Lagos Internal Revenue Service, LIRS, raked in N24.5 billion as the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for January this year, the state Finance Commissioner, Mustapha Akinkunmi has said.
The commissioner, who spoke on Tuesday, March 9, during a media briefing ahead of the state’s tax reforms launch, said the January figure constitute 98 per cent performance target for the month and a 12 per cent rise when compared with last year’s figure for same period.
Akinkunmi explained that despite the tough national economic conditions faced in last year by the country, the state was able to raise its revenues mainly through taxes, with the LIRS contributing 79 percent to IGR in 2015.
He said: “This equated to 56 percent of the state’s total revenue, including Federal Transfers. The total revenue achieved in 2015 was just short of N400 billion and is expected to continue growing, driven by strong tax collection.
“This administration has been able to make significant investment in security apparatus across the state and has provided street-lighting across the state. We are reducing costs through investment in technology which is a powerful tool for cost reduction through efficient administration,” he said.
LIRS Executive Chairman, Olufolarin Ogunsanwo said the agency has initiated reforms that would improve the ease of doing business in the state which has also boosted voluntary tax compliance. He said government was already working to bring more members of the informal sector into the tax net, adding that the Tax Returns Form had been reduced to two pages as against the six pages document hitherto in operation.
He also said the agency, in an effort to bring efficient service delivery closer to the people, has commissioned two new tax offices in Tejuosho and Sangotedo, even as efforts are being made to open two additional tax stations within Amuwo Odofin/Festac and Alimosho axis.
The Lagos State Pension Commission has paid about N904 million has been paid to retirees of Lagos State Civil Service, Local Governments, State Universal Basic Education, Teachers, Establishment and Pension Office and other Parastatals, under the Contributory pension Scheme, CPS,as pension entitlements last month.
Director-General of the Commission, Folashade Onanuga, who disclosed this in a statement said the retirees numbering 243 received their bond certificates during the presentation of the 24th Retirement Benefit Bond Certificates held in Lagos.
She said the payment has brought the number of retirees paid between August last year to February, this year, to 2,652 with the total accrued rights paid from the aforementioned month to date standing at N11. 556 bn.
Onanuga urged the retirees to be cautious of unscrupulous elements, who might want to deprive them of their entitlements through lofty business ideas.
She also appealed to them to be wary of fraudsters, who put calls through to retirees, informing them of alleged short payments in their entitlements.
The fraudsters, she dsiclosed, request for tokens into specified bank accounts so that a short fall amount can be paid by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) in Abuja.
She reiterated that no retiree in the State Service has accrued rights to collect from the Federal Government and anyone requesting to help them process an entitlement that is non-existent is a scammer.
The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF, has transferred N9.01 billion pension contributions to 124,871 members Retirement Savings Account (RSAs) managed by Trustfund Pension Plc as at the Second Quarter of 2015.
This was revealed in a report by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) obtained by The Nation.
The reports states that the Commission has continued the supervision of the transfer of the contributions into beneficiaries’ RSAs during the quarter under review.
The report read in part: “In this regard, 1,084 applications for the transfer of contributions amounting to N77.5 million were received. The Commission processed and granted ‘‘no objections’’ to Trustfund Pensions Plc to transfer an amount totaling N68.8 million to 995 contributors.
“On the other hand, 35 applications for N2.5 million were rejected due to incomplete documentations. This brought the total NSITF contributions transferred to Retirement Savings Account to N9.01 billion. The amount was transferred on behalf of 124,871 NSITF contributors.”
The report also showed that in the period under review, there were transfers from National Provident Fund (NPF) and NSITF contributions to members’ RSAs
During the first quarter, the Commission received a total of 1,330 applications for the transfer of NSITF contributions amounting to N91.68 million.
Moody’s Investors Service has placed Nigeria’s Ba3 government bond and issuer ratings on review for downgrade.
A statement from one of the top global rating agency obtained on Tuesday,March 9, explained that the purpose of the ratings review was for Moody’s to assess the extent of the impact of the further fall in oil prices.
As part of the review, Moody’s will in particular assess the credibility and sustainability of the government’s plans and their ability to mitigate the impact of the lower oil price on Nigeria’s credit standing.
A downward rating adjustment for Nigeria would most likely be limited to one notch. But Moody’s would maintain and confirm Nigeria’s current Ba3 rating if the rating review were to conclude that the government’s plans represent a clear, credible fiscal and economic policy response, which offers the prospect of containing the deterioration in the government balance sheet to contain the impact of the sharp fall in the oil price. It aims to conclude the review within two months.
Nigeria is highly dependent on hydrocarbons to support economic growth and to finance government expenditure. Oil and gas account for over 90 per cent of goods exports and these exports expressed in percentage of nominal GDP are estimated at roughly 17 per cent of 2016 GDP. It also provides an estimated 40 per cent of consolidated government revenues (but between 60-70 per cent before the oil price shock).
Between September 2014 and September 2015, the oil price roughly halved. Since then, it has fallen a further 40 per cent. Moody’s recently revised its oil price assumptions for Brent to $33 per barrel in 2016 and US$38 per barrel in 2017, rising thereafter to $48 by 2019.
