Chams News

The Federal government has approved ₦30.066Billion for the implementation of a unified identity Management System (NIMS). The unified identity Management System (NIMS) for Nigeria was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for implementation between now and 2013, during its weekly meeting which was chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan. Minister of Information, Labaran Maku disclosed this to journalists at the post FEC briefing at the State House Abuja. He said that the new integrated data system which will capture all Nigerians from the ages of 18 and above will also bring down the cost of data processing and storage by the different agencies in the country. He also said the project, will be managed by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and will be executed in conjunction with different agencies of government which currently keep their own separate identity data. The agencies include Independent National Electoral Commission, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), National Health Insurance Scheme, (NHIS), amongst others. “With the new intergrated system, all existing data will be networked to create a common data base from where several agencies can access for their own purposes,” Maku said. “The system will also bring down the cost of data management by the several public institutions including banks, pension commission. He added that “one area where the programme will be very useful for the nation is national security management since all citizens data are expected to be captured.” The first phase of the exercise which is to start from this year is expected to gulp ₦30.066 billion which will be spread across 2011 to 2013. The Minister also disclosed that the government has approved a professional officer cadre for the federal public service in an effort to improve culture of planning, monitoring and evaluation of government programmes and projects. “It has been observed over time that government programmes/projects have suffered due to lack of data, analysis and well coordinated plans,” he said, adding that evaluation of project execution and performance has been very difficult because data collection, collection and analysis has been rather uncoordinated. “In view of the present emphasis on the execution of national transformation programme toward the realisation of national vision 20:2020, planning should now take centres stage in the public service.” The PPS cadre, he also said will be pooled together as professional cadre and posted to MDAs to coordinate the planning, research, policy analysis and performance measurement of the MDA projects and programmes. The Federal government has approved ₦30.066Billion for the implementation of a unified identity Management System (NIMS). The unified identity Management System (NIMS) for Nigeria was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for implementation between now and 2013, during its weekly meeting which was chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan. Minister of Information, Labaran Maku disclosed this to journalists at the post FEC briefing at the State House Abuja. He said that the new integrated data system which will capture all Nigerians from the ages of 18 and above will also bring down the cost of data processing and storage by the different agencies in the country. He also said the project, will be managed by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and will be executed in conjunction with different agencies of government which currently keep their own separate identity data. The agencies include Independent National Electoral Commission, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), National Health Insurance Scheme, (NHIS), amongst others. “With the new intergrated system, all existing data will be networked to create a common data base from where several agencies can access for their own purposes,” Maku said. “The system will also bring down the cost of data management by the several public institutions including banks, pension commission. He added that “one area where the programme will be very useful for the nation is national security management since all citizens data are expected to be captured.” The first phase of the exercise which is to start from this year is expected to gulp ₦30.066 billion which will be spread across 2011 to 2013. The Minister also disclosed that the government has approved a professional officer cadre for the federal public service in an effort to improve culture of planning, monitoring and evaluation of government programmes and projects. “It has been observed over time that government programmes/projects have suffered due to lack of data, analysis and well coordinated plans,” he said, adding that evaluation of project execution and performance has been very difficult because data collection, collection and analysis has been rather uncoordinated. “In view of the present emphasis on the execution of national transformation programme toward the realisation of national vision 20:2020, planning should now take centres stage in the public service.” The PPS cadre, he also said will be pooled together as professional cadre and posted to MDAs to coordinate the planning, research, policy analysis and performance measurement of the MDA projects and programmes.

