Wema Bank, Nigeria’s foremost innovative bank and pioneer of Africa’s first fully digital bank, ALAT, has officially launched CoopHub, a new digital solution for Cooperative Societies. The groundbreaking platform was unveiled at the launch ceremony held on May 10th, 2024, to commemorate the 79th anniversary of the Bank.

CoopHub, the first of its kind in the Nigerian banking industry, is a digital platform designed strategically to transform the way Cooperative Societies operate by providing tailored solutions that bridge the gaps in the traditional framework of Cooperative Societies.

The unique platform insulates Cooperative Societies against prevalent struggles like manual recordkeeping, limited access to loans, poor communication, insecurity, and other restrictions, supporting them with the solutions needed to not only mitigate these problems but also operate with the utmost efficiency.

With CoopHub, leaders of Cooperative Societies can manage every aspect of their community’s operations from a simplified dashboard accessible on their phones, seamlessly managing their Cooperative Society’s finances, communication, member records, analytics and every other detail in real time and on the go. Members of the Cooperative Societies also enjoy increased access to loans, seamless contribution tracking, secure transactions, and easy communication with the leaders. Essentially, CoopHub helps Cooperative Societies maintain 100% transparency, reliability, and security, with the option of white labelling for a customised experience.

Disclosing the Bank’s motive for creating CoopHub, Wema Bank’s MD/CEO, Moruf Oseni, highlighted the Bank’s commitment to innovation and customer-centricity.

“Cooperative Societies have many pain points. As a bank that is committed to empowering lives through innovation, we examined the end-to-end value chain of Cooperative Societies and launched CoopHub to provide solutions that address the pains and headaches in the Cooperative Society experience for both the leaders of these communities and the members. CoopHub is the future of Cooperative Societies and we have designed every detail to address the needs of every player in the Cooperative Society ecosystem and empower these communities for optimal productivity,” he said.

Delving into the unique features of CoopHub, Solomon Ayodele, Wema Bank’s Head of Innovation, added,
“CoopHub is taking Cooperatives to an era where conflicts, stressful physical meetings, mistrust, inadequate capital, poor recordkeeping and inefficient governance are all a thing of the past. With a digitised database for all records, a dedicated User Management section for leaders to manage members efficiently, a transparent overview of contributions for both leaders and members, seamless communication framework that allows for easy planning of meetings and events, and a host of other unique features, CoopHub truly is the solution that every Cooperative Society needs.

“To promote community and financial security, CoopHub also offers a three-factor authentication system that ensures that every withdrawal from the Cooperative Society’s account is subject to an approval of three members of the Cooperative Society, including the Admin. We have been very intentional with CoopHub and I encourage every Cooperative Society to come on board and experience the future of Cooperative Societies through CoopHub”, Ayodele concluded.

CoopHub is now live and open to every Cooperative Society across the world. This futuristic solution is set to not only empower Nigerian lives with increased access to their needs through Cooperative Societies, but also revolutionise Cooperative Society operations for the best.

To onboard a Cooperative on CoopHub, simply register at https://coophub.alat.ng/

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Exploration and Production Limited (NNPC E&P) and the Natural Oilfield Services Limited (NOSL) have commenced oil production at oil mining lease (OML) 13.

NNPC E&P is a flagship upstream subsidiary of NNPC Limited, while NOSL is a subsidiary of Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company (SEEPCO).

According to a statement on Sunday by Olufemi Soneye, chief corporate communications officer at NNPC, the production commenced on May 6, 2024, in Akwa Ibom, with 6,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd).

The national oil company said production is expected to be ramped up to 40,000 bpd by May 27, 2024.

The NNPC said the first oil flow from OML 13 is a historic milestone in the partnership between NNPC E&P Ltd and NOSL.

According to the statement, the development highlights the firms’ commitment to driving growth and development in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, which remains crucial to the nation’s economy.

The NNPC said the achievement signifies the culmination of rigorous planning and execution by the teams involved and represents a new era of economic empowerment and development opportunities for communities where the project is based.

“For Nigeria, the first oil from OML 13 holds some significance as it contributes to the country’s efforts to increase its oil production capacity, which is crucial for meeting domestic energy needs and driving economic growth,” the statement reads.

The NNPC affirmed its partnership with NOSL, emphasising their dedication to conducting operations in a manner that prioritises safety, environmental responsibility, and positive impact on local communities.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), says there is a need for Nigeria to continue to diversify to add more value to the economy.

Okonjo-Iweala spoke to journalists after a meeting with the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle and other women at the Nigerian Women in Leadership event, on Saturday in Abuja.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria recorded N1.41 trillion trade deficit between October and December of 2023.

Within the period, Nigeria’s exports totalled N12.69 trillion, and total imports stood at N14.11 trillion — giving a trade deficit of N1.41 trillion.

Speaking at the event, the WTO boss said the country must do more to attract investment domestically and also from outside.

Okonjo-Iweala said the government must also “create the environment to attract investment”, adding that this would persuade them (the government) to invest in certain production and in different kinds of industries to attract people from outside.

“If we are going to go into surplus, we also have to think of how to make use of the African continental free trade area because we have a large market here but 1.4 billion is an even larger market,” she said.

“Those are the things we have to do.”

Speaking further on the main purpose of the event, Okonjo-Iweala said the area of discussion with the duchess was bordered on areas such as the challenges that women face in trying to become leaders and how they could overcome them.

Okonjo-Iweala also said ways in which women could support themselves and improve their positions in the country were discussed.

She pointed out that women have continued to face many challenges while trying to become leaders.

Okonjo-Iweala said it is imperative to increase the percentage of women in leadership positions both in the states and at the federal government level.

“How do we improve the position of women in the country? We have a very low percentage of women in the National assembly. We have never had a woman governor, let alone something higher,” she said.

“That has to change but no one is going to hand it to the women. Women have to fight for it, but the men also have to support because you cannot have 50 per cent of your population not participating.

“So, these were some of the issues we discussed today and we have to proffer solutions on how the women could deal with challenges of leadership.

“Most of the women in the room here are already leaders; they are not even struggling to get to the top as they are already there.”

Okonjo-Iweala, however, said the highlight of the event was when the Duchess shared her experiences.