Podcasts about Ecobank

Au Mali, ce jeudi est un 1er-Mai pas comme les autres, car depuis mardi, on sait que le régime militaire du général Assimi Goïta envisage publiquement de se maintenir au pouvoir sans élections pendant au moins 5 ans et qu'il projette de dissoudre tous les partis politiques. Comment vont réagir ces partis ? Et en ce 1er-Mai, vont-ils pouvoir compter sur la solidarité des grands syndicats du pays ? Le sociologue malien Mohamed Amara a publié Marchands d'angoisse, le Mali tel qu'il est et tel qu'il pourrait être, aux éditions Grandvaux. Il répond aux questions de Christophe Boisbouvier. RFI : Mohamed Amara, bonjour,Mohamed Amara : bonjour.La concertation nationale qui propose de dissoudre tous les partis politiques et qui recommande que le général Assimi Goïta soit nommé président pour cinq ans, est-ce que c'est un tournant ?Bien sûr que c'est un tournant. C'est une nouvelle épreuve pour le Mali de voir, après 30 ans de démocratie, qu'une autorité de transition décide de dissoudre les partis politiques d'une part, et d'autre part de proposer de nommer le président de transition en tant que président de la République. C'est une première dans l'histoire du Mali contemporain.Et vous pensez que beaucoup de Maliens vont faire le parallèle entre aujourd'hui et l'époque du régime militaire du général Moussa Traoré, de 1968 à 1991 ?Je pense que le parallèle est quasiment fait, du fait de tous les mouvements de résistance qui commencent à se mettre en branle, qui dénoncent ces recommandations et du fait de l'ensemble des partis politiques. J'espère qu'ils vont se mobiliser parce que, s'ils ne se mobilisent pas d'une façon ou d'une autre, ils participent à leur propre enterrement, ce qui n'est bon ni pour la démocratie malienne ni pour l'héritage de ce qui a été légué par les Modibo Keïta, par les Alpha Oumar Konaré et j'en passe. Donc, j'espère qu'ils vont se mobiliser pour dénoncer cette confiscation du pouvoir.Et c'est tout l'enjeu des mobilisations à venir, s'il y en a, ou des stratégies de rejet de cette dissolution des partis politiques, qui sont inscrits dans la Constitution. Même dans la Constitution qui a été votée en 2023, où on a dit que le multipartisme, comme les mandats du président, sont des points qui ne sont pas modifiables, ne sont pas révisables.À lire aussiMali: vers une pérennisation de la Transition sans électionsAlors aujourd'hui, c'est le 1er mai, donc le jour des syndicats dans le monde entier. Au Mali, on sait qu'ils ont joué un grand rôle, notamment lors de la révolution de 1991 qui a mis fin au régime militaire de Moussa Traoré. Mais à présent, est-ce qu'ils ont encore une influence sur le cours politique des choses au Mali ?Évidemment, les syndicats sont un rempart important contre les dérives autoritaires du régime, qu'il s'agisse d'un régime militaire ou démocratique. Et vous avez parfaitement raison que dans les années 1990, l'Union nationale des travailleurs du Mali (UNTM) a été un des acteurs principaux de la lutte contre les dérives du régime dictatorial de Moussa Traoré. Et ce rôle-là, cette place-là, il me semble que les syndicats l'ont toujours.La seule différence entre les années 1990 et aujourd'hui, c'est que le responsable principal de la centrale syndicale UNTM est aujourd'hui le président du Conseil économique et social, une des institutions importantes de la République du Mali. Et ça, c'est une faiblesse, une fragilité aujourd'hui pour le monde syndical au Mali.Donc la double casquette de Yacouba Katilé, qui est à la fois le secrétaire général du syndicat majoritaire et le président du Conseil économique, social et culturel, brouille son image et affaiblit peut-être le poids de l'UNTM face au pouvoir politique ?Cela brouille son image et impacte effectivement la capacité de mobilisation du monde syndical pour tout mouvement de résistance, malheureusement. Toujours est-il que je crois à la force du monde syndical. Parce que rappelez-vous, par exemple, que le Syndicat national des banques, assurances, microfinance (Synabef), etc. a réussi à obtenir la libération de deux de ses membres de la banque Ecobank. C'était à la mi-avril. Et si demain, il y a une convergence des luttes, ça ne peut venir que des liens entre le monde syndical et le monde politique, comme ce qu'on a connu dans les années 1990.En Pologne, il y a 45 ans, c'est le syndicat Solidarnosc de Lech Wałęsa qui a lancé le mouvement de protestation contre le régime du général Jaruzelski. Dans le Mali d'aujourd'hui, est-ce que l'UNTM de Yacouba Katilé pourrait jouer un rôle similaire ou non ?Tout dépendra de comment les rapports de force évolueront. Effectivement, il y a le syndicat que vous rappelez, celui de Lech Wałęsa en Pologne dans les années 1980. Mais rappelez-vous déjà que, en 1990, l'UNTM à la Bourse du travail était aux premières loges et mobilisait. Et je pense que cela est possible aujourd'hui, au Mali, s'il y a un vrai conflit socio-politique qui s'ouvre entre le pouvoir actuel et les mouvements syndicaux, politiques et associatifs.Mohamed Amara, merci.À lire aussiAu Mali, les partis politiques craignent pour leur survie

Sarkodie Sues Ecobank Ghana Over Use of Lookalike Image in Ad Campaign

Nous avons le privilège d'accueillir Ahmed Faman Diarra, un leader visionnaire dans le domaine des ressources humaines qui façonne l'avenir du capital humain en Afrique de l'Ouest. Actuellement Directeur des ressources humaines d'Ecobank Côte d'Ivoire, l'une des institutions bancaires majeures de la région, Ahmed apporte plus de 15 ans d'expertise en gestion des talents et transformation organisationnelle. Son parcours impressionnant l'a mené des télécommunications à la banque, en passant par la distribution et la logistique internationale, où il a notamment occupé le poste de DRH Groupe chez Movis International, gérant les opérations RH dans cinq pays africains. Certifié MBTI et titulaire d'un Executive Master en Management et Direction des RH du prestigieux Groupe IGS, Ahmed est reconnu pour sa capacité à allier vision stratégique et développement humain. Sa maîtrise du dialogue social et son expertise en gestion du changement ont permis de transformer des organisations comptant jusqu'à 2000 collaborateurs. Dans cet épisode, Ahmed partagera avec nous sa vision unique du leadership RH en Afrique, ses stratégies pour développer les talents locaux, et les défis passionnants de la transformation digitale dans le secteur bancaire. Une conversation à ne pas manquer pour tous ceux qui s'intéressent à l'avenir du management en Afrique.

Routes, lignes électriques, écoles ou centres de santé, l'Afrique a besoin d'investissements privés. En 2023, les investissements directs étrangers étaient stables sur le continent – tandis qu'ils dégringolaient dans d'autres régions du monde – atteignant environ 48 milliards de dollars selon la Conférence des Nations unies sur le commerce et le développement (Cnuced). Si les statistiques ne sont donc pas encore au rendez-vous des besoins, des signaux semblent pourtant au vert. Un regain d'intérêt des investisseurs vers le continent paraît se confirmer. L'agence de notation Standard & Poor's a récemment relevé la note de la Côte d'Ivoire à BB. Un signal pour Stanislas Zézé, à la tête de l'agence de notation africaine Bloomfield, que l'évaluation du risque sur le continent est en train d'évoluer. « La raison pour laquelle les gens avaient du mal à venir ou étaient un peu sceptiques, c'était à cause de comment ils évaluaient le risque, pas le risque réel, mais la perception des risques qu'ils avaient. Et cette perception évolue de façon significative », analyse ce spécialiste de la finance.Pour lui, d'autres facteurs interviennent. « Il y a un potentiel extraordinaire parce qu'il y a tout à faire ici. Donc, évidemment, le développement est de plus en plus rapide, les taux de croissance sont parmi les plus élevés au monde et le risque est mieux maîtrisé aujourd'hui parce que mieux compris. En termes même de remboursement, les Africains ne sont pas les moins crédibles. C'est tout ça qui crée une vraie dynamique d'investissements sur le continent », ajoute-t-il.À lire aussiS&P rehausse la note de la dette publique de la Côte d'Ivoire à «BB»Donner de bons signaux aux investisseursAutre événement, la levée de fonds d'Ecobank sur le London Stock Exchange. Ce n'était pas arrivé pour une banque africaine depuis 2021. Les marchés ont ainsi investi 400 millions de dollars. Proparco, filiale de l'Agence française de développement, s'était positionnée comme référent sur cette opération. « Comme ces marchés financiers étaient attentistes et un peu fermés, il a été convenu qu'il faudrait que des investisseurs anchor, c'est-à-dire des investisseurs de référence qui travaillent depuis très longtemps avec elle — donc qui connaissent bien la banque, qui apprécie son impact et sa solidité —, que ses investisseurs puissent envoyer un peu un signal aux marchés en avance pour dire : nous, on a confiance dans cette banque », explique Emmanuel Haye, responsable du département institutions financières. Ce qu'a donc fait Proparco et d'autres partenaires. « Très vite, on a pu annoncer qu'on allait investir 20 millions de dollars aux côtés d'autres investisseurs anchor, et donc ça, ça a permis certainement que les investisseurs trouvent cette opération intéressante et qu'ils y souscrivent  », ajoute encore Emmanuel Haye.Pour Stanislas Zézé, il ne fait aucun doute, investir en Afrique est rentable. « Si vous regardez les 400 millions de dollars qui ont été empruntés par Ecobank, c'est à 10%. Je ne sais pas où en Europe vous ferez de l'investissement avec un retour à 10%, insiste-t-il. Ça m'étonnerait. Donc évidemment, le continent devient de plus en plus attractif. »À lire aussiLes projections économiques concernant l'Afrique subsaharienne revues à la baisseInstallation prochaine de J.P. MorganDes investisseurs étrangers, dont l'une des têtes de pont, J.P. Morgan, vient d'annoncer vouloir s'installer prochainement en Côte d'Ivoire et au Kenya. « Ce qu'on voit aujourd'hui, c'est en effet avec la baisse des taux, le retour des États souverains sur les marchés internationaux, et c'est ça que vient cibler J.P. Morgan, qui va arranger la levée de ressources pour ces États souverains ou les très grandes entreprises », confirme Emmanuelle Haye.Parmi les opérations remarquées cette année et qui semblent confirmer le regain d'intérêt des investisseurs pour le continent, le retour de la Côte d'Ivoire et du Bénin sur les marchés internationaux.

Welcome to Episode 143 of the ByoPodcast Ingxoxo99. Official website: https://byopodcast.com/ 0:00 Intro & Catching up 33:55 Ecobank heist 45:20 Mayor (City of Bulawayo) 1:08:56 Cassper Nyovest 1:21:20 Chris Brown & cancel culture 1:37:12 Outro ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Host: Mgcini Cohost: Kbrizzy / Jane / Ralph Video & Lightning : Ralph Content Producer: Mgcini Sound: Prince Post production: Mgcini Venue : Cotton Lounge ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Join our membership to support the channel : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrJFvubYBiqw7cPQ63wgbOw/join

A look back at the Joy news Ecobank habitat fair.

We have selected a range of quality and reliable brands known for their expertise in housing to serve you at the

This finding, from the IFC's whitepaper “Banking on Women Who Trade Across Borders”, speaks to the gender disparity that still exists in the international trade space, particularly in emerging markets. To learn more about the challenges that women entrepreneurs face when trading across borders and some of the initiatives in place to offer support, Trade Finance Global (TFG) spoke with Makiko Toyoda, Global Head of the Global Trade Finance and Global Supply Chain Finance Programs at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Tacko Baro Fall, Waemu Head Financial Institutions And International Organizations at Ecobank.   Read the article here: https://www.tradefinanceglobal.com/posts/podcast-s2-e11-empowerment-through-trade-ifc-ecobank-tackling-gender-disparity-global-trade/

Overview: Today, we're going to explore IHS Towers - the African telecommunications infrastructure company. We'll discuss the story across the following areas:  Telecom tower infrastructure context  IHS Towers' early history Product & monetization strategy Competitive positioning & potential exit options Overall outlook This episode was recorded on May 5, 2024 Companies discussed: IHS Towers, MTN, Airtel, Telkom, Orange, Etisalat / 9 Mobile, American Tower Company, Globacom, Libancell, Helios Towers Nigeria, Telkom, Vodacom, Goldman Sachs, (IFC), Public Investment Corporation of South Africa, Ecobank, Investec, Standard Bank. Business concepts discussed: Tower Infrastructure, Shared communication infrastructure, Tower Leasing and Ownership Models, Market Expansion, Sale and Leaseback, Local vs Global Strategy, Capital-intensive business models, Currency devaluation Conversation highlights: (01:50) - What IHS does and why we're talking about it (04:37) - How Towers work (12:47) - How Telcos work with Towers in Nigeria and parts of Africa (23:22) - IHS Founding and Early History (34:19) - Funding (39:32) - Growth and International Expansion (47:26) - IHS IPO and trends post IPO (55:50) - Product Strategy & Monetization (1:08:30) - Competition (1:16:22) - Bankole's overall thoughts and outlook (1:24:06) - Olumide's overall thoughts and outlook (1:30:24) - Recommendations and small wins Olumide's recommendations & small wins: Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook) Recommendation: Incredible Dance routine video to Sisa Song by King Promise: I love it so much I'm not sure how to put it into words. 1 minute of greatness Recommendation: Chris Brown “Sensational” live performance : Watching Chris Brown dance is watching a master of his craft. Recommendation: J. Cole - Let Nas Down Recommendation: Nas - Make Nas Proud Recommendation: Nas & Eminem - EPMD 2 Recommendation: Nas - Rare Small win: Went back to reading older books to reset my reading palate Bankole's recommendations & small wins: Recommendation: The Search for the Perfect Door - YouTube && Unusual Electric Car Features in Nigeria - Bloomberg Small win: Running sprints  Other content: Palito FM Autoscan Radio Listeners: We'd love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback! Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes on Afrobility.com

À quelques jours du coup d'envoi de la Coupe d'Afrique des nations (CAN) en Côte d'Ivoire, gros plan sur les retombées économiques pour les entreprises ivoiriennes et étrangères impliquées dans l'événement. Avec les grandes compétitions sportives, le retour sur investissement est toujours un pari pour le pays hôte. En témoigne la précédente édition au Cameroun, en plein Covid. Les espoirs des organisateurs ont été déçus, la CAN n'a pas joué le rôle espéré d'accélérateur de croissance. Si les retombées sont incertaines au niveau macro-économique, en revanche, il y a toujours des gagnants parmi les entreprises sollicitées pour construire les équipements et assurer les services pendant toute la durée de la Coupe.ContratsPour les stades, ce sont les entreprises chinoises qui ont raflé la mise. Fidèle à sa diplomatie des stades déployée dans tous les pays du Sud, Pékin a « offert » à la Côte d'Ivoire un stade de prestige, construit à Ebimpé, au nord de la capitale Abidjan. Avec une capacité de 60 000 spectateurs, c'est aujourd'hui le plus grand stade du pays.À lire aussiCAN 2024: la Côte d'Ivoire, pays hôte, dans le sprint des derniers préparatifsLes chantiers des stades de San Pedro et Korhogo ont également été attribués à des entreprises chinoises, associées à des groupes locaux, comme la filiale de Snedai à San Pedro. La filiale du français Vinci a décroché le contrat du stade de Yamoussoukro ainsi que des tronçons de routes. L'ivoirien PFO Africa a aussi bénéficié d'un important contrat dans l'amélioration du réseau routier.Les entreprises ivoiriennes sont très présentes pendant la compétition. Pour assurer la communication, la restauration, l'animation des « fan zones », on retrouve beaucoup d'acteurs locaux, avec parfois des entreprises étrangères, comme la nigériane Insight Redefini et le français Publicis. C'est dans le secteur touristique que les retombées les plus importantes sont attendues. Les Ivoiriens se souviennent que les recettes du tourisme ont bondi de 30% en 2019 en Égypte grâce à la CAN. La compagnie nationale entend, elle aussi, surfer sur l'effet CAN. Air Côte d'Ivoire est le transporteur officiel de la compétition et aussi l'un de ses sponsors.À lire aussiCAN 2024 : la Côte d'Ivoire à l'heure du foot-businessSponsorsLa CAN est un support mondial de communication de plus en plus apprécié par les grandes marques. C'est un moment clé pour séduire le marché africain, et bien au-delà : la précédente CAN a attiré 500 millions de téléspectateurs originaires de 160 pays. Les sponsors affluent. L'équipementier allemand Puma fournira les ballons, la branche ivoirienne du groupe bancaire panafricain Ecobank les moyens de paiement.Parmi les autres sponsors, citons les chinois Tecno dans les télécom, Apsonic dans la moto, l'ivoirien Porteo dans le BTP, et le français TotalEnergies, un partenaire de longue date du football africain. Le principal parrain de la compétition, c'est l'État ivoirien, avec un investissement avoisinant le milliard d'euros dans les infrastructures, et il espère, lui aussi, profiter de cette vitrine mondiale qui va durer un mois pour attirer les touristes et les investisseurs.À lire aussiCalendrier et résultats de la CAN 2024

