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Verve: Powering Africa’s Payment Evolution for Over 15 Years

Staff Writer — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 15:02:45 +0000

For more than 15 years, Verve has been a leading force in Africa’s digital payment revolution, offering secure, fast, convenient, and reliable payment solutions designed for the realities of the continent.

Launched to meet the pressing need for a card scheme tailored to African markets, Verve has grown into a trusted household name, with over 85 million cards issued and presence in several African countries with an expanding consumer appeal across Africa.

Verve’s story began with a challenge; existing international card solutions struggled to meet the needs of Africa’s diverse and dynamic markets. Issues like regulatory complexity, limited infrastructure, and inconsistent connectivity posed serious barriers.

Verve responded with purpose-built solutions engineered to perform where others couldn’t, delivering stability, security, and interoperability for consumers and institutions alike.

From its roots in Nigeria, Verve has steadily expanded its reach and impact. Today, the Verve network powers millions of transactions daily across ATMs, POS terminals, web, retail outlets, online and offline platforms, while remaining grounded in its commitment to local relevance and innovation.

Now with a network of over 350 members, Verve has earned deep trust across the banking and fintech sectors. Its continued growth underscores a broader narrative: Africa is not just adopting digital payments, it’s shaping them.

Furthermore, strategic partnerships with companies like Manipal and Cardforte have enabled the production of eco-friendly Verve cards, allowing Verve to align with global sustainability goals without compromising on durability or security.

Driving Innovation and Regional Integration: Verve’s Expanding Footprint

Verve continues to evolve with the changing expectations of today’s consumers. Recognizing the growing demand for speed and convenience, the brand introduced contactless payment solution, allowing cardholders to tap-to-pay for quicker, more secure and convenient transactions.

Over 30 million Verve Contactless cards have been issued, and the contactless cards are accepted in about ninety percent terminals across Nigeria.

This feature underscores Verve’s commitment to enhancing user experience through innovation rooted in local relevance.

Breaking Barriers to Cross-Border Payments

One of Verve’s most strategic advancements in recent years is its focus on enabling seamless cross-border payments within Africa.

Through a landmark partnership with GIM-UEMOA, the regional switch for the West African Economic and Monetary Union, Verve became the first Nigerian and African card scheme integrated into a major regional payment network. This integration connects over 130 million people across eight West African countries.

With this breakthrough, Verve cardholders can now perform transactions including withdrawals from ATMs, and more, across the UEMOA region.

Verve users are enjoying shopping and online payment experience

This dual strength, regional relevance and collaborations with global brands such as Google, Spotify, Temu, AliExpress, Uber, Facebook Ad, Netflix, amongst others, sets the card apart as a uniquely African success story in the digital payments space, with a future focused on deeper financial inclusion and continental interoperability

NITDA: Nigeria’s Crackdown on Cybercrimes Shows Progress Despite Rising Digital Threats

Joan Aimuengheuwa — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 14:42:38 +0000

The Federal Government of Nigeria has reported notable progress in its battle against cybercrimes and unethical online behaviour.

Malam Kashifu Inuwa, the director general, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), attributed these gains to intensified enforcement and public awareness initiatives.

Recent statement from the National Security Adviser indicates that Nigeria has joined 66 other nations in ratifying the Convention on Cybercrime, enhancing international cooperation to combat cyber threats.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has also reported securing 3,175 convictions and recovering over ₦156 billion in the past year, highlighting the government’s commitment to tackling financial crimes.

Despite these efforts, challenges persist. The proliferation of emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence and blockchain has introduced new avenues for cybercriminals. In response, the government is considering amendments to the Cybercrimes Act to address these evolving threats.

Moreover, the government has initiated awareness campaigns to educate the public on cyber threats and promote ethical online behaviour.

These initiatives aim to foster a culture of cybersecurity and resilience among citizens.

As Nigeria continues to strengthen its cybersecurity framework, collaboration between government agencies, private sectors, and international partners remains crucial to sustaining progress and safeguarding the nation’s digital landscape.

Speaking during a press conference in Abuja to announce the National Cybersecurity Conference 2025, Inuwa emphasized the growing importance of cybersecurity as Nigeria continues its transformation into a digitally driven economy.

He highlighted the dual nature of the digital age: immense opportunities for innovation and development, alongside equally pressing risks like cybercrime, data breaches, and threats to national infrastructure.

