Author: TIMOTHYRADIER

NAICOM hosts Financial Sector Deeping Africa, forges partnership deal

Posted on by TIMOTHYRADIER

The Managing Director Financial Sector Deepening Africa Mr. Mark Napier(left) along with his Management Team paid a courtesy visit on the Commissioner for Insurance Nigeria Mr. Olorundare Sunday Thomas (Right). Sequel to the partnership entered into by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) with FSD Africa, Atwo week Risk Based Capital (RBC) training for 70 staff of NAICOM had been held and was facilitated by Mr. Elias Omondi Principal in charge of innovation at FSD Africa.

Read original article

FSD Africa prepares NAICOM staff for risk based capital

Posted on by TIMOTHYRADIER

The Managing Director Financial Sector Deepening Africa Mark Napier, along with his Management Team paid a courtesy visit on the Commissioner for Insurance Nigeria Olorundare Sunday Thomas.

Sequel to the partnership entered into by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) with FSD Africa, A Risk Based Capital (RBC) training for 70 staff of NAICOM has been on for two weeks and ends on Friday 28 July, 2023 and is being facilitated by Elias Omondi Principal in charge of innovation at FSD Africa.

Other benefits of the partnership for the Nigerian Insurance Industry include:

Development of Risk Based Capital framework and toolkit; incorporation of Economic, Social and Governance (ESG) Principles into our operations and development of Innovation portrait which would facilitate innovation for the regulator and insurance operators amongst others.

Read original article

New Report Reveals Growing Focus On Biodiversity Crisis Among Financial Players

Posted on by TIMOTHYRADIER

NAIROBI, Kenya, July 25 – Finance firms in Africa are beginning to recognize the risk that the sector faces from environmental degradation.

This is revealed in a new report dubbed ‘Improving the transparency of nature-related risks in Africa’ by the African Natural Capital Alliance (ANCA).

ANCA was founded by leading banks and insurers in Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria to tackle the biodiversity crisis as well as how to benefit from it.

According to the report, the alliance underscored the growing importance of African regulators responses to nature-related risks in line with their mandate of maintaining financial viability.

“Enhanced transparency of nature-related risks is fundamental to managing them effectively,” Nature Lead at FSD Africa and ANCA Dorothy Maseke said.

“This is the case for individual financial institutions, which need visibility of the nature-related risks in their lending, underwriting, and investment portfolios.”

The alliance observes that the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which was adopted in December 2022 by 188 governments across the world, aims to address biodiversity loss, restore ecosystems, and protect indigenous rights.

“This landmark agreement prompts governments to introduce policies to manage nature loss, which will lead to regulators having to act, and highlights the opportunities for regulators to do so proactively,” says Oliver Wyman’s Sandra Villars.

ANCA opines that African regulators could thus benefit from engaging with this new agenda early and being at the forefront of integrating nature into their regulatory regimes.

Read original article

To drive economic growth, Nigeria must attract climate-smart private investors

Posted on by TIMOTHYRADIER

To sustain consistent economic growth, Nigeria needs to attract climate-smart and private investments, and it is critical to mobilise climate finance to address the increasing climate-related challenges faced by developing countries, considering Nigeria’s national CO2 emissions currently at 115,278 (kt).

Thank you for reading this post, don’t forget to subscribe!

And while Nigerian financial markets are relatively more developed versus other African countries, given the lack of fiscal headroom on the government’s balance sheet, mobilising private sector finance is imperative.

Meanwhile The UK Government in Nigeria is working across multiple sectors involved in climate finance. Ultimately, our objective is to unlock additional sources of funding via the private sector and supporting the understanding and activation of climate finance policies and instruments across the Nigeria (both within the public and private sectors).