Amazing discounts on offer as event officially opens at AICC with stakeholder and customer engagement

Overview: Today, we're going to talk about FairMoney, the credit-led Neobank in emerging markets.  we'll explore the FairMoney story across the following areas African lending & consumer credit FairMoney's founding & early history Product & monetization strategy Competitive positioning & potential exit options Overall outlook This episode was recorded on Oct 1, 2023 Companies discussed: FairMoney, Branch, PalmPay, Kuda Bank, Carbon, 54Gene, GTBank, Access Bank, Ecobank, PalmPay, Carbon, PiggyVest, Upstart, Tala, Visa, Mastercard Safaricom (M-Pesa), PayForce & Chipper Cash Business concepts discussed: Smartphone credit assessment, African customer segmentation strategy, Consumer lending, unbanked population, smartphone credit assessment, Neobank strategy & Personal Finance OS Conversation highlights: (03:01) - Intro (07:19) - African consumer lending & neobank context  (18:35) - Neobanking context and background (20:00) - FairMoney founding story and Founders' background (39:40) - Fundraising (45:46) - Geographical expansion (49:05) - Partnerships (50:16) - Acquisitions (55:42) - Team & Location strategy (58:03) - User metrics and traction (1:04:27) - Product and monetization strategy (1:24:04) - Competition and options for exit (1:35:44) - Bankole's overall thoughts and outlook (1:47:30) - Olumide's overall thoughts and outlook (1:55:17) - Recommendations and small wins Olumide's recommendations & small wins: Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook) Recommendation 1: Arnold Schwarzenegger book 1: The Education of a Bodybuilder   Recommendation 2: Arnold Schwarzenegger book 2: Total Recall - My Unbelievably True Life Story Recommendation 3: Richard Feynman's book: What Do You Care What Other People Think?": Further Adventures of a Curious Character (Feynman Book 2). I already read and recommended "Surely, you're joking Mr Feynman which was extraordinary) Recommendation 4: Finnaus YT channel tells stories about financial companies and investors. Awesome. I watched the history of JP Morgan, Howard Marks, Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, Vanguard and on and on. I must have spent over 10 hours in the past week on it Small win: Hanging out in Rio de Janeiro. It was fun! Bankole's recommendations & small wins: Recommendation: Zealot by Reza Aslan, Remember Me - Fireboy (FAEM remix) & Lonely At The Top - Asake (FAEM Remix) Small win: Exercising after recovering from an injury Other content: Laurin Hainy on TechPoint Africa, We Rich People Will Not Tell You How We Make Our Money - IG Reel, Moneylender licensing in Nigeria , Examples of spurious correlations & Titan: A Golden Case in Indian Retail Listeners: We'd love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback! Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes on Afrobility.com

Hello la communauté, welcome onboard, Il y a 4 ans je lançais se podcast avec pour ambitions de mettre à votre disposition des parcours de vie hors du commun afin de vous accompagner dans vos choix de carrière, dans vos reconversions, prise de poste, choix d'étude et j'en passe. À l'entame de la 5ème saison, je suis fier de la constance avec laquelle nous avons tenu ses précédentes années et de la qualité du réseau constitué de l'ensemble de nos intervenants. Cette saison est sous le signe de la rencontre et de la capitalisation. On organisera différents évènements, enregistrement en public, formation de jeunes leaders, accompagnement à la reconversion, coaching sur une prise de poste de management et bien d'autres concepts. Pour le 1er épisode de cette saison j'ai le plaisir de recevoir une personne pour laquelle j'ai bcp d'admiration, notamment de son parcours, de sa discipline de marathonienne et son amour du partage, j'ai nommé KOREDE ODJO BELLA, directrice de la banque de détail chez Ecobank CI. J'ai rencontré Korede à la salle de sport de manière tout à fait fortuite et elle a pris de le temps de m'écouter et l'interview s'est faite a peine une semaine après. Korede grandi entre la France (où elle est née) et le Bénin avec un passage éclair en Côte d'Ivoire. Dans cet épisode, on évoque son début de carrière dans la publicité, son choix d'une petite structure pour accélérer son apprentissage en début de carrière avant d'aller vers des structures plus grandes, notamment McCan, la 1ère agence de publicité en France à l'époque.  Au cours de l'épisode, Korede revient sur plusieurs business case, notamment celui de la transformation des offres de canal + a laquelle elle a participé et nous donne accès aux réflexions qui ont gouvernées cette évolution. Après Canal + Korede rejoint Wari (fintech sénégalaise) en tant que Directrice de la distribution puis Lagardère pour lancer la filiale média en Côte d'Ivoire, notamment Vibe Radio et Elle Côte d'Ivoire. En plus de parcourir la carrière de Korede, cet épisode vous permettra de comprendre des termes qui sont chers à Korede et d'être largement sensibilisé au marketing centré client. On évoque par ailleurs son installation en Côte d'Ivoire et le cheminement qui l'a précédé. Korede est est une véritable pionnière du marketing en Côte d'Ivoire et au delà. Je vous souhaite une excellente écoute et j'ai hâte d'avoir vos feedbacks sur cet épisode. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/chooseyourmentor/message

Overview: Today, we're going to talk about Branch, the FinTech lending company and Neobank. We'll explore the story across the following 5 areas: African lending & consumer credit Branch's founding early history Product & monetization strategy Competitive positioning & potential exit options Overall outlook This episode was recorded on Sep 10, 2023 Companies discussed: Branch, Kiva, Kuda Bank, Chipper Cash, Earnin, Paga, FairMoney, MFS Africa, GTBank, Access Bank, Ecobank, PalmPay, Carbon, PiggyVest, Upstart, Tala, Visa, Mastercard & Safaricom Business concepts discussed: Credit scoring, Smartphone credit assessment, African customer segmentation strategy & low-end disruption, Consumer lending, , unbanked population,  smartphone credit assessment, Pan-African Banking Conversation highlights: (01:00) - What Branch is and why we're talking about it (07:40) - Africa consumer credit context and background (19:17:) - Branch International founding (23:31) - Founders' background (39:12) - Fundraising and Growth (51:40) - Geographical expansion  (1:02:01) - Acquisitions and Team overview (01:15:14) - Product strategy (1:33:20) - Monetization strategy and Costs (1:41:58) - Competition and options for exit (1:57:08) - Bankole's overall thoughts  (2:10:59) - Olumide's overall thoughts (2:30:20) - Recommendations and small wins Olumide's recommendations & small wins: Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook) Recommendation: Eminem - Rap God (OMFG I'm 12 years late, my mind exploded. WOW!) Recommendation: Can't Hurt Me (David Goggins). Incredible book about challenges David went to from parental abuse, racism to make something of himself. I went through waves of intense emotions while reading the book. At some points, I was crying in pain with David and other times I was in pure shock about what I was listening to. Small win: Hosted FIREDOM book launch event in London. Amazing conversations about life, managing money and growth. Dope shit. Bankole's recommendations & small wins: Recommendation: American Prometheus by Kai Bird, A/B Testing with Fat Tails & Remember Me - Fireboy DML Small win: Chin-chin from a recent trip to Lagos Other content: Mobile overdraft facility Fuliza outshines Silicon Valley-backed lending apps in Kenya- TechCrunch & Inside Branch's 20 percent interest investment push to beat Nigerian bank offerings - TechCabal Listeners: We'd love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback! Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes on Afrobility.com

A 2W Ecobank, uma empresa de energia renovável, tem capacidade para abastecer uma cidade de 600 mil residências, contribuindo para a sustentabilidade e desenvolvimento econômico do Brasil. Com investimentos em comunidades locais, como em Currais Novos (RN), ela estimula a economia local, gera empregos e promove a inclusão social, ao mesmo tempo em que respeita o meio ambiente. A cultura de ESG da 2W Ecobank é refletida em seu apoio, por exemplo, ao empreendedorismo feminino e à educação, alinhando-se à sua missão de democratizar o acesso à energia. Além disso, o Mercado Livre de Energia, existente há 26 anos no Brasil, pode em breve expandir a liberdade de escolha para pessoas físicas, conforme propõe o Projeto de Lei 414/21. Apresentação: Ceres Mussnich e Cassio Politi. Convidado: Claudio Ribeiro, CEO da 2W Ecobank. Perfil do convidado no LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudioribeironeto/. Site da empresa: https://2wecobank.com.br/.

L'événement rassemble les représentants du patronat congolais ainsi que des personnalités porteuses de projets. La seconde édition des « Vendredis de l'entreprise » s'est tenue fin mai. Elle a notamment été marquée par un débat sur les mécanismes de financements des PME, car ces dernières – mal organisées – rencontrent des difficultés pour accéder aux banques. De notre correspondant à Brazzaville,Comment financer l'informel, principale préoccupation des PME congolaises, venues nombreuses écouter Branham Kintombo alors que le secteur représente 94% de l'économie congolaise. Le directeur général par intérim du Fonds d'impulsion, de garantie et d'accompagnement des PME et de l'artisanat, le Figa tente de donner des réponses face aux blocages de financements bancaires.« Plusieurs micro-entreprises ne peuvent pas accéder aux financements parce qu'ils ne sont pas formalisés. Vous avez également les questions relatives à la tenue de la comptabilité. Vous avez en plus les questions de siège. Plusieurs promoteurs et opérateurs économiques ont leurs entreprises dans les sacs. Comment voulez-vous qu'une banque puisse accompagner une entreprise qu'on ne peut pas identifier », explique-t-il.Des résultats dans la micro-financeC'est dans le but de régler tous ces problèmes que les autorités ont mis en place le Figa en 2021. Son but : assurer l'intermédiation financière entre les PME et les établissements bancaires et ceux de micro-crédits. Et des résultats, il y en a essentiellement dans la micro-finance, d'après Branham Kintombo. « Entre le mois de mars et d'avril (2023), le Figa a pu accompagner avec le partenariat des micro-finances. Pour un stock de 340 millions de francs CFA [518 326 euros, NDLR] nous avons pu toucher 439 bénéficiaires pour la plupart des micro-entreprises », détaille-t-il.De son côté, Jacqueline Lydia Mikolo, ministre des PME, qui patronne les Vendredis de l'entreprise, salue le plaidoyer mené par le gouvernement. « Nous sommes arrivés quand même à avoir des produits, avec la banque Ecobank par exemple, qui permettent aux artisans d'ouvrir leurs comptes bancaires sans un seul franc. Il suffit d'avoir sa carte d'artisan », se réjouit-elle.Une majorité de TPE qui échappe aux prêts bancairesLe Figa a accompagné, entre autres, les coopératives des pêcheurs ou encore les maraîchers. Mais aussi la micro-industrie. Samuel Tsimba Mbila est promoteur d'une société de production de la craie scolaire blanche et de couleur. « Au départ, avec nos propres moyens, nous étions capables de produire 200 boîtes de craie par jour. Mais, avec le financement que nous venons d'obtenir grâce au Figa, nous allons quintupler notre capacité de production », promet-il.Aux Vendredis de l'entreprise, les dix banques commerciales présentes au Congo ont été qualifiées de frileuses, exigeant trop de conditionnalités pour financer les PME. Une accusation battue en brèche par Milord Alkama, directeur d'exploitation de la Congolaise de banque (LCB). « Nous les finançons déjà dans tous les domaines : la technologie, l'agriculture, l'agroalimentaire, les pharmacies… Tenez-vous bien avec des contraintes très allégées », se défend-il.Mais l'immense majorité des TPE échappe encore trop largement aux prêts bancaires. Pour une meilleure régulation, les autorités veulent qu'elles s'enregistrent, sans réel succès jusqu'à présent.

Nombreux sont les Africains de la diaspora qui se plaignent du fait que le développement économique de l'Afrique est en train d'être fait sans qu'ils puissent y participer. On note que la quasi-totalité des projets d'envergure (ponts, routes, usines, immeubles administratifs) qui s'effectuent sur le continent soient exclusivement financer par des capitaux étrangers, excluant les capitaux de la diaspora bien que certains de ces membres possèdent des ressources financières très conséquentes. J'en parle avec Mr. Touré Moussa qui est responsable régional diaspora à Ecobank.

Conversamos com Ciro Neto, head de desenvolvimento de negócios do 2W Ecobank. Uma empresa que começou oferecendo soluções de energia para grandes players e, depois do reposicionamento, busca entregar um pacote completo de sustentabilidade com energias renováveis e ESG para as empresas. Ele trouxe vários insights de vendas e comportamento do vendedor de sucesso, bem como sobre o cenário atual do mercado livre de energia.

Overview: Today, we're going to talk about MFS Africa. We'll explore the MFS Africa story across the following 5 areas: African payments context MFS Africa's early history Product & monetization strategy Competitive positioning & potential exit options Overall outlook. This episode was recorded on Jan 29, 2023 Companies discussed: MFS Africa, Safaricom (M-Pesa), Opay, Flutterwave, Paystack, MTN, Airtel, Orange, Chipper Cash, Ecobank, Safaricom, Homesend, TransferTo, MasterCard & Visa Business concepts discussed: Financial interoperability, mobile money (agency banking), banking regulation, acquisition strategy, payment processing, payment gateways & closed-loop payment networks Conversation highlights: (09:50) - Africa payments context and background (20:26) - MFS Africa founding and early history (22:06) - Founder background (31:40) - Fundraising and early growth (38:44) - Partnerships and M&A (1:02:15) - Product Strategy (1:06:30) - Monetization Strategy (1:13:59) - Competition and Options for Exit (1:28:51) - Olumide's overall thoughts and outlook (1:34:00) - Bankole's overall thoughts and outlook (1:47:00) - Recommendations and small wins Olumide's recommendations & small wins: Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com Recommendation: Be Happy 35 Powerful Methods for Personal Growth & Well-Being. Talks about practices for a positive mental health. Fun short read that you can refer to time and time again Small win: Birthday celebrations with friends in Miami, NYC & SF. It was epic! Bankole's recommendations & small wins: Recommendation: Accidental Gods by Anna Della Subin Small win: I read 3 books in January Other content: Afrobility Chipper Cash episode , Inside the MFS Africa acquisition of Beyonic & Follow me on Goodreads Listeners: We'd love to hear from you. Email info@afrobility.com with feedback! Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes on Afrobility.com

Fundraising can be a difficult path to navigate, no matter what sector a startup operates in. For early-stage startups, in particular, understanding how to approach fundraising can be a major cause of headaches for their founders. Asides from fundraising, navigating good corporate governance as an early-stage startup is also critical, and we've particularly seen the importance of this year. On the 4th of November, 2022, for the second edition of the Ecobank Fintech Breakfast series, several industry experts spoke about the role of good corporate governance in the fintech industry and what fintechs need to know about securing investments. The speakers at the event were Tosin Iyayi - Partner, Aluko & Oyebode, Yemi Keri - Co-founder, Rising Tide Africa, Yele Oyekola - Co-founder & CEO, Duplo, Lexi Novitske - General Partner, Norrseken22 and Chinedu Onuoha - Managing Director at Mzuri Solutions Limited. The Ecobank Fintech Breakfast series is brought to you by Ecobank Nigeria in partnership with TechCabal.

Ce septième épisode d'Afrique Résonance met en lumière le parcours de Paul Harry Aithnard, Directeur Général Ecobank Côte d'Ivoire et Directeur Régional pour l'UEMOA du Groupe.Créée en 1985 au Togo, Ecobank est une banque panafricaine universelle qui s'adresse aussi bien aux particuliers qu'aux entreprises. Avec plus de 30 Millions de clients, le Groupe Ecobank est aujourd'hui un acteur financier de premier plan présent dans plus d'une trentaine pays africains, avec une présence sur les autres continents. En Côte d'Ivoire, la filiale s'est récemment engagée pour soutenir l'entrepreneuriat féminin, notamment aux côtés de la Fondation SEPHIS. Partenariats avec Bpifrance, mise en place de l'Association des fintech et des paiements de Côte d'Ivoire, Ecobank Academy,… Paul Harry Aithnard revient sur son engagement pour le panafricanisme et l'importance du développement des talents africains en lien avec l'émergence des nouvelles technologies. » Hébergé par Acast. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.

This week Andrew sits down with Djiba Diallo, the Senior Fintech Advisor at Ecobank. Andrew and Djiba discuss the importance of banking-fintech collaboration, how technology is being leveraged by banks across Africa, and the upcoming Ecobank Fintech Challenge.