The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved N30bn for a new national identity scheme for the country. The amount would take care of the first phase of the scheme, known as the Integrated National Identity Management System, which is expected to gulp N30.066bn. Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, who disclosed this at the post-FEC weekly meeting in Abuja, said the decision to embark on the fresh national registration was borne out of government’s desire to have a unified database of Nigerians who were 18 years and above. The minister added that the project would also simplify the current process where different government agencies such as the Federal Road Safety Commission, the National Health Insurance Scheme and the Independent National Electoral Commission separately capture citizens’ data for their individual use. The new system, he explained, would reduce the cost incurred by these agencies while carrying out separate registration processes. He added that the new system would also help in the area of security as the identities of many people currently residing in the country could not be verified. Upon registration, the minister said Nigerians would be issued with smartcards containing their data and that they could also present such cards for biometric purposes. He said, “The new integrated data system which will capture all Nigerians from the ages of 18 and above will bring down the cost of data processing and storage by different agencies in the country. “The project, which is to be managed by the National Identity Management Commission, is to be executed in conjunction with different agencies of government which presently keep their own separate identity data. “Such agencies include INEC, Federal Road Safety Commission, and the National Health Insurance Scheme, among others. “With the new integrated system, all existing data will be networked to create a common data base where several agencies can access for their own purposes. “The system will also bring down the cost of data management by the several public institutions, including banks, pension commission, etc. “One area where the programme will be very useful for the nation is national security management since all citizens data are expected to be captured. “The first phase of the exercise which is expected to start from this year will cost N30.066 billion to be spread across from 2011 to 2013.” Nigeria in 2007 concluded a multi-billion naira national identity card registration scheme that started in the era of Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo as military Head of State between 1976 and 1979. Maku also disclosed that the FEC approved the pooling together of professional cadre that would be responsible for planning, monitoring and evaluating government projects. He said it had been observed over time that government programmes and projects had suffered due to lack of data analysis and well-coordinated plans. “Also, evaluation of project execution and performance has been very difficult because data collection and analysis have been rather uncoordinated. “In view of the present emphasis on the execution of national transformation programmes toward the realisation of national vision 20:2020, planning should now take centre stage in the public service. “The PPS cadre will be pooled together as professional cadre and posted to MDAs to coordinate the planning, research, policy analysis and performance measurement of the MDA projects and programmes,” he explained. Maku also said that FEC continued its deliberation on the report of the Presidential Projects Assessment Committee by looking at some issues raised on some roads in the Federal Capital Territory. Discussions on the issue, he added, would continue in subsequent FEC meetings.