Themed “Securing Nigeria’s Digital Future: Innovation, Collaboration, and Resilience,” the conference aims to serve as a premier platform for strategic engagement, knowledge-sharing, and the fostering of critical partnerships. Organized in partnership with QNA International, Dubai—a global leader in industry events—with participation from a wide array of partners across the public and private sectors, the two-day hybrid conference will deliver a world-class experience meeting global standards.

Features: Uniting Experts, Innovators, and Emerging Talent in Cybersecurity

Live technical sessions, workshops, and product exhibitions
Keynotes and panel discussions with global cybersecurity experts
A Capture the Flag (CTF) hackathon to engage and empower young Nigerian talent
Networking opportunities for public and private sector players
An award dinner to celebrate outstanding contributions to the cybersecurity landscape

Strategic Objectives

The conference seeks to:

Strengthen Nigeria’s cyber resilience and protect critical digital infrastructure
Facilitate international cooperation in combating cybercrime
Promote cybersecurity innovation and workforce development
Foster inter-agency and multi-sectoral coordination
Encourage youth participation and talent discovery through competitions

Why It Matters

According to a statement by Hadiza Umar, director, Corporate Communications and Media Relations
at NITDA, Nigeria is rapidly emerging as a leading tech hub in Africa. But with progress comes new vulnerabilities.

“This landmark event reaffirms Nigeria’s leadership in shaping cybersecurity policy and innovation—not just nationally, but across the continent”, she said.

Conference Details

Event: National Cybersecurity Conference 2025
Dates: 9th – 10th July 2025
Venue: Abuja Continental Hotel, Abuja

“4 People Tweeting in a Room” are Disrupting Nigeria’s Political Space

Justice Godfrey Okamgba — Fri, 03 Mar 2023 14:43:40 +0000

The unfolding events are beginning to show that Nigeria’s politics may be tilting toward digital. Online support will equate to offline support. Online political campaigns will equate to offline campaigns.

Social media are powerful tools depending on how effective you can make them work for you. Be it business, politics, religion, etc., they work. From a political standpoint, the recent presidential election in Nigeria has proven that social media remain sacrosanct.

In 2021, there were approximately 43 million social network users in Nigeria, and this figure is projected to grow to 103 million users in 2026, according to Statista.

During the electioneering process, Nigerian youths campaigned rigorously for their preferred candidates. These relentless youths, popularly known as “Obidients” unanimously rendered their support to billionaire businessman Peter Obi in a bid to disrupt the political space.

The former Governor of Anambra State who became the flag bearer of the Labour Party and arguably the most preferred candidate according to several reports enjoyed an avalanche of good wills from the teeming Nigerian youths who are ready to ‘take a bullet’ for him from the opposition.

Obidients are all over the Internet space to either brand Mr. Obi as the best or vehemently refute any demeaning posts or remarks from the opposition – the All Progressives Congress (APC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) against him.

On social media, these “structureless youths” organized conferences and meetings to discuss how to dismantle an already existing institutionalized political process that has not yielded any positive.

Strategy sessions were held. Mr. Obi’s supporters raised funds, designed banners, and got influencers and volunteers who were able to push the goal offline. Emphatically, these activities gradually transcended offline. In a few months, the opposition started feeling the heat from all angles.

On several occasions, the opposition parties who are conspicuously glued to the old style of politics disregarded how powerful Obidients can be. They made comments like “you can not win an election on social media,” “they are just online people,” and Obidients have no structure,” etc. Social media just proved all those theories wrong.

In an interview on September 2022, the then National Chairman of APC, Adams Oshiomhole (now Senator-elect), said Obidients were just “4 persons tweeting in a room. This phrase has been used by Obidients to mock opposition whenever they pull out large crowds offline for Mr. Obi’s campaign.

Oshiomhole said:

“These Obidients of disobedience time will tell. We now live in a world where we can have 4 young men and women in one room, whether motivated or not motivated. They can churn out 1 million stories using different names. You need to find out that this whole thing is being done in one room. Time will tell.”

https://twitter.com/Ebenplusworld/status/1629460660143759362

Till date, the Obidients have been waxing stronger, leveraging social media to get things done. Mr. Obi’s candidacy has shown that politics has gone digital. Just as the local grassroots are important, digital grassroots are also vital.

