Nigerians can now access cashless services over the USSD channel
LAGOS, Nigeria, September 19, 2022/APO Group/ —
Clickatell (https://www.Clickatell.com), a CPaaS innovator and Chat Commerce leader, has partnered with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) (https://www.CBN.gov.ng) to deliver fast, simple, and cost effective eNaira banking services to all Nigerians using the USSD channel, eliminating the need for data and available on all handsets.
Clickatell has collaborated with the CBN to launch a USSD channel for its eNaira Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) (www.eNaira.gov.ng) as part of the country’s drive to make basic banking accessible to all Nigerians, ultimately driving financial inclusion.
The eNaira was launched in October 2021 when the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, said Africa’s first central bank-backed digital currency would help boost remittances, foster cross-border trade, and help his government make welfare payments more easily. With financial inclusion at the heart of the eNaira goals, President Buhari also said that he believed the CBDC would increase GDP in the country by $29 billion over the next 10 years.
“Introducing the USSD short code allows non-banked Nigerians, many of whom do not have smartphones, to access cashless banking services and is a big win for the stated goals of delivering meaningful financial inclusion. Clickatell’s role in making this a reality has been one of the most important achievements of our engagements in Nigeria,” comments Uzo Nwani, Clickatell Commercial Director, West Africa.
CBN is working with partners who are committed to taking advantage of this new technology for continuous innovation towards delivering exciting new features
The new USSD channel allows Nigerians using the *997# short code to create their eNaira wallet. Once this is done, they can easily check balances and transfer funds, as well as safely buy airtime or data for themselves or friends and family. Safeguarding their wallets is also easy on the channel and users can check and update their information, change and reset their pin, or even block the wallet if necessary.
“The USSD channel is a vital part of our journey towards realizing our financial inclusion vision. We see the eNaira as a leap forward in the evolution of money. Thus, CBN is working with partners who are committed to taking advantage of this new technology for continuous innovation towards delivering exciting new features,” comments the CBN Deputy Governor Economic Policy, Dr. Kingsley Obiora.
Unstructured Supplementary Service Data or USSD, is a communications protocol that is supported by 99% of GSM handsets. It remains particularly relevant in developing communities where it is used to provide services at a much lower cost and can be used without requiring access to the user’s SIM card.
Despite the rapid growth of smartphones, the majority of Nigerians (https://bit.ly/2HRLANU) are currently using feature phones, making an excellent case for the USSD offering. The CBN is counting on the new channel making rapid inroads towards getting most of the 30% of unbanked Nigerians into the formal banking system.
As part of its efforts, the CBN is working hard to boost awareness and education around the new digital currency and has offered an incentive of 200eNGN airtime for the first 100,000 users to onboard using the eNaira USSD feature.
Looking ahead, Nwani says the Clickatell solution ideally positions the system for new and collaborative additions to help boost the eNaira services.
“Our Chat Flow product provides a robust platform to support rapid innovation. Digital currencies provide measurable customer benefits including lower costs and a simple user experience and adding new innovative features over time will definitely attract more customers. There is no doubt that the CBN has set the benchmark when it comes to financial inclusion in Africa, and we look forward to being part of that journey,” Nwani says.
2026 recognition honours CCNA’s Management Team Development Programme for innovation in leadership development
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, September 9, 2026/APO Group/ –Canon Central & North Africa (CCNA) (www.Canon-CNA.com) has received a Gold Award at the 2026 Brandon Hall Group HCM Excellence Awards for its Management Team Development Programme (MTDP), recognised under the category “Best Unique or Innovative Leadership Development Program”. This achievement marks CCNA’s second consecutive year of winning top honours at these global awards.
The Brandon Hall Group HCM Excellence Awards recognise achievements in human capital management, with entries evaluated by an independent panel of analysts, industry experts and experienced practitioners against criteria including business need, programme design, innovation, adoption and organisational impact.
Gaining competitive advantage and sustainable success in Africa’s dynamic, diverse and ever evolving business landscape, requires leaders who transcend functional boundaries, embrace agility, and lead through a shared organizational perspective, united by a common goal.
Winning this Gold Award for our Management Team Development Programme is a proud moment for CCNA
The award-winning Management Team Development Program (MTDP) was designed to help lay the foundation for this ambition. Anchored in Canon EMEA’s Leadership Principles, the program elevated enterprise leadership capability within the Management Team.
Somesh Adukia, Managing Director, Canon Central & North Africa, said: “Winning this Gold Award for our Management Team Development Programme is a proud moment for CCNA. It reflects the strength of our leaders and the work our HR team has put into creating a programme tailored to our business.
This program played a pivotal role in bringing the Management Team together in a development experience and laid the right foundation for the next decade of CCNA’s growth journey . This recognition reinforces our commitment to the continuous pursuit of leadership excellence.”
Deepali Arora, HR Director, Canon Central & North Africa, added: ” Capability is most powerful when developed within the right business context, aligned to organizational priorities. The MTDP program was intentionally designed and delivered fully in-house with an innovative co-facilitation approach.
The program enabled the Management Team to move beyond Functional excellence and strengthen collective organizational leadership. This what makes the recognition truly special.”
This latest recognition builds on CCNA’s success at the 2025 Brandon Hall Group HCM Excellence Awards, where the organisation received two Gold Awards for its Future Leader Program and CCNA Clubs. Together, these achievements reflect CCNA’s continued focus on creating meaningful, locally relevant development opportunities that strengthen its people and leadership capabilities across the organisation.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA).