In a chat with Biodun Coker, the Group Managing Director of Chams Plc, Mr. Demola Aladekomo spoke on the future outlook of the homegrown Information and Communications Technology company, its strategic and holistic investments in e-commerce infrastructure which positions it to be one of the drivers of CBN’s cashless economy initiative, as well as the role of national identity management system in curbing terrorism. Excerpts. Chams Plc was listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) during the global financial crisis in 2008, after a successful private placement in which it raised N5b. To what extent did this impact your overall performance? Is an Initial Public Offer (IPO) in the works? Our private placement no doubt was very successful as you rightly said and the fund we raised was used mainly to expand the business and build lasting infrastructures to strategically position us at a vantage position in our industry. Albeit our share price was badly bruised and battered because we got listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in the wake of the global financial crisis. But we are not alone; many other equities were affected by the negative development, which resulted in investor apathy on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The market has been losing value on a daily basis, if you observe. I do not think it would be wise for us to return to the capital market to raise funds. Our present position is okay for now but our main focus is firstly to create value for our stakeholders by returning to profitability. Investor apathy does not make the capital market too friendly in terms of fund raising at this peculiar times. Are there still opportunities that Chams Plc can leverage in the capital market to further strengthen its business? Are the company’s options strictly limited to the money market? Many people got hurt, during the crisis. The performances of listed equities are not where any investor would want it. It would be very insensitive on our part to want to raise funds or any form of capital from the equity market. Presently, we have invested in a lot of infrastructure that should generate ample income in due time. Initially, our investors queried why we were investing heavily on infrastructure, but we made them understand the rationale behind it. It is like building toll road, which after completion would consistently generate good income. I can say without equivocation that they are happy, as we are now ahead of our contemporaries due to the investments that we made. The opportunities for us are in areas of beneficial infrastructure. How close is Chams Plc to attaining the business goals set by the company during its transition from a privately held company into a quoted company more than 3 years ago. In terms of projections, we are doing great. We wanted to dominate identity market and e-payment market, which we have achieved, though not as fast as we wanted. Considering the recent economic downturn, we have done well but there is still room for improvement. Within the period of our listing and now we have secured 4 CBN licenses all in e-payment related sector. We also set up the Guinness World Record holding ChamsCity centres in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt as platforms to aid identity management. You just held your annual general meeting, where you declared significant improved earnings for the 2010 financial year. Turnover rose by 50 per cent, while gross profit jumped by 280 per cent, but profit after tax did not record similar growth. It was however observed that you impressively made up for it in the first half of 2011 (Q2).How did this come about? Consistency, has been key in attaining our goals, as we always strive to do our best, in whatever we do, also staying focus has really kept us going. What is the future outlook of Chams Plc, considering the fast changing dynamics of the global Information and Communications Technology terrain? What does this portend for its shareholders? Globally Information and Communications Technology plays an important role. Without its optimal use, no country can attain speedy socio-economic growth and development. Realising this, government has created a Ministry dedicated to ICT. Equally, the recent policy formulation on e-payment and proactive pursuit of its implementation by the Central Bank is also beneficial to the country’s Information Communications Technology sector and the economy at large. It will revolutionize and move the country’s financial system forward, fostering financial inclusion, transparency and improved efficiencies. This is most advantageous to us. Let us consider the area of PoS, we have invested in about 5250 terminals, customized to suit our market by Bitel. It means we have laid down a good foundation. We are one of the four CBN PTSP licensed operators, but knowing that we are one of the best, that easily translates to easy domination of the cash market, which also means more income for us. We are in the process of deploying PoS across the country, in partnership with the banks. Nigerians would understand and appreciate the service we are going to deliver better. Chams Plc invested funds raised from its Private Placement in the ChamsCity digital malls (Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt), data capture equipments, transaction-switching platform (ChamsSwitch), mobile payment platform (ChamsMobile), data centre to host and process transactions, PoS, among others. How do you intend to take advantage of these infrastructures to return value to your shareholders? This is a very interesting time for us at Chams, we have been investing in equipments and infrastructure for about 6years and during this period, we have won the trust of the market. It took 6 years of hard work and resilience to put all this together. We believe it is about time our shareholders benefit from their investment. Very soon, there would be a turnaround in our market shares. Our specialties, which are identity management, e-payment and transaction systems, are becoming very useful not just to the financial sector but also to the economy. I must give the credit to our board of directors. We suffered a setback when national identity card project on which we had invested heavily was cancelled in 1992. But the board of directors advised that we focus on infrastructure and today it has paid off. How equipped is Chams Plc in terms of the human capital needed to optimally deploy these infrastructures for its business operations? Is the company dependent of foreign technical partnerships, expatriates or local talents to drive its business? We have enough expertise to take off. Chams Plc has built capacity over years across its various cadres. Our people have been part of the process of developing these infrastructures that we have today, right from ideas to design and implementation. It will not be a problem delivering quality and efficient service to Nigerians, as company. We also have very strong partners in Bitel. We are taking advantage of both local and global skills, competence and experience to deliver value. We are very capable. We have all that it takes to deliver exceptional e-payment, identity management and transaction systems products and services to public and private enterprises. Nigeria is transiting into a cashless economy. As an identity management, payment and transactional systems company, how well positioned is Chams Plc to leverage this opportunity?. I must say that Chams Plc is indeed very happy with the CBN over the cashless economy policy, especially as it concerns mobile payment. We appreciate the initiative and the fair manner in which it was handled. When the CBN, came to Chams Plc for inspection before giving us the go ahead, they were impressed with what they saw. This is because we built expertise and invested in identity management infrastructure. ChamsMobile, our wholly owned subsidiary will leverage our wealth of experience and strong partnerships to expand Nigeria’s financial circle through an all-inclusive strategy to reach the unbanked and offer them a platform for empowerment that will change the way they transact business and live daily. We are confident that through our unique solution we can finally begin to look at a cashless society as mobile payment becomes increasingly acceptable at all levels in the society. Identity theft and scams have remained the bane of e-commerce even in countries with advanced technological infrastructure and comprehensive national identity management database. Does this not pose a major threat to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s transition to a cashless economy initiative? Identity theft remains a major threat globally, especially in a cashless economy initiative. It does pose a significant threat to the CBN’s cashless economy initiative, with a financial services industry bedeviled by fraud. This problem is not peculiar to Nigeria; however, a well-implemented identity management scheme will reduce associated risks. The KYC (Know Your Customer) challenge facing banks can be solved through an identity management scheme, making it possible for banks to know their customers in and out. We have the expertise to deliver identity management solution, which would go a long way in helping to curb fraud. Nigeria has been faced with the challenge of collating accurate database that could assist its economic, social and political growth. In recent times, government has made moves to tackle this challenge. Chams Plc is part of this effort. When will this become a reality? Chams Plc started a pilot, which is up and running in six states. By 2012, we will have that running. It is not going to be complete as we have 12-year concession for the identity card for the country. I don’t know if people would respond to the enlightenment. Sim registration, we are yet to register 40 percent however people respond better to legislation by government, for example if government sets a period for people to respond, they do that easily and quickly. How do you hope to overcome the likely hurdles of putting together such an accurate figure considering the fear by many Nigerians that it will be tied to tax payment, as well as political sentiments (that disbursement of states funds will be affected)? There is also the issue of inaccessible terrain and insufficient training for the enumerators. The country has rough and challenging terrain in some region. We may not be able to capture the 150million Nigerians, but in as much as we capture 99 percent, that would be considered a success. Some people will try as much as possible to avoid registration due to all sort of personal reasons. I strongly believe that an enlightenment campaign on the benefits of the national identity management scheme will bring the number of people in this category to the barest minimum. As an ISO Certified Company, we are up to the challenge. For instance, in the area of Sim registration, we have deployed well-trained personnel and quality hardware in the execution of the project which winds up soon. This was also supported by innovative processes put in place to enable us deliver on deadline, whilst ensuring that the objectives of exercise such as curbing of mobile phone related crimes are achieved. On the other hand, we have the Chams Consortium, made up of Chams Plc and Nextzon Communications, while One SecureCard Consortium is made up of Interswitch Nigeria Limited, SecureID and Iris Technologies, working the NIMC on the identity management database. For a country the size of Nigeria not to have a robust and viable National Identity Management system was scandalous. We are therefore committed towards creating this new beginning that would lead the way in the image and identity management for the people of this country. Chams Mobile is one of the licensees granted approval-in-principle by the Central Bank of Nigeria to operate mobile payment services. What is the status of Chams Mobile and what value does it hope to deliver to Nigerians? In a few days, we expect to substantive approval, a full license from the CBN to operate mobile payment services. We have about 90 million mobile phone lines in the country, making it compelling to make transactions cashless without visiting a bank, thereby improving access to basic financial services such as person-to-person transactions and remittances among millions of unbanked Nigerians. Using the ChamsMobile platform, Nigerians will be able to conduct basic transactions such as airtime vending, utility bills payment, international remittances, cardless withdrawals from ATMs, as well as fund transfers, without visiting a bank. We will also bring our expertise in identity management to bear on our mobile payment services, thereby ensuring the integrity of transactions, guaranteeing our customers peace of mind. Mobile payment was immensely successfully in kenya as the service was provided by Safaricom and is known as Mpesa raking in over N1.34trillion, in 2010. Nigeria being the most populated country in Africa, with a population of over 150million, how do you think this same feat can be replicated in Nigeria making it even bigger than Kenya's success? Nigeria is one of the fastest growing mobile country in the world, you find mobile phones everywhere in the country. We now have sophisticated phones in the country, reinforcing our strong believe that mobile payment services will be very successful in the country. However, most things in Nigeria defy economic logic; therefore, we would rather not forecast. Guided by the CBN, we have put everything in place to ensure that it is very successful, but time will tell. Technology is being used world over to tackle the menace of terrorism. Nigeria is certainly is not adequately equipped in that regard. Where do we start from as a country in terms using technology to stem the rise of terrorism and crime in Nigeria? We were very happy, when it was suggested that technology should be used to curb terrorism in Nigeria. It is a known fact that technology is strategic in the fight against terrorism, as seen in developed countries, where it has helped to reduce the menace to the barest minimum. Likewise, we need technology to get it reduced in this country, without which we will not achieve much in our counter-terrorism efforts. A situation where we do not have a database of identity means we do not know ourselves. If that is the case, it would be difficult use it to solve any crime, not to talk of curbing terrorism. I really do not understand how we got to the level where people are killed, bombed without any clue to work on. Prior to this time, we made a case for it, but nothing was done, but we are happy that government established National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), now we can know who used what, where an individual went, and most importantly, who he is. With that, we can forestall crime to the barest minimum. The CBN recently reversed its policy on offsite ATMs allowing financial institutions to deploy ATMs outside their premises. Chams Plc is one of the firms licensed by the CBN to deploy offsite ATMs. How has this policy reversal affected your business? Has your company incurred any loss? The answer is yes. The policy reversal was announced when we were about closing a deal. They are trying to amend that policy midway; deliberations are still ongoing with the banks. We are yet to hear of a final decision. I do hope that the CBN would come out with a policy that would be in the best interest of all stakeholders.

