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Oradian’s Co-Founder explains their cloud solution enables MFIs, MFBs deliver services with ease

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Onyeka Adibeli is the Co-founder of Oradian, a financial inclusion company enabling financial institutions to deliver financial services with ease.

Oradian offers a flagship toolset for digital transformation called Instafin. Instafin was developed to address the challenges faced by microfinance institutions (MFIs), microfinance banks (MFBs) and cooperative societies operating in the most remote and hard-to-reach areas of the world, especially across Africa.

In this press interview at the 2018 Annual Microfinance Conference hosted by the National Association of Microfinance Banks (NAMB), Onyeka explained how the solution provided safety nets for financial institutions in the Northern parts of Nigeria, especially during the most pronounced days of insurgencies.

Even in the high point of insurgency, we were able to deliver financial technology to Development Exchange Centre (DEC) operating out of Bauchi State in the northern part of Nigeria”, Adibeli explained.

Within a few years of launching, Oradian has attracted so much attention, what are the driving forces behind you and your partners?

Our driving force is our mission; to boost financial inclusion by enabling institutions to grow and serve more clients. So, we focus on providing microfinance institutions with a core banking system that makes it possible for them to keep up in an industry that is constantly evolving with digital financial services.

We are developing a system to address the current challenges and the main challenge we have identified has to do with flexibility and affordability. We are assiduously developing a system that can operate with the third-party services in a cost-efficient manner. The system is offered through subscription model, to address issues related to enormous upfront investment.

One of the things that would help microfinance institutions make headway is ubiquitous software; can you describe how Oradian’s Core Banking System operates?

Our cloud-based Core Banking System, Instafin, is a tool that assists financial institutions in providing services such as managing loans and savings, integrated accounting, as well as detailed reporting and business intelligence modules that run fully seated on the system. With all this, financial institutions can operate independently of Oradian, because they are fully enabled to pull out all the necessary reports required.

How do you deploy for banks; is it an off-the-shelf solution or do you work with the banks to understand their pain points before deploying?

For every institution that signs up to the platform, we work with them to set up the system. It’s a door-in relationship with parameters; not a decision aiming at compromises. The system is built with all necessary requirements to benefit financial institutions, and so, what we need is to get the parameters right.

Let’s talk about financial inclusion. All the available statistics show that the country and region needs to do better to onboard more financially excluded people. What is your view on this?

Our focus is to support financial institutions by enabling them to provide services in the most hard-to-reach environments. We assist them in reaching locations where other technology providers are found necessary. Complaints from microfinance institutions show that other providers are not willing to offer their services in these remote areas, which would solve a range of difficulties. So, in the long run, the beneficiaries are financially included because the service points get closer to them through microfinance banks and institutions being able to provide their services in these locations.

Based on all the matters that were discussed at the 2018 Annual Microfinance Conference, what is your take?
I wish to put an emphasis on the point raised by the guest speaker Prof. Kingsley Moghalu regarding targeting; MFBs are not exactly targeting the right clients. Often they’re focused on cities rather than the rural areas where there’s a high number of financially excluded people. These locations are seen as the most difficult environments to operate in, and this is where Oradian has found its strength – operating in the most remote and hard-to-reach environments.

Oradian’s promise:

My final word is that Oradian’s flagship product, our cloud-based Core Banking System, Instafin, is developed to operate in the most hard-to-reach and remote environments – where other technologies are not willing to buy in. Oradian is the partner reaching out to the financially excluded!

(*NB: This interview was originally published by TechEconomy.ng)

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Finance

All You Need To Know About Dr. Adaora Umeoji, The New GMD/CEO of Zenith Bank Plc

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On June 1, 2024, Adaora Umeoji will become the new Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank Plc, replacing Ebenezer Onyeagwu, whose five-year term ends on May 31, 2024. Zenith Bank announced this on its website on March March 19th 2024.

The appointment is a historic moment as Adaora Umeoji becomes the first female GMD/CEO since the bank’s inception in May 1990.

According to the bank’s statement, “Her appointment is consistent with the bank’s executive transition tradition, succession plan, and strategy of grooming leaders from within.”

Adaora Umeoji has almost thirty years of experience in banking. She previously served as the deputy managing director of the bank, a role she assumed in October 2016. She has been with the bank for nearly twenty-six years.