The agency explained: “The structural shock to the oil market is weakening Nigeria’s government balance sheet and its economy, and therefore also its credit profile. Between 2013 and 2015, revenue as a percentage of GDP declined by 4.3 percentage points and the fiscal deficit increased from 2.3 per cent in 2013 to an estimated 4.2 per cent in 2015 (which includes estimates of two per cent of GDP of accumulated arrears at state and municipal levels).
“During the same period, the country’s current account balance relative to GDP moved from a surplus of 3.7 per cent to a deficit of 2.8 per cent. Assuming no policy response and other factors being equal, the depressed oil prices for the coming years would imply larger fiscal deficits, resulting in a rise of 7.5 percentage points in Nigerian government debt between 2013-18. Total government debt would then reach 18 per cent of GDP by 2018.
“The roughly 25 per cent depreciation in the exchange rate against the US dollar since the start of the oil price drop has to some extent contained the impact of the oil price shock on the government’s revenues.”
The Republic of Ireland has rejected and returned five containers of beans exported from Nigeria after the products were received with heaps of weeviles.
Exportation of beans from Nigeria is banned by the European Union, so it is not clear when the rejected product was exported.
However, Nigerian producers will resume exportation of beans to EU countries by June this year, according to the minister of state for Agriculture, Mr Heineken Lopobiri.
Inspecting the rejected agricultural product at the PTML Terminal, Tin Can Port Lagos yesterday, the minister of state for Agriculture, Lopobiri said that the containers were returned because heaps of weevils were detected in them by Republic of Island Quarantine Service.
The minister described the return of the containers as a national embarrassment, saying that the containers were exported without the knowledge of the Nigerian Agriculture and Quarantine Service.
He said that government would be returning the Quarantine Service back to the ports to partake in the examination of import and export containers.
He said that hence forth, for any agro-product to leave the country, it has to be certified by the Quarantine Service, saying that this is the global practice, in US and other developed countries.
He said: “Currently there is no more dollars oil and so, we need dollars from agriculture. We are in trade deficit with every other country in the world including Cameroun, and Benin Republic.
“So, we are trying to encourage as much export as possible so that we can substitute petrol-dollars to agro-dollars.
“No government agency has right apart from Quarantine to say that agro-products is banned for export or import, it is the legal and exclusive responsibility of Quarantine Service.”
The Federal Government has signed a pact with the Swiss government to return $321 million carted out of Nigeria by the late Gen. Sani Abacha.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo spoke on Tuesday, March 9, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, during a meeting with a Swiss delegation, led by the country’s Federal Councillor and Head of its Foreign Affairs Department, Mr. Didier Burkhalter and the Swiss Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Eric Mayoruz.
In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo said a framework was being developed on how the money would be managed.
“The framework will guarantee that returned assets will be used for the people.”
Attorney-General of the Federation and Justice Minister Mr. Abubakar Malami signed an agreement described as a “Letter of Intent” with the Swiss government on the restitution of illegally-acquired assets forfeited in Switzerland.
Mr. Burkhalter signed for the Swiss government.
Under the agreement, the Swiss government will award to Nigeria $321 million “of funds illicitly acquired by the Abacha family.
The leadership of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, has approached the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to consider direct sale of dollars to its member, following the impact of forex scarcity on trade activities.
The request, if approved would require the apex bank by-passing the commercial lenders by selling foreign-currency directly to the end users as a last ditch effort to keep the manufacturing firms afloat and safeguard jobs in the system .
MAN, which has about 2,700 members, proposed weekly auctions of dollars to manufacturing businesses at a meeting with CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele in Abuja, the capital, during the week of February 22, according to Ali Madugu, a Vice President at the lobby group.
He said:“We’re calling for the central bank to start giving to us directly, hand-to-hand, rather than through the banks,” Madugu, who is also managing director of Kano-based Dala Foods Ltd., a food processor, said in an interview in the northern Nigerian city on March 3.
“Some of our member companies will run out of raw materials next month. Without restocking, what will happen? Thousands of jobs are on the line.”
In a bid to give the Dubai visitors a luxurious and an unforgettable experience, Jumeirah Group in collaboration with Emirates Holiday and Dubai Tourism, showcased its products and new developments which includes the Burj Al Arab North Deck Project and the Jumeirah Zabeel Saray most opulent resort and award-winning spa. These developments were showcased by Jumeirah Group in collaboration with Emirates Holiday and Dubai Tourism, recently at an evening of enchantment.
The branch of Jumeirah Group in charge of the North Deck project is Burj Al Arab Jumeirah. It houses the world’s most luxurious hotel. Burj Al Arab Jumeirah is located in the prosperous star of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Dubai. Burj Al Arab is 321 meters above sea level and is the tallest all-suite hotel in the world. It stands proud as one of the tallest buildings in the world and the tallest single structure on a man-made island, taller than the Eiffel Tower and a mere 60 meters shorter than the Empire State Building.