Presently we are involved in helping to mainstream Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) across the budget of the Federal Government, working on PPP pipeline development and policy to enable its acceleration via our UKNIAF programme, supporting Nigeria’s energy transition via our UKPACT Programme, providing guarantees to support innovative finance in conjunction with Infracredit, supporting off-grid renewable energy adoption, floods mitigation and the adoption of Lagos state water ways for transport.

Through the FSD Africa, we hope to deepen our offers to the Nigeria Capital Market – working collaboratively with both the private and public (regulators) sectors.

Over the past couple of years, we have provided technical advisory support to stakeholders in the market on deal origination and transaction facilitation, supported the development and issuance of new instruments such as green bonds (for both sovereign and private issuers).

The UK government is also working through its British Investment Partnerships – to offer a wide-ranging investment vehicle that could support the unlocking of private capital geared towards innovative and sustainable investments in key sectors such as agriculture, renewable energy, circular economy and infrastructure.

The Nigeria capital market is well positioned to mobilising private sector finance to support Nigeria’s net-zero targets as well as channelling investments for (green)

infrastructure development, climate mitigation and adaptation projects. It is also a vehicle to increasing resilience to climate change impact and loss across key sectors including agriculture, power, manufacturing, transportation, etc.

It is my hope that through this round table event, there will be increased awareness on Nigeria’s sustainable economic financing needs, available opportunities and demand from real economies such as agriculture and water and ways of utilising Good morning, everyone, standing on established protocols, it is a pleasure to be here at today’s roundtable event convened by the Penop and other major stakeholders in the Nigeria Capital Market alongside the UK Government.

The UK government, through its bilateral and investment vehicles are committed to supporting the country’s financial sector- particularly the capital market in being more innovative, sustainable and resilient even as we all face emerging challenges such as climate change, diversity losses and environmental degradation.

As we grapple with these challenges, and the impact on lives and livelihoods, mobilising sustainable finance and investment for impact becomes critical.

The centrality of this roundtable is thus on promoting a collaborative and market approach to unlocking private capital aimed at financing projects with impact.
Key Points:

To sustain consistent economic growth, Nigeria needs to attract climate-smart and private investments, and it is critical to mobilise climate finance to address the increasing climate-related challenges faced by developing countries, considering Nigeria’s national CO2 emissions currently at 115,278 (kt).

And while Nigerian financial markets are relatively more developed versus other African countries, given the lack of fiscal headroom on the government’s balance sheet, mobilising private sector finance is imperative.

The UK Government in Nigeria is working across multiple sectors involved in climate finance. Ultimately, our objective is to unlock additional sources of funding via the private sector and supporting the understanding and activation of climate finance policies and instruments across the Nigeria (both within the public and private sectors).

Presently we are involved in helping to mainstream Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) across the budget of the Federal Government, working on PPP pipeline development and policy to enable its acceleration via our UKNIAF programme, supporting Nigeria’s energy transition via our UKPACT Programme, providing guarantees to support innovative finance in conjunction with Infracredit, supporting off-grid renewable energy adoption, floods mitigation and the adoption of Lagos state water ways for transport.

Through the FSD Africa, we hope to deepen our offers to the Nigeria Capital Market – working collaboratively with both the private and public (regulators) sectors. Over the past couple of years, we have provided technical advisory support to stakeholders in the market on deal origination and transaction facilitation, supported the development and issuance of new instruments such as green bonds (for both sovereign and private issuers).

The UK government is also working through its British Investment Partnerships – to offer a wide-ranging investment vehicle that could support the unlocking of private capital geared towards innovative and sustainable investments in key sectors such as agriculture, renewable energy, circular economy and infrastructure.

The Nigeria capital market is well positioned to mobilising private sector finance to support Nigeria’s net-zero targets as well as channelling investments for (green)

infrastructure development, climate mitigation and adaptation projects. It is also a vehicle to increasing resilience to climate change impact and loss across key sectors including agriculture, power, manufacturing, transportation, etc.

