₦airaland Forum

musicwriter:
That's a very good question there!. And, I' am a living witness of how sceptical Nigerians could be about such businesses.

Back in 2010 I once ran an e-Business and despite it's being heavily advertised online and on radio (cool FM and Wazobia) for 4 months, no single Nigerian was trusting enough to pay for the service. Instead I was inundated with phone calls and emails showing interest. Some were more interested in my address than the service I was offering, some even asked my company registeration info and all kinds of nonsense.

No one told me to shut down the site in the 5th month.

That was when I realized we have a huge trust problem in this country. The leaders of this country has led us into a ditch. Nigerians don't trust anybody anymore or anything that would require scanning a card to send money, typing password to send money, e.t.c. And that's the reason Paga or others would not be successful in Nigeria. Totally agree with you, they can only have limited success, but not this bogus figures being bandied around.

bigtt76:
There you go again @embolden ....the rural and market women are all using smartphones to access Paga's Android or iOS app right? Women that find it difficult loading recharge cards to their phones? Issssorite!

Whether I know how funds are raised or not, the truth is that the foreign investors look at numbers and not reality on ground cos they don't come here to see things for themselves.

On Showroom.ng (sorry I caused the digression) ...if he had gotten enough funds, he would have been able to hire some top notch IT firm or consultant to build his platform. It is the case of a developer who thinks he got it all to own a startup business ....it goes beyond developing software. That was Sherrif's case, a blogger who felt he's acquired enough knowledge to run an online business and probably refused to seek advice.

Jethrolite:
it's Mpesa, the article spelt it wrongly.

bigtt76:
Very impossible! I work in the industry too and know how these things work dear. How can you use Paga to send money to relatives where? Rural areas or Urban areas? With 10000 agents? They should show us the demographical spread of those transactions naaaa. Even those maiguardi doing shift of duty (stay 4 months before traveling back home) do not use Paga to send money home, so who come de use am naaaa? People with bank accounts? People who can use their cards to transfer funds through the ATMs? Who naaa?

Showroom.ng failed basically because of funding! If he had the funds, he won't lack a technical know how! With money you can get anything you want.

This same showroom.ng actually supplied furniture to many of these over-hyping startups and felt he has arrived ....read his speech abi an eassay again ....he said "Raise enough money, don’t raise at all or don’t start. I personally think or being conditioned over the years that startups need to raise fund. It’s not so. I worked with a couple partners that didn’t raise a dime for their companies and they are doing pretty fine(offline). Sells a piece here and there. When we started doing fine, I somehow felt entitled to be funded.Somewhere along the line I asked myself, why really must this guys give me money? Did I work the money in their pockets? I felt really bad and awkward sometimes with the process" he entered one chance!

Sheriff started his business based on inspiration and needs to fill a perceived gap in the Nigerian tech world. But what he doesn't envisage was the amount of effort that goes into building a successful tech company in a seemingly young and unstructured market like Nigeria.

Again, he failed to learn along the learn or understand learning is a process, like I said yesterday "he seems to blame everything on his "not knowing enough" or his team not knowing enough about how to scale a business. My question is, do we ever get to that point of knowing enough."

bigtt76:
I mean seriously ...just watch and see in a few weeks time, Paga will announce new round of funding. Funding to do what I don't understand. Loans they won't give, agents they don't have so what are they using these funds for?

See Konga they don't even have delivery vans any more. Thank God I turned down their job offer na so I for de sleep with one eye open ...I heard Sim is no longer there. These guys just setup business and soon they cut out from it.

Look at Jumia when they first started, touted as Nigeria's home grown platform. It was only later the so called 'founders' resigned and the real owners took over. Look at Andela, EazyTaxi, DealDey ....same thing.

These guys know only how to play with numbers nothing more!

rusher14:
Well it means the economy must be somewhat alive.

Hbuyosh:
First of all, it is M-pesa, not P-mesa. Why was it invented in Kenya? because the pipo behind the innovation were based in Kenya.

Now let me put this question back to u, what was the percentage of the pipo with active bank accounts in Nigeria, before the invention of Mpesa in Kenya in 2007. And what about today? Is the percentage of the banked pipo in Ng really at per with SA's, the reason as u argue for the slow uptake? Dont lie!

]As it stands, only about 28.6 million adults in Nigeria have bank accounts and this represents 32.5 percent of the adult population, EFInA stated
http://thenationonlineng.net/what-hope-for-nigerias-unbanked-population/

Even bfore the advent of Mpesa in Kenya, around 2mn pipo had bank accounts, out of the popullation of 30-35mn.

Whilst out of the population of 170mn, only 30mn are financially included in Nigeria...........u surely need the Mpesa, quit the pride.