Burj Al Arab Jumeirah stands on a man-made island 280 meters offshore, connected to the mainland by a slender, gently curving causeway. The building is supported by 250 columns that go 45 meters under the sea and is held in place by the friction of the sand. It has an incredible 70,000 cubic meters of concrete and more than 9,000 tons of steel were employed in the construction of the tower.
However, in order to give its customers a taste of more luxuries, Burj Al Arab Jumeirah recently embarked on a North Deck project to unveil the world’s first employing state of the art technology and design, manufacturing expertise and marine mastery construction experts on about 10.000m2 platform. The technology used is a mix of marine, offshore and construction industry solutions with half the weight of the Eiffel Tower, Platform built offsite in Finland, Production facility where cruise ships and yachts are usually constructed, and with the highest quality in both construction and in luxury finish. It has a fresh water and a salt water swimming pool as well as a swim up bar, 32 luxurious cabanas, 400 loungers, one restaurant and one bar.
A Careful look at the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah North Deck Hotel project, reveals the building is the tallest all suite hotel 202 duplex suites with sea view, Private check in the suite, Individual reception on every floor, with exceptional 24 hours butler service, Business desk (Apple I Mac, fax, printer, scanner machine), telephone, iPod dock station), Wi-Fi full size set of luxurious Hermes amenities for male and female, Largest Rolls Royce fleet, 1500 employees from 65 countries.
According to the Associate Director on Business Development, Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, Mr Aymen Baccouche, “Dubai is renowned for providing exceptional experiences. Burj Al Arab Jumeirah is the world’s most luxurious hotels situated in Dubai. It is owned and managed by Jumeirah Group, the global luxury hotel company and a member of Dubai Holding. For the first time, the world’s most opulent all-suite hotel, Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, is expanding its outdoor space creating a luxury leisure concept, called North Deck. This shows how committed we pushing the boundaries of innovation and demonstrating how determined we are to positioning Dubai as the most exciting destination in the world and Burj Al Arab Jumeirah as the finest provider of luxury experiences.”
In the same vein, Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, has in a recent development showcased its products. It has ‘The World’s most opulent resort and award winning spa’. Jumeirah Zabeel Saray is home to a private cinema with the seats up to 30 people. Throughout the day, movies are played for in house guests and the venue can be hired for unique events. The luxurious Jumeirah Zabeel Saray has 3times more goldleaf than the Burj Al Arab & 30,000sqft of natural marble.
According to the Senior Sales Manager, Gulf Region and Africa, Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, Mr Cesar Habib, “Leisure and Comfort in hotels are paramout to endearing travellers to a particular city. However Jumeirah Zabeel Saray has provided all it takes to meet the needs of customers of the resort”.
Jumeirah Zabeel Saray is a six floor beachside hotel with 405 elegantly appointed guest rooms, including 26 luxurious suites, and 38 opulent Royal Residences. The resort is home to a wide stretch of pristine private beach, various watersports and tranquil gardens. In addition to tennis courts and a 30 seater movie theatre showcasing popular movies throughout the day, the resort has an indoor and outdoor all new Sinbads kids club complete with Splash Park as well as the hotel’s Avenue of Indulgence an exclusive collection of high end retail boutiques. Jumeirah Zabeel Saray offers an abundance of leisure activities across the resort to entertain the whole family including its very own private beach jetty, with shuttle boat transfers to and from popular destinations in Dubai. Jumeirah Zabeel Saray showcases a unique selection of award winning restaurants and bars, each offering a distinct culinary concept and an exciting nightlife ranges from the uber chic Voda Bar, to the popular Lebanese dinner dance concept, MusicHall.
The resort it also home to the multinational award winning Talise Ottoman Spa, one of the largest and most luxurious of its kind in the Middle East, spanning 8,000m² and boasting 44 individual treatment rooms over two levels across the male, female and couples sections. Jumeirah Zabeel Saray is located on the West Crescent of the Palm Jumeirah, the celebrated man made island in the shape of a palm tree, with stunning views of the Arabian Gulf. Palm Jumeirah is located between Dubai Marina and Madinat Jumeirah, a 35 minute drive from Dubai International Airport. Talise Ottoman Spa is the largest SPA in Dubai and one of the largest in the world. It’s got indoor thalassotherapy swimming pool, sauna’s, steam bath, adventure shower, Jacuzzi, snow room and relaxation area… including 3 huge traditional Turkish hammams.
Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, Madinat Jumeirah, Jumeirah Zabeel Saray, amongst others, are sister companies under the management of Jumeirah Group. Jumeirah Group is the global luxury hospitality company and a member of Dubai Holding which operates a world-class portfolio of hotels and resorts including the flagship Burj Al Arab Jumeirah.
With Emirates Holiday, travellers can enjoy access to exclusive offers on hotels, tours and services, and also enjoy trips to Dubai through the award winning Emirates airline for a memorable journey. According to the Business Development Manager, Emirates Holiday, Mr Roy John, Emirates Holiday is always looking for new ways to inspire your next holiday with fascinating destinations, one of which is Dubai, Unique hotels, one of which is that owned by the Jumeirah Group, and all the little things that come together to create an unforgettable experience for travellers.