Paymaster Limited, a subsidiary of Chams plc, has been licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to operate as a Payment Terminal Service Provider (PTSP), for Point-of-Sale (PoS) terminals to be deployed across the country. As a PTSP operator, Paymaster will deploy PoS terminals, maintain and provide support on behalf of its acquirers, while also providing training to merchants to minimise recurring faults while ensuring optimal terminal up time. As part of efforts to transit the country into a cashless economy, the CBN called for expression of interest from qualified e-business support services provider and had subsequently conducted a rigorous screening exercise after which it licensed Paymaster and three other companies as PTSP operators. Charles Uwagbale, acting managing director, Paymaster, said the approval granted the company to act as Payment Terminal Service Provider to acquirers and merchants across the country, aligns with its corporate goal, saying the approval testified to the company’s ability to provide first-rate e-payment infrastructure support services. According to Uwagbale, the firm is a tested and trusted e-payment company that provides e-business infrastructure with the objective of establishing and running a secure, reliable and scalable network. “Prior to being licensed as a PTSP operator, we have shown strong pedigree in the e-business sector in the deployment and maintenance of an independent multi-application and functional PoS terminals network, which accepts cards from all payment schemes in Nigeria by connecting directly to relevant electronic transaction switching and processing companies,” he stated. He also added that the firm had the resources and capacity to begin immediate deployment and maintenance of PoS terminals across the country in accordance with the CBN guideline for Payment Terminal Service Providers. “We have invested heavily in the acquisition of PoS terminals, which were customised for the Nigerian market by Bitel, for deployment across the country. We will leverage the internal capacity we have built as company over the years in PoS terminal maintenance, deployment, installation, maintenance and networking to achieve this in record time.” In no small measure, Paymaster will leverage the wealth of experience and huge investments of Chams, its parent company in identity management, payment and transactional systems, to deliver exceptional value as a PTSP operator.

