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Money 20/20 Highlights Fintech’s Role In Africa Access

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Money 20/20 Highlights Fintech's Role In Africa Access

At the start of Covid, large Fortune 500 companies began to leave the African financial markets, citing too much illiquidity and uncertainty. One Ireland-based startup, featured on this year’s Money 20/20 ‘Startup Spotlight’ session, built a solution.

Esca positions itself as a platform that enables stability and revenue protection within volatile and emerging markets. They are interested in the African markets and the difficulties institutions and banks have faced with growth and investment in an area prone to frequent market volatility.

CEO and founder, Shalom Osiadi, said: “A lot of these business were unable to actually acquire the hard currencies required to book the profits they had made in the country. For example, GlaxoSmithKline has existed in Nigeria since 1955, they generate all their revenue in the local currency: the naira. They book this revenue by a forward contract with the Central Bank of Nigeria. The Central Bank of Nigeria does not have enough foreign currencies to actually settle this debt that they have with these multinationals. And so businesses like GSK, they go to the parallel market to look for liquidity and then the parallel market is 3-500 naira above what the central bank rate base is, so they’re already losing a significant amount of profit margin just by trading on the spot.”

The concept of Esca is essentially to take this on-the-spot fragility and replace it with a predictable, stable platform that protects revenue and, by extension, reopens growth within the continent.

Osiadi explained this: “We have understood that financial engineering really is the key to these markets, right? Once we understand how the macroeconomic environment works, how the numbers work, we can easily translate that into code. So what we’re trying to do now is take our algorithms from Excel spreadsheets onto our platform.”

With a long-term vision to increase foreign direct investment in the continent, they recognise that it must be done in a safe, transparent, and predictable way. Restabilising investment into the area provides a number of challenges, fundamentally education and platform experience.

Speaking about the platform’s future, Olumide Olugbemiro, co-founder and CTO, said the user experience has to be consistently seamless: “To be honest, the more complicated it is, the more they don’t understand it, the more we have to jump on calls to explain. So, I’d say making the experience as seamless as possible, as easy and explanatory as possible.”

On education, Osiadi explained how “one of the biggest challenges we had and we still have at Esca is educating African finance managers, CEOs, and CFOs on why currency hedging is important for their business.[…] So you have to change the mindset slightly to let them understand that long-term gain is better than short-term accumulation.”

Part of their approach to encouraging investment has also included making cryptocurrency accessible to non-crypto firms. This educational point has been key to this; by simplifying the complex elements and focussing on using their own experience to allow users to send, for example, fiat currency to an account and receieve cryptocurrency in a wallet tomorrow.

Osiadi said “by using that experience, we’ve grown our business by over 300% in the last six months. We’re forecasted about $6 million in revenue this year. Based off of that knowledge that we’ve gained from an existing product we’ve built, we’re now translating it into complex products like derivatives.”

Finextra.com

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BREAKING: Presidency Finally Speaks After APC Governor Builds Beer Factory in Two Years

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Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, has praised Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia over the completion of the Food Basket Brewery, a facility his administration built from the ground up within two years.

Onanuga made the remarks while sharing a video of a visit by the presidential media team to the brewery in Benue State, sharing footage of the facility with the public. The brewery produces the Zeva beer brand and malt, and has so far employed over 2,000 people since it began operations.

Governor Alia initiated and completed the brewery project within his first two years in office. The facility represents one of the more visible industrial investments tied to his administration, introducing a locally branded product while creating thousands of direct jobs in a state historically known for agriculture rather than manufacturing.

The presidential media team’s visit drew attention to the scale of the project, with Onanuga pointing to it as evidence of tangible progress under the APC governor’s watch.

The timing of the visit carries political significance. Governor Alia is expected to seek re-election in the 2027 general elections, and the spotlight on the brewery comes as the ruling party looks to showcase achievements by its governors ahead of the polls.

The presidency’s statement has started generating mixed reactions from Nigerians. Below are some of their comments:

Obi Okafor wrote: “A reverend father built a local brewery; APC and Tinubu are praising him. Peter Obi built an international brewery; Reno, Bwala, Bayo and the rest of the APC gangs have been demonising him.”

Iwunna commented: “The same APC and its presidency that mock Peter Obi for brewery is celebrating brewery in Benue?”

Samuel tweeted: “I hope they will not also come after him by the time he dumps this party called APC, just like they always come after Peter Obi, saying instead of him building industry that will benefit Nigerians,

Real Samson, Esq. said: “That is what Tinubu should be doing. He should try to revive Ajaokuta Steel Company and Textile companies in Kaduna and Kano.”