Sign up for my Daily Fintech or Daily Digital Banking Newsletters here. Check out my latest podcast episode below: Welcome to your daily FinTech news! NEWS HIGHLIGHT Coinbase could list ETH forks after the Merge. The announcement follows a 93 percent drop in the trading volume of Warped Ethereum. The company emphasized that it aims to list any asset so long they are legal and safe. Thus, it can create a level playing field for all crypto assets. Link here FINTECH NEWS #apac Binance to help the South Korean city of Busan grow crypto adoption within the city and beyond. The global crypto exchange will also support the development of the city's blockchain ecosystem. Link here Mastercard Research finds that APAC consumers are ahead in Digital Payments Uptake, with 88% using digital wallets, QR codes, BNPL, and others. Link here Singapore seeks detailed information ahead of a possible broadening of the applicable rules. The authority is trying to get a clearer idea of their financial state, knowledgeable sources say. Link here #fintechinnovation ADDX launched a cash management tool that allows investors with excess funds in their wallets to earn interest. They decide on which private market product to take part in. Link here Ecobank launched the 5th Ecobank Challenge. Fintechs aligned with the Bank's strategic objectives stand a chance to win an overall cash prize of US$50,000 for the top winner. Link here

We had a great conversation on virtual cards, specifically the Ecobank virtual card, on Capital in the Morning with Fareed Khimani. Ecobank's Group Head Marketing, Wangari Ngugi, and Head Products, Annette Kamere, broke down why the Ecobank virtual card is a must have visa card.

Fintechs dominate Africa's tech industry, and for good reason. For instance, in 2021, two-thirds of venture funding raised by African startups went to fintechs. 6 out of Africa's 8 unicorns are also fintechs. Although the entry of fintechs into African financial services first seemed like a threat to traditional players, particularly banks, that is fast changing. Today, banks are seeing fintechs less as competitors and more as partners as it has become clearer that collaboration is what the industry needs to enter into a new wave of growth. On Friday, April 22nd, for the first edition of the Ecobank Fintech Breakfast series, several industry experts spoke about what these fintech-bank collaborations entail and how they can benefit both sides. They included Tomilola Majekodunmi, CEO of Bankly, Gbenga Ajayi - Partner, QED Investors, Daniel Ahouassa -Co-founder and Co- CEO, Weblogy, Isaac Kamuta - Group Head: Cash - Payments, Cash Management and Client Access, Ecobank Group, and Tayo Oviosu, Founder and CEO, Paga Group. They discussed how to identify the right partners, how to structure partnerships that work, how to manage the challenges that may arise from partnering, and how to expand across the continent by leveraging partnerships

Avec la hausse générale des taux d'intérêt dans le monde, le secteur bancaire promet d'être au cœur de l'actualité ces prochains mois. C'est pour cela qu'Alain Nkontchou, président du Conseil d'administration d'Ecobank est le Grand invité de l'Économie RFI – Jeune Afrique. Interrogé par Bruno Faure (RFI) et Julien Clémençot (Jeune Afrique), ce financier camerounais installé à Londres répond aux nombreuses questions essentielles du moment : inflation, prix des denrées alimentaires, dettes publiques, positionnement des banques dans le financement des économies africaines, cryptomonnaies, cybersécurité, etc… Il évoque aussi largement l'actualité du groupe panafricain Ecobank, présent dans 33 pays du continent avec plus de 20.000 salariés, un revenu net de 1,8 milliard de dollars en 2021 et un bénéfice avant impôt de 478 millions de dollars.   Alain Nkontchou, 59 ans, est né à Yaoundé (Cameroun). Formé en France (à Supelec puis à l'École supérieure de Commerce de Paris), il mène la première partie de votre carrière en Europe, notamment à Londres, au sein de JP Morgan et de Crédit Suisse. En 2008, il crée Enko Capital, une société d'investissement consacrée à l'Afrique et qui gère plus de 900 millions de dollars d'actifs. Retrouvez notre compte RFI Éco sur Facebook et Twitter. 

Avec la hausse générale des taux d'intérêt dans le monde, le secteur bancaire promet d'être au cœur de l'actualité ces prochains mois. C'est pour cela qu'Alain Nkontchou, président du Conseil d'administration d'Ecobank est le Grand invité de l'Économie RFI – Jeune Afrique. Interrogé par Bruno Faure (RFI) et Julien Clémençot (Jeune Afrique), ce financier camerounais installé à Londres répond aux nombreuses questions essentielles du moment : inflation, prix des denrées alimentaires, dettes publiques, positionnement des banques dans le financement des économies africaines, cryptomonnaies, cybersécurité, etc… Il évoque aussi largement l'actualité du groupe panafricain Ecobank, présent dans 33 pays du continent avec plus de 20.000 salariés, un revenu net de 1,8 milliard de dollars en 2021 et un bénéfice avant impôt de 478 millions de dollars.   Alain Nkontchou, 59 ans, est né à Yaoundé (Cameroun). Formé en France (à Supelec puis à l'École supérieure de Commerce de Paris), il mène la première partie de votre carrière en Europe, notamment à Londres, au sein de JP Morgan et de Crédit Suisse. En 2008, il crée Enko Capital, une société d'investissement consacrée à l'Afrique et qui gère plus de 900 millions de dollars d'actifs. Retrouvez notre compte RFI Éco sur Facebook et Twitter. 

Il est l'un des banquiers les plus influents d'Afrique. Le Nigérian Ade Ayeyemi. PDG d'Ecobank, va quitter ses fonctions cette année à l'âge de soixante ans, après avoir redressé à la force du poignet un établissement qui était mal en point à son arrivée, il y a sept ans. Il est notre « Portrait » de la semaine. Ade Ayeyemi est ce que l'on appelle, dans le monde de l'entreprise, un « cost killer » ou chasseur de coûts. C'est en raison même de sa capacité à remettre les trains qui ont déraillé sur la bonne voie qu'Ade Ayeyemi avait été choisi en 2015 par les actionnaires d'Ecobank pour diriger leur groupe. Benoît Chervalier, banquier d'affaires et enseignant à Science Po Paris, connaît bien Ade Ayeyemi. « Il fallait un profil qui n'était pas un profil de communiquant, qui n'était pas un profil – j'oserais dire – de développeur, mais un profil qui allait remettre à la fois la banque sur les rails, par une rationalisation du crédit, par sans doute quelques agences qui devaient fermer et des licenciements qui en ont découlé, mais c'était la condition sine qua non pour remettre la banque à flots. » Des mesures radicales dès son arrivée à l'Ecobank Ade Ayeyemi est alors un transfuge de la Citibank américaine, où il a passé l'essentiel de sa carrière, et lorsqu'il prend les rênes de l'Ecobank, il découvre un établissement miné par les querelles, alourdi par les créances douteuses (un milliard de dollars quand même !) et à la rentabilité en berne. À peine installé, il prend des mesures radicales, ferme des agences, licencie un cinquième du personnel et réorganise le groupe autour de trois métiers. Comme il s'en expliquait il y a trois ans au site britannique The Banker. « Nous avions compris qu'il nous fallait avec nous les grandes entreprises, les gouvernements et les institutions financières pour être en mesure de faire avancer l'économie. Donc maintenant, notre stratégie repose sur trois piliers. La banque d'affaires et d'investissement, la banque commerciale et la banque de détail. » Ade Ayeyemi est un homme qui a son franc-parler. Lorsqu'on lui reproche par exemple de ne pas prêter suffisamment aux entreprises, le PDG d'Ecobank devient cinglant. Il répond ici à notre correspondant à Lomé, Peter Dogbe : « Le défi que nous avons ici en Afrique, c'est que les gros hommes d'affaires sont ceux qui empruntent mais qui ne remboursent pas. Et quand ils ne remboursent pas, ils rendent difficile pour les autres l'accès au crédit ». Des qualités de diplomate Derrière ce management à l'américaine, donc parfois brutal, il a su préserver l'identité d'Ecobank. Et lorsque Peter Dogbe lui demande ce qu'il pense de l'attitude des grandes banques internationales qui depuis plusieurs années quittent le continent, Ade Ayeyemi brandit aussitôt l'idéal panafricain qui est en quelque sorte l'ADN de cette banque créée il y a trente sept ans. « Elles ne devraient pas se désengager. De façon générale, je n'aime pas voir partir les gens. Mais s'ils partent, nous ne pouvons rien y faire. Tout comme l'Ecobank, moi je ne peux pas partir ! Nous n'avons pas d'autre endroit où aller, l'Afrique est notre maison. Et c'est à nous de construire ce continent. C'est à nous de le rendre attractif pour tous ceux qui veulent venir ici et se joindre à nous. » Reste une question : cet homme qui a sauvé Ecobank d'un destin funeste fut-il un grand PDG ? Benoît Chervalier tente d'y répondre. « Je dirais que c'était un bon dirigeant, ce n'était peut-être pas un grand dirigeant, dans le sens où la banque n'a pas changé d'échelle. La banque a en effet rationalisé. Elle reste un leader sur le financement en particulier des PME et des ETI. Elle a un certain équilibre entre l'Afrique de l'Est et de l'Ouest. Mais un certain nombre d'éléments structurels demeurent. C'est-à-dire, d‘une part l'absence en Afrique du Nord et en Afrique du Sud. Ecobank reste d'une taille moyenne par rapport à ses concurrents africains et reste une petite banque par rapport à ses concurrents internationaux. » Difficile d'être à la fois un redresseur de comptes et un visionnaire. Néanmoins, Ade Ayeyemi a su préserver l'avenir d'une banque classée dix-septième au niveau continental mais première dans la zone Uemoa, l'ex-zone franc d'Afrique de l'Ouest.

Il est l'un des banquiers les plus influents d'Afrique. Le Nigérian Ade Ayeyemi. PDG d'Ecobank, va quitter ses fonctions cette année à l'âge de soixante ans, après avoir redressé à la force du poignet un établissement qui était mal en point à son arrivée, il y a sept ans. Il est notre « Portrait » de la semaine. Ade Ayeyemi est ce que l'on appelle, dans le monde de l'entreprise, un « cost killer » ou chasseur de coûts. C'est en raison même de sa capacité à remettre les trains qui ont déraillé sur la bonne voie qu'Ade Ayeyemi avait été choisi en 2015 par les actionnaires d'Ecobank pour diriger leur groupe. Benoît Chervalier, banquier d'affaires et enseignant à Science Po Paris, connaît bien Ade Ayeyemi. « Il fallait un profil qui n'était pas un profil de communiquant, qui n'était pas un profil – j'oserais dire – de développeur, mais un profil qui allait remettre à la fois la banque sur les rails, par une rationalisation du crédit, par sans doute quelques agences qui devaient fermer et des licenciements qui en ont découlé, mais c'était la condition sine qua non pour remettre la banque à flots. » Des mesures radicales dès son arrivée à l'Ecobank Ade Ayeyemi est alors un transfuge de la Citibank américaine, où il a passé l'essentiel de sa carrière, et lorsqu'il prend les rênes de l'Ecobank, il découvre un établissement miné par les querelles, alourdi par les créances douteuses (un milliard de dollars quand même !) et à la rentabilité en berne. À peine installé, il prend des mesures radicales, ferme des agences, licencie un cinquième du personnel et réorganise le groupe autour de trois métiers. Comme il s'en expliquait il y a trois ans au site britannique The Banker. « Nous avions compris qu'il nous fallait avec nous les grandes entreprises, les gouvernements et les institutions financières pour être en mesure de faire avancer l'économie. Donc maintenant, notre stratégie repose sur trois piliers. La banque d'affaires et d'investissement, la banque commerciale et la banque de détail. » Ade Ayeyemi est un homme qui a son franc-parler. Lorsqu'on lui reproche par exemple de ne pas prêter suffisamment aux entreprises, le PDG d'Ecobank devient cinglant. Il répond ici à notre correspondant à Lomé, Peter Dogbe : « Le défi que nous avons ici en Afrique, c'est que les gros hommes d'affaires sont ceux qui empruntent mais qui ne remboursent pas. Et quand ils ne remboursent pas, ils rendent difficile pour les autres l'accès au crédit ». Des qualités de diplomate Derrière ce management à l'américaine, donc parfois brutal, il a su préserver l'identité d'Ecobank. Et lorsque Peter Dogbe lui demande ce qu'il pense de l'attitude des grandes banques internationales qui depuis plusieurs années quittent le continent, Ade Ayeyemi brandit aussitôt l'idéal panafricain qui est en quelque sorte l'ADN de cette banque créée il y a trente sept ans. « Elles ne devraient pas se désengager. De façon générale, je n'aime pas voir partir les gens. Mais s'ils partent, nous ne pouvons rien y faire. Tout comme l'Ecobank, moi je ne peux pas partir ! Nous n'avons pas d'autre endroit où aller, l'Afrique est notre maison. Et c'est à nous de construire ce continent. C'est à nous de le rendre attractif pour tous ceux qui veulent venir ici et se joindre à nous. » Reste une question : cet homme qui a sauvé Ecobank d'un destin funeste fut-il un grand PDG ? Benoît Chervalier tente d'y répondre. « Je dirais que c'était un bon dirigeant, ce n'était peut-être pas un grand dirigeant, dans le sens où la banque n'a pas changé d'échelle. La banque a en effet rationalisé. Elle reste un leader sur le financement en particulier des PME et des ETI. Elle a un certain équilibre entre l'Afrique de l'Est et de l'Ouest. Mais un certain nombre d'éléments structurels demeurent. C'est-à-dire, d‘une part l'absence en Afrique du Nord et en Afrique du Sud. Ecobank reste d'une taille moyenne par rapport à ses concurrents africains et reste une petite banque par rapport à ses concurrents internationaux. » Difficile d'être à la fois un redresseur de comptes et un visionnaire. Néanmoins, Ade Ayeyemi a su préserver l'avenir d'une banque classée dix-septième au niveau continental mais première dans la zone Uemoa, l'ex-zone franc d'Afrique de l'Ouest.

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://nairaweb.ng/2022/03/08/ecobank-to-finance-ogun-civil-servants-mortgage/

Bienvenue sur l'épisode 29. C'est un épisode est un peu spécial car je reçois celle qui m'a ouverte les portes du monde professionnel en Côte d'Ivoire et qui m'a initiée au podcast. Dans cet épisode, on a parlé : 

And when you least expected here is a new twist to the line-up, we bring you a special African Take-Over! so shine light on issues related to how money flows in the continent, reporting on different news, investment rounds, internal processes and advices from local industry leaders - Ntoudi (2D) Mouyelo, Paul-Harry Aithnard, and Eric Osiakwan that kindly accepted the invitation to join our show!Matteo Rizzi opens the curtain for Katharina Dalka to host this exceptional intercontinental bridge created by Breaking Banks Europe - that we surely hope you enjoy. Liked to have Katharina as our host? Gives the episode a shoutout and we'll invite her back soon!  Connect with the host and guests: Katharina Dalka - Co-Founder and CEO, StellarOnehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/katharinadalka/StellarOne: stellarone.biz Paul-Harry Aithnard - Regional Executive Francophone Africa Ecobank, Managing Director Cote d'Ivoirehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-harry-aithnard/Ecobank: ecobank.com Eric Osiakwan - Managing Partner, Chanzo Capitalhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ericosiakwan/Chanzo Capital: chanzocapital.com Ntoudi (2D) Mouyelo - Chief Investment Officer at Kigali International Financial Centrehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/mouyelo/Kigali International Financial Centre: rfl.rw

Discussing the ECOBANK habitat fair - Comparing building to buying houses

Benjamin joins us today to share knowledge on banking and how it is related to a young person. He highlights the toolkit every young person should have in order to improve their finances. He shares the difference between various bank cards (credit cards, debit cards, prepaid cards, virtual cards, etc) Benjamin has the youth at heart and encourages every person listening to kickstart their investment journey. Benjamin Nuamah attended Accra Academy. He studied at the University of Ghana and he has an MBA from UGBS. At the moment he is a charted banker. He has worked in the banking sector for 10 years and counting. He started with Trust bank which merged to be Ecobank and then came to GT bank to be the group head for retail banking. He is currently the group head for SME banking. Quote: "You can decide how you want your life to be in the future" Follow Benjamin Nuamah here; Faceboook: Benjamin Nuamah Instagram: @benjaminuamah Subscribe to our podcast Here's the link to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/BezoSmartSeries Here are the links to our social media channels (Don't forget to follow us and interact with our posts ): Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bezosmart Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bezosmart/?hl=en Twitter: https://twitter.com/bezosmart Post a screenshot of you listening to this episode on social media & tag us @bezosmart so we can thank you personally!

