By Libby George
LAGOS, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Sub-Saharan Africa lags other
regions such as Asia in moving away from cash to plastic money.
One Nigerian company is aiming to close that gap by tapping into
a growing appetite for smartcards across the continent.
SecureID makes bank cards, mobile phone SIMs and voting
cards for businesses in 21 African countries, to address an
acute need for secure electronic cards carrying sensitive data,
particularly in the banking sector.
In sub-Saharan Africa, only 43% of people aged above 15 have
a bank account, according to the World Bank's Global Findex
Database. That figure has grown from 34% since 2014,
highlighting the potential for growth.
Nigeria's central bank has implemented policies aimed at
encouraging a move away from cash, as have Ghana, Kenya and
Rwanda, in large part motivated by efforts to tackle fraud,
theft and money laundering.
Kofo Akinkugbe, who 14 years ago founded SecureID which
produces 200 million cards each year, said more African
companies should use manufacturing to harness business
opportunities arising from technological advances.
"That is what I think the entire continent should focus on,"
she said, noting the continent is effectively a technology
consumer, rather than producer.
"The potentials are enormous for it," said Akinkugbe, who
previously worked in banking, at the company's site in a
nondescript building in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos. She,
however, would not be drawn into giving an estimate of the
potential size of Africa's smartcard market.
The company declined to disclose details of its sales
figures or provide a forecast for demand.
SecureID started by importing bank cards before
certification from Visa, Mastercard and Verve to make cards
around two years after the company was set up. She said it
previously took months for imported cards to arrive from Asia
and Europe and now takes 12-24 hours to deliver specific orders.
Akinkugbe said she believed there was a gap in other African
markets for the manufacturing of smartcards.
"We feel that the same gap that we saw 12 years ago in
Nigeria is the same gap that seems to exist in other African
countries," she said. "The people can be trained and have the
potential to do much more."
But manufacturing accounts for just under 8% of Nigeria's
GDP, according to the World Bank, dwarfed by services at 52% and
agriculture at 21%. High-tech exports from Nigeria, which relies
on oil for 90% of foreign exchange, account for less than 2% of
the total.
And, as in many African countries, poor infrastructure makes
it difficult for manufacturers to operate in Nigeria.
Congested ports, pot-holed roads and slow border processing
have hamstrung many industries and leave Nigeria heavily
dependent on imports, from textiles to tomatoes.