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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

Tinubu Launches Personal Income Tax Calculator to Improve Compliance, Fairness

By ORJI ISRAEL

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Bola Ahmed Tinubu
President Bola Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu has launched a Personal Income Tax Calculator to help Nigerians work out their tax obligations under the new tax law.

The tool is expected to make compliance easier and improve transparency in the system.

In a post on his X page, the president said the calculator shows how the recent reforms protect low-income earners while ensuring fairness.

“A fair tax system must never punish poverty or weigh down the most vulnerable. With the new tax laws I recently signed, taking effect from January 2026, we have lifted this burden and created a path of equity, fairness, and true redistribution in our economy,” Tinubu said.

Some months ago, he signed four major tax bills into law to bring Nigeria’s scattered tax system under one framework. These include the Nigeria Tax Administration Law, which sets out a uniform process for tax administration across federal, state, and local governments; the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, which replaces the current Federal Inland Revenue Service Act with a stronger, more independent revenue agency; and the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) and Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill, which creates a formal structure for cooperation between revenue bodies at all levels.

The introduction of the tax calculator, together with these reforms, is expected to reduce confusion for both individuals and businesses, while also making it easier for them to meet their obligations and contribute to national growth.

Tinubu added that the reforms are part of building renewed hope for the economy and urged Nigerians to trust in the country’s future for themselves and their families.

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Finance

FIRS e-Invoicing Hits 20% Adoption in Two Weeks

Reporter: SANDRA ANI

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VAT controversy | FIRS e-Invoicing

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) says that no fewer than 1,000 companies, representing 20% of total eligible firms, have begun integrating its newly launched electronic invoicing  (e-invoicing) system less than two weeks after it went live.

The FIRS e-invoicing platform, which went live on August 1, 2025, after a successful pilot phase that began in November 2024, was designed to modernise Nigeria’s tax administration, curb evasion, and enhance transparency in revenue generation. It also provides the FIRS with real-time visibility into commercial transactions, ensuring authenticity and completeness of invoices.

According to a statement by Dare Adekanmbi, special adviser on Media to FIRS Chairman Zacch Adedeji, at least 1,000 companies, representing 20% of more than 5,000 eligible firms, have already adopted the system and begun integrating with the FIRS platform.

Adekanmbi noted that the initiative, also known as the Merchant-Buyer Model, will be rolled out in phases. “Large taxpayers, which are companies with annual turnover of N5 billion and more, are expected to be the first to be onboarded on the platform,” he said.

FIRS revealed that MTN Nigeria was the first taxpayer to transmit live electronic invoices to the platform, while Huawei Nigeria and IHS Nigeria have concluded test transmissions and are expected to go live soon.

The agency added that the initial compliance deadline of August 1, 2025, has been extended by three months to accommodate companies currently facing onboarding challenges. The new deadline is now November 1, 2025.

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Finance

NGX Boss, Umaru Kwairanga, to Chair Business Journal Fintech Roundtable 2025

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NGX Boss, Umaru Kwairanga
NGX Boss, Umaru Kwairanga

Dr. Umaru Kwairanga, Group Chairman, Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) will Chair the 2nd Business Journal Fintech & Financial Inclusion Roundtable 2025 scheduled for Friday, August 29, 2025 at Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos. Time is 10-am prompt.

The theme of the Roundtable is: Fintech & Financial Inclusion: The Opportunities & Challenges for Nigeria.

In a statement, Prince Cookey, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Business Journal Media Group said the choice of Umaru Kwairanga to chair the event is a reflection of his immense and chequered journey in the Nigerian economic system over the years.

“Dr. Umaru Kwairanga is a noted player in the Nigerian economy and financial services sector. Over the years, he has carved a positive niche in driving the narrative in national policy formulation, implementation and review. He remains a worthy point of reference and role model to current and future players in the Nigerian economy.”

Alhaji (Dr.) Umaru Kwairanga, Sarkin Fulani Gombe and Group Chairman, Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), is a notable player in the Nigerian corporate world, a thorough-bred professional and a prominent community leader in Gombe State and the North East region.

He has served at the highest levels of the banking, pension, investment, manufacturing and commercial sectors of Nigeria’s economy. He is the current Chairman of the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, Nigeria’ oldest stock exchange and also Chairman of Tangerine General Insurance Limited.

The NGX Chairman is also a Director on the Boards of First Bank Senegal Limited, Tangerine Apt Pensions Limited and the Group Managing Director of Finmal Finance Services Limited.  

He is a past Chairman of Ashaka Cement plc and previously served on the Boards of Jaiz Bank Plc, Central Securities Clearing System Plc, Lafarge Africa Plc and First Bank Mortgages Limited to mention a few.

Professionally, Alhaji Kwairanga is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, Chartered Institute of Directors of Nigeria, the Certified Pension Institute of Nigeria and the Abuja Commodities and Securities Exchange.

He is also a Council Member of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers; the Chartered Institute of Directors and he is the current President of the Certified Pensions Institute of Nigeria.

Kwairanga is a holder of the prominent traditional title of Sarkin Fulani Gombe and has led several initiatives for peace and development in Gombe State and the North East region in general.

He has also been involved in policy and strategy formulation in the public sector as a Member of the Vision 2020 Committee, the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan and several committees of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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