Chams plc has announced its audited result for the year ended December 31, 2010, at its annual general meeting held in Abuja. The result shows turnover rise by 50 percent, from N989 million to N1.48 billion, gross profit jumped by a significant 280 percent from N137 million in 2009 to N520 million in 2010, while it witnessed a 24 percent dip in profit to N2.1 billion from N2.8 billion the previous year. This performance indicates significant improvement in the top-line underlying profit-making capacity of the firm. In addition, interim report and accounts of the company for the first half (Q2) ended June 30, show a relatively improved performance as turnover rose by a steep 257 percent from N457 million in 2009 to N1.63 billion in the same period of 2010, while gross profit increased also by a steep 377 percent. The company reversed from a negative net profit margin of about 63 percent to a positive net return margin of about 14 percent as it recorded a profit after tax of N224.2 million within the six-month period compared with net loss of N286.2 million in the corresponding period of 2009. Speaking at the meeting, Adebayo Akinde, chairman, Chams, said the company had surmounted the operational challenges that adversely affected its performance through internal restructuring and deployment of innovative technologies. According to him, the restructuring and consistent investments in technology has improved efficiencies and profitability of existing and new projects being undertaken in the areas of identity management payment and transaction systems, thereby galvanising the company into an era of growth, as well as stable and improved returns to shareholders. “I wish to assure you of remarkable improvement in earnings by your company in 2011, which is evident in the financial results posted in the first and second quarter of the year,” Akinde disclosed. It would be recalled that the company had invested in building enabling platforms such as the ChamsCity digital malls in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, data capture equipments, transaction switching platform (ChamsSwitch), mobile payment platform (ChamsMobile), data centre to host and process transactions, Point of Sales terminals, as well as ChamsVarsity, an information and communications training institute, among others. This is in spite of the prevalent liquidity squeeze in the financial sector that restricted its access to much-needed debt and equity financing for projects execution. In his remarks, Demola Aladekomo, managing director, Chams, said the company’s growing profile in the country’s emerging electronic and transactions payment segment has been strengthened by the provisional and substantial licences granted it by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to deploy mobile payment services, prepaid cards, offsite automated teller machine network and a transaction switching platform. “Our investments in identity management, payments and transactions infrastructure as well as the acquisition of all requisite electronic and mobile banking licences has positioned Chams as a leading provider of consumer convenience banking services as the country transits into a cashless economy,” he stated. President, Nigeria Shareholders Solidarity Association, Timothy Adesiyan, said shareholders were happy that the company adopted a sustainable growth approach. “We appreciate the kind of technology you have put in place, which has put you ahead of other competitors. We are happy that the board, management and staff are taking the company to greater heights. All we can do is to give you supports and we will surely support you,” Adesiyan said. Another shareholder, Bisi Bakare said Chams had demonstrated commitment to creating long-term value for shareholders, urging shareholders to support the company.

