Business News
Competition keeps us on our toes -Paga’s Tayo Oviosu
Paga’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Tayo Oviosu, has shrugged off competition in the Nigerian fintech space, saying that it is healthy for for business.
Paga’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Tayo Oviosu, has shrugged off competition in the Nigerian fintech space, saying that it is healthy for for business.
Oviosu disclosed this to newsmen, yesterday, during a media briefing, in celebration of the company’s 10th anniversary. He stated that even though the industry is quite competitive, Paga leverages the competition to deliver value to its customers.
“We have 22 major competitors already and I am aware that we still have more coming. Irrespective of how stiff the market space is, Paga is committed to being the role model for others at all times.”
His take on telcos – Oviosu went further to state that the telcos are not major competitors for fintechs sector. He also argued that it is a fallacy to think that “because I am a telco, I am the best person to run a service that runs on data network”.
Secret to the company’s success – The CEO, however, admitted that fintech is a very difficult business that goes beyond just having phone numbers.
When asked how Paga has been able to up its game in driving financial inclusion into rural areas, Oviosu made known that about 20% of the company’s agents are deployed to rural areas. He said that the payment system has put in place certain programmes, that requires recruiting of agents that will function in the Nigeria’s rural areas, most especially the areas with no agent.
Oviosu added that Paga is a platform designed to enable connectivity across networks.
“In terms of connectivity, the beauty of Paga is that it cut across all networks. This is to say that if MTN is not available in your location, Glo will be available, and if Glo is not available, Airtel will be available.”
He claims Paga is a secure platform – During the media parley, Oviosu also expressed confidence in Paga’s level of confidentiality and security. According to him, security and safety is what Paga prioritises. And his ICT background has been a leverage for the payment firm at large.
“We are PCI Dss level 1 certified. To achieve this, you must have passed a lot of checks around your platforms and structures. Aside this, internally, we also make sure that the right people are the only ones that have access to customers’ information and there are lot of checks and balances around that.
“As our customer, as long a you keep your pin and other security details safe, we will protect you.”
Does the company plan to become a bank soon? – Addressing if Paga is looking forward to function as a bank in the nearest future, Oviosu said the fintech company is only committed to partnering with the banks.
“Our goal is to work with banks. There are so many things the banks could be doing in partnership with us. This is our message to banks, it is very clear, we want to partner, we are not competing with you and other financial institutions, we only want to have your services on our platforms.”
Meanwhile, the company is ten and expanding – Mr Oviosu tweeted earlier today that he is excited the company he founded ten years ago is doing so well today. He also thanked Nigerians for trusting him and his team.
The company is currently considering to extend its services to two other countries.
So excited! 10 years ago today I embarked on a journey to solve the "use of cash" 🥳🥳🥳
I was tired of carrying wads of cash & dealing with POS errors. @mypaga was born out of my frustration & decided to solve what is a global problem.
Thank you Nigeria for trusting us 🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/o2Oh8osuPs
— Tayo Oviosu (@oviosu) April 3, 2019
Coronavirus
Nigerian Governors who have tested positive for Coronavirus
Six Nigerian governors have contracted the novel coronavirus, but some have recovered.
On Saturday, July 4, Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19. This makes him the 6th Governor to have tested positive for the virus that has infected over 11 million and killed no less than 532,000 people globally.
Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State
Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El- Rufai was the first governor confirmed to have been infected and recovered in April.
Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State
Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, was also infected in March and was reported to have recovered on the 9th of April.
Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, announced that he tested positive on 30th, March, 2020 and his recovery was reported on the 5th of April.
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State
Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, tested positive last week on June 30th and Delta’s Ifeanyi Okowa announced that he and his wife had tested positive on July 1.
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State
So far, the governors who have tested positive for COVID-19 are:
1. Nasir el-Rufai
2. Bala Mohammed
3. Seyi Makinde
4. Rotimi Akeredolu
5. Ifeanyi Okowa
6. David Umahi
Earlier this weekend, Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom announced that his wife, Mrs. Eunice Ortom, their son, and some of the wife’s aides had tested positive for COVID-19.