For Mrs Stella Obinwa, the Regional Director For Africa, Dubai Tourism, she pointed out that the Burj Al Arab’s North Deck is another first, and yet a reason to visit Dubai, while reiterating that Nigerians who travel down will have a wonderful experience at the deck.
The World’s Most Luxurious Hotel
Jumeirah Zabeel Saray – The World’s most opulent resort and award winning spa
Jumia, Africa’s biggest e-commerce is set to become an equivalent of Amazon on a continent with tremendous opportunities which will see its online population reach 50% by 2025 and its its smartphone owners rise to 360 million.
Jumia already made headlines no less than a week ago by securing a second investment of 225 million euros from Goldman Sachs and historical investors MTN and Rocket Internet. Earlier this month the company had announced a new investor, French insurer Axa which joined the group for an 8% stake and 75 million euros. Africa Internet Group, the umbrella company behind Africa’s biggest e-commerce, Jumia, has thus become the first African Unicorn with a valuation of more than a 1 billion euros.
If Jumia is present in 11 countries in Africa, Nigeria is the country where it all started and is now the flagship both in terms of market size and business performance with up to 135 000 orders in one day during Black Friday 2015.
More fascinating still, its top leadership in Nigeria is 100% female, which is historical in many ways with 2 African women leading an Internet & Retail company with a record valuation and performance. To many extents, this is observed as an outstanding achievement as the entire world is celebrating International Women’s Day.
Juliet Anammah and Fatoumata Ba, albeit coming from different backgrounds, have joined forces to lead Jumia Nigeria towards greatness. Juliet Anammah, comes with more than 15 years’ experience in consulting with leading firm Accenture in Nigeria while Senegalese-born Fatoumata Ba led Nigeria’s largest online retailer earlier on in 2015 after having first founded and successfully grown Jumia in Ivory Coast since 2013.
Interviewed for Women’s Day, both women gave us their vision on gender parity, most particularly in the tech world, and on leading Africa’s first unicorn’s flagship:
“Performance, Passion, People : those are the three words I live by on a daily basis” commented Fatoumata Ba on her leadership style at Jumia Nigeria. Both a performance hacker and natural leader, she lead her teams to the most impressive sales event to date on the continent with up to 2.3 million visits in a single day and 25 times the magnitude of a normal day. A passion for people and results she transmitted to her teams and which will not rest : “For me my greatest achievement is yet to come. Leading Jumia Nigeria is not a destination but a step towards something even bigger as Africa Internet Group is literally shaping the Internet experience on the continent. To all phenomenal women in the workspace, my advice is simple : stand up and stand out !”.
Juliet Anammah imparted us with advice for women : “Show up. 90% of success is showing up. You’ll never have all the answers nor will you slay every dragon on your path but once you show up you’ll find that sometimes obstacles become the way.” Mother of four children, Juliet Anammah has had different struggles and attributes her greatest achievement as raising her children while her biggest challenge remains juggling between “priorities of work, family and [her] community”. An absolute proof, if need be, that this challenge can be overcome by the most willing.
If the leading duo is impressive, it is not the sole example of women leaders at Africa Internet Group which champions gender parity across countries and ventures. Indeed, Jumia has one of the highest proportion of women leaders in Africa and globally, with a whopping 40% women managers, managing directors or CEOs. Jeremy Doutte, CEO Jumia Africa commenting on this figure declared “At Jumia, we nurture one value: “Let the best ideas and people grow”. Diversity is not a goal for Jumia, neither is gender parity. Diversity and gender parity are a reality at Jumia Africa. This has been achieved by letting all talents blossom, and women have benefited from our equal opportunity environment. Jumia has extremely talented women at all levels of the organization, across all countries. Our companies in Kenya and in Nigeria are led and managed by women and they are doing fantastically well. We truly believe this is just the beginning”.
The company has as such promoted various actions to empower women within its walls as well as throughout Nigerian communities. You can find most of them as well as an interview of Juliet Anammah and Fatoumata Ba here: https://www.Jumia.com.ng/womens-day
– Jumia’s JForce Program is reaching out to disadvantaged women and giving them financial independence: the program now comprises 16,000 women, the majority of which are housewives and stay at home mothers. The program aims at empowering and enriching entrepreneurs-to-be with the full support of an established brand, giving the opportunity to mothers to contribute to the household earnings. Women now represent 34% of the JForce Program.
– Jumia promotes small women entrepreneurs through its seller center: we offer them a distribution platform and thorough trainings which will help them grow their businesses.
– Jumia supports local women empowerment organizations such as Project Alert in Lagos and SheLeadsAfrica. Jumia organized informative sessions on our Seller and JForce programs to help women of Project Alert (victims of domestic violence) understand the opportunities that e-commerce open to them. We have also collaborated with SheLeadsAfrica, a platform for women entrepreneurs which built for us a series of trainings specifically designed for our JForce and Seller Center women members
– Jumia has also committed to improving gender parity within its own walls by creating the Africa Internet Group Women Committee, led by managing director of Jumia Nigeria Fatoumata Ba. The committee is there to protect women against any form of harassment they could experiment in the workforce as well as provide career counseling and mentoring.
