00:10Welcome to this edition of Business Africa. I'm your host, Afolake Oniloye, the top stories this week.
00:18Nigeria's new virtual asset council could reshape Africa's digital economy and transform cross-border payments.
00:29How Africa's $100 billion death per remittances could move from family support to long-term investment.
00:41From waste to wealth, a Bukavu startup uses black soldier flies to boost food security and create jobs.
00:53Nigeria is moving to bring order to Africa's fastest-growing crypto sector.
00:59A new regulatory framework could boost confidence, encourage innovation, and make cross-border payment across the continent more efficient.
01:07Take a look.
01:09Sub-Saharan Africa remains the world's most expensive region for cross-border money transfers,
01:15with the average remittance fees hovering near 8.5 percent and intra-African bank transfers routinely swallowing up to 15
01:23percent in costs
01:24and taking days to settle, driven by currency volatility and this steep tradition of friction costs.
01:31Businesses and retail users across the continent processed over $205 billion in digital assets in a single year.
01:41At the center of this boom is Nigeria, a global top-three crypto market that recorded more than $92 billion
01:48in digital asset volume in the last 12 months alone.
01:51Yet for years, this massive market operated in a regulatory shadow.
01:56Start-ups and international investors were caught in a legal tug-of-war,
02:00navigating the central bank's financial bonds alongside separate competing guidelines from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
02:09That is why Nigeria's new presidential executive orders matters.
02:13By bringing the central bank, the SEC, and tax authorities under a unified virtual asset council,
02:20Nigeria isn't just fixing a domestic headache, it is creating an institutional blueprint for the entire continent.
02:27The council streamlines regulatory oversight, creates a dedicated innovation sandbox,
02:33and paves the way for faster, cheaper stablecoin settlements across African borders.
02:41To discuss what this means for the virtual asset ecosystem and the future of fintech regulation in Africa,
02:48we're joined by Pellumi Esho, CEO and founder of 9to1 Payment.
02:52Welcome to the show.
02:54Now, could this new executive order boost investor confidence and serve as a regulatory model for all the African markets?
03:01So, I mean, this initiative or regulatory coordination, I'd say it's more as a potential turning point rather than a
03:10guaranteed turning point.
03:11Because bringing together the SEC, CBN, NFIU, and then the NRS signals that Nigeria is moving beyond a fragmented oversight
03:22system to a more regulated, coordinated regulation.
03:26And, you know, a coordinated regulation signals to investors stability, and they do appreciate stability and encourages investment.
03:35Now, how will this new CBN sandbox and Clara rules reshape fintech innovation startups and digital asset growth?
03:44Well, I would expect a net positive effect, especially for firms building payments, tokenization, custody, and even blockchain infrastructure.
03:54The sandbox is particularly valuable in the markets where founders were very confused about regulatory requirements.
04:02What a sandbox does is that it improves communication between the regulators and the fintech players, and then that information
04:11allows there to be better policy formulations.
04:15It also ensures that proper sample size is done for whatever products that is going to be launched.
04:22So, it would be a net positive effect.
04:25What we hope is that these policies are not, they don't triple innovation, that the policies don't lag innovation, but
04:35predicts it.
04:36Now, what opportunities or challenges can this new framework create for cross-border payments and Africa's digital financial ecosystem?
04:46Well, in terms of adoption rights, the use of virtual currencies was pushed by a real case need in the
04:54sense that, you know, when you consider the African markets and how payments is made, it can be very slow,
05:00especially using traditional rails.
05:02So, adoption of cryptocurrency is already here in that it solves a real-time problem.
05:07Well, in terms of the larger opportunity for the African markets, I see it as improving the transaction flow between
05:17African currencies or African countries.
05:22When you consider a typical case of how payments is made, let's say merchants is making payments from Nigeria to
05:30Nairobi, it travels from the local bank in Nigeria to a corresponding bank and then to the bank in Nairobi.
05:37Using virtual currencies shortens that timeframe and then increases or, sorry, rather, reduces the fees that are used in making
05:46this payment.
05:47So, when we consider the larger African impact of virtual currencies is basically reducing that fragmentation of payments, lessening the
05:57timelines for payments and reducing the fees as well.
06:01So, when we consider the challenges that we might encounter in adopting virtual currencies as Africa as a whole, it
06:10would particularly refer to the fragmentation in policies.
06:14For us to be able to push this further and more smoothly to have that net positive effect, policies across
06:21African countries will need to be synchronized.
06:24Policies, when it comes to compliance, AML rules or even CFT rules as well, needs to be one and the
06:31same.
06:31That way, we ensure that, one, we realize the full benefits and then, two, it's easier for African fintechs to
06:40be able to port from one country to the other without the compliance bottlenecks and growth at large.
06:47Well, thank you very much for those insights.
06:52The African diaspora sends nearly $100 billion back home each year, more than foreign direct investment.
06:59At the EMY Africa London Summit, business leaders explored how those remittances could shift from support and daily needs to
07:07funding businesses, creating jobs and driving long-term growth.
07:12Speaking at the recently concluded EMY Africa London Summit, founder Kojo Soba argued that the missing link isn't a lack
07:20of capital, but a lack of structured investment vehicles that build trust between diaspora investors and continental founders.
07:29Remittances are good because they sustain families back at home.
07:34But for Africa's next economic phase, we have to move from just consumption to productive investment.
07:46And diaspora must not just be seen as people who just send money home, as money senders, but they can
07:53be seen as investors, as mentors, as partners in businesses.
07:59We believe that we need to move from just remittances, capital to investment capital.
08:06This model has been deployed by nations like India and Israel to transform their economies by systematically channeling diaspora capital
08:17away from basic remittances, international growth bonds, tech hubs and venture funds.
08:25Applying that same framework to Africa's $60 billion creative sector could be revolutionary.
08:33Right now, Africa captures less than 3% of global creative revenues because foreign platforms own the intellectual property rights.
08:46In Bukavu, one innovative company is turning waste into opportunity.
08:51Through black soldier fly farming, Joela is helping farmers reduce feed costs, improve food security and create new employment opportunities.
09:00Take a look.
09:02Joela Bouhendoua is transforming organic waste into opportunity in the Congorese city of Bukavu.
09:10She's founder of Asti Firm, a pioneering company that breeds black soldier flies, which are then used to convert household
09:17organic waste into animal feed and natural fertilizer,
09:21creating jobs while at the same time promoting a circular economy.
09:30Here, their sole mission is to lay eggs.
09:33They're eggs which will be harvested and which will give us larva.
09:37This larva will then eat the organic waste, turning it into a valuable resource.
09:42This not only helps us protect our environment, but also provides us with feed for our animals.
09:50Asti Firm's work is helping reduce pollution, improve food security and provide affordable livestock feed for local farmers, reducing dependence
10:00on imports.
10:01Customers say the products have made a difference to their businesses, with supplies readily available.
10:07The fertilizers are also helping urban gardening projects across Bukavu, where women are using it to grow their own vegetables
10:15at home.
10:22It was part of our urban vegetable garden project with 100 women from Bukavu working in different areas.
10:29We paid for the fertilizer and gave it to the women, to the moms, to show them that it is
10:34possible to grow your own urban vegetable garden at home.
10:40Despite operating without external funding, Asti Firm continues to expand.
10:46Joella says her business model is designed to grow sustainably, while creating economic opportunities and protecting the environment.
10:56That brings us to the end of this edition of Business Africa.
11:01For more business news and updates, stay tuned to African News or visit us online at africanews.com.
11:08See you soon.
11:15Business Africa was presented by Turkish Airlines.
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