SSNIT 10% indexation rate: Interview with Paul Kofi Mante (MD EDC- Investment wing of Ecobank)

Hiya there and welcome to it! In this episode, Archie Moyo discusses how the RBZ has had a busy few months. 21 more companies have been investigated for violating SI 127 with 27 getting fines and 12 getting warning letters. What's the reaction with regards to these companies that keep getting found breaching the SI, and why didn't we get a list this time around. Ecobank and the IMTT tax debacle, Ecobank sent a message to account holders to let them know they would be collecting over 6 months' worth of IMTT taxes for transactions they completed. It's a really tricky situation, especially if they choose to deduct all of it at once. All this information helps you continuously improve yourself. #kaizenYOU Speaking of improvement, help us improve the podcast by buying us a coffee on the link below. It goes a long way. ko-fi.com/kaizenyou Social Media Links twitter.com/archiemoyo twitter.com/kaizenyou https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCihGQpbXVhfwYHMzxvkjeeQ Sources https://twitter.com/ReserveBankZIM/status/1413504555938058242?s=20 https://www.techzim.co.zw/2021/07/ecobank-account-holders-worry-as-the-bank-says-it-will-be-backdating-collection-of-2-tax/

Overview: Today, we're going to talk about Chipper Cash - African Fintech payments & remittances player. We'll explore the Chipper story across 6 areas: Intra-Africa remittances context Global remittances (Outside Africa to Africa) context Chipper Cash's launch, early history, growth & fundraising Chipper Cash's Product & monetization strategy Its' competitive positioning, potential exit options End with our overall outlook. This episode was recorded on July 11 & Aug 1, 2021. Companies discussed: Chipper Cash, Venmo, PayPal, Square, Flutterwave, EcoBank, Safaricom, Sendwave, MTN, Airtel, Deciens Capital & Liquid2 Ventures Business concepts discussed: Consumer FinTech (Personal Finance OS) monetization strategy, FinTech exit strategy, Intra-African Remittances, International remittances, Cryptocurrency, Decentralized Finance, Stock trading & closed-loop payment networks Conversation highlights: (01:07) - Why we're talking about Chipper Cash (06:20) - Intra-African trade context (13:12) - Intra- African remittances context (21:40) - Global remittances context (36:50) - Founder backgrounds - Ham Serunjogi and Majid Moujaled (46:06) - Chipper Cash founding and early history (52:30) - Fundraising and Growth - Angel, Series A, B & C (1:07:25) - Product strategy (1:08:25) - Monetization strategy (1:35:24) - Competition - horizontal and vertical (1:45:55) - Potential exit scenarios (1:54:12) - Bankole's overall thoughts and outlook (2:01:32) - Olumide's overall thoughts and outlook (2:08:40) - Recommendations and small wins Olumide's recommendations, small wins & open questions: Recommendation: Nailing Capital vs Scaling Capital (by Sajith Pai) , Essentialism (by Greg McKeown) & Owning Chinese Companies Is Complicated (by Matt Levine from Bloomberg) Small win: American Express Platinum new benefits: Clear! & Audible! Bankole's recommendations, small wins & open questions: Recommendation: Why startups fail by Tom Eisenmann & How to build an engine to find product market fit by Rahul Vohra Small win: Dinner with friends on a rooftop in Seattle Other content: Chipper Cash pitch at 500 Startups & A columnist Makes Sense of Wall Street Like None Other - The New York Times We'd love to hear from you. Please email info@afrobility.com to share feedback or propose topics you'd like to hear. Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes at Afrobility.com

L'Éco, la future monnaie de l'Afrique de l'ouest, devrait être lancé en 2027. C'est l'engagement pris ce week-end par la Communauté Économique des États d'Afrique de l'Ouest. D'ici là, d'autres monnaies pourraient se glisser dans le portefeuille des Africains : les monnaies digitales. La question hyper inflammable de la sortie du franc CFA a pris beaucoup de place dans le débat public et a fait passer au second plan une révolution en cours dans le monde entier et aussi en Afrique : la révolution de la monnaie digitale. La réputation du bitcoin demeure sulfureuse. De plus en plus d'États le bannissent et en même temps cette monnaie cryptée les aiguillonne : leurs banques centrales cherchent la parade. Une soixantaine planchent actuellement sur des projets de monnaies numériques, dont une dizaine d'africaines. Le Nigeria par exemple, un membre clé de l'Éco, est en train de s'y mettre. Le continent a déjà une longueur d'avance dans la monnaie digitale avec les paiements par téléphone L'Afrique est l'une des régions du monde où le paiement en ligne s'est répandu le plus rapidement. Étant donné que très peu de gens ont un compte en banque, le paiement par téléphone comme le m'pesa proposé par Safari au Kenya, pour ne citer que le plus célèbre de ces moyens digitaux, a connu un succès foudroyant. Mais ces ersatz de monnaies numériques ont aussi leurs limites : pour préserver leur pré-carré les opérateurs ne facilitent pas les transactions d'un opérateur à l'autre. C'est pourquoi une véritable monnaie digitale garantie par une banque centrale serait un gain fantastique, capable d'accélérer les transferts d'une région à l'autre et si la technologie retenue est compatible, d'un pays à l'autre. Une monnaie qui résoudrait le problème de la trop faible bancarisation. À condition que ces monnaies digitales soient accessibles à tous C'est la promesse que doit tenir un État s'il veut que sa monnaie soit légitime. Or, tant que les raccordements à internet ne couvriront pas tout le continent, les billets demeurent le moyen de paiement idéal ; comment diffuser une monnaie cryptée à des citoyens qui n'ont pas internet ? C'est l'une des barrières à laquelle se heurtent les banques centrales africaines soucieuses d'offrir une monnaie aussi universelle et facile d'accès que le cash qu'on transporte avec soi. Pour être crédible, la monnaie cryptée doit aussi être traçable, c'est-à-dire relier à l'identité de ceux qui l'ont utilisée. Là aussi c'est un écueil en Afrique, avec un état-civil encore très chaotique. Les pays membres de la Cedeao ont-ils anticipé cette mutation en envisageant un Éco digital ? Pour le moment, les projets de monnaie digitale sont en chantier au niveau des pays. Le Ghana, membre de la Cedeao, se verrait bien en précurseur sur le continent. Proposer un Éco digital semble incontournable, sans quoi, la concurrence prendra le relais. Des États pourraient imposer leur devise cryptée. Pourquoi pas la Chine, le pays le plus avancé à la matière ? Et pourquoi pas des entreprises privées. Le site de vente en ligne chinois Alibaba propose déjà en Afrique son Alipay à travers un partenariat avec Ecobank. L'Américain Facebook prépare sa monnaie digitale, le Diem, qui sera adossé au dollar. Des alternatives qui pourraient rapidement saper la souveraineté monétaire chère aux Africains. En bref ► Les marchés entament la semaine sur une humeur pessimiste. La bourse de Tokyo a perdu plus de 3% ce lundi et les bourses européennes ont ouvert en baisse. Partout dans le monde les investisseurs redoutent la hausse rapide des taux d'intérêt, ce qui signifie la fin de l'argent facile.

In today's daily round-up of export, trade and commodity finance news, TXF's Max Thompson covers the latest stories and trends across the market: Six top western energy firms are vying to partner in the vast expansion of Qatar's liquefied natural gas output, industry sources said, helping the Gulf state cement its position as the leading LNG producer while several large projects around the world recently stalled Contour has launched its first domestic offering in Bangladesh – a trade finance network specifically designed to offer SMEs greater access to trade finance in the country France's Proparco has signed a $10 million Trade Finance Guarantee Programme with Ecobank Liberia Like what you hear? Hit subscribe to stay up to date and for all the latest news online visit www.txfnews.com today.

Direction le Gabon avec Vanessa Adande, fondatrice du cabinet de conseil financier Ellipsis. Après une expérience dans l'audit au sein de Deloitte, elle entre chez Ecobank au Bénin où elle se rend compte que les entreprises ne mettent pas suffisamment la finance au coeur de leur gestion. C'est ainsi que commence à germer la proposition de valeur d'Ellipsis.  Quand elle ne gère pas Ellipsis, elle anime sur l'émission Le Choeur des Femmes la chronique "Je n'aime pas parler d'argent". Avec Vanessa, on a parlé d'argent. Pourquoi ce sujet est-il tabou ? Qu'es-ce que notre gestion de l'argent dit de nous ? Comment gérer son budget ?  En plus de conseils sur la gestion financière, Vanessa a parlé  : 

Hello la communauté, Bienvenue sur Choose Your mentor podcast, Deux fois par mois, nous vous proposons une conversation avec une personne qui nous inspire et qui nous motive afin d'aider les personnes qui rencontrent des difficultés dans leurs choix professionnels ou universitaires. Cette conversation est tout autant pertinente pour des personnes qui veulent découvrir de nouveaux horizons et connaître de nouveaux métiers et parcours, même si elle ne rencontrent aucune difficulté. Aujourd'hui nous recevons pour vous Oriane Canfrin. Oriane est Group marketing manager chez Ecobank West Africa. J'ai eu le plaisir et la chance de rencontrer Oriane il y a quelques années et j'ai toujours eu beaucoup de respect pour son éthique du travail et son évolution professionnelle. Dans cet épisode, Oriane revient sur son parcours en IUT, puis en école de commerce, sur ses différents stages, sur son choix de rejoindre le graduate programme d'Unilever Côte d'Ivoire et les conséquences extraordinaires de ce choix sur sa vie… Oriane nous parle aussi de moment plus délicats, d'introspection, et de son changement de domaine du retail FMCG à la banque. On évoque aussi les doutes que peuvent avoir les jeunes générations sur une carrière dans le marketing qui est en pleine mutation du fait des différentes transformations digitales à l'œuvre dans le secteur. Je vous souhaite une excellente écoute et surtout svp n'oubliez pas de nous laisser un petit commentaire et/ou de nous noter sur apple podcast, ça nous aide énormément et ça compte bcp pour nous. A très vite --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/malickmdiabategmailcom/message

Dans ce 5ème épisode, Afrique Résonance donne la parole à Cheick Travaly, Directeur Général Ecobank Kenya et superviseur de la région Afrique Centrale, de l'Est et Australe. Acteur panafricain de premier plan créé à Lomé en 1985, Ecobank délivre ses services financiers à travers un réseaux couvrant une trentaine de pays du continent. Le Groupe se veut différenciant grâce à son rôle moteur en matière d'intégration financière et de développement économique en Afrique. Au micro de Tatiana Mossot, Cheick livre le récit de son parcours personnel et professionnel et partage son analyse du développement des systèmes bancaires à l'échelle panafricaine. Notre politique de confidentialité GDPR a été mise à jour le 8 août 2022. Visitez acast.com/privacy pour plus d'informations.

Lucy Nshuti Mbabazi leads Advocacy and Partnership for the UN's Better Than Cash Alliance in Africa and was previously AVP at Ecobank and Country Manager at Visa Rwanda. In this podcast, we explore Lucy's personal journey transitioning from Uganda to Rwanda after the genocide. After having been disconnected from her country and the continent after high school, Lucy tells an emotional story of how she had to painfully reconcile with her past, and rediscover a new love for her country and the continent. And when she finally did, Lucy has committed to driving change in Africa's financial sector in democratizing access to digital platforms and tools that helps Africa's unbanked participate in the digital economy. We also talk about her passion for science education and her work pioneering that through Ms. Geek Africa. Consider supporting our fundraiser via the link attached if you enjoyed this episode. bit.ly/fundCAPod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Djiba is currently a Senior FinTech Advisor at Ecobank Transnational. Before joining Ecobank, Djiba worked at Microsoft for over 10 years, as Developer and Platform Evangelist and then Head of Innovation Microsoft4Afrika, where she helped built the strategy to Identify and attract most successful Startup and Partners in Africa to the Microsoft Cloud platform.In this episode of the podcast, we cover the Ecobank Innovation Challenge and understand how startup can collaborate with a large company like Ecobank. There are lots of fears when it comes with working with large corporations, starting with the one that they have the means to copy an idea and execute it faster. But the reality is a lot different and Djiba explains how.Djiba comes with a lot of advice on how to prepare the company and its staff to work with a large bank like Ecobank. She explains what startups can expect and what they can learn and benefit from the experience. Collaboration is not a mere dream, it's a reality that can help the company scale faster, reach global market, and get investment ready.Enjoy and learn how to be a small fish in a big pond!