From the last presidential election, it’s clear that social media can influence the political space of any society, challenging the narrative that one needs to have structure. If a candidate has strong support online, such a person is likely to have support offline.

At the polls on February 25, 2023, the Obidients who kickstarted the journey online came out en masse to cast their votes. The outcome has been impressive. Some of the old politicians who underestimated the power of social media lost the elections. Some of these positions were lost to Obidients‘ Labour Party.

Specifically, the presidential election was allegedly marred with irregularities that were exposed by the Obidients. At several polling units where Obidients supposedly won, they made videos and shared them on social media. They also shared videos of where manipulations and thuggery occurred. These videos went viral on the Internet. The world was able to see these exhibits.

Expectedly, the election was described as unfair, controversial, and largely flawed by both local and international media. While several petitions at the law court have been flying here and there. All of these were made possible by the Obidients who understood the power of social media. The battle has just begun, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out, eventually.

More importantly, it is high time public officeholders became more accountable and regain the trust of the Nigerian youth who has clearly made up his/her mind to bring your political careers to a halt.

The economy must start working; the business environment must be friendly enough, public funds must be used appropriately for the public good, amongst other things that make up good governance.

Otherwise, “these four men Tweeting in a room’, could rock your political boats.

E-commerce App Marketers Spent $6.1 Billion on User Acquisition Worldwide

Justice Godfrey Okamgba — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 10:30:22 +0000

AppsFlyer, the global marketing measurement leader, has released the 2022 edition of its State of eCommerce App Marketing report. Within the report, AppsFlyer outlines key global trends,guiding marketers in building a mobile-first experience that will drive engagement and sales for the upcoming holiday season.

Following the past few years of significant e-commerce growth resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, e-commerce in general and app marketing, in particular, have entered into a natural slowdown.

In 2022, e-commerce is no longer attracting the same volume of new users, and rising prices are starting to take their toll on marketing budgets and planning.

Heading into the holiday season marked by an economic downturn, supply disruptions, and continuing privacy changes and data restrictions, efficiency should be at the forefront of marketers’ minds.

On the continent, there was a general increase of 54% in e-commerce apps between January 2021 and July 2022. Unsurprisingly, the peak time for in-app purchases fell naturally during the Q4 holiday season, particularly in November.

Regarding organic vs non-organic installs, shopping apps slowly saw their share of non-organic installs fall on Android in South Africa, perhaps a sign that marketers are spending less.

In January 2021, non-organic installs made up two-thirds of an app’s total installs. Approximately a year and a half later, in July 2022, this fell to 57%.

In Nigeria, however, the opposite trend was recorded, with non-organic installs making up the vast majority of an app’s total installs – likely to do with lower cost-per-install (CPI), which has increased over time. In January 2021, non-organic installs made up 64% of an app’s total installs, whereas in July 2022, this was 79%.

Commenting on the release of the report Shani Rosenfelder, Director of Market Insights at AppsFlyer, shared.

“The likelihood of a downward trend for e-commerce apps is not the end for marketers, as November is annually the best month for installs and sales across most markets with the likes of Black Friday. This year, especially, consumers might still have an appetite for spending in the holiday season thanks to the addition of the World Cup.

For this reason, apps should focus on remarketing to retain the users they did pick up over the past few years and publishers need to make the most of their owned media channels.”

Additional Key Insights from the report globally and for the continent include:

E-commerce app marketers spent $6.1 Billion on user acquisition. Still, global ad spending nosedived over – 50% Year-over-Year (YoY) due to rising iOS media cost, post-Covid relative return to normalcy, and other macroeconomic conditions. Globally, app installs ad spending among e-commerce apps took a significant hit due to rising and volatile CPI, with a 55% YoY drop in Android in January, and a similarly steep 53% dive for iOS.
Globally, thirty-day retention on Android declined 13% as mobile users continued to explore new apps and services. Meanwhile, iOS dropped 5% while reporting better overall retention than Android users, keeping with historical trends.
Regarding app overall installs on the continent – South Africa saw total e-commerce installs on Android grow 16% from H1 2021 to H1 2022. On iOS, they grew 12%.
In Nigeria, total e-commerce installs on Android dropped 28% from H1 2021 to H1 2022. On iOS, they dropped 18%.
In Kenya, total e-commerce installs on Android dropped 15% from H1 2021 to H1 2022