Early Life and Education

•Dr. Adaora’s journey began in Jos Nigeria

• She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Jos, a bachelor’s degree in accounting, and a first-class honours degree in law from Baze University, Abuja.

•She holds a Master of Laws from the University of Salford, United Kingdom, a Master in Business Administration from the University of Calabar, and also has a doctorate in business administration from Apollos University, USA.

• She holds a Certificate in Economics for Business from the prestigious MIT Sloan School of Management, USA, and has attended various management programmes in renowned Universities around the world including the strategic thinking and Management programme at Wharton Business School, USA.

•Umeoji is an alumnus of Harvard Business School, where she attended the Advanced Management Programme, and an alumnus of Columbia Business School with a Certificate in the Global Banking Program.

Dr. Adaora’s Professional Ascension

•Umeoji has been the Deputy Managing Director of the bank since October 28, 2016 and has close to 30 years of banking experience of which 26 years has been with Zenith Bank.
Adaora Umeoji, founded the Catholic Bankers Association of Nigeria (CBAN), a platform she uses to promote ethical banking and service to humanity.

Chart Success In Leadership

• Umeoji being the first female to be appointed as GMD of the bank effective June 1, 2024
• Dame Adaora Umeoji stands as a shining example of empowerment and leadership and as a role model for aspiring individuals worldwide.

•Despite her accomplishments, Adaora Umeoji emphasizing the importance of humility and focus on one’s mission.

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Finance

Binance To Discontinue All Nigerian Naira Related Services

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Cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has announced plans to discontinue all services related to the Nigerian naira.

Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, was accused of exploiting the Nigerian currency, Naira, leading to its free fall in value.

The company is, in addition, facing allegations of terrorism financing, money laundering and tax invasion, among others.Nigeria is one of the largest peer-to-peer crypto markets in the world.

Between July 2022 and June 2023, crypto transactions in the country reached $56.7bn, according to Chainalysis.But the company, in a statement on Tuesday, advised users to withdraw NGN, trade their NGN assets or convert NGN into crypto.

The statement read, “Users are encouraged to withdraw NGN, trade their NGN assets or convert NGN into crypto prior to the discontinuation of these NGN services.

“From 2024-03-08 08:00 (UTC), any remaining NGN balances in users’ Binance accounts will be automatically converted to USDT based on the conversion rate below.

“Binance will not support deposits of NGN after 2024-03-05 14:00 (UTC). Withdrawals of NGN will not be supported after 2024-03-08 06:00 (UTC).

“After 2024-03-08 08:00 (UTC), Binance will convert any remaining NGN balances in users’ Spot and Funding wallets into USDT on behalf of users at a ratio of 1 USDT = 1,515.13 NGN.

“Please note that the conversion rate is calculated based on the average closing price of the USDT/NGN trading pair on Binance Spot in the last seven days.

“The conversion may take approximately up to 24 hours or longer. USDT tokens will be credited to users’ Spot wallets thereafter, and users can confirm receipt of the tokens via the Convert History page.

“If users hold less than 0.00000001 USDT worth of NGN in their Spot and Funding wallets, they will each receive 0.00000001 USDT in their Spot wallets after the conversion.”

Recently, the government through the Nigerian Communications Commission blocked the online platforms of Binance and other crypto firms to avert what it considers continuous manipulation of the forex market and illicit movement of funds.

Binance customers are asking if Binance is leaving Nigeria completely.

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Finance

“I And My Team Are Not Responsible For The Woes That We Have Today ” – Current CBN Governor

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Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso has said that he’s not responsible for the economic challenges facing the country.

Cardoso said this at the first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting under his leadership on Tuesday, February 27. He also said that the CBN is taking necessary steps to get the country’s fiscal and monetary health back to normal.

He said;

”I laugh at that question but it’s not a laughing matter and I think it is very important for Nigerians to understand that the Central Bank Governor; I and my team, are not responsible for the woes that we have today; we are part of the solution.

“We are determined to ensure that we work hard to get out of the mess that Nigeria is in. We assumed responsibility in a time of crisis of confidence; there was a crisis of confidence and you may all want to go to bed and wish that crisis of confidence was not there but it was, and we can’t turn back the clock.

“All we can do is do the difficult things to make a bad situation better and I do believe that the efforts that we are making are beginning to bring back confidence because to be frank, without confidence in your business, you are not going to get far.”

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