20 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Friday <strong>30</strong> <strong>Mar</strong>ch <strong>2018</strong> MoneyInsight Personal Finance: Investing Retirement Taxes Credit Cards Home Buying Small Business Shopping Financing Uber applies for e-payments licence FRANK ELEANYA After revolutionising system transportation around the world, Uber Technologies is looking to vie for a share of the global e-payments market. The company formally applied to the Dutch central bank for a European payments processing licence that will enable it streamline its payment processes across businesses such as its core ride-hailing app and its fast-growing UberEats food delivery venture. UberEats is a food-ordering app, designed to leverage the company’s vast network of drivers scattered across different locations to make meal ordering and delivery faster and more efficient. Prior to becoming a standalone app, the service was available inside the regular ride- Women-run businesses in Nigeria to unlock N19.7bn by 2022 To make money from agriculture devolve to states, private sector players … Stakeholders at FRANCO/NIGERIAN Chamber of Commerce and Industry advise ISAAC ANYAOGU Nigeria has 84 million hectares of arable land and less than a third of that is cultivated. Nigeria possesses nearly 279 billion cubic meters of surface water, yet potential sources of irrigation from two of the major rivers in Africa – the Niger and Benue Rivers – remain unexploited. This is why experts are urging for a new engagement with the agriculture sector. Ade Adefeko, vice-president, corporate & government relations, OLAM Nigeria in a keynote address at the Franco/ Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) breakfast meeting held in Lagos, on Monday, said a new engagement is necessary. “The bane of Nigerian Agriculture in my view is a lack of a structured value chain that speaks to our production, processing and storage capabilities. As I have often alluded at different fora, for Nigeria to be competitive we must play to our comparative advantage. For Agricultural development to thrive and be impactful, we must devolve to the Sub-nationals herein referred to as States and Private sector players and leave the Big Elephant the Federal Government to concentrate on enabling environment as sharing app for about a year and half. In Africa, UberEats standalone app was first launched in South Africa before it came to Nigeria in 2016. UberEats may not be very popular in Nigeria, but the ride-hailing side of Uber’s business is well known to many people living in cities like Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. According to an Uber spokesperson, the ridehailing company is “constantly expanding the range of products we offer and improving the experience for those who use our apps.” Sky News reports that in a bid to be classified as an electronic money institution, Uber has created a new subsidiary called Uber Payments BV. Following the setting up of the unit, the company has gone to the market to recruit a non-executive director to serve on the board of the new unit. The supervisory board will consist of two members and will operate in accordance to Dutch company law. Uber’s e-payment move is seen as efforts to clone the success of its South East Asian rival, Grab. Grab has its own peer-to-peer payments app and recently expanded its financial services offerings with the launch of a dedicated unit and the introduction of microloans and insurance products. Interestingly, Uber agreed to sell its business in South East Asia to Grab on Monday, 26 <strong>Mar</strong>ch, <strong>2018</strong>. The deal will see Grab merging Uber’s ride-hailing and food delivery businesses with its own operations. Meanwhile, Uber will acquire a 27.5 percent stake in Grab and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowashahi will join the firm’s board. FRANK ELEANYA Businesses that are set up by women could create 8.9 million jobs and unlock N19.7 billion for the Nigerian economy over the next five years (by 2022), according to a new research released by Facebook. The report also revealed that 12 percent of women within the ages of 25 and 34 will employ 1 to 10 employees in the next five years. Facebook announced the report findings carried out on its behalf by a firm called Development Economics, at the launch of #SheMeansBusiness in Lagos, Nigeria on Tuesday, 27, <strong>Mar</strong>ch <strong>2018</strong>. The launch was part of the company’s efforts to celebrate the role of women in driving the economy in Nigeria, coinciding with the International Women’s Day commemoration. Abi Williams, SMB Sales Manager, Facebook said the goal of the initiative #SheMeansBusiness is to help train many more women who are L-R Moses Umoru, director general FNCCI, Anais Fabre, head subsaharan Africa, Adepta France, Charles Akhibe, vice chairman, Benin Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Ade Adefeko, vice-president, corporate & government relations, OLAM Nigeria, Adekunle So nola, executive director of Union Bank