The newly elected President of Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Dr. Demola Aladekomo has been challenged to inject fresh ideas that will raise vibrancy and stimulate growth of the association. A cross examination of Information Technology practitioners who are registered professionals of the association who bare their minds shortly after Aladekomo emerged NCS President, challenged him to restructure NCS and introduce a functionally directorate structure that will bring about the employment of several Executive Directors that will take care of strategic developments of the association. The Executive Directors according to them are to run the Secretariat along side the Executive Secretary. They want NCS to remain as an advocacy group that will monitor government activities and direct government on IT policy that will move the nation forward, explaining that the strength of NCS as an advocacy has not been felt, especially in monitoring government activities. "It is not sufficient to organise yearly conferences but to make government accountable for IT development. There are lots of irregularities leading to massive fraud in government circles in the area of online transactions through ATM and e-payment systems. NCS as an advocacy group should put search light on government e-transactions in order to reduce waste and fraud in government, and monitor government operations that are digitally driven," they said. They urged Aladekomo to insist on registration of all IT professionals with the Computer Professionals Registration Council (CPN) and NCS, insisting that only registered and qualified IT professionals should be allowed to handle government jobs relating to IT. Enforcing the use of IT tools to track government businesses is another area that they want the new NCS President to focus attention on. For effective coordination of all State Chapters and for proper implementation and enforcement of IT Policy, some of the stakeholders want Aladekomo to pursue the creation of Information Development Agency in all states of the federation to complement the efforts of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), a federal government parastatal that is involved in the formulation and implementation of IT policy and infrastructure development at the federal level. They were of the view that its creation will boost IT development in all the states of the federation.

The Group Managing Director of Chams Plc, Mr. Demola Aladekomo, has emerged the latest president of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) in a keenly contested election at the 10th NCS International conference, at the International Conference Centre, Abuja. The Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) is the umbrella organization of Information Technology Professionals, Interest Groups and Stakeholders in Nigeria. The society promotes the deployment and advancement of IT for growth in all spheres of life while shaping the future of the IT in Nigeria. Aladekomo, took over from the immediate past president, Prof. Charles Uwadia a renowned scholar, whose two-term in office expired with the emergence of Aladekomo. Speaking at the election which followed the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of NCC, the former president, Prof. Uwadia said he was fulfilled in positioning NCS on the right track within his tenure. Astute entrepreneur, Aladekomo assuring in his response after being elected of determination to drive NCS to the next level of policy influencing and representation of the best interests of individual, especially the teaming youths members and corporate members in continuity of an improvement on the vision and actions of NCS fore bearers. Notable for his many firsts and works in all aspects of modern computing and engineering, Aladekomo built the world largest cyber mall, notarised in the Guinness book of World Records and has worked on every major plastic/smart card based project in Nigeria. Aladekomo’s corporate existence cuts across several top IT and non-IT outfits such as Managing Director / Founder Charms Plc; Director, Paymaster Nigeria Limited; Director, Hardware Networks Limited; Chairman, Card Centre Nigeria Ltd; Founder, Volunteer Corps (NGO) to mention but few. Equally, he is a fellow, Computer Association of Nigeria turned NCS; fellow, Computer Professional Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN); Member, Nigeria Society of Engineers. He holds a first degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Ife and a Masters from the University of Lagos (UNILAG) in that order. He assured that he would raise NCS performance in terms of policy influence and cater to the best interests of individual and corporate members with a view to ensuring continuity and an improvement in the vision and achievements of the founders of NCS.