On behalf of all Jumia, we wish you a very happy international women’s day !
Zenith Bank Plc, one of Nigeria’s Financial Power Houses has, for the second year, thrown its weight behind the global carrier, Virgin Atlantic Airways on the promotion of entrepreneurship among Nigerian youths with the launch of ‘The Enterprise Challenge’, a competition to promote entrepreneurship among young Nigerians.
Speaking yesterday in Lagos, at a press briefing which coincided with the opening of a 3-day Boot camp to horn the entrepreneurship skills of the 20 shortlisted participants of the competition, Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said the competition was organized to test the business skills of young Nigerians aged 18 – 35 years.
She disclosed that the 20 participants were drawn from over 11,000 entries from the heavily advertised competition across 22 states of the federation. The shortlisted candidates are partaking in a 3-day Boot Camp under the mentorship of trainers/resource persons from the Richard Branson Centre in South Africa, with the first three finalists to be sent to London where they will meet with the maverick Richard Branson for further mentorship.
Explaining Zenith Bank’s involvement in the competition, the Executive Director of the Bank, Sola Oladipo said it was part of the bank’s strategic vision to partner with any initiative that is targeted at developing the Nigerian youths.
Throwing more light, the Executive Director said that the bank already has a number of initiatives targeting the Nigerian youths and as such they, at Zenith Bank, were only too happy to sponsor the competition since it was aimed at positively channeling the energies and talents of the Nigerian youths towards nation building.
He said further that for a country like Nigeria that is struggling with worsening unemployment, The Enterprise Challenge is an initiative that should be encouraged as it has the potential to address graduate unemployment.
Besides gaining through the mentorship programmes, the first three winners will go home with a seed grant of N2m, N1.5m & N1m being first, second and third place prizes respectively, courtesy Zenith Bank Plc.
This year’s competition, the second in the series, received further boost from The British Council and Samsung Electronics. Winners are expected to be announced in the next few weeks.
In line with its tradition of constantly revolutionizing mobile telephone communication with interesting and exciting mobile applications, Truecaller, a leading mobile communication application in the world has introduced new exciting features on its Truecaller App.
The new features, Smart call History, Availability, and a Built-in dialler feature, are configured to make communication safe and more delightful for users by providing more information about those they communicate with.
Explaining the rationale behind the new additions during the formal lunch, Alan Mamedi, co-founder and CEO, Truecaller noted that since Truecaller has become a necessity for hundreds of millions of mobile phone users all over the world, it is therefore imperative to improve the way these people make phone calls with Truecaller Apps features.
He said, “Truecaller has become a necessity for hundreds of millions of people in their daily communication by always knowing who’s calling them and protecting them against spam calls. We are now taking this to the next level by changing the way people make phone calls with our integrated dialler and adding more context to your contacts that has never been seen before.”
With the Smart Call History feature, Truecaller app users need not save contacts to their phonebook if they wish not to. This feature replaces unknown numbers with real names and faces in users’ call history even when the numbers are not saved in their contacts by looking through the Truecaller data base.
The Availability feature shows the user if the contact he or she intends to call is free to talk or not. This means that when a user is on a call or in a meeting (which must have been scheduled on the Calendar App), Truecaller shows him/her as busy (a red dot) to the contact on his/her phonebook that also use Truecaller. So you no longer get a busy signal or interrupt someone.
With the Built-in Dialler feature which allows Truecaller users make calls directly with App, users can also completely replace their existing dialler and only use Truecaller for all their calls.
It will be recalled that Truecaller launched the Truedialer in 2014 to bring similar improvements to the dialler, which had not evolved since the introduction of the smartphone. However, following overwhelming demand from users, Truecaller is now integrating many of the great features from Truedialer into Truecaller to give the users full control of their entire calling experience with just one app.
According to Mamedi the integration of these new features make the Truecaller an essential app for anyone looking to have more control over their incoming and outgoing calls. He also disclosed that these features will be available for Android Truecaller users, and will be rolling out in the coming weeks.
Smile Telecoms Holdings Ltd (“Smile”) (www.SmileComs.com), which owns and operates 4G LTE mobile broadband networks in the 800MHz band in Nigeria, and in the 800MHz and 2.6GHz bands in Tanzania and Uganda, announced today that in all its operating markets customers would enjoy the benefits of two first-to-market services, namely SmileVoice and SmileUnlimited.
This follows Smile’s announcement in September 2015 of the raising of USD365 million of debt and equity funding, the first tranche of which has been applied to significantly expand Smile’s existing 4G LTE mobile broadband networks. Smile’s coverage is now comparable to the largest 3G network in Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda, with coverage in the DRC to be announced soon.
Irene Charnley, Smile Group’s Chief Executive Officer, stated: “With the introduction of SmileVoice and SmileUnlimited, we are once again demonstrating our commitment to the advancement of the people of Africa. As the pioneers of SuperFast mobile broadband on the continent, we understand the direct correlation of broadband penetration to the creation of wealth and the acceleration of development, and we are expending huge resources to make SuperFast internet access and SuperClear voice available across all our markets.”