Eugenia Akuete is the true definition of a survivor. Queue Destinys Child Im a survivor, Im gonna make it, Im a survivor, I keep on surviving She is also an avid advocate for women who is staunchly committed to fighting against gender bias and unjust inheritance laws, education, and all of the other barriers in Ghana and other parts of Africa that prevent women from the pursuit of their full potential. Eugenia is the founder of Mothers Shea and Chairwoman of Naasakle International. She has been a force in the shea butter industry since 2000 when she founded the initial business Naasakle Ltd to help her aged and ailing mother and empower herself after a divorce that left her with very little in assets and $30 which she called her war chest. She used this money to buy a calabash of shea butter in the market to package and resell togenerate income.Mothers Shea products are found in Target stores in Anthropology and Urban Outfitters, Costco and Macys online, and clean beauty stores like Credo Beauty and Detox Market. Despite many challenges over the years, Eugenia did not give up because her purpose is far bigger than her. She is trying to create change in an entire value chain which is considered liquid gold for poor rural women in Ghana and other African countries across the continent where shea trees are found. Sources of financing mentioned in the podcast:- $30 self-financing- Investing initial profits back into the business- $100,000 USADF grant- Ecobank small business loanYou can follow EuGenia Shea and Mothers Shea on Instagram and Facebook. Mothers Shea products can be found at Target in over 900 stores and Target online. EuGenia Shea products can be found at their website and in retailers such as Credo Beauty, Macys, Anthropology ad Urban Outfitters, and Costco online.--- This episode is sponsored by Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Eugenia Akuete is the true definition of a survivor. Queue Destinys Child Im a survivor, Im gonna make it, Im a survivor, I keep on surviving She is also an avid advocate for women who is staunchly committed to fighting against gender bias and unjust inheritance laws, education, and all of the other barriers in Ghana and other parts of Africa that prevent women from the pursuit of their full potential. Eugenia is the founder of Mothers Shea and Chairwoman of Naasakle International. She has been a force in the shea butter industry since 2000 when she founded the initial business Naasakle Ltd to help her aged and ailing mother and empower herself after a divorce that left her with very little in assets and $30 which she called her war chest. She used this money to buy a calabash of shea butter in the market to package and resell togenerate income.Mothers Shea products are found in Target stores in Anthropology and Urban Outfitters, Costco and Macys online, and clean beauty stores like Credo Beauty and Detox Market. Despite many challenges over the years, Eugenia did not give up because her purpose is far bigger than her. She is trying to create change in an entire value chain which is considered liquid gold for poor rural women in Ghana and other African countries across the continent where shea trees are found. Sources of financing mentioned in the podcast:- $30 self-financing- Investing initial profits back into the business- $100,000 USADF grant- Ecobank small business loanYou can follow EuGenia Shea and Mothers Shea on Instagram and Facebook. Mothers Shea products can be found at Target in over 900 stores and Target online. EuGenia Shea products can be found at their website and in retailers such as Credo Beauty, Macys, Anthropology ad Urban Outfitters, and Costco online.--- This episode is sponsored by Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Eugenia Akuete is the true definition of a survivor. Queue Destinys Child Im a survivor, Im gonna make it, Im a survivor, I keep on surviving She is also an avid advocate for women who is staunchly committed to fighting against gender bias and unjust inheritance laws, education, and all of the other barriers in Ghana and other parts of Africa that prevent women from the pursuit of their full potential. Eugenia is the founder of Mothers Shea and Chairwoman of Naasakle International. She has been a force in the shea butter industry since 2000 when she founded the initial business Naasakle Ltd to help her aged and ailing mother and empower herself after a divorce that left her with very little in assets and $30 which she called her war chest. She used this money to buy a calabash of shea butter in the market to package and resell togenerate income.Mothers Shea products are found in Target stores in Anthropology and Urban Outfitters, Costco and Macys online, and clean beauty stores like Credo Beauty and Detox Market. Despite many challenges over the years, Eugenia did not give up because her purpose is far bigger than her. She is trying to create change in an entire value chain which is considered liquid gold for poor rural women in Ghana and other African countries across the continent where shea trees are found. Sources of financing mentioned in the podcast:- $30 self-financing- Investing initial profits back into the business- $100,000 USADF grant- Ecobank small business loanYou can follow EuGenia Shea and Mothers Shea on Instagram and Facebook. Mothers Shea products can be found at Target in over 900 stores and Target online. EuGenia Shea products can be found at their website and in retailers such as Credo Beauty, Macys, Anthropology ad Urban Outfitters, and Costco online.--- This episode is sponsored by Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Eugenia Akuete is the true definition of a survivor. Queue Destinys Child Im a survivor, Im gonna make it, Im a survivor, I keep on surviving She is also an avid advocate for women who is staunchly committed to fighting against gender bias and unjust inheritance laws, education, and all of the other barriers in Ghana and other parts of Africa that prevent women from the pursuit of their full potential. Eugenia is the founder of Mothers Shea and Chairwoman of Naasakle International. She has been a force in the shea butter industry since 2000 when she founded the initial business Naasakle Ltd to help her aged and ailing mother and empower herself after a divorce that left her with very little in assets and $30 which she called her war chest. She used this money to buy a calabash of shea butter in the market to package and resell togenerate income.Mothers Shea products are found in Target stores in Anthropology and Urban Outfitters, Costco and Macys online, and clean beauty stores like Credo Beauty and Detox Market. Despite many challenges over the years, Eugenia did not give up because her purpose is far bigger than her. She is trying to create change in an entire value chain which is considered liquid gold for poor rural women in Ghana and other African countries across the continent where shea trees are found. Sources of financing mentioned in the podcast:- $30 self-financing- Investing initial profits back into the business- $100,000 USADF grant- Ecobank small business loanYou can follow EuGenia Shea and Mothers Shea on Instagram and Facebook. Mothers Shea products can be found at Target in over 900 stores and Target online. EuGenia Shea products can be found at their website and in retailers such as Credo Beauty, Macys, Anthropology ad Urban Outfitters, and Costco online.--- This episode is sponsored by Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Eugenia Akuete is the true definition of a survivor. Queue Destinys Child Im a survivor, Im gonna make it, Im a survivor, I keep on surviving She is also an avid advocate for women who is staunchly committed to fighting against gender bias and unjust inheritance laws, education, and all of the other barriers in Ghana and other parts of Africa that prevent women from the pursuit of their full potential. Eugenia is the founder of Mothers Shea and Chairwoman of Naasakle International. She has been a force in the shea butter industry since 2000 when she founded the initial business Naasakle Ltd to help her aged and ailing mother and empower herself after a divorce that left her with very little in assets and $30 which she called her war chest. She used this money to buy a calabash of shea butter in the market to package and resell togenerate income.Mothers Shea products are found in Target stores in Anthropology and Urban Outfitters, Costco and Macys online, and clean beauty stores like Credo Beauty and Detox Market. Despite many challenges over the years, Eugenia did not give up because her purpose is far bigger than her. She is trying to create change in an entire value chain which is considered liquid gold for poor rural women in Ghana and other African countries across the continent where shea trees are found. Sources of financing mentioned in the podcast:- $30 self-financing- Investing initial profits back into the business- $100,000 USADF grant- Ecobank small business loanYou can follow EuGenia Shea and Mothers Shea on Instagram and Facebook. Mothers Shea products can be found at Target in over 900 stores and Target online. EuGenia Shea products can be found at their website and in retailers such as Credo Beauty, Macys, Anthropology ad Urban Outfitters, and Costco online.--- This episode is sponsored by Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Eugenia Akuete is the true definition of a survivor. Queue Destinys Child Im a survivor, Im gonna make it, Im a survivor, I keep on surviving She is also an avid advocate for women who is staunchly committed to fighting against gender bias and unjust inheritance laws, education, and all of the other barriers in Ghana and other parts of Africa that prevent women from the pursuit of their full potential. Eugenia is the founder of Mothers Shea and Chairwoman of Naasakle International. She has been a force in the shea butter industry since 2000 when she founded the initial business Naasakle Ltd to help her aged and ailing mother and empower herself after a divorce that left her with very little in assets and $30 which she called her war chest. She used this money to buy a calabash of shea butter in the market to package and resell togenerate income.Mothers Shea products are found in Target stores in Anthropology and Urban Outfitters, Costco and Macys online, and clean beauty stores like Credo Beauty and Detox Market. Despite many challenges over the years, Eugenia did not give up because her purpose is far bigger than her. She is trying to create change in an entire value chain which is considered liquid gold for poor rural women in Ghana and other African countries across the continent where shea trees are found. Sources of financing mentioned in the podcast:- $30 self-financing- Investing initial profits back into the business- $100,000 USADF grant- Ecobank small business loanYou can follow EuGenia Shea and Mothers Shea on Instagram and Facebook. Mothers Shea products can be found at Target in over 900 stores and Target online. EuGenia Shea products can be found at their website and in retailers such as Credo Beauty, Macys, Anthropology ad Urban Outfitters, and Costco online.--- This episode is sponsored by Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Eugenia Akuete is the true definition of a survivor. Queue Destinys Child Im a survivor, Im gonna make it, Im a survivor, I keep on surviving She is also an avid advocate for women who is staunchly committed to fighting against gender bias and unjust inheritance laws, education, and all of the other barriers in Ghana and other parts of Africa that prevent women from the pursuit of their full potential. Eugenia is the founder of Mothers Shea and Chairwoman of Naasakle International. She has been a force in the shea butter industry since 2000 when she founded the initial business Naasakle Ltd to help her aged and ailing mother and empower herself after a divorce that left her with very little in assets and $30 which she called her war chest. She used this money to buy a calabash of shea butter in the market to package and resell togenerate income.Mothers Shea products are found in Target stores in Anthropology and Urban Outfitters, Costco and Macys online, and clean beauty stores like Credo Beauty and Detox Market. Despite many challenges over the years, Eugenia did not give up because her purpose is far bigger than her. She is trying to create change in an entire value chain which is considered liquid gold for poor rural women in Ghana and other African countries across the continent where shea trees are found. Sources of financing mentioned in the podcast:- $30 self-financing- Investing initial profits back into the business- $100,000 USADF grant- Ecobank small business loanYou can follow EuGenia Shea and Mothers Shea on Instagram and Facebook. Mothers Shea products can be found at Target in over 900 stores and Target online. EuGenia Shea products can be found at their website and in retailers such as Credo Beauty, Macys, Anthropology ad Urban Outfitters, and Costco online.--- This episode is sponsored by Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Eugenia Akuete is the true definition of a survivor. Queue Destinys Child Im a survivor, Im gonna make it, Im a survivor, I keep on surviving She is also an avid advocate for women who is staunchly committed to fighting against gender bias and unjust inheritance laws, education, and all of the other barriers in Ghana and other parts of Africa that prevent women from the pursuit of their full potential. Eugenia is the founder of Mothers Shea and Chairwoman of Naasakle International. She has been a force in the shea butter industry since 2000 when she founded the initial business Naasakle Ltd to help her aged and ailing mother and empower herself after a divorce that left her with very little in assets and $30 which she called her war chest. She used this money to buy a calabash of shea butter in the market to package and resell togenerate income.Mothers Shea products are found in Target stores in Anthropology and Urban Outfitters, Costco and Macys online, and clean beauty stores like Credo Beauty and Detox Market. Despite many challenges over the years, Eugenia did not give up because her purpose is far bigger than her. She is trying to create change in an entire value chain which is considered liquid gold for poor rural women in Ghana and other African countries across the continent where shea trees are found. Sources of financing mentioned in the podcast:- $30 self-financing- Investing initial profits back into the business- $100,000 USADF grant- Ecobank small business loanYou can follow EuGenia Shea and Mothers Shea on Instagram and Facebook. Mothers Shea products can be found at Target in over 900 stores and Target online. EuGenia Shea products can be found at their website and in retailers such as Credo Beauty, Macys, Anthropology ad Urban Outfitters, and Costco online.--- This episode is sponsored by Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Eugenia Akuete is the true definition of a survivor. Queue Destinys Child Im a survivor, Im gonna make it, Im a survivor, I keep on surviving She is also an avid advocate for women who is staunchly committed to fighting against gender bias and unjust inheritance laws, education, and all of the other barriers in Ghana and other parts of Africa that prevent women from the pursuit of their full potential. Eugenia is the founder of Mothers Shea and Chairwoman of Naasakle International. She has been a force in the shea butter industry since 2000 when she founded the initial business Naasakle Ltd to help her aged and ailing mother and empower herself after a divorce that left her with very little in assets and $30 which she called her war chest. She used this money to buy a calabash of shea butter in the market to package and resell togenerate income.Mothers Shea products are found in Target stores in Anthropology and Urban Outfitters, Costco and Macys online, and clean beauty stores like Credo Beauty and Detox Market. Despite many challenges over the years, Eugenia did not give up because her purpose is far bigger than her. She is trying to create change in an entire value chain which is considered liquid gold for poor rural women in Ghana and other African countries across the continent where shea trees are found. Sources of financing mentioned in the podcast:- $30 self-financing- Investing initial profits back into the business- $100,000 USADF grant- Ecobank small business loanYou can follow EuGenia Shea and Mothers Shea on Instagram and Facebook. Mothers Shea products can be found at Target in over 900 stores and Target online. EuGenia Shea products can be found at their website and in retailers such as Credo Beauty, Macys, Anthropology ad Urban Outfitters, and Costco online.--- This episode is sponsored by Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Eugenia Akuete is the true definition of a survivor. Queue Destinys Child Im a survivor, Im gonna make it, Im a survivor, I keep on surviving She is also an avid advocate for women who is staunchly committed to fighting against gender bias and unjust inheritance laws, education, and all of the other barriers in Ghana and other parts of Africa that prevent women from the pursuit of their full potential. Eugenia is the founder of Mothers Shea and Chairwoman of Naasakle International. She has been a force in the shea butter industry since 2000 when she founded the initial business Naasakle Ltd to help her aged and ailing mother and empower herself after a divorce that left her with very little in assets and $30 which she called her war chest. She used this money to buy a calabash of shea butter in the market to package and resell togenerate income.Mothers Shea products are found in Target stores in Anthropology and Urban Outfitters, Costco and Macys online, and clean beauty stores like Credo Beauty and Detox Market. Despite many challenges over the years, Eugenia did not give up because her purpose is far bigger than her. She is trying to create change in an entire value chain which is considered liquid gold for poor rural women in Ghana and other African countries across the continent where shea trees are found. Sources of financing mentioned in the podcast:- $30 self-financing- Investing initial profits back into the business- $100,000 USADF grant- Ecobank small business loanYou can follow EuGenia Shea and Mothers Shea on Instagram and Facebook. Mothers Shea products can be found at Target in over 900 stores and Target online. EuGenia Shea products can be found at their website and in retailers such as Credo Beauty, Macys, Anthropology ad Urban Outfitters, and Costco online.--- This episode is sponsored by Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Eugenia Akuete is the true definition of a survivor. Queue Destinys Child Im a survivor, Im gonna make it, Im a survivor, I keep on surviving She is also an avid advocate for women who is staunchly committed to fighting against gender bias and unjust inheritance laws, education, and all of the other barriers in Ghana and other parts of Africa that prevent women from the pursuit of their full potential. Eugenia is the founder of Mothers Shea and Chairwoman of Naasakle International. She has been a force in the shea butter industry since 2000 when she founded the initial business Naasakle Ltd to help her aged and ailing mother and empower herself after a divorce that left her with very little in assets and $30 which she called her war chest. She used this money to buy a calabash of shea butter in the market to package and resell togenerate income.Mothers Shea products are found in Target stores in Anthropology and Urban Outfitters, Costco and Macys online, and clean beauty stores like Credo Beauty and Detox Market. Despite many challenges over the years, Eugenia did not give up because her purpose is far bigger than her. She is trying to create change in an entire value chain which is considered liquid gold for poor rural women in Ghana and other African countries across the continent where shea trees are found. Sources of financing mentioned in the podcast:- $30 self-financing- Investing initial profits back into the business- $100,000 USADF grant- Ecobank small business loanYou can follow EuGenia Shea and Mothers Shea on Instagram and Facebook. Mothers Shea products can be found at Target in over 900 stores and Target online. EuGenia Shea products can be found at their website and in retailers such as Credo Beauty, Macys, Anthropology ad Urban Outfitters, and Costco online.--- This episode is sponsored by Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Eugenia Akuete is the true definition of a survivor. Queue Destinys Child Im a survivor, Im gonna make it, Im a survivor, I keep on surviving She is also an avid advocate for women who is staunchly committed to fighting against gender bias and unjust inheritance laws, education, and all of the other barriers in Ghana and other parts of Africa that prevent women from the pursuit of their full potential. Eugenia is the founder of Mothers Shea and Chairwoman of Naasakle International. She has been a force in the shea butter industry since 2000 when she founded the initial business Naasakle Ltd to help her aged and ailing mother and empower herself after a divorce that left her with very little in assets and $30 which she called her war chest. She used this money to buy a calabash of shea butter in the market to package and resell togenerate income.Mothers Shea products are found in Target stores in Anthropology and Urban Outfitters, Costco and Macys online, and clean beauty stores like Credo Beauty and Detox Market. Despite many challenges over the years, Eugenia did not give up because her purpose is far bigger than her. She is trying to create change in an entire value chain which is considered liquid gold for poor rural women in Ghana and other African countries across the continent where shea trees are found. Sources of financing mentioned in the podcast:- $30 self-financing- Investing initial profits back into the business- $100,000 USADF grant- Ecobank small business loanYou can follow EuGenia Shea and Mothers Shea on Instagram and Facebook. Mothers Shea products can be found at Target in over 900 stores and Target online. EuGenia Shea products can be found at their website and in retailers such as Credo Beauty, Macys, Anthropology ad Urban Outfitters, and Costco online.--- This episode is sponsored by Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Eugenia Akuete is the true definition of a survivor. Queue Destinys Child Im a survivor, Im gonna make it, Im a survivor, I keep on surviving She is also an avid advocate for women who is staunchly committed to fighting against gender bias and unjust inheritance laws, education, and all of the other barriers in Ghana and other parts of Africa that prevent women from the pursuit of their full potential. Eugenia is the founder of Mothers Shea and Chairwoman of Naasakle International. She has been a force in the shea butter industry since 2000 when she founded the initial business Naasakle Ltd to help her aged and ailing mother and empower herself after a divorce that left her with very little in assets and $30 which she called her war chest. She used this money to buy a calabash of shea butter in the market to package and resell togenerate income.Mothers Shea products are found in Target stores in Anthropology and Urban Outfitters, Costco and Macys online, and clean beauty stores like Credo Beauty and Detox Market. Despite many challenges over the years, Eugenia did not give up because her purpose is far bigger than her. She is trying to create change in an entire value chain which is considered liquid gold for poor rural women in Ghana and other African countries across the continent where shea trees are found. Sources of financing mentioned in the podcast:- $30 self-financing- Investing initial profits back into the business- $100,000 USADF grant- Ecobank small business loanYou can follow EuGenia Shea and Mothers Shea on Instagram and Facebook. Mothers Shea products can be found at Target in over 900 stores and Target online. EuGenia Shea products can be found at their website and in retailers such as Credo Beauty, Macys, Anthropology ad Urban Outfitters, and Costco online.--- This episode is sponsored by Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Eugenia Akuete is the true definition of a survivor. Queue Destinys Child Im a survivor, Im gonna make it, Im a survivor, I keep on surviving She is also an avid advocate for women who is staunchly committed to fighting against gender bias and unjust inheritance laws, education, and all of the other barriers in Ghana and other parts of Africa that prevent women from the pursuit of their full potential. Eugenia is the founder of Mothers Shea and Chairwoman of Naasakle International. She has been a force in the shea butter industry since 2000 when she founded the initial business Naasakle Ltd to help her aged and ailing mother and empower herself after a divorce that left her with very little in assets and $30 which she called her war chest. She used this money to buy a calabash of shea butter in the market to package and resell togenerate income.Mothers Shea products are found in Target stores in Anthropology and Urban Outfitters, Costco and Macys online, and clean beauty stores like Credo Beauty and Detox Market. Despite many challenges over the years, Eugenia did not give up because her purpose is far bigger than her. She is trying to create change in an entire value chain which is considered liquid gold for poor rural women in Ghana and other African countries across the continent where shea trees are found. Sources of financing mentioned in the podcast:- $30 self-financing- Investing initial profits back into the business- $100,000 USADF grant- Ecobank small business loanYou can follow EuGenia Shea and Mothers Shea on Instagram and Facebook. Mothers Shea products can be found at Target in over 900 stores and Target online. EuGenia Shea products can be found at their website and in retailers such as Credo Beauty, Macys, Anthropology ad Urban Outfitters, and Costco online.--- This episode is sponsored by Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Eugenia Akuete is the true definition of a survivor. Queue Destiny's Child “I'm a survivor, I'm gonna make it, I'm a survivor, I keep on surviving…” She is also an avid advocate for women who is staunchly committed to fighting against gender bias and unjust inheritance laws, education, and all of the other barriers in Ghana and other parts of Africa that prevent women from the pursuit of their full potential. Eugenia is the founder of Mother's Shea and Chairwoman of Naasakle International. She has been a force in the shea butter industry since 2000 when she founded the initial business Naasakle Ltd to help her aged and ailing mother and empower herself after a divorce that left her with very little in assets and $30 which she called her war chest. She used this money to buy a calabash of shea butter in the market to package and resell togenerate income.Mother's Shea products are found in Target stores in Anthropology and Urban Outfitters, Costco and Macy's online, and clean beauty stores like Credo Beauty and Detox Market. Despite many challenges over the years, Eugenia did not give up because her purpose is far bigger than her. She is trying to create change in an entire value chain which is considered liquid gold for poor rural women in Ghana and other African countries across the continent where shea trees are found. Sources of financing mentioned in the podcast:- $30 self-financing- Investing initial profits back into the business- $100,000 USADF grant- Ecobank small business loanYou can follow Eu'Genia Shea and Mothers Shea on Instagram and Facebook. Mother's Shea products can be found at Target in over 900 stores and Target online. Eu'Genia Shea products can be found at their website and in retailers such as Credo Beauty, Macy's, Anthropology ad Urban Outfitters, and Costco online.--- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Eugenia Akuete is the true definition of a survivor. Queue Destiny's Child “I'm a survivor, I'm gonna make it, I'm a survivor, I keep on surviving…” She is also an avid advocate for women who is staunchly committed to fighting against gender bias and unjust inheritance laws, education, and all of the other barriers in Ghana and other parts of Africa that prevent women from the pursuit of their full potential. Eugenia is the founder of Mother's Shea and Chairwoman of Naasakle International. She has been a force in the shea butter industry since 2000 when she founded the initial business Naasakle Ltd to help her aged and ailing mother and empower herself after a divorce that left her with very little in assets and $30 which she called her war chest. She used this money to buy a calabash of shea butter in the market to package and resell togenerate income.Mother's Shea products are found in Target stores in Anthropology and Urban Outfitters, Costco and Macy's online, and clean beauty stores like Credo Beauty and Detox Market. Despite many challenges over the years, Eugenia did not give up because her purpose is far bigger than her. She is trying to create change in an entire value chain which is considered liquid gold for poor rural women in Ghana and other African countries across the continent where shea trees are found. Sources of financing mentioned in the podcast:- $30 self-financing- Investing initial profits back into the business- $100,000 USADF grant- Ecobank small business loanYou can follow Eu'Genia Shea and Mothers Shea on Instagram and Facebook. Mother's Shea products can be found at Target in over 900 stores and Target online. Eu'Genia Shea products can be found at their website and in retailers such as Credo Beauty, Macy's, Anthropology ad Urban Outfitters, and Costco online.--- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Eugenia Akuete is the true definition of a survivor. Queue Destiny's Child “I'm a survivor, I'm gonna make it, I'm a survivor, I keep on surviving…” She is also an avid advocate for women who is staunchly committed to fighting against gender bias and unjust inheritance laws, education, and all of the other barriers in Ghana and other parts of Africa that prevent women from the pursuit of their full potential. Eugenia is the founder of Mother's Shea and Chairwoman of Naasakle International. She has been a force in the shea butter industry since 2000 when she founded the initial business Naasakle Ltd to help her aged and ailing mother and empower herself after a divorce that left her with very little in assets and $30 which she called her war chest. She used this money to buy a calabash of shea butter in the market to package and resell to generate income. Over the years the business faced many challenges accessing funding. In the earlier days, banks would not offer a bridge loan and even if a loan were offered, the high-interest rates of up to 28% would have made repayment difficult. One mechanism that Eugenia used to address the cash-flow shortage was to ask customers to pay 20%-50% of their order cost up-front. Most customers obliged but she lost two major customers in the process. Eugenia did not give up because her purpose is far bigger than her. She is trying to create change in an entire value chain which is considered liquid gold for poor rural women in Ghana and other African countries across the continent where shea trees are found. When Eugenia and her business succeed, women shea nut pickers and processors in Ghana benefit from the residual benefits from the growth of a business that does not exist just to make a profit but to change the lives of shea producers and their families. Sources of financing mentioned in the podcast: - $30 self-financing - Investing initial profits back into the business - $100,000 USADF grant - Ecobank small business loan You can follow Eu'Genia Shea and Mothers Shea on Instagram and Facebook. Mother's Shea products can be found at Target in over 900 stores and Target online. Eu'Genia Shea products can be found at their website and in US retailers such as Credo Beauty, Macy's, Anthropology ad Urban Outfitters, and Costco online.

