DigitalSENSE Business News:
Leader in electronic payments, MasterCard has signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with Grooming Centre in
efforts to extend solutions to 500,000 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
(MSMEs) in peri-urban and rural parts of Nigeria, reports DigitalSENSE Business
News.
Grooming Centre, DigitalSENSE Business
News gathered is a Nigerian micro-finance organization that seeks to
address the gaps in financial services through provision of affordable loans to
women-owned MSMEs.
DigitalSENSE
Business News also reports that till date, Grooming Centre has disbursed payments
by cash or cheques, which are less efficient than electronic means.
Chief Executive Officer of Grooming Centre, Mr Godwin Nwabunke, explained
to DigitalSENSE
Business News that under the MoU, the Grooming Centre would pre-load the
funds onto MasterCard prepaid cards.
Business owners, DigitalSENSE Business
News gathered could now use their cards to withdraw funds at millions of
ATMs or pay for goods and services at merchants that accept MasterCard payments
in Nigeria and in over 210 countries globally.
“There are a huge number of MSMEs that do not have access to any
form of formal financial tools or services. Through the provision of electronic
payments, these business owners will enjoy more convenient access to capital, be
able to better manage and track their spending, save for future needs and
protect themselves against unforeseen risks,” said Nwabunke.
MasterCard and Grooming Centre will also
work with various financial institutions to rollout payment devices including Mobile
Point of Sale terminals, enabling these MSMEs to accept debit, prepaid and
credit cards for the first time.
In her remark, Omokehinde Ojomuyide, Vice President and Area
Business Head for West Africa, MasterCard asserted that through this partnership,
they are enabling financial inclusion in communities where consumers have
largely been unable to use formal payment products and have had to rely on cash.
“These
payment solutions will help these MSMEs reduce the amount of cash they
currently handle, increase sales, and improve cash flow while making it easier
and safer for their customers to pay,” she said.
Ojomuyide also said that MSMEs are essential to the growth of
Nigeria’s economy, stressing that this kind of collaboration with Grooming
Centre not only supports
the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Cashless Nigeria policy, but it will help this
vital sector to connect more efficiently to the national and global economy,”
says Ojomuyide.
DigitalSENSE
Business News, recalls that research
carried out by the Small and
Medium Enterprises Development Agency and the National Bureau of Statistics
shows that MSMEs represent 95
per cent of registered businesses in Nigeria and account for 75 per cent of the
workforce.
+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) +MasterCard
ITREALMS ... delivering news for ICT4D
Pix: Ezediashi Ofili, VP, Prepaid Product Management MasterCard, (Centre, Left) and Godwin Nwabunke, CEO, Grooming Centre (Centre, Right) shake hands following the signing of an MoU that will extend electronic payments to MSMEs in Nigeria. Looking on are Adesoji Tayo Executive Director, Grooming Centre (Extreme Left) and Uwagbae Uzebu, Director Acceptance Development Non Traditional Channels MasterCard (Extreme Right)
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