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 9 September 2026 – The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released its Global Innovation Index (GII) 2026 on September 8, revealing that the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou metropolitan cluster, located in Southern China, has once again secured the top position among the world’s 100 leading innovation clusters. This marks another triumph for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), solidifying its status as a global powerhouse for scientific advancement and technological entrepreneurship.
The annual GII ranking evaluates innovation activity through three core metrics: international patent filings via WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), scientific publications and the number of venture capital deals. For this year’s ranking, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster filed 2,259 PCT applications, published 4,060 scientific articles and had 138 venture capital deals, all per 1 million inhabitants over the past five years.
Welcoming the announcement, a spokesman for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government said the ranking reaffirms the outstanding innovative capacity and the innovation and technology (I&T)-supporting financing ecosystem of the GBA.
“Expediting I&T development has been a policy priority of this Government,” the spokesman added, highlighting the HKSAR Government’s continuous development of the original grant patent system and introduction of the patent box regime, which offers tax concessions for intellectual property income to promote innovation.
The HKSAR Government’s strategic investments are already yielding tangible results. The number of start-ups in Hong Kong has surged from over 1,500 in 2015 to more than 5,200 in 2025. The city’s two I&T flagships—Hong Kong Science Park and Cyberport—have collectively nurtured around 20 unicorns to date.
A landmark development in this trajectory is the official opening of the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone (the Loop Hong Kong Park) in December 2025. Over 100 technology enterprises and institutions have already signed leases and begun moving in. The Loop Hong Kong Park is poised to serve as an important platform for basic scientific research, commercialisation, pilot production, and international I&T collaboration within the GBA.
Furthermore, the establishment of the San Tin Technopole Company Limited in June 2026 is set to develop 210 hectares of I&T land in the San Tin Technopole, which is located in Hong Kong’s Northern Metropolis development. It will create a vital node for integrated upstream, midstream and downstream industrial development, alongside the Loop Hong Kong Park.
Hong Kong’s financial machinery remains a cornerstone of its innovation success. The city boasts a vibrant private equity market with assets under management nearing US$250 billion, ranking second in Asia after the Chinese Mainland.
Looking ahead, Hong Kong will proactively align its strategy with the National 15th Five-Year Plan to fortify its position as an international I&T centre. The city will also further deepen collaboration with GBA sister cities, and contribute to the nation’s efforts in building a modern industrial system and achieving high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and strength.
The trading group brings vertical integration, investment and upstream services to AEW 2026, with operations spanning Nigeria, Ghana, the Ivory Coast and Angola
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, August 20, 2026/APO Group/ –Sancorp Group, the Dubai-headquartered energy and commodities trading group with active operations across sub-Saharan Africa, will participate as a Platinum Partner at African Energy Week (AEW) 2026 in Cape Town from October 12-16. The partnership, AEW’s highest tier, reflects the growing commercial engagement between Gulf-based energy groups and African markets.
Sancorp operates across the full energy value chain, from crude oil and refined product trading through upstream asset participation and oilfield services. Its trading counterparties include Trafigura, Mercuria, Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Dangote Fertilizers, Société Ivoirienne de Raffinage (SIR), PETROCI, the Tema Oil Refinery and Ghana’s Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST). To date, Sancorp has structured over $2 billion in oil and gas investments across the continent.
The group’s vast commercial network makes its presence at AEW a prime opportunity for operators, refineries and traders looking to build or expand supply relationships in West Africa. The Ivory Coast is Sancorp’s largest and most active market, with projected annual flows exceeding $600 million across refined products, crude, LPG and fertilizer deliveries into SIR and PETROCI.
Sancorp is built around relationships and execution in markets where both of those things are hard to get right
In July 2026, the group delivered more than 36,000 tons of gasoil into SIR’s Abidjan terminal. Sancorp also holds a government-certified license to import and distribute fertilizers in the country, supplying 500,000 bags of urea and NPK annually through the Ministry of Agriculture.
In Ghana, Sancorp supplied more than 300,000 tons of gasoil and gasoline in 2024, while in Nigeria its subsidiary SCP Energy maintains NIPEX-certified upstream service capabilities and is a certified export trading counterparty to the Dangote Refinery. The group is also expanding into Angola, where it is registered with Sonangol and in advanced discussions on minority interests in two deepwater production blocks and an equity stake in one of the country’s planned grassroots refineries.
For AEW 2026 attendees, Sancorp’s model represents the kind of Gulf-to-Africa commercial bridge that is becoming more prominent across the continent’s energy trading landscape: structured finance, physical trading capacity and on-the-ground presence across multiple West African markets, all housed within a single group. The Platinum Partnership gives Sancorp visibility across the full AEW program as it looks to scale its trading book and deepen its upstream and refining positions.
“Sancorp is built around relationships and execution in markets where both of those things are hard to get right,” says NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber. “This is a group that is actively trading, investing and building upstream positions across West Africa, and their presence at the event creates real opportunities for the operators and governments in the room.”
As a Platinum Partner at AEW 2026, Sancorp is expected to engage operators, refineries, NOCs and investors on trading partnerships, upstream investment and supply-chain development across West and Southern Africa.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Energy Chamber.
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