It is my hope that through this round table event, there will be increased awareness on Nigeria’s sustainable economic financing needs, available opportunities and demand from real economies such as agriculture and water and ways of utilising innovative financing structures to mobilise long-term capital.

In addition, we hope this round table will create an opportunity to attract institutional funds, such as pension funds, work towards sustainable instruments and innovative financing structures and foster market interest in sustainable finance.

Finally, we hope to identify potential issuers and arrangers who can facilitate demonstration transactions using innovative financing instruments. financing structures to mobilise long-term capital.

In addition, we hope this round table will create an opportunity to attract institutional funds, such as pension funds, work towards sustainable instruments and innovative financing structures and foster market interest in sustainable finance.

Finally, we hope to identify potential issuers and arrangers who can facilitate demonstration transactions using innovative financing instruments.

Read original article

Africa: New Report Reveals Growing Focus on Biodiversity Crisis Among Financial Players

Posted on by TIMOTHYRADIER

Nairobi — Finance firms in Africa are beginning to recognize the risk that the sector faces from environmental degradation.

This is revealed in a new report dubbed ‘Improving the transparency of nature-related risks in Africa’ by the African Natural Capital Alliance (ANCA).

ANCA was founded by leading banks and insurers in Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria to tackle the biodiversity crisis as well as how to benefit from it.

According to the report, the alliance underscored the growing importance of African regulators responses to nature-related risks in line with their mandate of maintaining financial viability.

“Enhanced transparency of nature-related risks is fundamental to managing them effectively,” Nature Lead at FSD Africa and ANCA Dorothy Maseke said.

“This is the case for individual financial institutions, which need visibility of the nature-related risks in their lending, underwriting, and investment portfolios.”

The alliance observes that the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which was adopted in December 2022 by 188 governments across the world, aims to address biodiversity loss, restore ecosystems, and protect indigenous rights.

“This landmark agreement prompts governments to introduce policies to manage nature loss, which will lead to regulators having to act, and highlights the opportunities for regulators to do so proactively,” says ANCA’s Sandra Villars.

ANCA opines that African regulators could thus benefit from engaging with this new agenda early and being at the forefront of integrating nature into their regulatory regimes.

Read original article

FSD Africa eyes Nigeria’s $40b investible funds to grow impact

Posted on by TIMOTHYRADIER

FSD Africa, a specialist development agency working to build Africa’s financial markets for sustainable development, is looking to Nigeria’s $40 billion investible funds to scale up impact.

Established in 2012 and supported by UK aid, FSD Africa, through its capital market arm, is engaging fund managers, institutional investors and government agencies in Nigeria to drive large-scale change in financial markets and support sustainable economic development.

“We develop Africa’s capital markets to increase the availability of long-term finance for economic development, to achieve a sustainable future for Africa’s people,” said Evans Osano, director, Capital Market at FSD Africa.

Osano gave the hint at the FSD Africa Capital Market Roundtable Series: Nigeria 2023 held in Lagos on Wednesday with the theme ‘Mobilising Patient Capital Via Innovative Financing Structures For Sustainable Development in Nigeria’.

Encouraging fund managers and partners to deepen participation, Osano said the country’s over $40 billion investible assets should be explored in developing the green economy as opportunities abound in infrastructure, housing, water, and power, among others.

He said environmentally friendly growth can improve access to food, services, create green jobs and boost incomes in new and existing sectors of the economy.

Osana said the transition towards carbon-neutrality and environmental sustainability will reduce the negative impacts of climate change among poor communities.

He urged fund managers to move away from traditional transitions to impact investments that will guarantee sustainable development for Nigeria.

He said: “The traditional mindset is to say, I want returns for the level of risk I am taking and that is very simple and laid back, but given that we are operating in a context, an environment, we need to start thinking about how we can generate those returns and still contributing to solving the society’s problems.”

“How can I invest money that can also create jobs? That is impact investing. And impact is at the far end of the scale and we can start that journey. That is really what I am challenging the Nigerian institutions and investors to start thinking about.”