SmileVoice is a world-first free mobile app that enables customers with any Android or Apple iPhone device to make SuperClear voice calls over Smile’s 4G LTE networks. Having the SmileVoice app on your mobile is like having a second SIM card in your phone. SmileUnlimited provides customers with unlimited access for 30 days over Smile’s SuperFast 4G LTE broadband network.
As an additional innovation and convenience to its customers Smile is the first mobile provider in Africa to offer Voice over 4G LTE to customers with VoLTE-capable handsets and the first mobile operator to launch a free SmileVoice App to enable customers who do not have access to VoLTE-capable handsets to access its SuperClear voice services.
“We made our first Voice over LTE calls in Nigeria during beta-testing in October 2015 and the feedback from our existing customers since our soft-launch early February has been extremely positive. Thousands of our customers now make national and international voice calls using their data bundles,” says Charnley about the Nigerian market.
SmileVoice will provide customers with the ability to use their data bundles to make SuperClear voice, video calls and send SMSs to any number locally and internationally.
Using SmileVoice, Smile-registered customers can make high quality voice calls to anywhere in the world with their data bundles, at the lowest local call rate per second in Nigeria. All SmileVoice calls are charged in MBs to an active data bundle and equated to a local per second call rate.
Elaborating on the SmileUnlimited offering, Ms Charnley explained that any unlimited offering is subject to a fair usage policy (FUP) which ensures that connectivity will be maintained throughout the 30-day period, albeit at declining speeds once the generous FUP is reached. It also provides for the speed to be increased again by the simple purchase of another data bundle.
Not only is Smile’s pricing more affordable than that of competitor narrowband offerings, but the superior experience of true broadband also makes SmileUnlimited a fitting application of Smile’s value proposition of speed, quality, reliability and simplicity.
The roll-out of SmileVoice and SmileUnlimited in Nigeria will be followed by similar offerings in Tanzania and Uganda. In addition, Smile is set to launch its services in the DRC in 2016.
Partnership designed to drive financial inclusion of women, beginning with Nigerian pilot
Around the world, nearly 2.4 billion people live without any form of official personal identification, and the majority of them are women. As part of broader International Women’s Day activities, MasterCard and UN Women signed a Memorandum of Understanding to address this imbalance and advance gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.
The first initiative in this relationship is the launch of a pilot in Nigeria, which aims to provide half a million Nigerian women with ID cards enabled with electronic payments functionality.
“Our partnership with UN Women is the result of a shared vision of a world where women are empowered to achieve their true potential,” says Omokehinde Ojomuyide, MasterCard Vice President and Area Business Head, West Africa. “Lack of identity is a critical barrier for women seeking to do something as simple as vote, own property or open an account to receive or send money. Together, we can make a real difference in these women’s lives.”
According to the World Bank, only 47 percent of women worldwide have access to formal financial services, compared to 51 percent of men. In Africa, this number increases to more than 70 percent of women.
“We look forward to working together and see the potential of expanding the model to benefit women also in other countries. It is also encouraging that we will collaborate on knowledge generation, advocacy and resource mobilization for greater investment in gender equality and women’s empowerment – reflecting MasterCard and its CEO’s deep commitment to a Planet 50/50 and to supporting UNWOMEN’s efforts,” she added.
Under the program, MasterCard and UN Women will further explore how and when Nigerians have signed up for the country’s national identity card program. Based on these insights, a targeted program will be launched to educate women on the benefits of the program and enroll them for the identity card.
“This campaign will help at least half a million women in Nigeria gain access to financial services, many for the first time, and the support they need to enter the country’s formal economy,” says Ojomuyide.
The Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), recently imposed stamp duty of N50 on bank customers for money received into their accounts. Consequently, bank customers will henceforth pay N50 stamp duty for money received into their accounts via electronic transfer, cash and cheques.
To give full vent to this measure, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has dedicated an account known as the CBN NIPOST Stamp Duty Account into which all collections accruing from the new duty would be paid. It has been estimated that the total cash lodgements into various bank accounts, transfers of cash arising from Point of Sale, Automated Teller Machines, mobile banking transactions etc. may hit fifty (50) million in volume per day and probably net the Federal Government about N2.5 billion daily.
While there is no or little issue about compliance from Deposit Money Banks and other financial institutions on the new N50 charge in acknowledgement of services rendered in respect of teller deposits and electronic transfers, there is however one major complication as to how these deductions directly impact in-house customers’ account most especially for Brokerage houses, Investment Banks among others.
The InfoWARE Advantage
At InfoWARE, we’ve successfully completed the implementation of the Stamp Duty Policy across our platform to facilitate a robust and automated execution of the new N50 charge on clients’ portfolio. Specifically, this means that an automatic N50 stamp duty charge is debited per client’s deposit transaction above N1000 which is seamlessly reconciled across their respective accounts. This contrasts sharply with the idea of manually raising multiple GL journal entries/books and ultimately saves more productive time while dealing with very large volume of transactions.
