The award followed a year-long assessment on three areas – contribution to knowledge, humanitarian service and community development – which ended with Amuchie’s successful appearance before an Honorary Award Interview Panel set up by the Board of GAU on 23 December 2024, two days before the award was released.

At the panel session, Amuchie, a Rotarian, talked about his passion for humanitarian service. As President of the Rotary Club of Abuja CBD in the 2022-2023 Rotary Year, he led a Board that successfully ended open defecation in the Central Primary School, Gidan Gimba, Nasarawa State.

The club under his leadership  built three modern toilets for the boys, girls and staff of the primary school. The project was commissioned on 23 June 2023.

He also started a Basic Education Project consisting of a block of classrooms and a headteacher’s office in the school.

The project reached advanced level of completion before his tenure ended on 30 June 2023.

Amuchie told the panel that ending open defecation in the Gidan Gimba Primary School and starting the Basic Education Project meant so much to him as it was a significant achievement of his Rotary Club under his presidency, adding that the local chief of Gidan Gimba community, his subjects as well as the pupils and staff of the school expressed deep gratitude to the Rotary Club of Abuja CBD for the gesture.

Max Amuchie’s media platform, Sundiata Post, which was officially unveiled at an impressive ceremony in Abuja on 7 July 2015, won, in July 2020, the Google News JERF Award.

Amuchie, a chartered human resource consultant, is a Doctoral Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Human Resource Management.

He is also an Associate of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and member of the Institute of Strategic Management, Nigeria.

He is a member and North-Central Zonal Co-ordinator of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), where, for three years, he has been a member of the Annual Conference Planning Committee.

A former Vice President, Public Relations of Unity Toastmasters Club, Abuja, Dr Max Amuchie is also a member of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE).

In a letter he sent to GAU in appreciation, he expressed hope that the award would open a vista of relationship between the Gulf American University and Sundiata Post Media Ltd as well as the Rotary Club of Abuja CBD.

Carmelle Cadet, the founder and chief executive officer of EMTECH, disclosed this on Thursday during an international press conference, saying,

“Today, we are thrilled celebrating a significant milestone, “Beyond Compliance“. Understanding the frustrations associated with managing regulatory compliance, we designed this comprehensive solution to empower FSPs. Beyond Compliance goes beyond traditional methods, offering a centralized platform that simplifies compliance and allows FSPs to dedicate resources to core business functions.”

Techeconomy gathered that some of the key features and benefits of EMTECH Beyond Compliance solutions include but not limited to effortless framework setup whereby users will be able to select their regulators and relevant frameworks based on their licensed category, track and manage all compliance obligations in a structured format, ensuring no requirement goes overlooked.

Others include collaborative task management to ensure timely completion of compliance activities, real-time compliance dashboard, modular design to adapts to different regulatory frameworks across various jurisdictions and API integration to seamlessly integrate with central bank APIs for effortless regulatory reporting.

Cadet reiterated EMTECH’s mission to empower financial institutions through innovative solutions.

Already, the company has successfully collaborated with the Bank of Ghana, in the implementation of the bank’s regulatory sandbox process.

This collaboration provided valuable insights into the challenges faced by Fintechs, particularly during the licensing process. ‘Beyond Compliance’ addresses the challenges faced by Fintechs,” the CEO said.

Continuing, Cadet emphasized the solution streamlines the licensing process, simplifies ongoing compliance management, and empowers Fintechs to navigate the dynamic regulatory landscape with confidence.

In her words:

“Traditionally, the licensing process for Fintechs has been a manual and cumbersome affair. Beyond Compliance automates many of these tasks, reduces the burden of paperwork, and ensures Fintechs meet all regulatory requirements before entering the market.”

She said EMTECH offers flexible pricing plans to suit the needs of organizations of all sizes, from small startups to large financial institutions. The company also provides a range of trials and demos, allowing potential customers to experience the transformative power of Beyond Compliance firsthand. She added thst the new innovation also offers comprehensive onboarding support and ongoing resources to ensure a smooth implementation process, with a dedicated team to address any user concerns.

