21st March, 2022
Interswitch is on a mission to train more Africans to create innovative solutions to tackle the various issues plaguing Africa.
Akeem Lawal, MD, Payment Processing & Switching (Interswitch Purepay), stated this on Thursday, March 17, 2022, at a media parley held at Four Points by Sheraton, Victoria Island, Lagos.
He said one of the ways Interswitch is making this possible is by using the ‘catch them young’ approach through its Switch-a-Future initiative that birthed the InterswitchSPAK National Science Competition aimed at driving interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) among young Africans, who are poised to bring about change to the continent.
Cherry Eromosele, the Group Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Interswitch Ltd, on her part, described Interswitch as a pivotal and strategic enabler of the African fintech ecosystem.
Eromosele added that Interswitch recognizes its crucial responsibility in sustaining businesses through its payments infrastructure leveraged by players across sectors of the economy.
She also thanked the media for supporting the company in its goal.
She added, “In support of our mission to inspire Africa to greatness, Interswitch Group has continued to push the boundaries of innovation to deliver payment solutions that enable commerce across Africa. In keeping with this goal, we have naturally taken the role of an enabler in the Nigerian fintech ecosystem, a duty we have accepted with a deep sense of responsibility, fully realizing that several of our platforms form the framework on which many players in the ecosystem have built their offerings’’.
“While we remain focused on this goal, we cannot underestimate the key role you (the media) play as our partners, actively supporting and helping to frame our narratives in the minds of our customers and the public.”
During the immersion session, Olawale Akanbi, Group Head, Growth Marketing, Merchants, and Ecosystems at Interswitch, noted that Interswitch’s core goal is to improve the narrative of the infrastructural demerits of living in Africa, using solutions developed in Africa to address several local challenges.
Other top executives in Interswitch Group, including Vincent Ogbunude, Managing Director, Payment Tokens (Verve); MuyiwaAsagba, Managing Director, Digital Commerce & Merchant Acquiring (Interswitch Paymate); TitilolaShogaolu, Managing Director, Interswitch Financial Inclusion Services (Inclusion), restated the company’s resolve to stimulate prosperity not only in Nigeria but across the African continent.
They said Interswitch maintains its commitment to pushing the boundaries of payment across the continent, making the payment process on the continent safe, fast, and convenient.
About Interswitch
Interswitch has various platforms such as Verve, Quickteller, QuicktellerPaypoint, Interswitch Payment Gateway, and API Marketplace among others.
The platforms play several roles across ecosystems, including, but not limited to financial services, health, payment, lending, transportation, e-commerce, and so on.
One of the new products by Interswitch is E’clat, a software that provides electronic and wireless primary healthcare services to a number of hospitals, state governments, and primary health care centers in Nigeria.
There is also InterswitchSPAK, a Pan – African Science competition designed to empower African students in the area of STEM.
The initiative was introduced for High school students to develop, ignite and chart a career path in the area of STEM education and drive them towards fully optimizing their potential to make Africa a better place for us all.
The initiative is currently being run in Nigeria and Kenya. However, the management of Interswitch said there are ongoing plans to expand to East Africa.
However, Interswitch has trained over 10,000 students since its inception in 2002.
There are also plans ongoing for new internships in order to train more students.
One of the top goals of the company is to ensure customers’ funds are safe and secured. And one of the ways the company is ensuring security is by sensitizing customers on how to protect their codes.