According to DGM, InfoWARE Limited, Oluwafunto Olasemo, “Clearly, we’ve taken a proactive step in rolling out a simplified and flexible approach that would enable our clients eventually determine whether to transfer the N50 stamp duty charge on their customers or not, since appropriate deductions would have been effected on their receiving account on Deposit Money Banks platform”.
To learn about how our team can help you with a swift and comfortable deployment process, please contact your InfoWARE Account Officer or solutions@infowarelimited.com.
Nigerians generally love the idea of travelling outside their country, whether for work, school or vacation, however, most times, they are unable to make their desired trip as due to immigration issues: they need to apply for a visa to visit most foreign countries, especially those outside Africa.
While every visa application is judged fairly, rigorously, and on its merits, often times, Nigerians have their visa application rejected or denied for reasons ranging from mistakes made by an unscrupulous agent, insufficient funds and false information.
Jovago.com, Africa’s No. 1 online hotel booking portal, understands that getting a visa rejected can be quite a painful experience as the process is tedious, and so if you are in Nigeria, read on to discover top three secrets on how to get your visa application approved by foreign embassies.
Do not make mistakes in the visa application
The visa application, whether paper or electronic, is a formal document and it is important that you do not make any mistakes while inputting required information. Make sure you write your answers clearly or type them in with a clear font. Scan and correct typos, run-on sentences and jargons, including slangs. Ensure you avoid big grammar as well or ambiguous phrases. Keep your responses short, simple and straight to the point; you stand a higher chance of getting your visa that way.
When you eventually go for the interview as well, make sure you are prepared so that your answers correspond with what you already inputted in the forms submitted. Also, answer with confidence as a weak and feeble answer can be your undoing.
Do not give false Information
Most times, applicants give false information in the bid to present themselves in a better light. They believe that the truth could limit the chances of their visa being approved, forgetting that the applications are vetted and information thoroughly verified. Most embassies (especially the UK and the USA) share information on a lot of things and so if the information you are giving is different from information in a previous application in another embassy, they could penalize you for it.
Lying on a visa application is a very bad idea. If they find out, they will not only deny you the visa, they will make it almost impossible for you to visit the UK ever again and possibly any other countries they share that information with. And worse, if they find out after you have entered their country, you could face up to two years in prison or get deported. Note that lying and hiding information in visa application are regarded as same and leads to prosecution as well.
Ensure you have sufficient funds
Most Nigerians believe that the minute they have enough funds to purchase a ticket to a destination, they can apply for the Visa. WRONG! There are other costs to consider: Hotel bill, transportation, and feeding allowance. Your bank statement must reflect that you can cater to these costs on your own without breaking the bank.
Generally, most embassies assume all applicants are seeking permanent entry into their country until proven otherwise. Using your last savings to embark on a “vacation” smells rather fishy. A major way to prove that you have strong economic reasons to return to your country following your stay is to show abundant funds and a steady source. Some people try to beat this procedure by borrowing large money and installing in their account prior to application. Unfortunately, the foreign embassies also check pattern and consistency of inflow and outflow of funds recorded in your account and they certainly rely on their estimates to justify giving you a visa or denying it. Ensure you CAN afford to travel to a particular country before you apply for a visa.
CMB Building Maintenance & Investment Company Limited, a foremost real estate development company, has unfolded plans to boost its affordable portfolio of real estate development with the introduction of a residential housing estate in Apapa GRA.
The latest addition is situated in Apapa, which is the major port of the city of Lagos, Nigeria, and is located to the west of Lagos Island, across Lagos Harbour.
CMB’s development drive towards the Apapa axis is coming on the heels of the directive by the Senate to the Federal Ministry of Works and the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, to immediately begin the process of removing structures on rights of way (motor ways) and other locations impeding smooth traffic flow across the country.
The estate will constitute 2 blocks of 38 units of tastefully finished 3 bedroom apartments with a service quarter and 2 pent apartments. The estate will boast of facilities such as alternative power supply, potable water supply, adequate parking space, landscaped area, elevators, fire escapes, a serene environment and facility management services.
The Managing Director of CMB, Mr Kelechukwu Mbagwu, said the decision to expand its business to the Apapa corridor is largely based on the company’s drive to be a fore-runner in reducing the nation’s current housing deficit. He urged developers across the country to embrace this mandate of private sector participation.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Markets 11 has declared that over two million rural Nigerian farmers have benefited from agricultural and capacity building assistance of the agency since 2005 as part of efforts to boost food security in the country.
The Director, External Relations USAID Markets 11, Mr. Godson Ononiwu, disclosed that in Benue and. Kwara states, USAID Markets 11 has been providing agricultural and capacity building to 70,139 aqua culture, rice and soya bean farmers since April 2012.
“The project’s rice farmers in these states have increased production from 2.58 metric tons per hectare to 4.55 metric tons and 3.9 metric tons per hectare”.
“Markets 11 is. USAID/Nigeria flagship project which aims to sustainably improve performance, income, nutrition and food security of poor Nigerian rural farmers or smallholders in an environmentally friendly manner”.