Eugenia Akuete is the true definition of a survivor. Queue Destinys Child Im a survivor, Im gonna make it, Im a survivor, I keep on surviving She is also an avid advocate for women who is staunchly committed to fighting against gender bias and unjust inheritance laws, education, and all of the other barriers in Ghana and other parts of Africa that prevent women from the pursuit of their full potential. Eugenia is the founder of Mothers Shea and Chairwoman of Naasakle International. She has been a force in the shea butter industry since 2000 when she founded the initial business Naasakle Ltd to help her aged and ailing mother and empower herself after a divorce that left her with very little in assets and $30 which she called her war chest. She used this money to buy a calabash of shea butter in the market to package and resell togenerate income.Mothers Shea products are found in Target stores in Anthropology and Urban Outfitters, Costco and Macys online, and clean beauty stores like Credo Beauty and Detox Market. Despite many challenges over the years, Eugenia did not give up because her purpose is far bigger than her. She is trying to create change in an entire value chain which is considered liquid gold for poor rural women in Ghana and other African countries across the continent where shea trees are found. Sources of financing mentioned in the podcast:- $30 self-financing- Investing initial profits back into the business- $100,000 USADF grant- Ecobank small business loanYou can follow EuGenia Shea and Mothers Shea on Instagram and Facebook. Mothers Shea products can be found at Target in over 900 stores and Target online. EuGenia Shea products can be found at their website and in retailers such as Credo Beauty, Macys, Anthropology ad Urban Outfitters, and Costco online.--- This episode is sponsored by Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Eugenia Akuete is the true definition of a survivor. Queue Destiny's Child “I'm a survivor, I'm gonna make it, I'm a survivor, I keep on surviving…” She is also an avid advocate for women who is staunchly committed to fighting against gender bias and unjust inheritance laws, education, and all of the other barriers in Ghana and other parts of Africa that prevent women from the pursuit of their full potential. Eugenia is the founder of Mother's Shea and Chairwoman of Naasakle International. She has been a force in the shea butter industry since 2000 when she founded the initial business Naasakle Ltd to help her aged and ailing mother and empower herself after a divorce that left her with very little in assets and $30 which she called her war chest. She used this money to buy a calabash of shea butter in the market to package and resell togenerate income.Mother's Shea products are found in Target stores in Anthropology and Urban Outfitters, Costco and Macy's online, and clean beauty stores like Credo Beauty and Detox Market. Despite many challenges over the years, Eugenia did not give up because her purpose is far bigger than her. She is trying to create change in an entire value chain which is considered liquid gold for poor rural women in Ghana and other African countries across the continent where shea trees are found. Sources of financing mentioned in the podcast:- $30 self-financing- Investing initial profits back into the business- $100,000 USADF grant- Ecobank small business loanYou can follow Eu'Genia Shea and Mothers Shea on Instagram and Facebook. Mother's Shea products can be found at Target in over 900 stores and Target online. Eu'Genia Shea products can be found at their website and in retailers such as Credo Beauty, Macy's, Anthropology ad Urban Outfitters, and Costco online.--- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Eugenia Akuete is the true definition of a survivor. Queue Destiny's Child “I'm a survivor, I'm gonna make it, I'm a survivor, I keep on surviving…” She is also an avid advocate for women who is staunchly committed to fighting against gender bias and unjust inheritance laws, education, and all of the other barriers in Ghana and other parts of Africa that prevent women from the pursuit of their full potential. Eugenia is the founder of Mother's Shea and Chairwoman of Naasakle International. She has been a force in the shea butter industry since 2000 when she founded the initial business Naasakle Ltd to help her aged and ailing mother and empower herself after a divorce that left her with very little in assets and $30 which she called her war chest. She used this money to buy a calabash of shea butter in the market to package and resell togenerate income. Mother's Shea products are found in Target stores in Anthropology and Urban Outfitters, Costco and Macy's online, and clean beauty stores like Credo Beauty and Detox Market. Despite many challenges over the years, Eugenia did not give up because her purpose is far bigger than her. She is trying to create change in an entire value chain which is considered liquid gold for poor rural women in Ghana and other African countries across the continent where shea trees are found. Sources of financing mentioned in the podcast: - $30 self-financing - Investing initial profits back into the business - $100,000 USADF grant - Ecobank small business loan You can follow Eu'Genia Shea and Mothers Shea on Instagram and Facebook. Mother's Shea products can be found at Target in over 900 stores and Target online. Eu'Genia Shea products can be found at their website and in retailers such as Credo Beauty, Macy's, Anthropology ad Urban Outfitters, and Costco online. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Depuis le 13 juin, les pays pauvres et notamment les pays africains bénéficient d’un moratoire sur le remboursement de leur dette publique dans la cadre de la réponse à la pandémie de Covid-19. Mais il reste la dette privée, souvent très lourde et pour laquelle les créanciers sont réticents à faire un geste. Jusqu’alors, les prêteurs internationaux exprimaient leur réserves, c’est désormais au tour des banques africaines de mettre en garde leurs Etats contre toute velléité d’annulation des dettes privées. Le 13 juin dernier, le club de Paris a officiellement suspendu les remboursements de dettes publiques d’un groupe de pays en développement. Moins de deux jours plus tard, la grande agence de notation américaine Moody’s abaissait la note de plusieurs pays dont le Sénégal et la Côte d’Ivoire. Cette sanction n’a pas vraiment surpris les banquiers africains.  Ade Ayeyemi est le directeur général d’Ecobank, deuxième banque d’Afrique subsaharienne. Interrogé dans le cadre d’une conférence virtuelle organisée par l’agence Bloomberg, il estime nécessaire pour les pays africains de garder la confiance de leurs créanciers. « Vous pouvez restructurer vos dettes, mais l’annulation n’est pas une option, parce que l’argent que vous devez est en fait l’épargne de quelqu’un d’autre », dit Ade Ayeyemi. Puis d’ajouter : « Il est toujours important de penser à cela avant de chercher à faire annuler sa dette. Et je pense que seuls les pays qui ont des plans précis sur la façon de relever leur économie seront ceux qui auront accès aux marchés financiers. »  ► À écouter aussi : Pourquoi le coronavirus doit conduire à l’annulation de la dette africaine Des marchés financiers nerveux  Pour l’heure, les agences de notation demandent aux pays africains de clarifier leur position vis-à-vis de leurs créanciers privés. Car, comme l’explique le patron d’Equity Bank, numéro un kényan, les marchés financiers sont nerveux. « Les marchés financiers fonctionnent bien, parce qu’ils sont prévisibles. Et l’annulation de dette n’est pas une méthode jugée prévisible par ces marchés. Elle renseigne sur la solvabilité d’un pays. Dans une large mesure, l’annulation de dette est une forme de défaut de paiement. Cela fausse les règles du marché. Nous devons tous être conscients des conséquences », alerte-t-il.  La dégradation des notes souveraines de certains pays a des conséquences immédiates puisqu’ils emprunteront à l’avenir à des taux d’intérêt plus élevés. Or l’Afrique fait de plus en plus appel au marché des euros bonds pour financer son développement. C’est ce que soulignait récemment le ministre des Finances du Bénin, pays qui a décidé de ne pas suspendre le remboursement de sa dette publique comme proposé par le G20. 

Ecobank Nigeria on Thursday disclosed that it has resolve to send an appeal to the Federal High Court, on the judgement of the Tax Appeal Tribunal (TAT), sitting in Lagos, in respect of a disputed tax liability between the bank and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) for the 2015 financial year. The bank explained in a statement, that the decision of the TAT was, “for it to pay excess dividend tax on the dividend sum of N5,545,000,000 declared by the Bank from its 2015 financial accounts --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Rufaro Mucheka shines a bright light on Africa in this episode. While people often look to mature markets to see trends and developments, Rufaro shares why we should all have an eye on the innovations coming out of Africa. You'll Learn About Rwanda's incredible developments over the last 25 years. That Rwanda is aspiring to become the financial center and fintech hub in Africa. How fintechs are influencing the financial sector throughout Africa, including bridging the gap of the financially excluded in rural areas. That financial planning now exists in Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire. How expansive and important entrepreneurship is in West Africa. A growing area for financial planners in South Africa - voice and digital departments (‘call centres'). What Nedbank's financial planners spend the bulk of their time on (not calculations!). The importance of all women being educated. Why Africa is the best place to test new technology Guest Bio Dr Rufaro Mucheka is Head of Strategy & Rest of Africa at Nedbank Wealth, South Africa. She has spent extensive periods with their partner Ecobank in West Africa setting up a Wealth Management business. As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER professional, she writes thought leadership articles for publications and gives talks on financial advice. Resources Rufaro's LinkedIn Rwanda's Economic Outlook 2020 FINTEX Africa: Africa's Flagship Banking & Fintech Innovation Event  M-Pesa Nedbank Ecobank Eva: Nedgroup Investments Digital Advisor Zipline: Vital, On-Demand Delivery for the World

All is set for Ecobank Nigeria’s 2020 Regional Trade Forum in Lagos. The forum taking place in March will be a two-day event, providing the opportunity for exporters and importers within the African region to exhibit their products in a marketplace scenario with panel discussions by highly experienced and diversified stakeholders and leaders of thought in the industry. Announcing the Trade Forum in Lagos, Sunday Abah, Head Trade Finance of Ecobank Nigeria said Ecobank is using the forum to unveil its comprehensive trade solutions to its existing and prospective customers alike by sharing the various payment methods available to facilitate cross border trade throughout its network across Africa. According to him, Ecobank recognizes the role of exporters and importers in driving economies through trade. “By creating a networking forum for importers and exporters via the trade exhibition slated for the first day of the forum, the Bank extends support to stakeholders in export and import businesses. Ecobank’s trade products and solutions are designed around two broad areas: Trade finance which enables customers benefit from adequate and well-mitigated credit facilitation in the area of Import finance, export finance, bill discounting, trade loans, distributor finance, structured trade and commodity finance amongst others --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Créée à Lomé , Togo, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated est la maison mère du groupe Ecobank, le principal groupe bancaire régional indépendant pan-africain. Elle est présente en Guinée depuis mai 1999 et fait partie actuellement des banques leaders sur le marché. Le groupe est présent dans 33 pays africains. Ecobank offre des produits et services de la banque de grande clientèle, banque de détail, banque d’investissement et les services monétiques aux gouvernements, institutions financières, aux sociétés multinationales, organisations internationales, aux petites, moyennes et micro entreprises et aux particuliers. Avec l'appui d'ECOBANK GUINEE, Nous allons accompagner des Guinéens comme Nouhou, Saliou, Mabinty, Joseph et de nombreux autres vers les métiers du numérique, par le salariat ou l'entrepreneuriat. Nous allons mettre notre réseau d'Experts bienveillants à leur service. Abonnez vous sur iTunes / Spotify ou rendez vous sur notre site : http://www.podcast.10000codeurs.com Partagez autour de vous et aussi laissez nous un gentil commentaire avec 5 étoiles ! Contacter 10000 Codeurs sur: Linkedin / Facebook/ Twitter et Instagram

Here's the Producer's Cut of this week's show featuring: Gavin Montgomery of WoodMcKenzie who shares his insights into the way electric vehicles will take over from internal combustion engines - and how that will impact the price of metals like nickel, cobalt and lithium. Kokkie Kooyman of Denker Capital, a global expert on financial services, applies his mind to Nedbank's retrenchment of 1 500 staff and its travails with the 20% stake in turbulent Ecobank. Nick Binedell, former dean at GIBS and a key player in the Public Private Growth Initiative shares some good news on its progress - and how South Africa has imported a formula from Japan that is showing early success. SA's favourite market commentator David Shapiro applies his mind and experience to the fracas between Old Mutual and its former CEO Peter Moyo which it is now being forced by the courts to re-hire. Star play for the show, former head of SA Revenue Services investigations team Johann van Loggerenberg talks about his new book, Tobacco Wars, which blows the top off an industry wracked by fraud and tax cheating - including at market leader BAT.

On this LAB Radio, episode Chris Groshong chats with Will McDonough, founder of iCash which provides a Proof of Trust Protocol (PoT). This enables powerful use cases like smart contract validation, settlement and Blockchain insurance. Will McDonough, founder of iCash Will McDonough is an investor and entrepreneur whose storied career ranges from sports and entertainment management to the world of global finance. In 2014, McDonough led the Initial Public Offering for Atlas Mara (ATMA:LSE) with co-founder and former Barclays CEO Bob Diamond, for a market cap of $825 million after acquiring eight banks in Sub-Saharan Africa. Today, Atlas Mara has more than 3,500 employees and is operated by former executives of the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Barclays, Standard Chartered and Ecobank. Prior to founding Atlas, McDonough and his team in the Investment Management Division of Goldman Sachs managed more than $17 billion in private capital of the firm’s current and retired partners. While at Goldman, he co-founded the Goldman Sachs Builders & Innovators Summit, an industry-leading conference bringing together the top 100 entrepreneurs in the world every year. Prior to Goldman, McDonough partnered with New York-based Avenue Capital Group to co-found a $250 million distressed debt fund called Avenue Strategic Partners. Since 2001, he has run his own highly successful management company called MMG, which has represented the licensing and partnerships interests of many high-profile individuals, iconic brands, and venerable estates including The Estate of Nelson Mandela, New England Patriots Quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady, and supermodel/activist Gisele Bundchen. MMG also co-founded a children’s entertainment company with Andy Heyward, Warren Buffett, Martha Stewart, Stan Lee and Arnold Schwarzenegger to build educational content for children. iCash, a Proof of Trust (PoT) protocol assuring accurate data from Blockchain transactions iCash’s is a Blockchain-agnostic Proof of Trust (PoT) protocol which provides distributed trust for data input. This means assuring data is accurate using this construct for services like validating smart contract settlements and Blockchain Insurance. Just as courts and lawyers provide validate appeals processes for paper contracts, iCash’s PoT Delegates provide the same process for digital Smart Contracts. While proof of stake and proof of work are certainly breakthrough tech, there is currently no system in place to assure users that the data inputs are accurate. After listening to this episode you will learn: About Will's origin story and how he got started as a childhood entrepreneur How Will got into Boston College after initially being rejected Why he built a company with Tom Brady and represented such figures as Nelson Mandela financially What a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) is and the benefit of operating as one Creating a company ("fund of funds") that provided exclusive access to hedge fund managers that money couldn't buy How he developed relationships with JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Why settlement in Blockchain transactions are not always accurate and why that's a pain point for institutional traders What Proof of Trust (PoT) is and how it works? About iCash positioning as an independent third party insurance provider of Crypto (like buying it for your car) How iCash uses Delegates (third-party Oracles) which can be configured for public or private Blockchains For show notes and more visit: LAB Radio

Today we take the opportunity to delve more into the nuances of demand creation and behavior change as they pertain to the African market. Tara Squire, the Head of Consumer Banking (for Anglophone West Africa) at Ecobank known as the pan African bank, gives us insight into demand creation and behavior change using his own experience in banking and telecommunications in West Africa.