GERALD710:
Last I checked, ther are 14 million people(out of an adult population of 25 million)with bank accounts in Kenya.That does not qualify as 'few'. The difference is that mobile banking is seamlesly intergrated into mainstream banking.
For example.
The Equity Orange Money account is basically a bank account(Equity) running on a mobile platform.(Orange).It does not have the transaction limits of MPESA and you have the choice to deposit or withdraw from either an Equity branch or agent or an Orange agent.Convenience.Plus, you can recieve money via Paypal to that account and withdraw from an orange agent.
You can borrow a loan from Commercial Bank of Africa through MPESA via the Mshwari platform.
You can actually open a KCB bank account via any mobile network.
You can transfer money to and from your MPESA TO YOUR Co-op bank account seamlessly via MCoopcash.
etc etc
Mobile Banking actually accelerated mainstream banking in Kenya as there is ease of movement of money between the two.

XX01:
This is interesting. First time I am hearing of them. How does it work? Like a mobile wallet?

Pavore9:
Many Kenyans also do have bank accounts but mobile money ease things up. For example my Airtelmoney is linked to my bank account and if l should receive any payment through it be it local or internationally, l will just forward the money to my bank account or any other person's bank account. You just need a simple phone to transact as Nokia 3310 can do these transactions, cutting of the need for Smart-phones.

Pavore9:
Very good as many Kenyans even receive their International transfers such as World remit, Western Union, Moneygram, SKrill etc directly into their phone numbers which also service mobile money accounts and go withdraw the money sent from the many Mpesa and Airtel money agents around, cutting out banks from the transactions but if your line is linked to a Visa card you can withdraw the money from any ATM in the world that has a Visa logo, also using to make online payment where Visa is accepted.

For Airtel money, they presently run a cashback promo as when you use your airtelmoney to make payments on Fridays you will be refunded 5% of what was spent that day. For example, if l make payments totalling 50,000 Kenyan shillings ($500) today being Friday, by next Friday Airtelmoney will return 2,500 Kenyan shillings to my account!

Pavore9:
Nice one. I do use both Mpesa and Airtel Money in Kenya, with the airtelmoney account is basically my airtel line which is linked to an Airtel Visa card.

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Wednesday said it had re-admitted the United Bank for Africa into the foreign exchange market.

The directive, according to the CBN, takes effect from Thursday (today).

The apex bank in a two paragraph statement issued at about 10pm on Wednesday said UBA had remitted all outstanding foreign currency belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

The statement signed by the Director, Banking Supervision Department, CBN, Tokunbo Martins, read in part, “Further to the directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria to all the Deposit Money Banks to return all outstanding unremitted NNPC/NLNG foreign currency, this is to confirm that the United Bank for Africa Plc has remitted all outstanding NNPC/NLNG deposits in its possession to NNPC’s Treasury Single Account at the CBN.”

“Accordingly, the UBA Plc has been re-admitted into the Foreign Exchange Market effective Thursday, August 25, 2016.”

A number of other banks including Sterling Bank and First Bank of Nigeria, said they had opened discussion with the CBN to amicably resolve the matter.

BillBlogger:
Not even 5 years. I wish I could lay my hands on that company and he will see a turn around. Hard times is even great to get stronger. Some Nigerians have been blogging many years without penny or doing their whatever online business and they never give up.

gwenstephany:
Ohh, that's a lucky break that I came across this topic. Well, I have a question about Malaysia. We're going on a honeymoon there and I wonder if you know some cool hotels. I've already found at this site a pretty good location called Seaventures Dive Rig. The problem is that it's more for scuba diving enthusiasts, than for a couple. Any ideas which hotel to choose? I would appreciate any advice.

Global financial markets reacted to comments from US senior Fed officials last week, after a report shows a healthy manufacturing sector with 0.7 percent increase in industrial production and 0.5 percent surge in manufacturing output with a capacity utilization rate of 75.9 percent — the highest since December 2014.

Although, consumer prices came out flat at 0.0 percent as expected, building permits remained moderate with a resilient labor market (unemployment claims of 262,000). This week, investors are looking to an annual meeting of central bankers from around the world in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at which Fed Chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to speak, for clues on the course of monetary policy. A hawkish outlook will strengthen the dollar as investors are expected to price in the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in the second half of the year.

gwenstephany:
Ohh, that's a lucky break that I came across this topic. Well, I have a question about Malaysia. We're going on a honeymoon there and I wonder if you know some cool hotels. I've already found at this site a pretty good location called Seaventures Dive Rig. The problem is that it's more for scuba diving enthusiasts, than for a couple. Any ideas which hotel to choose? I would appreciate any advice.

kishimi8:
Don't know how this stuff works, tried testing my atm by depositing funds in my amazon gift card account only to be charged 396, where do they get their own rates, luckily it's was a 1 usd test transaction

mrsage:
Your last paragraph though. There's nothing special about the result.

