that the state government was open to innovative ideas provided by individuals and corporate bodies to accelerate development in the state.

“Technology will strength our drive to bring Nigeria to the forefront and make the nation to depend less on oil,’’ he said, lauding the organisers of the show for bringing up ideas to foster change.

The Convener of the show, Mr Emmanuel Rotimi, said that the show was an idea to bring people with scientific knowledge in Nigeria to find ways to foster development and nation building.

“The show will try to stimulate the consciousness of Nigerians on innovation and what science and technology can do in the lives of people,’’ Rotimi stated.

According to him, the show is a pan-Nigeria contest, where 30 contestants with tech ideas will be brought together in a house for 30 days.

‘’At the end of the 30 days, there will be 10 finalists — five winners with three winning prizes.’’

The convener said that to participate in the show, the contestant must be Nigerian, male or female, with knowledge of technology and in the age range of between 18 to 40 years.

In a speech, Dr Lekan Adelakun, the Team Lead of Q’Impact Medicare, said that science was crucial in the developmental of any country, noting however, that overnment should support the development of technology.

He said that the science and technology reality show should be packaged to be attractive, noting that the nation would be better for the show.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) learnt the show is estimated to cost about N200m with winners, expected to go home with monetary prizes.

The Sun

Nigeria to produce vaccines locally with Serum Institute of India

Nigeria will partner with Serum Institute of India to start local manufacturing of vaccines used in the country's immunisation programmes, health minister Osagie Ehanire said on Wednesday.

Africa's most populous country imports all of its vaccines, including those used to prevent polio, measles and tuberculosis, but has been seeking foreign partners to produce them at home.

"We hope to start manufacturing some of the vaccines (that) Serum Institute India manufactures and transfer the technology and skills to our people," Ehanire said after Nigeria's cabinet approved the deal with Serum Institute, the world's largest producer of vaccines.

"We are talking first of all the routine vaccines, the ones (for) the standard programme on immunisation, not COVID-19 vaccine."

Ehanire said the venture between Bio Vaccine Nigeria and Serum Institute would start by producing 15% of vaccines used in local immunisation. The government owns a 49% stake in Bio Vaccine and private investors control the rest.

By Felix Onuah

Reuters

Nigeria generates over N730b from gaming yearly

National Commissioner/CEO of the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB), Dr. Vincent Olatunji, has said that Nigeria generates over N730 billion from the gaming industry yearly.

He said this at the maiden National Symposium for the Nigeria Gaming Industry organised by Velex Advisory in partnership with the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) and NDPB, held in Lagos on Thursday.

Olatunji said the gaming industry was becoming a major driver of the country’s economy, providing jobs to thousands of citizens. Quoting research findings, he said the global industry reached nearly $465 billion in 2020, having grown at a compound yearly growth rate of 2.1 per cent since 2015.

According to him, the market is expected to hit $674 billion in 2025 at a compound growth rate of 7.7 per cent. The figure could reach $895 billion in 2030.

He said over 60 million Nigerians, aged between 18 and 40, are involved in sport betting, with the operators paying taxes to the government and engaging young people who would have been jobless.

“The growth is driven by passion. People who play games or bet do so out of the passion they have for the sport, football in particular,” he said.

While delivering a paper titled, ‘Gaming and Data Protection Compliance – Implication for Regulators, Operators and Stakers: the Future of Cyber Security, the expert said the quality of data on the gaming industry has increased tremendously in recent years.

He, however, warned operators that data protection and privacy are key in safeguarding their businesses.

Velex Advisory executives said that Nigeria has the most attractive gambling industry with favourable regulations, huge gambling population and an increase in Internet penetration.

“We establish and sustain a good relationship with the regulators providing an advisory role to promote compliance and ensure the growth of existing gaming business in the industry,” the executive noted.

The Director General of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Lanre Gbajabiamila, noted: “The gaming market in Nigeria is experiencing progressive evolution; punters can conveniently place their bets on different platforms using various media access available.

“Also, Nigerian punters can access a variety of regulated digital games like sports betting, lotteries, slots, table games like poker and blackjack through both domestic and international commercial gaming operators.”

Gbajabiamila said one out of every 23 digital gaming transactions is fraudulent, with attack rates for account creation and payment transactions estimated at 5.6 per cent and 4.6 per cent respectively.

Suppliers must, therefore, implement robust cybersecurity measures to lessen the risk of fraud and network security vulnerability, he said.

On his part, the Chief Technology Officer, Infoprive Limited, Gbolabo Awelewa, said it is important to know the actual number of people that are involved in gaming, which is the reason data management is key.

By Michael Akinadewo

The Guardian

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Nigeria To Fine Airlines That Don't Sell Tickets In Local Currency

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has announced airlines selling plane tickets in a currency different from the local one, the Naira, will be fined. Let's look closely at why the country has made such a dramatic decision.
 

Nigeria's shortage of foreign currency

Hadi Sirika, Nigeria's Minister of Aviation, announced that foreign carriers can no longer sell plane tickets in a currency different from the Naira.

The decision stems from a shortage of foreign currency Nigeria is currently facing. Although the country's primary source of export is oil, Nigeria has not managed to take advantage of the product's current high price efficiently. The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) linked the country's inability to exploit its natural resource to low production rates, pipeline thefts, and acts of vandalism.

Consequently, Nigeria is implementing harsh measures to prevent foreign currencies from pouring out of the country. For example, foreign currency funds of several airlines, for instance, deriving from selling tickets in US Dollars or Euros, have been frozen. Upon this decision, many carriers have canceled flights to Nigeria, including Emirates.

The international response

In front of Nigeria's measures to prevent foreign currencies from flowing out of the country, the international response has been just as harsh.

Indeed, Nigeria was forced to unblock $265 million the country owed to foreign airlines. This sum represents 57% of the $464 million Nigeria withheld in July 2022. As a consequence, foreign carriers have progressively resumed flights to Nigeria. From their side, airlines must now commit themselves to selling tickets in Naira. Commenting on those airlines that refuse to do so, Nigeria's Minister for Aviation stated:

This is a violation of our local laws and will not be tolerated. Those airlines that will not abide by this measure will be punished.
 

The Nigerian Aviation market

According to Minister Sirika, in 2016, $600 million of the total $1.1 billion generated by airlines in Nigeria belonged to foreign carriers.

Given the relevance of the Nigerian aviation market, the Minister underlined how important it is for the country to have a national carrier, which is expected to start operations in 2023. According to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), the airline operating the most frequencies to Nigeria in 2019 was Air Peace, based in the country's capital, Lagos. Air Peace also ranked first in terms of capacity, with 2 billion seats offered to/from Nigeria in 2019, and the scenario is the same for 2022. Among the Gulf carriers, Qatar is particularly strong in Nigeria, ranking 6th in 2022 in terms of capacity, with 659,236 seats offered to/from the country. Regarding Europe, Lufthansa is the 9th carrier for capacity deployed to/from Nigeria, while Turkish Airlines places 10th.

In terms of traffic, the Nigerian market is predominantly domestic, with almost 3 million passengers estimated in 2022 and a market share of 74%. The busiest international origin is the UK, representing a market share of 4% and an estimated number of passengers of 146,628. The busiest connecting airport for Nigerian Origin&Destination (O&D) traffic is Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (ABV), serving the Nigerian city of Abuja, whereas Doha Hamad International Airport (DOH) is the busiest international connecting airport for traffic bound for Nigeria. 

By Giacomo Amati

Simple Flying

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