Ecobank Kenya MD predicts EA Economic growth

Voters in Cameroon are expected to go to the polls in October for presidential elections that will challenge the 35-year-rule of incumbent President Paul Biya. And one man is hoping to bring Biya's reign to an end. Akere Muna has been described by some as the most credible possible successor to the Cameroonian leader. The former vice chair of Transparency International has already declared himself as a candidate in the race for the country's top job. He created the Now Movement aimed at “bringing together Cameroonians from all walks of life”. Muna also serves as the sanctions commissioner for the African Development Bank and served as chairman of the Ecobank board in Cameroon. Raised in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon and having developed a successful law firm in Yaoundé, Muna says he can help “bridge” the divide between Anglophones and Francophones given the ongoing crisis in the north-west and south-west of the country. However, his declared candidacy for the presidency flies in the face of the more established political opposition and he challenges an incumbent who has ruled the country since 1982. Spotlight on Africa spoke to Akere Muna… Do you really think you've got any chance in beating President Paul Biya in the elections? We're talking about someone who's been in power for 35 years. You're talking about President Paul Biya, I'm talking about Cameroonians, who really know the country's in danger of imploding. They know that their livelihood is in danger because the system doesn't work. They know that the infrastructure is at an ebb low. And they know that the justice system is not one that protects them. So I'm talking about the people, you can talk about Biya. I'm not worried about him, I'm worried about the Cameroonian people. What I'm telling them is that we can fix this. It also seems as if you're making the assumption that the elections will be free and fair. I'm a lawyer by profession, I know what the laws are. I know that the way that they're made, they're made to suit the incumbent. But that's a given and to try and think that you can change the law that you're now at elections – it's a distraction. But I think there's no fraudulent machine that can be above the will of the people. I'm telling you, I've travelled up and down the country and the will and desire for change is very high. They can try to fraud all they want, but I don't think that that can be above the will of the people. Why did you decide to go it alone in the formation of your own party? I didn't go it alone and this gives me the opportunity to set it correct. I am non-partisan and I created a movement known as the Now Movement which is not a political party and non-partisan. But there is a group of parties who created the Platform for a New Republic and they're supporting me. The Platform for a New Republic is a group of political parties, trade unions, civil society organisations and certain political personalities who support me. So I'm not going it alone and I'm a declared candidate. I think we're now trying to get people to register because the register of non-voters in the last election in 2011 were more in number than those who voted for President Paul Biya. So we're trying to get Cameroonians to register, to vote and to control and make sure their votes are counted. When we get to that point I'm sure, when all the candidates are in, the members of the opposition, we'll sit down and have a talk. We're now just making sure that Cameroonians are aware about the importance of these elections. Do you have the support of the Social Democratic Front, one of the country's main opposition parties? The Social Democratic Front has already elected its own flag bearer for the elections. I am representing a different group. But as I say, at this moment we're now getting Cameroonians sensitised, I think coalitions and alliances are sometime down the road and I think they'll happen. Who do you think you appeal to - do you appeal to Francophones? Do you appeal to Anglophones? You yourself, you're from the north-west region, but you founded your business in Yaoundé and spent a lot of time there. Yes, 40 years of legal practice. I tell you this, I appeal to Cameroonians because of my background. Many of them consider me a bridge, so I don't think that I'm really affected by this divide. There's Anglophones who feel I'm a Francophone. I'm not really bothered by that. I think that we have an Anglophone crisis in hand and I am better placed to understand it because I know what's going on and I'm a victim of it, I've been a victim of it myself. I've written extensively about the mismanagement of the diversity of our country. As it stands, I think working with Francophones, working with the government and working internationally, I've come away with experience in governance, which is really my anchor in my career. I was vice chair of TI [Transparency International] for nine years. I worked for the African Peer Review Mechanism. I was president of the Economic and Social Council of the African Union, doing governance work for the African Development Bank. Cameroon has a huge governance problem and this is exacerbating the other problems. I think I do know what our country needs. It's a good dose of resetting the country and making sure all identities are protected. And make sure that Cameroonians can actually live in a country that is working for them. You mentioned the Anglophone crisis – is it really actually a good idea trying to run an election while this crisis continues? Will it actually be possible to hold any kind of vote in the north-west and south-west regions? I'm looking for a solution to a problem and I'm saying that the solution is the ballot, not the bullet, as easy as that. If anybody has a better solution, I'm ready to listen. There's a government that's closing its ears not to see and its eyes not to hear. They don't want to deal with any of this. So what do you want me to do? I'm saying, the Francophones think it's time for a change. The Anglophones are suffering because things are not going better. The only way to move ahead is to galvanise and get ready to vote and change the government. Changing the country doesn't help [regarding the breakaway state of Ambazonia], it can't happen without bloodshed. So I'm saying, let's change the government. And this can be done, that's my message to all Cameroonian people. Let us make sure that we can see the back of this government and be able to rebuild a new republic. A country where every identity is protected, as easy as that. We're going to have elections, of course that's why I'm travelling talking to Cameroonians in the diaspora who have a very heavy influence on Cameroonians back home. Tell them to tell their brothers, sisters and other Anglophones back home that it is important to vote. The government knows this and is trying to make sure that parts of the Anglophone regions will get so tense that they don't want to vote. Of course, such an imputation of a part of the electorate will only be good for the government and not for any opposition candidate. So we can't fall into that trap, we know it's wrong, we know it's difficult, but it's important to get out and vote. That is the route towards the future. Your father was Salomon Tandeng Muna who was prime minister of West Cameroon. Not all Anglophones really agree with your father's contribution in terms of the unification of Cameroon. So given that you're in some way you're trying to follow in your father's footsteps, do you think that you're acceptable to Anglophones given those divides within the Anglophone community? I don't know if my father, who died in 2002, is running for any office. My name is Akere Muna. I have my own prerogatives. I don't know who says that I'm following in my father's footsteps. What I'm saying is simple. We're in a country where those who are the most disadvantaged are suffering and I'm trying to work for Cameroonians. Regardless of whether they're Anglophones or Francophones. It is true at this particular moment, the Anglophones are really carrying the heavy part of the burden. Their villages have been burnt, they're suffering. I'm saying that this government now is not listening. Those who want to manage my father's existence, I'll leave them to manage that. I have a simple mission that I've fixed for myself – to make sure that we can have a country that protects its own peoples. I am 66 and if people want to look at me through the prism of my father then that's their problem to deal with. I don't know who their own fathers are – it's not an argument about whose father did what. Going back to the Anglophone situation in the country – how would you solve the situation, how would you solve the problem? It is easy. I think that in any union, the best protection you can have to parts of the union, is the protection of the identity of every union. I think that a federated form of the state is one of those guarantees you have. People tend to forget that when in 1972, President Ahidjo opted out of a federal system to a unitary system. He said this, ‘the federal system has permitted us to consolidate national unity, therefore the federal system permits the individual identities to be protected and to feel part of the union'. Now what has happened is the total erosion of the cultures of the country. The microcultures – Anglophone and Francophone - eroded, judicial system eroded, education system eroded and the frustrations have increased. Everybody who wants this country to have a place in the future knows that every identity of the country has to be protected and respected. Only a federal system, as it stands, can guarantee that. That's what we're fighting for – a federal system that will protect the identity of different cultures. Secondly, make sure that refugees can come back home, make sure that all political prisoners are released. And make sure that we can start building a country for everyone. You said union there several times, so do we presume that you don't agree with the separatists, those who've self-declared so-called Ambazonia. Disagreeing is a very loose term. The government has said Cameroonians want to be indivisible, so they're putting nothing on the table. There's these Cameroonians - who feel frustrated and feel that there's nothing on offer – are now saying that they'll go to a different country. I'm saying that you don't want to change the country, you want to change the government. I'm saying that the system that will better protect the rights of all the minorities in that country is the federal system. It's not a question of agreeing or disagreeing about Ambazonia. It's a question of giving a prescription of what can fix the mess that we're in. Maybe we can be a bit more specific – what would you put on the table? A federal system, I just said that.

Voters in Cameroon are expected to go to the polls in October for presidential elections that will challenge the 35-year-rule of incumbent President Paul Biya. And one man is hoping to bring Biya’s reign to an end. Akere Muna has been described by some as the most credible possible successor to the Cameroonian leader. The former vice chair of Transparency International has already declared himself as a candidate in the race for the country’s top job. He created the Now Movement aimed at “bringing together Cameroonians from all walks of life”. Muna also serves as the sanctions commissioner for the African Development Bank and served as chairman of the Ecobank board in Cameroon. Raised in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon and having developed a successful law firm in Yaoundé, Muna says he can help “bridge” the divide between Anglophones and Francophones given the ongoing crisis in the north-west and south-west of the country. However, his declared candidacy for the presidency flies in the face of the more established political opposition and he challenges an incumbent who has ruled the country since 1982. Spotlight on Africa spoke to Akere Muna… Do you really think you’ve got any chance in beating President Paul Biya in the elections? We’re talking about someone who’s been in power for 35 years. You’re talking about President Paul Biya, I’m talking about Cameroonians, who really know the country’s in danger of imploding. They know that their livelihood is in danger because the system doesn’t work. They know that the infrastructure is at an ebb low. And they know that the justice system is not one that protects them. So I’m talking about the people, you can talk about Biya. I’m not worried about him, I’m worried about the Cameroonian people. What I’m telling them is that we can fix this. It also seems as if you’re making the assumption that the elections will be free and fair. I’m a lawyer by profession, I know what the laws are. I know that the way that they’re made, they’re made to suit the incumbent. But that’s a given and to try and think that you can change the law that you’re now at elections – it’s a distraction. But I think there’s no fraudulent machine that can be above the will of the people. I’m telling you, I’ve travelled up and down the country and the will and desire for change is very high. They can try to fraud all they want, but I don’t think that that can be above the will of the people. Why did you decide to go it alone in the formation of your own party? I didn’t go it alone and this gives me the opportunity to set it correct. I am non-partisan and I created a movement known as the Now Movement which is not a political party and non-partisan. But there is a group of parties who created the Platform for a New Republic and they’re supporting me. The Platform for a New Republic is a group of political parties, trade unions, civil society organisations and certain political personalities who support me. So I’m not going it alone and I’m a declared candidate. I think we’re now trying to get people to register because the register of non-voters in the last election in 2011 were more in number than those who voted for President Paul Biya. So we’re trying to get Cameroonians to register, to vote and to control and make sure their votes are counted. When we get to that point I’m sure, when all the candidates are in, the members of the opposition, we’ll sit down and have a talk. We’re now just making sure that Cameroonians are aware about the importance of these elections. Do you have the support of the Social Democratic Front, one of the country’s main opposition parties? The Social Democratic Front has already elected its own flag bearer for the elections. I am representing a different group. But as I say, at this moment we’re now getting Cameroonians sensitised, I think coalitions and alliances are sometime down the road and I think they’ll happen. Who do you think you appeal to - do you appeal to Francophones? Do you appeal to Anglophones? You yourself, you’re from the north-west region, but you founded your business in Yaoundé and spent a lot of time there. Yes, 40 years of legal practice. I tell you this, I appeal to Cameroonians because of my background. Many of them consider me a bridge, so I don’t think that I’m really affected by this divide. There’s Anglophones who feel I’m a Francophone. I’m not really bothered by that. I think that we have an Anglophone crisis in hand and I am better placed to understand it because I know what’s going on and I’m a victim of it, I’ve been a victim of it myself. I’ve written extensively about the mismanagement of the diversity of our country. As it stands, I think working with Francophones, working with the government and working internationally, I’ve come away with experience in governance, which is really my anchor in my career. I was vice chair of TI [Transparency International] for nine years. I worked for the African Peer Review Mechanism. I was president of the Economic and Social Council of the African Union, doing governance work for the African Development Bank. Cameroon has a huge governance problem and this is exacerbating the other problems. I think I do know what our country needs. It’s a good dose of resetting the country and making sure all identities are protected. And make sure that Cameroonians can actually live in a country that is working for them. You mentioned the Anglophone crisis – is it really actually a good idea trying to run an election while this crisis continues? Will it actually be possible to hold any kind of vote in the north-west and south-west regions? I’m looking for a solution to a problem and I’m saying that the solution is the ballot, not the bullet, as easy as that. If anybody has a better solution, I’m ready to listen. There’s a government that’s closing its ears not to see and its eyes not to hear. They don’t want to deal with any of this. So what do you want me to do? I’m saying, the Francophones think it’s time for a change. The Anglophones are suffering because things are not going better. The only way to move ahead is to galvanise and get ready to vote and change the government. Changing the country doesn’t help [regarding the breakaway state of Ambazonia], it can’t happen without bloodshed. So I’m saying, let’s change the government. And this can be done, that’s my message to all Cameroonian people. Let us make sure that we can see the back of this government and be able to rebuild a new republic. A country where every identity is protected, as easy as that. We’re going to have elections, of course that’s why I’m travelling talking to Cameroonians in the diaspora who have a very heavy influence on Cameroonians back home. Tell them to tell their brothers, sisters and other Anglophones back home that it is important to vote. The government knows this and is trying to make sure that parts of the Anglophone regions will get so tense that they don’t want to vote. Of course, such an imputation of a part of the electorate will only be good for the government and not for any opposition candidate. So we can’t fall into that trap, we know it’s wrong, we know it’s difficult, but it’s important to get out and vote. That is the route towards the future. Your father was Salomon Tandeng Muna who was prime minister of West Cameroon. Not all Anglophones really agree with your father’s contribution in terms of the unification of Cameroon. So given that you’re in some way you’re trying to follow in your father’s footsteps, do you think that you’re acceptable to Anglophones given those divides within the Anglophone community? I don’t know if my father, who died in 2002, is running for any office. My name is Akere Muna. I have my own prerogatives. I don’t know who says that I’m following in my father’s footsteps. What I’m saying is simple. We’re in a country where those who are the most disadvantaged are suffering and I’m trying to work for Cameroonians. Regardless of whether they’re Anglophones or Francophones. It is true at this particular moment, the Anglophones are really carrying the heavy part of the burden. Their villages have been burnt, they’re suffering. I’m saying that this government now is not listening. Those who want to manage my father’s existence, I’ll leave them to manage that. I have a simple mission that I’ve fixed for myself – to make sure that we can have a country that protects its own peoples. I am 66 and if people want to look at me through the prism of my father then that’s their problem to deal with. I don’t know who their own fathers are – it’s not an argument about whose father did what. Going back to the Anglophone situation in the country – how would you solve the situation, how would you solve the problem? It is easy. I think that in any union, the best protection you can have to parts of the union, is the protection of the identity of every union. I think that a federated form of the state is one of those guarantees you have. People tend to forget that when in 1972, President Ahidjo opted out of a federal system to a unitary system. He said this, ‘the federal system has permitted us to consolidate national unity, therefore the federal system permits the individual identities to be protected and to feel part of the union’. Now what has happened is the total erosion of the cultures of the country. The microcultures – Anglophone and Francophone - eroded, judicial system eroded, education system eroded and the frustrations have increased. Everybody who wants this country to have a place in the future knows that every identity of the country has to be protected and respected. Only a federal system, as it stands, can guarantee that. That’s what we’re fighting for – a federal system that will protect the identity of different cultures. Secondly, make sure that refugees can come back home, make sure that all political prisoners are released. And make sure that we can start building a country for everyone. You said union there several times, so do we presume that you don’t agree with the separatists, those who’ve self-declared so-called Ambazonia. Disagreeing is a very loose term. The government has said Cameroonians want to be indivisible, so they’re putting nothing on the table. There’s these Cameroonians - who feel frustrated and feel that there’s nothing on offer – are now saying that they’ll go to a different country. I’m saying that you don’t want to change the country, you want to change the government. I’m saying that the system that will better protect the rights of all the minorities in that country is the federal system. It’s not a question of agreeing or disagreeing about Ambazonia. It’s a question of giving a prescription of what can fix the mess that we’re in. Maybe we can be a bit more specific – what would you put on the table? A federal system, I just said that.