All banks operate in the same challenging environment

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has said that Nigeria will have to increase oil output by an average of 900,000 barrels per day (b/d) in order to recover crude oil that has been shut in to a series of militant attacks on oil and gas assets in the Niger Delta in recent months.

Kachikwu, who spoke to CNN’s Richard Quest last night, however said he was not particularly optimistic about the possible talks on a production freeze by other oil producing countries to bolster prices, saying similar efforts a few months ago had failed.

Despite his lack of confidence, the price of crude oil rose yesterday following reports that Russia and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may resume dialogue on a production freeze.

The petroleum minister said the federal government was in continuing dialogue with militants and their representatives in the Niger Delta and expressed confidence that in the next one or two months, a resolution will be reached to end the attacks on oil assets.

“There’s a lot of dialogue, a lot of security meetings and we expect that in the next one or two months, we will arrive at a lasting resolution on the problem in the Niger Delta,” he said.

He added that Nigeria would need to produce on average 900,000b/d extra to recover oil and the attendant revenue lost to the militancy in recent months.

“We are producing some 1.5 million barrels per day and would need on average 900,000 barrels per day to catch up on what we have lost. If we can achieve peace, this will be feasible,” he said.

However, when he was reminded by Quest that an extra 900,000b/d would run contrary to possible talks next month on a production freeze in order to shore up oil prices, Kachikwu said he was not optimistic that a consensus could be reached on an output cap, as efforts in the past had failed.

“I’m not too optimistic about an output freeze, because we tried this in the past and it failed.

“Also, OPEC accounts for 30 per cent of total global output, so we will need to be aggressive in our engagements with producers that account for 70 per cent of output, so it is only if a consensus is reached, then me have some hope,” he explained.

On yesterday’s criticism by parents of the Chibok girls that the military and its resources were being diverted to secure oil facilities instead of recovering the schoolgirls who were kidnapped from their school by Boko Haram two years ago, he said it was not true that the girls were less important than oil facilities in the Niger Delta.

“It is not true that oil facilities are more of a priority than the Chibok girls. As you know President Muhammadu Buhari from the outset of his administration built a coalition with neighbouring countries to defeat the terrorism in the North-east.

“He also had to set up a panel to probe the diversion of funds meant for the procurement of arms to fight the insurgency. All these suggest that the insurgency in the North-east is a major priority of this government.

“I am a father and I can imagine what it means to have my children kept in captivity in a forest and the president feels the same way. So he has not given up the girls,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, the price of crude oil rose yesterday following reports that Russia and OPEC may resume dialogue on a production cap.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.9 per cent to $47.38 a barrel on London’s Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) futures exchange. It however traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures at $44.86 a barrel, up 0.8 per cent.

Both the WSJ and UK’s Telegraph reported that the price movements were triggered by comments made by Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister, Khalid al-Falih and Russian Energy Minister, Alexander Novak that market action was likely if discussions at an upcoming meeting in Algeria between OPEC and its other ally producers go well.

According to WSJ, prices have gained since Saudi’s al-Falih signalled last week that his country was open to measures to stabilise the market which has been struggling with oversupply for the past two years.

Saudi is the biggest producer among members of OPEC and historically seen as the de facto leader of the oil cartel. The OPEC meeting in Algeria is scheduled as an informal gathering in September.

The Telegraph also reported that the price movement was in reaction to the OPEC Algeria meeting where the focus is expected to return to a possible supply cap deal after similar talks in Doha failed earlier this year.

Novak confirmed Russia’s participation at the Algeria meeting to Saudi newspaper, Asharq al-Awsat. Novak stated that his country – the world’s third largest supplier of oil – was also involved in early discussions.

He said: “We are co-operating in the framework of consultations regarding the oil market with OPEC countries and producers from outside the organisation, and are determined to continue dialogue to achieve market stability.”

At the weekend, al-Falih told the Saudi Press Agency that “we are going to have a ministerial meeting of IEF in Algeria next month, and there is an opportunity for OPEC and major exporting non-OPEC ministers to meet and discuss the market situation, including any possible action that may be required to stabilise the market”.

He added: “We’ve said before that market rebalancing is already taking place but the process of clearing crude and product inventories will take time. We are on the right track and prices should reflect that.”

Oil price recovery from a 12-year low of $28 a barrel in January had floundered last month when global economic fears reignited concern that there was a glut in the market, causing prices to slump back to $41.66 a barrel.