According to him, there is no point in getting a very high return and then one retires into an environment where if one falls sick, there is no access to medical care.

Oguche Agudah, chief executive officer of Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria, said: “What we need to do is to look at challenges facing us as a country in different ways and use the capital that we manage to tackle them in an innovative way.

“What needs to happen is for capital to be deployed in a manner that seeks to solve some of these challenges and for that capital to be deployed adequately in a way that compensates the capital providers for their risk, compensates them for their time, and also compensates the people who manage those funds. In this way, they will be incentivised to do it again and again and again.

“We need new sustainable models. We need new products, we need new mindsets, because the problems that are ahead of us are new. We also need to work together more closely in order to ensure that we have the society that we all crave for and that Nigeria can indeed be a beacon of hope to the rest of Africa.”

FSD Africa is currently implementing its initiative in over 60 projects in 33 countries across Africa including Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, UEMOA, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

In Nigeria, FSD Africa Capital Market has initiated projects like the first African green bond, first certified corporate green bond in Africa, FMDQ – green bonds, and Infracredit Nigeria – guarantee and preparation facility (NSIA).

Mark Napier, CEO of FSD Africa, said the focus of his engagement with key actors in the Nigerian financial market is to significantly boost the role of the private sector in climate finance.

Napier said efforts are ongoing to enhance regulatory reforms, structural changes, and leverage financing.

Read original article

New report lays out urgent actions, that regulators can take to safeguard the new agenda for nature – key to Africa’s financial future

Posted on by TIMOTHYRADIER

Nairobi, 25 July 2023: A new report from the collaborative forum of African financial institutions the African Natural Capital Alliance (ANCA) and management consulting firm Oliver Wyman has underlined the growing importance of African regulators acting on nature-related risks in line with their mandate of maintaining financial stability.

The report “Improving the transparency of nature-related risks in Africa: the emerging regulatory agenda”, outlines how financial sector stakeholders, including regulators, are increasingly recognising that the depletion of nature poses risks to financial and economic stability.

The report makes clear that the issue is a particularly urgent one for sub-Saharan Africa as its economies are disproportionately dependent on nature. For instance, over 70% of people living in the region are dependent on forests and woodlands for their livelihoods, compared to about half of the total world’s GDP generated in industries that depend on nature. The rate at which nature in Africa is being lost also exceeds the global average. For example, Africa’s Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII) score – which measures the number and abundance of species on land – declined by 4.2% between 1970 and 2014, considerably higher than the global BII score decline of 2.7% over the same period.

In East Africa alone, failure to protect natural capital as a whole (including its stocks of soil, air, water, and all living things, which underpin the region’s economy and human well-being) would result in an economic loss of more than $11.3 billion a year, according to an assessment commissioned in 2021 by USAid.

Dorothy Maseke, the Nature Lead at FSD Africa and ANCA, says: “Enhanced transparency of nature-related risks is fundamental to managing them effectively. This is the case for individual financial institutions, which need visibility of the nature-related risks in their lending, underwriting, and investment portfolios. And it is also the case for regulators, so that they can identify nature-related risk concentrations for regulated entities and assess whether they are being managed effectively.”

African regulators embracing this complexity is so important, she adds, because the continent is disproportionately exposed to nature-related risks.

Sandra Villars, senior advisor at Oliver Wyman, says: “The Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), which was adopted in December 2022 by 188 governments across the world, aims to address biodiversity loss, restore ecosystems, and protect indigenous rights. This landmark agreement prompts governments to introduce policies to manage nature loss, which will lead to regulators having to act, and highlights the opportunities for regulators to do so proactively.

African regulators could thus benefit from engaging with this new agenda early and being at the forefront of integrating nature into their regulatory regimes.”