The week ending 11th May 2018 saw MTN been sanction by Iran in their scramble to extract about €60million from its Iranian business; Naspers sells their stakes in Flipkart to a sizable chunk; Ecobank opens applications to 2nd to Fintech challenge and leaders in several African tech ecosystems are embracing the enablement of digital and business policies. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The week ending 11th May 2018 saw MTN been sanction by Iran in their scramble to extract about €60million from its Iranian business; Naspers sells their stakes in Flipkart to a sizable chunk; Ecobank opens applications to 2nd to Fintech challenge and leaders in several African tech ecosystems are embracing the enablement of digital and business policies. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://anchor.fm/africa-podcast-network/support

The week ending 11th May 2018 saw MTN been sanction by Iran in their scramble to extract about €60million from its Iranian business; Naspers sells their stakes in Flipkart to a sizable chunk; Ecobank opens applications to 2nd to Fintech challenge and leaders in several African tech ecosystems are embracing the enablement of digital and business policies. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/africanperspective/support

The week ending 11th May 2018 saw MTN been sanction by Iran in their scramble to extract about €60million from its Iranian business; Naspers sells their stakes in Flipkart to a sizable chunk; Ecobank opens applications to 2nd to Fintech challenge and leaders in several African tech ecosystems are embracing the enablement of digital and business policies. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/africabusinessnews/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/africabusinessnews/support

This is the most fun show we’ve done in ages, or maybe ever. My friend Jean-Stephane Gourevitch offered to gather some really interesting people in London to talk about the data economy. We finally sat down last fall, during London’s Regtech Rising conference, and wow, did we talk. Jean-Stephane himself is French, based in London, and works with fintech startups throughout the world. His guests were, first, Edward George, who leads both research and the UK representative office for the pan-African bank, Ecobank. We also had Fiona Ghosh, a top London lawyer in the financial and fintech space -- Fiona is a partner at Addleshaw Goddard. Our other two participants have both founded young fintechs. Lukas Zoerner is CEO of Mespo, a fully independent robo money saver. And Luca Schnettler, from Germany, has founded HealthyHealth, which uses data to change the insurance world and to make people...healthier. We had an incredible conversation. We talked about how Europe’s new data regulations -- PSD2 and the GDPR -- will change banking and fintech (which, by the way, is a revolution that’s being under-discussed in the United States). We covered the opportunities that fintech is opening up in the developing world and especially Africa, where suddenly it’s possible, through the mobile phone, to bring banking to hundreds of millions of people who couldn’t be profitably served before. We talked about the future of cash. We figured out what regulators need to do. For me, probably the most riveting moments were a debate that broke out between the two fintech CEO’s -- both millennials -- who turned out to have strikingly different views about how data should be used, and also about consumers’ responsibility for securing their own wellbeing. I’ve never heard a discussion quite like it. So, we had six people around the table, counting me. It was a yeasty mixture of nationalities, languages, ages, continents, professional expertise, products, and target markets -- and with everyone having a whole lot to say. More about today’s guests Jean-Stephane Gourévitch Jean-Stéphane is an expert of the strategic, public policy and market aspects of digital/mobile payments, mobile money, digital/mobile banking, digital/mobile commerce, fintech, the data economy and innovation ecosystem with over 25 years global experience at senior management levels and a mix of corporate and entrepreneurial experience. He has held senior management positions with International telecom operators including Everything Everywhere Ltd. (EE), Orange, France Telecom, Verizon Business, Colt Technology Services Ltd. He has worked for OFCOM, the UK digital communications regulator. He also has held senior positions with Deloitte Consulting and with strategic marketing and PR/Communications firms. Jean-Stephane created his own management consulting company 5 years ago, combining strategic, public policy and commercial vision about digital convergence, fintech, insurtech and the data economy. He also has global experience mentoring and advising entrepreneurs and start-ups, in particular very young entrepreneurs. A frequent speaker on fintech, payments and insurtech, Jean-Stephane has addressed events such as Fintech Connect Live, Pay Expo, and Money2020. He is also an independent conference director, creating programs/content for major conferences such as Fintech Connect Live in London, INPAYCO Digital Payments in Toronto and Paris, Mobile Payments: Regulation, Risks and Opportunities in Berlin and London, the Africa Fintech Forum in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. As a mentor and advisor to 24 fintech, insurtech and digital technologies startups and to young entrepreneurs in Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin and North America, Jean-Stephane’s expertise lies in strategy, business development, regulatory affairs, public policy, Government Relations, stakeholder relationships management, communication and PR. Edward George Twitter @DrTeddGeorge Dr. Edward George is the head of the UK representative office of pan-African bank, Ecobank, as well as being head of group research. Edward oversees the teams in the London office, with a focus on corporate banking, financial institutions/international organisations and research. As head of research he also manages a team of nine analysts based across Middle Africa covering the fixed-income, currencies and commodities space. His specialties include soft commodities and agribusiness, trade and trade finance, and disruptive technology. Edward is also the bank’s specialist on Francophone West Africa and Lusophone Africa. Prior to joining Ecobank in March 2011 he worked for The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for seven years as a Senior Editor in both the Commodities and Africa Departments. There he was responsible for producing and editing reports on Lusophone and Francophone Africa, as well as on 25 industrial raw materials, food, feedstuffs and beverages. Before joining the EIU, Edward worked as a freelance writer covering the politics and economics of Sub-Saharan Africa. A linguist by training, Edward is fluent in French, Spanish and Portuguese and holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Bristol. His PhD thesis on the Cuban intervention in Angola was published as a book by Routledge in 2005 and as a paperback in December 2012. Luca Schnettler Luca started HealthyHealth  in January 2017 to realize his vision of using digital means to innovate the insurance sector and help customers become healthy individuals. Before having any partners or advisors, Luca was able to persist and focus on the objective, following his goal and passion of building a company that truly changes customers perception on Insurance and helps them to improve their health. Lukas Zoerner Twitter @lczoerner Lukas Zoerner is the Founder and CEO of Mespo, a fully independent robo money saver that detects and executes savings opportunities for consumers. Mespo has established a UK's market first partnership between a FinTech such as Mespo and a Credit Union, My Community Bank. Mespo won the UK's Fintech For All 2017 Financial Inclusion challenge in the category "New Fintechs". Lukas previously worked in Morgan Stanley's investment banking division advising Power & Utility companies across EMEA. He holds a degree in business administration from the University of Mannheim in Germany. Fiona Ghosh Fiona is a Partner in Addleshaw Goddard's Commercial Group, specialising in complex commercial, IS, payment and FinTech arrangements, particularly in the financial services sector where she has focused her practice for more than a decade. Fiona heads the firm’s FinTech Group. Her work has included bringing new payment solutions, including ApplePay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay, to market. She is an appointed expert on the editorial board of the Payments & Fin Tech Lawyer journal. Fiona's expertise also includes outsourcing and other complex commercial arrangements in the investment banking, retail banking, insurance and asset management sectors. She has longstanding experience in strategic advisory work, negotiation and drafting of multijurisdictional business process outsourcings, including back and middle office, platform integration, facilities management and global administration services for multinational corporations, banks, asset managers and global insurers. A leader in her field on advice relating to strategic alliances and joint ventures, Fiona has led several international joint venture arrangements for the provision of pensions, credit cards, loans, mortgages and related insurance products acting for both retailers and for providers. She also specialises in advising in the field of retail payments including payment services and commercial arrangements relating to digital and mobile payment solutions, payment aggregation and merchant acquiry in the UK, US and further afield. Fiona is a regular speaker at international conferences and events on FinTech and payments law including Pay Expo Europe, the Westminster Forum Projects and Digital Payments Intensive. More Links Ecobank Research portal Ecobank Twitter account: @ecobankresearch Edward George: ‘Banks are in danger of becoming utilities’ Africa FICC      It’s the disruption that matters All Hands on Bank: How Mobile Banking is Changing Personal Finance AG Elevate GDPR PSD2 Sanjay Jain Podcast on Barefoot Innovation AFI Podcast on Barefoot Innovation More for our listeners Watch for our upcoming shows, including two more from London. One is with the charismatic CEO of Starling Bank, Anne Boden (who was referenced in today’s show with high praise), and the other is with Innovate Finance CEO Charlotte Crosswell. Back in the U.S., we’ll have three fascinating CEO’s -- Financial Services Roundtable head Tim Pawlenty; Nerd Wallet CEO Tim Chen, and Cross River Bank CEO Gilles Gade. We also have an inspiring conversation with Michael Wiegand, who heads the Gates Foundation’s work on financial services for the poor. And we’re going to do a special one in San Francisco with my cofounders of Hummingbird Regtech -- so, stay tuned! I’ll hope to see you at upcoming events where I’ll be speaking: March 19-20 - Innovate Finance Global Summit - London April 18 - Bank Director, The Reality of Regtech - New York, NY May 3 - Texas Bankers Association Annual Convention - Houston, TX (and here’s the cover story I wrote for their magazine, on innovation and community banks) May 16 - Comply 2018 - New York, NY June 26, American Bankers Association Regulatory Compliance Conference - Nashville TN As always, please remember to review Barefoot Innovation on iTunes, and sign up to get emails that bring you the newest podcast, newsletter, and blog posts, at jsbarefoot.com. Again, follow me on twitter and facebook.  And please send in your “buck a show” to keep Barefoot Innovation going. Till next time, keep innovating! Support our Podcast Subscribe Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates. Email Address Sign Up We respect your privacy. Thank you!

What if regulation, as we know it, might disappear? Regulation will never stop, of course, but what if some of it will take on a new form, shaped by technology?  What if we’re entering into a new era of what we could call “digitally-native” regulation, that’s as agile and intuitive about regulation as digitally-native consumers are about consumer technology? Of all the shows we’ve ever done, I think this is the most mold-breaking and thought-provoking. My guest comes from the agency that is leading the world in modernizing financial regulation for the digital age, and he leads the team that’s doing it. Nick Cook is the head of Regtech and Advanced Analytics for the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority. The FCA’s innovation leadership is world-renowned, especially for their Project Innovate and its “regulatory sandbox,” which allows careful testing of new financial technology that could benefit consumers. Less well-known, though, is a newer initiative, launched about 16 months ago, to explore regtech. As we’ve discussed in other shows, the term “regtech” is used in two ways. It refers both to regtech for regulators -- technology to enhance their own activities, and to regtech for the industry, to improve or streamline regulatory compliance. The FCA is working on both halves of this equation, and true to form, they’ve invented an innovative way to explore it. They aren’t using a sandbox for regtech (although the Bank of England has a sandbox-like “Fintech Accelerator”). Instead, Nick’s team has been convening what they call “tech sprints.” They invite a diverse set of participants -- banks, fintechs, tech companies, lawyers, consultancies, academics and others -- to come together for problem-solving exercises designed like hackathons. Sometimes for a day or two, and sometimes longer, they work on how new technology could be applied to a regulatory challenge like “digitizing” the rule book or streamlining regulatory reporting. Nick and I recorded this discussion at the Regtech Enable conference in Washington in December, where he had just shared an update on their work from the stage. At the time, they were in the midst of a two-week sprint that had two objectives. The first is to try to make regulatory reporting requirements “machine-readable,” and therefore much easier to navigate, including for innovative companies that often struggle just to know what rules apply to them. The second -- even more profound -- is to explore whether some regulations can also be made “machine-executable” -- could regulatory guidance, in some cases, be issued in the form of computer code, and therefore be self-implementing? This is an idea that’s been under discussion for about a year, including at a regtech roundtable I hosted last spring as a Senior Fellow in the Harvard Kennedy School Center for Business and Government. The same conversations have included a second concept the FCA is also pursuing, namely that new, high-tech regulation should be introduced gradually and should be optional for the industry. Gradual rollout would enable policymakers to start small and learn, while voluntary adoption opens up a practical road to changing our complex system with minimal disruption.   The FCA’s tech sprint on machine executable reporting ended a few days after we recorded this podcast. They will be sharing its results in the coming months, so be sure to watch for it! Let’s step back and think about what’s underway here. Finance is being transformed from analog to digital design. And, right behind it, so is regulation. Digitization will do for both -- for finance and financial regulation -- what it does for everything else. That is, it will make them faster, better, and cheaper, and will create a new foundation on which people will innovate further, in ways we cannot yet envision. A striking thing about my talk with Nick is how different he sounds from traditional regulators. It’s hard to put your finger on exactly why, but I think it’s mainly the comfort he displays with uncertainty. The same trait was evident in my earlier podcast with Christopher Woolard, who heads the FCA’s innovation strategy. Somehow this agency manages to be simultaneously bold and humble. They know they don’t have this all figured out. They even know they can’t figure it out by themselves. But they also know they can move forward, and that the way to do so is by engaging a community of diverse experts to work together. As Nick says, that can be scary, but the risks come way down, for regulators and everyone else, when solutions are developed collaboratively by people who believe in its potential to make regulation better. I hope this episode finds its way to many regulators, including those in the US where our agencies are actively exploring innovation agendas. Nick says regtech should be easier for regulators than fintech change is. For one thing, the companies leading it are generally not regulated entities, which makes them easier to work with. In addition, no consumers are affected by regtech experimentation. It’s about how the regulators can do their own jobs better, and/or can enable financial companies to do the same. As he puts it, regulators can, therefore, put “a toe in the water,” in regtech, and then move forward. My friend Andrew Burt of Imuta and Yale Law School helped design the FCA’s December sprint and has put out a white paper on it. And here is the FCA’s great video on how tech sprints work. So, I’m not naive. I’ve been a bank regulator, a U.S. Senate staffer, and I’ve worked in regulatory compliance for decades. Technology won’t magically make regulation easy. These solutions won’t fit some types of regulation, and where they do fit, they will inevitably create new problems. We all know all that. Still...Digitally-native regulation. Think about it. More on Nick Cook Nick leads the FCA’s RegTech activities, including the FCA’s TechSprint events - the first events of their kind convened by a financial regulator. He is responsible for creating the FCA’s Analytics Centre of Excellence to drive the organization’s use of data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence.  Nick is the FCA’s representative on the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) Financial Innovation Standing Committee and an advisor to the RegTech for Regulators Accelerator Programme. Nick joined the Financial Services Authority (the FCA’s predecessor) in 2009, initially in its Enforcement and Market Oversight Division. Prior to joining the regulator, Nick qualified as a chartered accountant at KPMG Forensic. Other links Podcast with Sanjay Jain on the “India stack” technology Podcast with Miles Reidy on regtech More for our listeners Just before Christmas, I finished my 7 week, three-continent “World Tour.” I think 2017 was the pivotal year for moving both fintech regulation and regtech toward becoming priority issues at regulatory agencies throughout the world. 2018 will take it all to the next level. We’re starting the year with amazing shows in the queue. We’ll have a fascinating London conversation with the charismatic CEO of Starling Bank, Anne Boden; another with Innovate Finance CEO Charlotte Crosswell; and another with a group of amazing innovators working in Europe and Africa, including Ecobank. In the U.S. we’ll have one with Cross River Bank CEO Gilles Gade; with Michael Wiegand, who heads the Gates Foundation’s work on financial services for the poor; with Financial Services Roundtable CEO Tim Pawlenty; and with Nerd Wallet CEO Tim Chen...and many more! I hope to see you at upcoming events including: OCC Bank Information Technology Conference, January 9-12, Washington, DC Innovate Finance Global Summit, March 19-20, London, UK Bank Director, The Reality of Regtech, April 18, New York Texas Bankers Association Annual Conference, May 3, Houston, Texas Comply 2018, May 16, New York As always, please remember to review Barefoot Innovation on iTunes, and sign up to get emails that bring you the newest podcast, newsletter, and blog posts, at jsbarefoot.com. Again, follow me on twitter and facebook.  And please send in your “buck a show” to keep Barefoot Innovation going. And keep innovating! Support our Podcast Jo Ann Subscribe Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates. Email Address Sign Up We respect your privacy. Thank you!

In this episode we speak to Simon Rey, our first African guest on the podcast, who is Head of Group Talent, Learning and Organizational Development for Ecobank, one of the largest Pan-African Financial institutions. We discuss organisational culture, mobility, reward, skills and talent in the African and the global context - and you will be surprised how little difference there is.

  “Trends are good to follow but it must align to the vision and focus of your brand” ~ @DGawuga Dennis Gawuga In this episode Dennis Gawuga, Brands Expert in Ghana on ‘Growing African Brands’ Dennis Gawuga: started his  professional life at Topdog communications as the lead creative, worked on brands like Nescafe, Ideal and Maggi…all on the BTL experiential marketing side of things. Then moved on to Origin 8 saatchi and saatchi as art director. Handled primarily Guinness and Malta Guinness, Fidelity Bank, Yara fertilisers and occasionally MTN, to mention a few Currently design director at Brand communications Ghana. Our passion is for growing African brands to world class standards. Ecobank, Kingdom Finance (a Saudi African company) Eleni, Glaxo Smith Kline, Devtraco plus, CH group etc. are among some of our clients Connect with Dennis Twitter: @DGawuga Facebook: Dennis Gawuga   Recommended Book Rebrand: The Ultimate Guide to Personal Branding    

Six of the world's ten fastest growing economies are in Sub- Saharan Africa. The World Bank predicts a decade of African growth which Europe can only dream of, but how realistic is the excitable talk of economic transformation in the world's poorest continent? Stephen Sackur speaks to Arnold Ekpe, CEO of Ecobank, which boasts eight million customers across 32 Sub-Saharan nations. As economic opportunity beckons, are Africans ready to seize it?