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Tinubu Approves New Recruitment Into Federal Civil Service

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Nigeria, Benin Sign Integration Pact

President Bola Tinubu has approved the recruitment process for 3,252 verified Parent-Teacher Association teachers into the Federal Civil Service, a move aimed at addressing the persistent shortage of teachers in Federal Unity Colleges and improving the quality of education.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this in a statement issued on Thursday by his Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Ikharo Attah.

According to the minister, priority will be given to verified PTA teachers, many of whom have served in Federal Unity Colleges and Federal Technical Colleges for almost 25 years, allowing them to become part of the mainstream public service.

Alausa described the approval as a major intervention by the Tinubu administration and one of the most significant efforts to strengthen the teaching workforce, while recognising the contributions of thousands of PTA teachers who have sustained learning in federal schools over the years.

“This is a president who cares deeply for Nigeria and for the future of our country.

“The president has approved the recruitment of teachers. Priority will be given to absorbing verified PTA teachers, many of whom have served in our Federal Unity Colleges and Federal Technical Colleges for almost 25 years. This approval provides them with the opportunity to become part of the mainstream public service,” the minister said.

He said the recruitment followed a comprehensive verification exercise conducted by an inter-ministerial committee, which screened eligible PTA teachers across Federal Unity Colleges.

The exercise, he said, verified “3,252 teachers across the cadres of Education Officers, Assistant Education Officers and Technical Instructors, paving the way for their regularisation upon completion of all statutory requirements.”

Describing the development as a milestone under the Renewed Hope Agenda, Alausa said the recruitment would improve the teacher-student ratio in Federal Unity Colleges while rewarding teachers who had remained committed despite years of uncertainty.

According to him, integrating experienced PTA teachers into the federal public service would preserve institutional knowledge, strengthen classroom instruction and improve learning outcomes across the colleges.

“The recruitment forms part of the Federal Government’s broader efforts to improve teacher quality and reposition the colleges as centres of academic excellence,” he said.

The minister added that the education ministry would continue to work with relevant government agencies to conclude the remaining statutory processes required for the issuance of the final recruitment approval in line with public service regulations.

He thanked Tinubu for approving the exercise, saying the decision demonstrated the administration’s resolve to place education at the centre of national development.

“Investing in teachers is fundamental to building a stronger education system, as no education system can rise above the quality of its teachers,” he said.

Alausa assured all verified PTA teachers that the regularisation process would be concluded with transparency, fairness and due diligence.

He also reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to implementing policies that strengthen the teaching profession, improve learning outcomes and ensure that learners in Federal Unity Colleges receive quality education from competent and dedicated teachers.

For years, Federal Unity Colleges have relied on PTA teachers engaged and paid by PTAs to bridge chronic staffing gaps caused by inadequate recruitment into the federal teaching service. Many of the teachers have worked in the colleges for between 10 and 25 years without permanent appointments, despite performing the same classroom responsibilities as regular government-employed teachers.

Successive administrations received appeals from the affected teachers and education stakeholders to regularise their appointments, arguing that the prolonged reliance on PTA-funded staff placed a financial burden on parents and created job insecurity for thousands of qualified teachers.

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BREAKING: Tinubu Takes Fresh Action After EFCC Freezes Osun Government Accounts

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President Bola Tinubu has directed the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediately approach the court to vacate an order freezing the bank accounts of the Osun State Government, saying the timing of the action could undermine public confidence in the forthcoming governorship election.

The President made this known in a statement issued on Thursday after it emerged that the EFCC had secured a court order on August 5, 2026, freezing the state’s accounts.

Tinubu said although he respects the independence of anti-corruption agencies and had no prior knowledge of the EFCC’s action, he was concerned that the move came just days before the Osun governorship election.

According to him, actions taken by federal institutions are often attributed to the Presidency, regardless of whether he was involved in the decision-making process.

“I feel deeply embarrassed, not by the EFCC’s exercise of its mandate backed by a court order, but by the timing of the agency’s action,” the President stated.

Tinubu reiterated that since assuming office, he has consistently allowed the EFCC and other law enforcement agencies to carry out their constitutional responsibilities independently, without political interference or executive directives.

He stressed that strong democratic institutions must operate within the law and without fear or favour, adding that he has deliberately avoided interfering in the operational activities of anti-corruption agencies.

The President, however, noted that while he had yet to receive the full details surrounding the EFCC’s decision to obtain the court order, the timing of the action was “inauspicious” given the proximity of the Osun governorship election.

He warned that no action should create the impression that any federal agency was being used to influence or interfere with the electoral process.

“In the overriding public interest of preserving public confidence and the integrity, credibility, and fairness of our democratic process, I have directed the EFCC to immediately proceed to the court to vacate the order and discontinue whatever action it has instituted against the Osun State Government in this regard,” Tinubu said.

The directive is expected to ease concerns over the freezing of the state’s accounts as political parties and stakeholders prepare for the governorship election in Osun State.

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