at the FNCCI breakfast meeting in Lagos on Monday. selves from this shackle and more often than not policy flip flops are prevalent and states do not punt their competitive and comparative strengths. Adefeko explained that critical infrastructure like access roads, power/energy are often lacking and states expect investors to put all this in place. “Farming should be all year round and as such irrigation is critical and the states should take advantage of the dams and River Basin Authorities and this where synergy with Ministries of Water Resources and Agriculture is important. Panel members which included: Adekunle Sonola, executive director of Union Bank,said security, finance and market access are critical issues. per policy framework,” said Adefeko. He further said, “In driving this, State Governments must identify critical success factors that will drive the process and enable same. A few that come to mind are Policy and Regulatory framework, Land Access, Infrastructure, Security, Finance, Inputs and <strong>Mar</strong>ket Access. “On a consistent basis, a framework that guides and supports the Agriculture value chain is most times lacking by the sub-nationals as the Federal government over centralizes policy and the states cannot seem to extricate themalready in business and those hoping to start one someday. “Women are constantly pushing boundaries, whether they are working for themselves or for others,” Williams said. “When you put a group of women in a room, they start to connect. Many women are just natural entrepreneurs.” Facebook also announced its partnership with She Leads Africa to ensure the success of #SheMeansBusiness. The launch of the initiative in Nigeria is the first in sub-Saharan Africa and it brings together thousands of female entrepreneurs in a series of day workshops and training sessions across six cities across the country. The cities include Lagos, Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Abuja and Aba. Applications opened on 27 <strong>Mar</strong>ch, <strong>2018</strong> at sheleadsafrica.org/shemeansbusiness. Training sessions will be followed by post-training clinics aimed at re-engaging, advising and mentoring participants. Abi Williams noted that the involvement of women in the Nigeria economy has seen their businesses grow “There have been many interventions, like operation feed the nation, green revolution,etc, the challenge is the programmes have not achieved what they were designed to achieve. We need to stop importation of food and we need to produce food in a sustainable manner, there’s a lot of steps we need to take and financing is one of them,” said Sunola. Some states have served as hotbeds of communal clashes, herdsmen attacks and other sundry security challenges that discourage investment, this has to be tackled. Adefeko called for micro credits and low and single digit interest rates from intervention funds offered by specialist banks should be encouraged. He also called for market access for crops grown significantly. For instance, the number of businesses owned by women on Facebook has grown by 319 percent. “We know that when women do better, economies do better,” Ebele Okobi, Facebook Public Policy director, Africa said. “The study conducted by Development Economics further highlights this, with research suggesting that an estimated 7 million new businesses could be set up by women in Nigeria by 2021 – placing a greater importance on the role of women’s entrepreneurial ambitions for overall economic and social development in the country.” Commenting on the partnership and trainings Afua Osei, Co-Founder of She Leads Africa added “We’re excited to continue our partnership with Facebook to expand access to the digital skills necessary to move African businesses forward. We know that with the right tools and support, African women can compete on a global level and we look forward to taking these critical digital tools to entrepreneurs all across Nigeria.” urging state governments to guarantee produce, take excess production and store in silos as part of their Strategic reserve. “The federal government should use the states to achieve this. Farmers want to know they have a ready offtake for their crops either by the state or the investor in the value chain. And this is where the private sector comes in,” said Adefeko. Laurent Polonceaux, Consul General of the French Consulate in Nigeria in his remarks commended Nigeria for its economic diversification programme and called for sustained action. Moses Umoru, director general of the FNCCI said Nigeria can no longer delay in improving market access and growing the agricultural value chain. T. Mani chief information officer, Olam International presenting an award to Badejo Akinbamiwo, production manager, Olam Sesame for Excellence in Execution. Olam Nigeria recently held its annual Country Meet where achievements and accomplishments of outstanding employees in the previous year are recognised.
Friday <strong>30</strong> <strong>Mar</strong>ch <strong>2018</strong> C002D5556 BUSINESS DAY 21