The agriculture sector in Nigeria and the larger African continent faces a number of challenges including climate and weather, rural-urban migration, lack of expertise and limited access to funding. While solutions to address these challenges have increased year on year with great success, more still has to be done before Africa can fulfil its potential of being the “food basket for the world”.

First City Monument Bank (FCMB), one of the biggest financial players in the development of Nigeria’s agriculture sector, has announced the 2020 edition of the FCMB Agritech Epic Pitch, through which it plans to sustain funding for early to growth-stage entrepreneurs to grow and scale their Agritech businesses.

In its 3^rd Year, the FCMB Agritech Epic Pitch 2020 will be implemented through Hub One (the Bank’s tech Hub located in Lagos, Nigeria) in partnership with Passion Incubator, a Lagos-based early-stage tech incubator, and accelerator. For this edition, FCMB will be providing grant funding of NGN1.5million to 2 tech start-ups in the agriculture sector to support their business growth as well as access to free word-class workspace, steady market and a robust network that stimulates innovation, collaboration and business growth.

In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the FCMB Agritech Epic Pitch 2020 is the first virtual edition of the initiative, but is positioned to deliver the same value to participants, as demonstrated in previous editions. According to Rolayo Akhigbe, Divisional Head, Transaction Banking, FCMB “We are passionate about supporting Nigeria’s tech ecosystem and this initiative is one of the ways through which we are building and accelerating the growth of the Agritech Startups in Nigeria, as well as the larger African continent…”

Also according to Kudzai Gumunyu, Divisional Head, Agric Business “This initiative plays an important role in helping young and driven Nigerian entrepreneurs grow their Agric-focused business. This mission would eventually build investible, sustainable and scalable AgriTech businesses that can contribute to the nation’s employment rate as well as the growth of the nation’s GDP”.

Application for the program is currently open. Entrepreneurs in the Agritech space should apply by visiting https://on.fcmb.com/AEP. The deadline for application is July 24, 2020.

The program will also feature a virtual conference with the theme “Redefining and repositioning Agricultural value chains during and post the COVID-19 era”, which will bring together some global experts to discuss and share some insights on the Agricultural value chains.

For more information about Hub One, as well as other FCMB initiatives in support of the tech ecosystem, visit https://www.fcmb.com/hub-one/

Digital transformation could be a game-changer for the African continent, and FinTech is currently one of the main drivers of this technology revolution. The tremendous opportunity for digitally-driven financial services companies lies in the high proportion of unbanked citizens, the immense size and favorable demographics of the African population and the relatively limited state of technology.

Mobile payment solutions allow hundreds of millions of unbanked consumers to benefit from transacting online within their local context. Neobanking systems are designed to give financial companies access to automation, digitalization, and robust security, giving them ample opportunities to grow and innovate.

Addressing the industry demands, Velmie saw the opportunity to establish itself as a strategic technology partner to companies that want to take advantage of the disruption opportunities presented by open banking in Africa.  We saw it as a market offering great potential, given the significant proportion of the population who don’t have access to affordable and secure payment services.

“There is a unique opportunity for Africa to become a world leader in FinTech, getting the most out of emerging technologies while greatly contributing to financial inclusion and innovation,” – Paul Shumsky, Head of Product.

We developed a white-label mobile banking solution that supports secure and straightforward ways of initiating payments. It also makes it possible for businesses of all kinds to create their financial ecosystems, establishing trust and closer relationships with their customers.

The main features of the Velmie mobile wallet platform, built on micro-services architecture, include:

• Secure two-factor authorization
• Interactive identity verification
• Advanced tiered KYC offers a built-in identity verification process supports multiple countries and clients
• Airtime purchases in unique digital currency specific to Africa
• Bill payments
• Peer-to-peer transfers with QR codes, address book and payment link transactions
• International remittances with multi-wallet and multi-currency features, augmented with instant currency conversion
• Branded payment cards
• Real-time money transfers and currency conversion
• Multiple currency support
• Real-time QR code payments
• Fast and convenient cash agent onboarding
• Online onboarding of merchants to support both online and in-store transactions

The platform integrates with a variety of payment platforms, including:

• Flutterwave
• Currencycloud
• Mpesa
• African Payment Gateway

and more.

Velmie has been one of the first fintech innovators to introduce enterprise blockchain technology in the financial services industry. It has also successfully developed payment solutions for its clients. Recent projects include a nationwide payment system in North Africa, and clearance and custody solutions for banks.

These projects have given the company extensive experience in working with African digital financial service providers. As such, it has gained valuable regional-specific knowledge of the services most in-demand and the integration capabilities required for white-label mobile wallet platforms that cater to the African market.

Velmie builds digital banking products, peer-to-peer lending and microfinance solutions. In addition to these leading-edge software solutions, we give our clients access to a dedicated team of experts who can adapt and customize solutions, as well as integrate additional capabilities where needed.

The service level agreement (SLA) support we supply is comprehensive, with quick response and resolution turnaround times. Thus clients do not need to hire local support or engineering teams.

Velmie can deal with all conceivable kinds of customizations and custom development projects, whether it is a simple branding project or building in new platform features, we are ready to deploy dedicated teams to handle the tasks for our clients.

We have the necessary experience and expertise to enable your business to take full advantage of the immense potential offered in Africa. You can start with a white-label mobile wallet solution and build your digital bank from there.

The advantage of using white-label solutions to develop your FinTech offering is that you get immediate access to a cloud-based digital banking system, with all the functions you need to build an advanced and scalable solution. The technology platform we offer is highly scalable, secure, provides unlimited scope for customization, and offers end-to-end delivery.

On the 15th of June 2020, FSDH Asset Management, experienced fund managers that provide stellar investment solutions tailored to suit the financial position and goals of their clients, launched a new product; The FSDH Dollar Fund.

The Fund is an open-ended mutual fund that will invest in US Dollar denominated Fixed Income Securities issued by Nigerian Sovereign and Corporate Entities, and is authorized by the Securities and Exchange Commission in accordance with the provisions of Section 160 of the ISA.

The objective of the Fund is to provide customers with the opportunity to invest in dollar-denominated instruments, in order to achieve consistent cash flow and capital appreciation over the long term. Investors are able to enjoy significantly higher returns than what is obtainable from the average domiciliary account in local banks.

The minimum amount required to invest in the Fund is $1,000. To get started, you may download the FSDH Dollar Fund prospectus by clicking here. Also, download the application form right here. Interested investors can send completed application forms to [email protected]hgroup.com.