Sadiq Abu, CEO of Absa Nigeria, gave this commendation while speaking during the “Power Lunch Show” on CNBC Africa on Monday. He also lauded the commission for recognising digital assets as securities.

Following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) circular in February 2021, digital assets like crypto exchanges in Nigeria have been banned from working with financial institutions.

But industry experts believe the latest developments from the SEC could act as the precursor for a surprise move from the CBN to reverse its approach, providing critical foundations for mass crypto adoption across the country.

SEC, the regulator of the Nigerian capital market, had over the weekend published a new guideline on Issuance, Offering Platforms and Custody of Digital Assets, fulfilling the promise it made last year to examine the digital currency to gain a better understanding and develop regulations to protect investors.

To this end, Abu said, “SEC decided to be proactive around cryptocurrency and digital assets. The SEC has realised that these are rightly called securities and further created a framework to bring them within the broader securities’ regulatory framework in Nigeria.

According to him, the SEC has also created a framework for protecting investors by requiring investments to be held by digital assets custodians and acknowledged that exchanges or platforms for trading digital assets needed to be regulated.

“There is also an overarching framework for regulating all participants that play in the digital assets space through a specialised license called Virtual Assets Services provider.”

He pointed out that a new rule stipulating tenure and other qualifications of the Chief Executive Officer and Principal Officers of Digital Assets Offering Platforms was similar to the regulations of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

According to him, this is a clear indication that the SEC and CBN worked together to develop the new framework for the operation of digital assets.

He stated, “There is clear evidence that the SEC is working hands in glove with the CBN to create a regulatory framework for the operation of digital assets and the regulation of CEOs and Principal Officers fall under the broader approved persons regime of the SEC”

Absa, offers investment banking and market products through its various Nigerian registered subsidiaries, namely Absa Representative Office Nigeria Limited, Absa Capital Markets Nigeria Limited, and Absa Securities Nigeria Limited.

According to the financial services institution, there are impressive, transformative economic growth opportunities inherent in the adoption of 5G technology as underlined by the Nigerian government’s approval of the National Policy on 5G Networks on September 8, 2021.

Following this approval, the federal government officially launched the policy as the driver of its digital economy agenda in Abuja on January 25, 2022.

The government sees the adoption of 5G networks as an opening to create jobs in the economy, improve operational transparency, drive sectoral productivity and expand the fight against insecurity.

Following a series of trials and exhaustive stakeholders’ engagements eliminating the perceived health risks associated with the 5G technology, President Muhammad Buhari, officially leading proceedings at the launch event, assured investors that as the rollout of the advanced network technology begins in earnest, the federal government will provide an enabling environment that supports robust investment in digital infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the leading pan-African Corporate and Investment Bank has expressed excitement at the launch of the national policy on 5G networks.

Sadiq Abu, the Chief Executive Officer, Absa Nigeria, said the policy would fast track the growth of the country’s digital economy.

“The race to keep pace with the rest of the globe demands urgent policy actions. Therefore, the launch of the national policy on 5G networks is laudable as it provides a fitting platform to drive the rollout of the 5G network on a national scale. Of course, this policy effort will make a difference in how sectors such as education, retail, health, manufacturing, and banking sectors are run with great implications on productivity, job creation, and revenue levels across sectors”, he explained.

He added, “Absa as a growth partner will leverage its global experience and robust investment network in the sector and beyond to support investors in maximising market opportunities with the potential to drive growth in the economy.”

Technology is a key driver of innovation. Innovation heralds changes that foster improved standard of living on a larger scale.

The introduction of the 5G technology is poised to change sectoral operations, create new jobs in the digital space while impacting operations across every line of human endeavours.

5G technology is an advanced upgrade of previously existing wireless interconnectivity infrastructure such as the 2G, 3G and 4G. It is generally tagged as the fifth generation of wireless technology. The technology offers a high-speed, low-latency virtual reality world, as well as ultra-high-speed streaming which will grandly impact society in terms of how people commute, communicate, shop, bank, and produce the goods they consume.

A report by PwC forecasted that the advanced tech infrastructure will likely contribute $13.2 trillion worth of goods and services to the global economy by 2035.

According to the report, the tech infrastructure has the potential to create or transform up to 16 million jobs across all sectors of the economy, which includes full-time, part-time, and temporary jobs. It will also lead to the creation of industries not yet imagined leading to the emergence of extensive opportunities for the local population.

And, going by the disclosure made at the last Global Mobile Broadband Forum (MBBF) held in Dubai, over 500 million subscribers presently have access to commercial 5G networks in 176 countries. South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Hong Kong, the United States and Thailand top the list of countries where the new tech infrastructure has the widest coverage, revealed Statista.

Although the deployment of the tech infrastructure is at an experimental phase in most markets, the experiential impacts are already being felt.