As summarised in the report, there are four simple steps regulators can take as part of a nature-related disclosure roadmap while policy frameworks are being finalised in their jurisdictions:

  1. Engage with finance and environment ministries to align their regulatory approach with
  2. government’s policy agenda on nature
  3.  Assess internal capacity and act on gaps
  4.  Assess the capacity for action among regulated entities
  5.  Engage in voluntary nature networks such as the Sustainable Insurance Forum (SIF), the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), the African Natural Capital Alliance (ANCA), and the Task Force on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)

NBE to Make Digital ID Primary for Use by Banks

Posted on by TIMOTHYRADIER

ADDIS ABABA – The Digital Identification (ID), named Fyda, is on the fast track to becoming a primary ID for use by all financial institutions in Ethiopia.

The move is among the “major steps the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) is taking “to modernize the financial sector consistent with its mandate.”

To this end, the NBE says extensive work has been undertaken to introduce a foundational Digital ID for use by all financial institutions in collaboration with the National ID Project.

“Today, we announce the launch of two initiatives centered around the introduction of a Digital ID,” the NBE announced on Monday.

Backed by the World Bank, the government is implementing a nationwide biometric digital ID system, aiming to register all eligible Ethiopians by the end of 2025.

NBE’s first initiative targets onboarding all financial sector customers to the digital ID platform in the 2023/24 Ethiopian fiscal year (or 2016 EFY).

The central bank says the initiative will increase financial inclusion by removing barriers to entry.

“This process will follow several legal and technical safeguards, including cybersecurity and personal data protection principles, enshrined within the existing legal framework,” the NBE said. “As such, a Digital ID will be able to serve as a primary Bank ID and will have legal acceptance in all financial institutions.”

Parallelly, the central bank and the Digital ID Project will also implement another initiative involving “the use of the Digital ID in the financial sector’s Know-Your-Customer (e-KYC) processes.”

The ID platform, named ‘Fayda’, would offer a “reliable and real-time identity verification system,” the central bank said, and can serve as a basis for onboarding new customers and for introducing new digital products while mitigating associated financial risks.”

“The use of such e-KYC processes can significantly reduce barriers to financial access and improve service delivery standards,” the NBE added

The digital biometric ID includes an individual’s name and gender, iris scan, and fingerprints, and also displays date of birth, gender, address, and photograph.

“The implementation of the Digital ID as a Bank ID in Ethiopia will significantly improve the transparency, stability, and security of the financial sector,” the NBE said, and it will also “complement national development plans geared towards establishing a digital economy.”

Read original article

UK-SA Tech Hub renews funding for South African startups group

Posted on by TIMOTHYRADIER

The UK-SA Tech Hub, an initiative of the British High Commission (Embassy) in South Africa, has announced that it will provide a second round of funding for South Africa’s Startup Act Movement (SUA). “Our role is to support South Africa’s high-growth startups – whether in the tech industry or by enabling SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] in rural and township communities to become tech-enabled businesses – to maximise the value and impact they have on the South African economy and job creation,” explains UK-SA Tech Hub director Milisa Mabinza.

The SUA is a grouping of South African startup incubators, accelerators, founders and investors, founded in 2020. Led by a steering committee composed of leading members of the South African entrepreneurship development sector, its objective is the relaxation of governmental red tape and other policies that hinder the growth of emerging businesses. It has succeeded in winning the support of the World Bank and Financial Sector Deepening Africa (better known simply as FSD Africa), as well as the UK-SA Tech Hub.

“The UK-SA Tech Hub is committed to supporting the development of SA’s tech entrepreneurship ecosystem and actively looks for gaps in the market where support is needed,” affirms SUA chairperson Matsi Modise. “The organisation identified a need in the local tech landscape to help us drive policy reform and enable the growth and expansion of emerging businesses. Taking into consideration the policy framework in the country, the structure of the economy, as well as issues with the energy crisis, the SUA recognises that policy reform is at the core of creating a thriving SME ecosystem – but that this is dependent on a framework being implemented that supports high-growth startups in South Africa.”