Cadet encouraged FSPs to visit the company’s website to learn more about ‘Beyond Compliance’ and explore how it can revolutionize their approach to regulatory compliance.

While the initial focus is on FSPs, a question from a journalist prompted EMTECH to hint on future applications.

“We get this question all the time. Beyond Compliance reflects our belief that better compliance management is crucial across many regulated industries. While we are currently focused on supporting FSPs, we have plans to expand the solution’s capabilities to serve other sectors later this year”, the CEO said.

EMTECH provides solutions for Digital Currency regulatory compliance, development and management to help Central Banks and FinTechs build, run and manage their compliance processes.

MTN Nigeria, the country’s leading telco has been itching to get a piece of the action. Reason it secured Super Agency in 2019 and Payment Service Bank (PSB) licenses in 2021.

Hugely successful with its telecom business, recording N1.654trn ($3.93billion) revenue in 2021, its fintech revenue has stuttered.

This may change based on its recent transformation into a technology firm. Acquisitions may be one of the options to achieve this.

MTN and Acquisitions

While MTN lacks a robust profile of inorganic growth, its fintech foray might change the trajectory. If it embraces acquisition, one of the best fintechs MTN may acquire is SystemSpecs.

Why acquire SystemSpecs?

Assumption is the worst kind of knowledge. But it should be noted that by linking the dots one may unearth strategies a big corporate like MTN may be considering. For instance, it rebranded as a technology company.

MTN Group’s chief sustainability officer, Nompilo Morafo, said the rebranding is part of the group’s Ambition 2025 strategy, aimed at creating “leading digital platforms for Africa’s progress”.

Its share offering in Nigeria has helped it to raise about $244 million. This means MTN has a deeper pocket to execute fintech acquisitions to drive growth.

With a PSB license, acquiring a Payment Solution Service Provider (PSSP) and switching licensee that has huge transaction volume, will accelerate MTN’s fintech growth.

Reasons MTN may acquire SystemSpecs  

MTN has collaborated with SystemSpecs’ Remita via its Y’ello Digital Financial Services (YDFS) for bills payment, money transfers and TSA payments on its agency network.  

• MTN Chairman, Ernest Ndukwe is also SystemSpecs Chairman. This is strategic.
• SystemSpecs has morphed into a holding company with two subsidiaries: Remita Payment Services Limited and SystemSpecs Technologies Limited.
• MTN will benefit from Remita’s PSSP and switching licenses, and control SystemSpecs tech rack.
• SystemSpecs owns the most successful Human Resource Management platforms in Africa (HumanManager). It reportedly processed over 10 million payroll records of about N1trn ($ 2 billion) value in 2021.

SystemSpecs and its acquisition value

One of the pioneering tech firms in Nigeria, SystemSpecs was founded in 1992. It birthed Remita, its fintech arm, in 2005.

In 2011, Remita was selected to power the federal government’s TSA policy. The implementation of this policy has reportedly saved Nigeria more than N540 billion ($1.2billion) annually in public funds. Remita has a unique position because of its relationship with the Nigerian banks and a straight-through-processing (STP) infrastructure.

Besides, SystemSpecs is a quiet but active company. Figures released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) shows that Remita processed N20.9trn ($46billion) in payments volume in 2019. This is almost three times what Flutterwave – valued at $3 billion – has processed since inception.

The success of TSA powered by Remita has been a game-changing initiative. It has bolstered interest in Remita by African nations. Remita can lead implementation of the TSA on the continent. It has a successful data business.

It leverages data generated across its business to create unique use-cases for lenders and other customers. Bootstrapped from inception and a profitable company, SystemSpecs is more than its payment racks. It will be an automatic addition to the bottom line of its acquirer.

How much is SystemSpecs acquisition? 

I cannot verify how much an acquisition of this scale would cost. But I would not be wrong to assume an acquisition would position SystemSpecs as a matured unicorn.

Can MTN be checked? 

While MTN is a big contender to acquire SystemSpecs, glance at a few Nigerian banks that have transformed into holding entities. They may be considering the acquisition of a solid business to bolster their fintech play. The fintech ecosystem is about to enter a consolidation phase. The telcos and banks may lead the game.