With Nigeria and the rest of the world still battling to contain the dreaded virus, the total number of confirmed cases has risen to 28,167 from 148,188 tests carried out as at Saturday, July 4, 2020. In addition, while 11,462 have recovered, 634 persons have died.
Energy
BUA cement to build power and cement plants in Adamawa state
BUA Cement’s newest plant in Sokoto is expected to be operational in 2021.
BUA Cement has announced plans to build a 50 megawatts power plant and 3 million metric tonnes cement plant in Lamurde and Guyuk local governments in Adamawa States.
BUA Cement which is Nigeria’s second-largest cement producer by volume with plants in Sokoto and Edo States, with the projects wants the boost the country’s power supply and increase the local production capacity for cement.
This was disclosed by the Chairman of BUA Cement, Abdul Samad Rabiu, in a press statement on Sunday, July 5, 2020, in Lagos.
The BUA Cement Chairman who led the company’s management team on a courtesy visit to the Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, after preliminary findings showed that Guyuk and Lamurde areas had quality limestone.
According to Rabiu, “Preliminary findings show that the two local governments of Guyuk and Lamurde are reputed to have good quality limestone deposits and BUA Cement is ready to begin the investment in the state.
“BUA will use new technologies to supply power to the proposed cement plant and communities of Guyuk and Lamurde in addition to providing three thousand direct and five thousand indirect jobs.
“Guyuk Cement Plant will be a major investment in the North-East by BUA, while we solicit the support of Gov. Umaru Fintiri to set up the factory in Guyuk.”
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He added that while the company has invested billions of dollars in various sectors across Nigeria, it has taken a decision to source its raw materials locally and therefore urged the Adamawa state government to support BUA to actualize the GUYUK Cement project.
The Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, in his response assured the Chairman and management team of BUA, that the state government would provide all the necessary support and make available whatever was needed to make the projects a reality.
BUA Cement’s newest plant in Sokoto is expected to be operational in 2021 and expects that its total production capacity will get to 14 million metric tonnes of cement per annum upon the completion of Guyuk Cement Plant.
BUA Cement has been having a running battle with Dangote Cement over the ownership of 3 mining sites in Obu and Okpella in Edo State. The mining sites have been subject of legal tussle between the 2 biggest cement companies in the country.
Coronavirus
GSK, Sanofi to agree $624 million deal with UK for COVID-19 vaccine
Both GSK and Sanofi said that they are placing more priority on quality rather than speed.
British and French pharmaceutical giants, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Sanofi are close to reaching a $624 million (500 million pounds) deal with the United Kingdom (UK) government for the supply of 60 million doses of coronavirus vaccine as many countries move for possible COVID-19 treatments.
Reports suggest that the UK was considering an option to buy the vaccine should the human trials, which are due to commence in September 2020, turn out successful.
The funds would be paid in stages as the vaccine progresses, with the final payment made on delivery.
In order not to be left behind, the UK government has been engaging a wide range of companies both at home and abroad to negotiate access to vaccines. They said that the right announcements of these arrangements will be made as and when agreements with any of these companies are finalized.
The British business ministry’s spokeswoman, who confirmed that the ministry is handling Britain’s supply of potential COVID-19 vaccines, said talks were going on with different parties about access to possible vaccines but didn’t confirm if GSK/Sanofi project was one of them.
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According to the ministry official, ‘’The Government’s Vaccines Task Force is actively engaging with a wide range of companies both in the UK and abroad to negotiate access to vaccines.”
“Appropriate announcements of these arrangements will be made as and when agreements with any of these companies are finalized and signed.”
Sanofi is presently working on 2 possible COVID-19 vaccines, one of which uses an adjuvant made by GSK to potentially boost its efficacy. The timeline for its clinical trials is behind the likes of Moderna Inc, the University of Oxford in collaboration with AstraZeneca Plc and an alliance of BioNTech and Pfizer Inc, whose projects all made headlines by moving to human trials as early as March.
Both GSK and Sanofi said that they are placing more priority on quality rather than speed in developing a vaccine.
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