AFRICAN LEADERSHIP
Afric n
Leadership £5 $8 N3000 ZAR100
JUNE 2019
GRIT GLORY GAIN NIGERIA’S CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF
JUNE 2019
TUKUR BURATAI Talks about the Army’s tireless efforts towards ridding the country of terrorism and securing Nigeria’s territorial integrity
CONTENTS Ethnicity: an African Predicament?
COVER STORY Sustainability of Startups
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We Are Always AfroCentric In Hunting Opportunities
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48 This African trade deal could improve lives across the whole continent
44 60 24 38
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How Europe can stop African migra�on We need young people to vote, for their sake and ours Elimina�ng extreme poverty How 5G can Advance The SDGS
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How Enterprise Singapore Has Iden�fied New Growth Opportuni�es in Africa’s Digital Economy and Manufacturing Leadership 52 Intellectual in Cameroon Capitalism Beat 28 Can Climate Change
60 From Green To Green 32 CSR in Africa
...A Publication of African Leadership (UK) Limited
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...Promoting Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Development In Africa
Cover Story
WE HAVE BUILT TRUST AND PUBLIC
CONFIDENCE
TO ENABLE MILITARY CIVILIAN ENGAGEMENT
The Nigerian Army has in the past 10 years, fought to protect the country against the Boko Haram terrorist group, once rated as the most deadly terrorist organization in the world at its peak in 2014. However, the group has been in decline since 2015, and has since splintered into different groups. A recent report shows that there has been a fall in terrorist deaths in recent years, which points to the efforts of the country’s security forces, assisted by international allies, towards riding the country of terrorism. The War is far from over, but the Nigerian Army alongside other security agencies are making concerted efforts towards securing the country’s territorial integrity and flushing out terrorism, banditry, and other forms of violent crimes by groups in the country. In this recent interview with African Leadership Magazine UK, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. TY Buratai, talks about the Army’s role in the fight against terrorism, the innovations in the Nigerian Army, amongst other issues. Excerpts:
6 | African Leadership | June 2019
Cover Story
‘‘ The Nigerian Army has done a lot in terms of creating an avenue to engage with the civil populace.
You have led one of the most ambitious reform processes in the Nigerian Army in recent times. Under your leadership, the Army has recorded many firsts. Tell us more about these reforms and what inspired your choices?
the benefit of having females and mainstreaming them into Nigerian Army operations and other related activities. In the long run, I believe it will add value to the constitutional roles of the Nigerian Army now and in the future.
Let me say that we operate in an increasingly complex and ever changing environment that has brought about many issues that are dynamic and which requires the Nigerian Army to adapt and respond to. Many of these issues are security related, as have been exemplified by happenings around us. Consequently, I have undertaken a number of sweeping reforms that include reorganization of the Army and incorporation of several initiatives. Some of these include establishment of the 8 Division, Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC), Nigerian Army Cyber Warfare Command (NACWC), Army War College Nigeria (AWCN), Nigerian Army Women Corps (NAWC), Nigerian Army Special Forces Command (NASFC) and Schools among others that are too numerous to mention here.
We are also aware of the Nigerian Army’s launch of the Farms and Ranches; can you tell us more about this Unit?
Under your leadership the Nigerian Army launched the Army Women Corps, which is the first of its kind in West Africa, can you share with us the idea behind the corps? The NAWC was conceived as an idea to plan, manage and address the challenges associated with the career of the Female soldier. The Corps is meant to maximize
Yes the NAFRL was established as a commercial entity to run and manage a viable cattle ranch and other agricultural ventures. This is the practice in some other Armies like Bangladesh, China, India etc. The Army should possess the capacity to contribute its quota to agricultural development in Nigeria just as it is done in other countries. There have been remarkable achievements in the war against insurgency, which is as a result of the combined efforts of the Army and other security agencies in the country. Despite these successes, we still have reported cases of bombing in some areas in the Northeast. How do we find a lasting solution to this issue? There have been reported cases of isolated bombings in the North East. The lasting solution to this requires an all-inclusive and all-society approach to addressing insecurity. The issue of fighting insurgency is not for the Nigerian Army alone or left to other security agencies. Every citizen has an
www.africanleadershipmagazine.co.uk | 7
Category
Evans Woherem, PhD,
FINTECH
While improving banking access and boosting liquidity, we must also recognize the fact that some loans are not backed up by adequate repayment securities (collateral). How does this address the likely default risk by borrowers?