From the feedback at the MBBF, 5G technology is starting to empower different segments of the global economy.

It is, however, a matter of time before the ripple effects of 5G networks are felt in every corner of the world. This is why Nigeria’s launch of a national policy on the 5G network is a welcome development.

Hence, development agencies and state economic managers on global and regional scales have sprung into action to revive the hailing economies.

Recovery aids, financing instruments are being sourced to balance up the intervention policies developed across markets to stimulate quick recovery from the various shocks of the viral outbreak.

Africa, home to over 1.2 billion people, is striving hard to meet its obligations of catering to the food needs of the burgeoning population as well as closing the massive infrastructure deficit evidenced by the inconsistent supplies of electricity, decaying road transport systems, low internet penetration level, growing unemployment rate and faulty municipalities across its 30.3 million km² surface areas.

According to the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), the lockdown rules that were implemented across the African continent led to drastic short-term income losses for informal workers as very few of the workers had access to social security protection.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) also dropped drastically as trade declined dramatically on the continent while the government capacity to keep the economy active ebbed leaving little or no means of support for the state managers.

A swift rebound from the deep deficits on the continent would require strong public-private partnerships on a socioeconomic level.

The private sector which provides as much as 90% of the employment in the economies and plays active roles in implementing key growth policies are a strong driver of national and regional economic agenda.

It is hard to imagine a faster post lockdown recovery on a large scale without effectively engaging the private sectors.

Absa, a pan Africa financial institution is spearheading the private sector’s interventions to stimulate swifter recovery in trade, investment and infrastructure development.

The bank is deploying its wider operating capability, well-tailored offerings and experience on a global scale to support the various post lockdown recovery efforts embarked upon by some state actors.

One of the recent moves made by Absa to shore up efforts to rebuild the African economy is a collaborative agreement with Proparco, a French development finance institute, to help corporate SMEs recover from the lockdown’s shocks.

The collaborative economic support agreement aims to source and disburse $20 million to SMEs operating in sectors such as construction, manufacturing, tourism, retail, which have been badly hit by the Covid-19 crisis especially in South Africa.

By helping the SMEs segment stay afloat through the provision of accessible loan instruments, Absa is addressing a critical issue on the continent.

Of course, the African SMEs segment played a significant role in the continent’s impressive 5% average growth in the past decade. The segment has been a fitting lever pulled to attract investment to the continent over the years. It also topped other segments in generating employment for the population and tax revenue for various governments.

Therefore, by providing a support framework for the segment through collaborative efforts, Absa is leveraging its impressive developmental network to strengthen a key locus of economic recovery in the post-lockdown operating environment.

Speaking about the collaborative agreement between Proparco and Absa, Parin Gokaldas, Group Treasurer at Absa, said, “The agreement further enables Absa to provide financial support to corporate SMEs, a vital component of the local economy, as it recovers from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. We are particularly pleased with the agreement as we view the relationship with Proparco, a significant development finance institution in Africa, as strategically important.”

For Emmanuel Haye, deputy head of the Financial Institutions Debt Group, covering Africa and Middle East, at Proparco: “…We are delighted to start this partnership with Absa Bank, a key player with a strong pan-African presence and to be part of a much-needed counter-cyclical role.”

In the same vein, Absa was recently involved in raising a $400 million syndicated loan for the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), a leading infrastructure solutions provider, which targets critical infrastructure development on the continent.

The pan African bank, through its Corporate and Investment Banking division, along with a few other global banks, acted as a bookrunner and mandated lead arranger to help the AFC secure the development loan.

The involvement in the syndicate loan arrangement to boost infrastructure development in Africa is another significant intervention effort that speaks to the development focus of the bank.

Banji Fehintola, Senior Director & Treasurer at the AFC, explained, “This loan will be instrumental in working towards plugging the infrastructure gap we are facing on this continent, especially following the damaging effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. We remain committed to partnering with experienced, like-minded organizations to provide sustainable finance for infrastructure development in Africa while achieving the lowest borrowing costs of any institution on the continent.”

Precisely, robust investment in infrastructure development enables trade and creates a vibrant environment that powers businesses. It provides millions of jobs each year in building and maintenance for the local population.

According to a statement released by the AFC recently, the syndicated loan will support Africa’s post-pandemic recovery “through critical development of infrastructure”. Africa no doubt is in need of strong infrastructure development support in raising the standards of road and freight networks, broadband penetration levels, and the upgrading of the continent’s electric power facilities.

Sadiq Abu, Chief Executive Officer, Absa Nigeria said, “As a pan-African financial institution committed to deepen growth and create shared value, Absa is consistently deploying its vast knowledge of the operating environment to support both public and private development actors in stimulating faster post-lockdown economic recovery on the continent.”