Electronic payment system is a relatively new phenomenon in Nigeria. Today, majority of transactions in the country are done with cash as a result of the fact that cash remains the preferred medium for payment despite the rapid penetration of ICT in the last decade, and government policies in this direction. However, poor awareness of e-payment solutions, ignorance, poor banking culture, lack of trust, illiteracy and lack of enabling laws have been fingered as responsible for the high volume of cash transactions in the country. In this encounter with Mr Demola Aladekomo, the Managing Director of Chams Plc, who also was recently elected President of the Nigeria Computer Society, he spoke on a number of issues concerning e-payment system in the country, the need to expand the number of current ATMs to 250,000, and the new push by the IT industry for enabling laws for e-payment coming soon. How many ATMs terminals do we have in the country now? According to CBN’s published figures, we have more than 11,000 ATMs. Terminals. Out of this, 7,000 are up and running. The CBN policies will drive the number of ATMs in the country. I believe that efforts are in place to move those ATMs from current number to about 25,000 ATMs in the next couple of months. Not enough ATMs Given the population of the country, do you think that the number of ATMs are enough for the population? Definitely not enough. 11,000 ATMs are not enough for our current population. We strongly believe that we need at least 250,000 ATMs across the nation, according to available survey. It is still a drop in the ocean on what we have. If you really want to stop a break in mortal banking, you need to make banking , ATMs to be accessed in the rural area so that you do not have bank branches all over the whole places. With this, people do not have to carry large sums of money about. They can carry N50,000 and when it is exhausted, they can go to the next ATM to get additional money. That can reduce incidences of robbery and corruption. Security of ATM use What can you say about security of ATMs users? For the ATM users, I think they are pretty secure. There will always be issues where cash is involved. But the more pervasive, the more implicating those ATMs are, the less the security problems. And of course for the users, it is just like you are carrying cash, you need to be careful carrying too much cash. But the location and usage of those ATMs will determine the security. But that is not say, no matter how careful you are or the ATMs, there may still be security issues. It is just for the ATM users to make sure that their cards are protected. They must make sure that their ATMs are rigged in such a way that they cannot easily be tampered with. Users should not go to ATMs that are hidden in corners. They should go to ATMs that is publicly used where they can safe. What about the culture of ATMs in the country? Use of ATMs is increasing by the day; the awareness is there. I strongly believe that what happened to GSM will also happen in other areas. Today, there is pervasiveness of SMS by the so called illiterates in the country. Even farmers now send SMS to their children. We have about 90 million GSM SIM cards in the country. I believe we have enough skills to manage e-payment. It may not be as sophisticated as we have in other environments, but I believe that our people are educated enough substantially to manage e-payment systems. Security has been the issue in the e-payment system in the country. Fraudulent people have been doing well because we do not have enabling laws. What can you say about this? On laws governing e-payment Yes, we do not have enabling laws to guide the practices of e-payment in the country. We are working with the National Assembly, especially wit the Senate, with NITDA and with the new Ministry of Communications & Technology to be able to come up with laws that will guide the v implementation of e-payment systems. You also know that the central Bank is heavily interested in this. In the next couple of months, there will be a lot of legislative activities in the national assembly being pushed by the NCS, Ministry of Communication and Technology, NITDA and Central Bank. We are going to ensure that these laws are actually pushed. What are your business areas? At Chams, we have two primary areas — the identity management systems and electronic payment systems. For Identity Management systems, we have solutions for individuals, corporate, state and federal governments. Today, we are working with the Federal Government in resolving the National Identity Management crisis. We are working with state governments to do staff auditing, minimize the amount of money they spend on salaries and wages. We work with corporate bodies. We are also working in e-payment systems. We do mobile banking. We have a website where we provide e-commerce. Locally, we deploy PoS terminals. But all these, you can group under identity and e-payment systems. It is important to note also that ChamsCity, a historical digital city is a pioneer in Nigeria and globally. It is a world class Digital Mall that facilitates transactions in payment, identification, pleasure and large-scale data management. It provides a cashless, innovative and pioneering environment for digital transactions. Our challenges What have been the challenges for Chams? In any business, you will have challenges, you have issues. Inconsistent government policies do affect us. Bureaucracy delays some of our activities. Funding has been a major challenge for ICT companies. The level of employability of human resource has been a major issue. When you employ them you train them and you refine them and at the end of the day they will still go and work elsewhere. But those are major business challenges which by the grace of God, we are surmounting by the day. But we are doing well even in the face of many challenges.

Mobile telephone subscribers with more than one GSM and CDMA phone lines in Lagos State can now register their Subscribers Identity Module (SIM) Cards, at a single registration point within the next six months, courtesy of the strategic partnership between Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Chams Plc. This is against the backdrop of the flag-off the much anticipated NCC driven SIM card registration on Monday, March 28, 2011.

Chams Plc, the leading indigenous identity management and e-payment systems company, is the private sector solutions provider partner engaged by the NCC to deliver SIM card registration solution that covers all mobile phone operators in Lagos State, including CDMA and fixed lines. The company has the mandate to capture detailed subscriber profiles and data in a manner that facilitates its seamless integration into the existing National Identity Database.