FINTECHS ARE HERE TO STAY AND ARE MAKING RAPID PROGRESS Evans Woherem, PhD, is a highly
respected industry professional and an alumnus of Harvard Business School with extensive experience in Executive Management, Project Management, Metrication, Expert Systems, Business Intelligence, Business Process Modelling and Re-Engineering, as well as in Strategic Planning and Execution. He has successfully implemented global mission-critical business processes in IT, Engineering and financial Industries across Europe and Africa. As a recognised thought leader, industry expert and C-level executive of multibillion dollar corporations, Dr Woherem has a vantage point and the know how to help financial organisations, IT organisations, global corporate organisations, as well as government institutions in creating lasting and profitable solutions to management and business process challenges. He discusses financial inclusion through Fintech with African Leadership Magazine. Excerpts. Financial inclusion has quite lingered as a problem here in Nigeria with millions of unbanked citizens. But one of the drawbacks of FinTech is that it is to address a large mass of individuals in a developing country with limited access to technology. What are the measures aimed at improving this? Financial technology (FinTech) has the potential to benefit underserved individuals and communities through some of its key salient features: mobile money and e-wallets, crowdfunding (P2P lending and equity crowdfunding platforms), alternative credit scoring, cross-border remittances, payment technologies using digital KYC process, and Regulatory Technology (RegTech). Generally, FinTech is helping in increasing access to financial services by the unbanked. Here in West Africa, some
FinTech helps reduce default risks by borrowers by using advanced technology and non-traditional processes in credit decision-making, such as utilizing alternative data about consumers (including utility payments, medical payments, rent, etc.).
progress is being made but more needs to be done to increase access to the masses of those that are 16 years or above. Fintech innovators are the main drivers of this revolution, in some cases leapfrogging the traditional industry with new services and innovative products. The surface has barely been scratched in relation to what fintech can do in the future. Emerging markets will experience rapid growth in financial service provision in substantially less a time than it took developed markets to achieve. Financial services over the next 10 years will experience a higher degree of change than in the last 100 years. In order for this to be better and more satisfactorily carried out, there is a need for certain technologies, policies and frameworks to be put in place, as follows: 1.
2.
Providing an underlying telecommunications infrastructure, broadband network for telecom systems, not only in the urban cities but also in the rural areas. Putting in place an enabling policy and regulatory framework to guide all the pillars of financial inclusion as follows: •
• • •
Building Digital Identification and eKYC (electronic Know Your Customers) systems, to simplify access to financial services. Digital Payment infrastructure and open electronic payments systems Electronic provision of government service, e.g., for public transfers and payments Design of Digital financial markets, e.g. commodities trading, securities trading, clearing and settlements
Big Data and Advanced AI Technology helps to elicit alternative data. These data tell a lot about a consumer’s life, such as wealth (assets, equity, loan to value, tax payments, cars [brand, age, how many]), cash flow (salary, rental, utility, medical payments), lifestyle (education major, grade point average, school attended, occupation, appearance [weight/height], number of dependents), digital footprints and web tracking (where the consumer has visited, shopping habits), and social profiles (network, topics that a person is engaged in). Over time and with technological development, an increasing amount of information becomes available and could potentially be used for credit decisions with rich-enough models. There have been growing concerns about the use of alternative data in predicting a borrower’s ability and willingness to pay back a loan. These concerns involve privacy and discrimination. One must balance them against the opportunity of expanding access to credit, which is valuable because many people have been left out of the financial system. It is also envisaged that through the introduction of Blockchain Technology and eKYC, Financial Institutions would better know their customers, provide much better credit evaluation of customers, credit scoring of customers, and better decision making on whom to approve a loan for. There is clearly more room for collaboration in this sector. How do you think banks and FinTech startups in West Africa can benefit from working together? The FinTechs are here to stay and are making rapid progress with their products disrupting the traditional domains of banking. The first reaction of some big banks
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