He stressed that the project works across five main values chains of aquaculture, cassava, cocoa, rice and sorghum, adding that the agency has assisted rice farmers’ cooperative societies in Kpada so as to boost its rice production from two to five tons per hectare.
The External Relations Director said USAID MARKET II interventions were in the areas of rice, sorghum, cocoa, soya bean, cassava, maize and aquaculture production.
Is my money safe? Why should I put my card details on this website or application? These people must be scammers… These are the typical reactions of an average Nigerian asked for his/her card details online.
Mobile money/payment is new to most Nigerians, as such most people are still wary about sharing their card details online.
How does Mobile Money/Payment work?
Mobile Money transforms your smartphone into an electronic wallet (e-wallet). Funds could be stored in your mobile e-wallet for making electronic payment for goods and services, to transfer funds to family and friends, pay your bills and buy airtime.This reduces your need to carry cash around when shopping and also makes life easier, convenient and safe.
Your e-wallet could be funded via authorised mobile payment operators, partner banks, network service providers, transfers from your ATM/Debit cards, or any other funding method offered by your operator. Once you download the app and register, your card is secure and ready for use. Which means you can conveniently use your smartphone to send money to family and friends, buy airtime of any network, etc. Gone are the old days of using your phone to just call, receive and send text messages.
To be sure your money is safe, here are few questions you should ask yourself and look out for before using any mobile money operator
Is the operator licensed to offer mobile money services by CBN?
In Nigeria, the regulatory body for mobile money is the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The CBN framework for mobile payments goes a long way in ensuring funds in the schemes are well secured and protected from fraud.
2. What are your rights?
Mobile money consumers have rights to ease of enrollment, Privacy, Trust, and Security of transaction convenience. Ensure proper confirmation of transaction details and recipients’ mobile phone numbers at all times before authorizing transactions,comply with all security rules as provided by the scheme operator, escalate complaints to the Consumer Protection Departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria, if resolution of complaints is unduly delayed. These rights were put together by CBN.
Is the mobile operator PCI DSS secured?
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a proprietary information security standard for organizations that handle branded credit cards from the major card schemes including Visa and MasterCard.
They Help merchants and financial institutions understand and carry out standards for security policies, technologies and ongoing processes that protect their payment systems from breaches and theft of cardholder data.So you have to be sure your mobile operator is PCI DSS secured before using.
Widely accepted communications protocols allow mobile phones to communicate with different technologies. Mobile technology is making mobile payments more secure and safe for its consumers. Newer smartphone apps help direct connection and authentication of payers and recipients, with the use technology security companies like PCIDSS,3Ds and VeriSign to secure and watch all online transactions. Zoto is licensed by CBN and is PCI DSS certified to make sure all your details stay safe. Zoto is a good example of a verified mobile money operator, the app lets you make convenient transactions with no hassle.
The minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu yesterday confirmed that he will meet with the Senate Committee on Communications today as well as face the House of Reps counterparts on Thursday to explain his role in the N50 billion payment paid by MTN and the withdrawal of court case against the government.
Shittu who was bombarded with questions by journalists in Lagos yesterday during a working visit to three telecommunications operating companies, MainOne, MTN and Globacom said the request of the lawmakers was in order.
According to him, the legislature has the power to empower law, from time to time, the activities of the executive arm of government are to ensure transparency in the system, he said.
He said,“The latest about the MTN fine matter now is that, MTN, which took the government to court for imposing N1.04 trillion on it for violation of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) registration rule has come out to say it wanted an out of court settlement.
In a democratic system, out-of-court arrangement should be encouraged for peaceful resolution of any matter and we have accepted their offer to settle out of court. “We have also given them conditions to withdraw the case and make some commitment payment in good faith for us to begin further negotiations and they have down the two.
He said,“But the lawmakers are saying they wanted transparency on the two matters for which I am ready to address first before House of Representation tomorrow (today) and later in the Senate. I am, indeed, more than prepared to discuss how the whole exercise is going with the lawmakers”.
The Senate had summoned that Shittu, alongside the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), to explain their role in the claim that MTN Nigeria Limited had paid N50 billion to the Federal Government.
Kwara State governor, Alhajhi Abdulfatah Ahmed has revealed that the state’s target was to attract N30 billion worth of investments, through public private partnerships in key sectors such as manufacturing, power, health, energy and aviation between now and 2019.
“We also estimate about N1.5b worth of new investments in our solid mineral sector within the same period.”
“With 64 outlets subdivided into different dimensions of office suites, and multi-use stalls and coupled with its strategic location along the dualised Fate Road, the hub, no doubt, presents great economic opportunities for Kwara State in terms of job creation, business growth and enhanced Internal Revenue,” he said.
Ahmed remarked that owing to these, it is safe to say that greater prosperity is coming to Kwara State because, when investment and opportunities converge, prosperity is imminent and “brighter and rewarding future assured.”
However, he promised that the government will continue to provide an enabling environment for businesses to bloom in the state.