Demola Aladekomo, Managing Director, Chams Plc said the bespoke registration process, which allows registration of SIM from different mobile operators, CDMAs and fixed lines at once by a subscriber, is customer friendly and convenient provided individuals present the required information. "All existing phone subscribers will be required to provide details including, name, date of birth, phone number, thumb prints, SIM Identity Card (ID) and a valid identity card.

“We are up to the challenge of registering mobile phone subscribers cutting across all the GSM, CDMA and fixed line networks in Lagos, which is the largest market in the country. As an ISO Certified Company, we have deployed well-trained personnel and quality hardware supported by cutting edge processes put in place to enable us deliver on deadline, to ensure that the objectives of SIM card registration exercise such as curbing of mobile phone related crimes are achieved.”

On his part, Dr Eugene Juwah, Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, reiterated, “the SIM registration process is a major phase in the development of the telecoms industry and we are taking the exercise with all seriousness. I therefore urge selected contractors to execute the contract with dispatch.”

He also has appealed to subscribers to get registered or risk being taken off any of the mobile networks after six months.

Justifying the reason for the new round of regulator-led registration, Juwah added that mobile phone operators had since last year started SIM card registration but had only been able to register about 12 million subscribers. Which is why the NCC is driving the next phase of the registration expected to last six months and would generate a national database of the remaining SIM cards estimated to be over 72 million subscribers.

According to him, unregistered SIM cards would be blocked after the mandatory period of registration. In order to avoid the frustrations of blocked SIM cards, NCC advised subscribers to insist on being registered at the point of purchase or the nearest designated registration point of the NCC private sector solutions provider scattered across the country.
 

The compelling need to make transactions cashless without visiting a bank, thereby improving access to basic financial services such as consumer accounts, person-to-person transactions and remittances among the estimated 100 million Nigerians who are unbanked led the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) licensing financial and non-financial institutions to carry out mobile payment services.

Ahead of the CBN deadline to mobile payment licensees in the country to deploy products and services, ChamsMobile, one of the non-financial institutions licensed to provide mobile banking services, has successfully transited from pre-pilot phase into the pilot phase of its services in Lagos. The phase in which the ChamsMobile Solution drives basic transactions such as airtime vending, utility bills payment, international remittances, cardless withdrawals from ATMs, as well as fund transfers, without the customer visiting a bank.

According to Mathew Ogunbukola, Chief Operating Officer, ChamsMobile, the company embarked on a pre-pilot testing of the ChamsMobile Solution in Lagos before its eventual rollout because of the need to detect potential problems and learn from them to prevent such from becoming costly mistakes that will affect customers and company operations adversely.

“We have tested our mobile banking software, procedures, using end users and agent networks to ensure that they meet the regulatory standards of the CBN. This is because we are cognisant of the fact that mobile payment services have not been implemented before in Nigeria and we cannot afford costly mistakes,” he stated.

Shedding more light on the solution, Ogunbukola said it was a virtual account solution that interfaces with all traditional payment switches or bank accounts, enabling customers to transfer money from their regular bank accounts into their virtual account and effect payment for goods and services using any connected mobile enabled device across all major telecoms networks.

He went on to say: “The solution provides flexibility and convenience for users of the system to use one or multiple channels to access their accounts. It supports financial, informational and automated interactions through the mobile channel. An account holder can originate a transaction by initiating transfer from any payment card into their virtual account at a point of sale location, ATM, kiosk, merchant location or the internet.”

On his part, Demola Aladekomo, Chairman, ChamsMobile, identified identity fraud as a major challenge in the mobile and electronic payment environment because users were only identified electronically using PINs or password.

He however reiterated that the company had put in place security measures to prevent customers on their platform from falling prey to fraudsters. “We have put in place a system that requires the use of biometric authentication for crucial transactions to checkmate fraud and encourage users to embrace our solution. In addition, we have a strong customer service and agent management team positioned to provide effective and on-time dispute resolution, following best practices in process and procedures.

“ChamsMobile will also leverage its parent company’s wealth of experience and strong partnerships to expand Nigeria’s financial circle through an all-inclusive strategy to reach the unbanked and offer them a platform for empowerment that will change the way they transact business and live daily. “We are confident that through our unique solution we can finally begin to look at a cashless society as mobile payment becomes increasing acceptable at all levels in the society,” he disclosed.