South Africa’s policy framework lags behind those of, for example, Kenya, Nigeria and Tunisia. There are four main areas which create challenges for local startups.

One of these is that currently, the country’s intellectual property (IP) legislation places restrictions on the overseas transfer of IP that are both onerous and expensive. Yet being able to transfer IP offshore is a necessity for local startups, if they are to access investment from the global venture capital market.

Another challenge is imposed, when a startup sets up its global head office, by exchange control restrictions which are cumbersome and, again, expensive. Setting up a global head office is another necessity if a South African startup is to attract global venture capital investors.

Further, in South Africa, capital gains tax is triggered well before a startup reaches its potential “future liquidity event”. This makes developing a startup in South Africa yet again more expensive than in other countries.

And there is a need for South Africa to create a Startup and Remote Worker visa, which would allow the country to attract founders of high-growth startups and permit local entrepreneurs to employ very small numbers of highly experienced foreigners, to share their expertise and knowledge and so drive the growth of South African enterprises.

The need for such visa reform has been advocated since 2014, and in April this year President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that new visa categories would be introduced, for startups and remote workers.

“Startup visas are firmly on the President’s radar, the Deputy Finance Minister has adopted some of the business case studies that have been shared, and the SUA has also garnered support from the World Bank,” highlights Mabinza. “We believe the country has the potential to cultivate the emergence of the next unicorn on the continent, and through this second round of funding, look forward to being part of these important efforts.”

Read original article

Ethiopia Needs Greater Innovation, Market Dev’t to Broaden Insurance Uptake: NBE Deputy Governor

Posted on by TIMOTHYRADIER

Addis Ababa July 14/2023 (ENA) There is a need for greater innovation and market development to broaden insurance uptake in Ethiopia, Deputy Governor of National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) Solomon Desta said.

Opening the conference held in Addis Ababa today with the theme ” Innovation for Resilience – Shaping the Future of Insurtech in Africa” Solomon said “We recognize the importance of innovation in addressing the challenges faced by the insurance industry.”

“In Ethiopia, there is a need for greater innovation and market development to broaden insurance uptake. Despite the recent history of financial sector liberalization and reform, the insurance industry in Ethiopia remains relatively underdeveloped.”

In light of Ethiopia’s significantly low insurance penetration, a new approach to insurance and market development is needed to catalyze greater uptake by consumers and to enable the formal market to tap into latent demand, he further elaborated.

The NBE is working towards setting up an independent insurance regulatory body, focusing on encouraging the insurance industry, he further pointed out.

Through this event, he said we aim to encourage collaboration, knowledge sharing and the adoption of innovative practices that will deliver the sustainable growth and expand access to insurance services for all Ethiopians.

Similarly, CEO of FSD Ethiopia, Ermias Eshetu said that the event presents an opportunity to showcase Ethiopia’s insurance sector and contribute to the advancement of the broader African insurance landscape.

By embracing innovation, fostering strategic partnerships, and creating an enabling regulatory environment, we can collectively drive positive change and enhance societal resilience, he noted.

FSD Ethiopia is dedicated to the achievement of accessible inclusive and sustainable financial markets that support Ethiopia’s long-term development goals, it was indicated.

Accordingly, the conference aimed to foster growth, facilitate strategic partnerships, and establish an enabling regulatory environment that supports the advancement of the insurance sector in Africa.

Financial Inclusion Specialist from FSD Africa Elias Omondi said for his part that FSD Africa works to catalyze innovation within the market.

“As FSD Africa, what we do is to catalyze innovation within the market, we want to see the insurance penetration in Ethiopia grow beyond 0.5 percent, we want to see those particular women that have no insurance get access to insurance, and the smallholder farmers get access to affordable solutions.”

Africa which is the most exposed continent is arguably the least protected in terms of insurance and that basically indicates there is a lot of work that we need to do as a continent, he noted.

Read original article