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
Business
FG explains why Lagos-Ibadan rail line was not linked to the sea
The government in its explanation said that the delay was due to disruption by trucks going in and out of the port complex.
The Federal Government has stated why the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) Nigeria Limited could not link the final part of the Lagos-Ibadan rail line to the sea.
The government in its explanation said that it was due to disruption by trucks going in and out of the port complex.
According to a press statement signed by the Director, Press and Public Relations of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Eric Ojiekwe, this disclosure was made by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, while on a routine tour of the Lagos-Ibadan rail line project on Saturday, April 10, 2021.
The Minister pointed out that the original blueprint for the Lagos-Ibadan rail line project was not adhered to by CCECC Nigeria Limited and TEAM consortium and therefore warned that the master plan of the soon to commence Ibadan-Kano rail line project should not be changed.
The statement from the ministry partly reads, “The Nigerian Government has restated its commitment to connect the whole country by rail with the soon to commence Ibadan-Kano Standard Gauge Rail project.”
Amaechi forewarned that the master plan of the soon to commence project should not be changed as the original blueprint for the Lagos-Ibadan wasn’t adhered to by Messrs CCECC Nigeria and TEAM consortium. The Minister who rode the train from Ebute-Meta to the 8.72 km Apapa Port Spur line, informed the media that the inability of Messrs CCECC Nigeria to link the final part of the rail line down to the sea is rather due to disruption by trucks going in and out of the port complex.’’
The Minister had noted that the Federal Government has paid its share of the counterpart funding of the Ibadan-Kano rail line project and is waiting for China-Exim bank to ratify its side of the agreement for the project to commence.
He also advised the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) to acquire more land around the train stations and the rail tracks for future development adding that this will be near impossible to do in the future as whatever space available now would have been taken over by businesses attracted to the rail line.
In case you missed it
It can be recalled that full commercial train services commenced on the Lagos-Ibadan rail line after train operations commenced on December 7, 2020, with only Lagos, Ibadan and Abeokuta residents enjoying the train services.
This is because other minor and major stations along that route were yet to be completed.
IBADAN-KANO RAIL PROJECT TO COMMENCE SOON – FG
The @NigerianGov has restated its commitment to connect the whole country by rail with the soon to commence Ibadan-Kano Standard Gauge Rail project.
The Minister of Transportation, @ChibuikeAmaechi, while on routine tour of the— Federal Ministry of Transportation (@MinTransportNG) April 11, 2021
Manufacturing
Industrial Index loses -12.39 points, as BUA and Lafarge Cement shares top losers list
The NSE Industrials index lost 12.39 index points in the first trading week in the month of April.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange Industrial Index at the close of trading activities for the first week in the month of April closed on a bearish note, following a 0.66% decrease in the shares of BUA CEMENT and Lafarge.
At the close of trading activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on the 9th of April 2021, the industrial index depreciated by 55.01 index points, to close lower at 1,928.18 index points for the week.
When compared to the overall performance of the market, the NSE Industrial index underperformed, noting that the NSE All-Share Index and Market Capitalization depreciated by 0.66% to close the week at 38,866.39 and N20.3350 trillion respectively.
READ: COVID-19, VAT, FX scarcity adversely impacted our operations in 2020 – Nigerian Breweries boss says
What you should know
The NSE Industrial Index was designed to provide an investable benchmark to capture the performance of the Industrial Sector. It comprises the most capitalized and liquid companies in the industrial sector and is based on the market capitalization methodology.
The index tracks the performance of ten industrial companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange which includes Dangote, BUA, and Lafarge Cement.
The overall performance of the companies for the week was bearish, as the index closed on a negative note driven by the decrease in the share price of BUA Cement and Lafarge.
MEYER (19.51) was the only gainer for the week, while BUACEMENT (-1.09%) and LAFARGE WAPCO (-3.00%) were the only losers for the week.
GAINER
- MEYER up by19.51% to close at N0.49.
LOSER
- WAPCO down by -3.00% to close at N21.00.
- BUACEMENT down by -1.09% to close at N72.70.
