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Two weeks remain in major college football’s regular season, and the latest Game of the Season in the Big Ten will play out in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday, when No. 2 Ohio State faces No. 5 Indiana in a game heavy with College Football Playoff implications. Elsewhere in the Big Ten, Michigan, Nebraska, USC and Wisconsin seek their sixth victory to secure a bowl berth. (All games Saturday unless designated. The Gophers-Penn State prediction will run later this week.) Three with intrigue No. 5 Indiana at No. 2 Ohio State, 11 a.m., Fox • Will the clock strike midnight for Cinderella? Maybe, but if the Hoosiers are competitive against the Buckeyes, a loss likely won’t cost them a spot in the playoff. Ohio State takes a step closer to a rematch with Oregon for the Big Ten title. Ohio State 34, Indiana 23 Wisconsin at Nebraska, 2:30 p.m., BTN • The Huskers turned over their offensive keys to Mike Leach disciple Dana Holgorsen last week, and the Badgers fired offensive coordinator Phil Longo on Sunday. Wisconsin has a 10-game winning streak vs. Nebraska, but the Huskers end that skid and secure a bowl trip for the first time since 2016. Nebraska 24, Wisconsin 20 USC at UCLA, 9:30 p.m., NBC • The Trojans and Bruins have split the past dozen games between the former Pac-12 powers. UCLA needs victories over USC and Fresno State to reach a bowl game, while USC must beat either UCLA or Notre Dame. UCLA 27, USC 24 Keep an eye on Iowa at Maryland, 11 a.m., BTN • The Hawkeyes are 1-3 on the road, with upset losses to Michigan State and UCLA. They’ll buck that trend against the Terrapins. Iowa 31, Maryland 20 No. 24 Illinois at Rutgers, 11 a.m., Peacock • The Scarlet Knights are on a two-game win streak after a four-game skid. Look for a tight, low-scoring game against the Illini. Rutgers 17, Illinois 16 And the rest Northwestern at Michigan, 2:30 p.m., FS1 • The Wolverines need a victory to reach bowl eligibility, and it would behoove them to get it this week because they finish against Ohio State. Michigan 20, Northwestern 13 Purdue at Michigan State, 7 p.m. Friday, Fox • The Spartans have lost five of their last six, so a visit from the 1-9 Boilermakers comes at just the right time. Michigan State 31, Purdue 10NCAA MEN’S SOCCER: Ciano named head coach at Union
Top 5% earners liable to pay Rs1.6tr in taxes: FBR Finance minister says govt introduced structural reforms in national economy to put it on path of growth The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) building can be seen. — X@FBRSpokesperson/File ISLAMABAD: The government on Thursday outlined the measures taken and progress achieved since it began implementing a comprehensive economic reform agenda aimed at widening the tax base through digitisation of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), disclosing the identification of approximately 190,000 people evading taxes amounting to Rs60 billion. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1700472799616-0'); }); When consumers data was compiled/refined through an algorithm method, it showed that 190,000 persons leading a high-standard lifestyle [with luxury vehicles and properties] are non-filers. Following this, ground-truthing of the top 5,000-6,000 was performed through field staff that confirmed around Rs7 billion in taxes from them. If calculated today on the basis of 190,000 persons who should be direct taxpayers, there is an Rs50-60 billion taxation pocket, easily, it elaborated. This revelation was made during a joint news conference by Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Ali Pervaiz Malik and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial. Finance Minister Aurangzeb said that the incumbent government soon after assuming the power introduced structural reforms in the national economy to put it on the path of sustainable development and growth, adding that the taxation reforms remained on the top of reforms agenda. The government, he said, intended to enhance the tax-to-GDP ratio up to 13 percent, which was currently estimated at 9 to 10 percent of the GDP, adding the increase in revenue collection would not only strengthen the fiscal sides but also project the country’s image as a responsible state. He said the government had introduced a bill in the National Assembly to ensure full tax compliance, besides overcoming the issues related to non-declaration and under-declaration for enhancing the revenue collection in the country. Besides, Aurangzeb said the government was working on the technology transformation in the FBR and it introduced end-to-end digitization for ensuring transparency, minimizing human interventions to control harassment and eliminate elements of corruption to increase revenue collection. He said the work on the design of digitization of FBR was started in March 2024 under the leadership of Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, which was approved in September and now passing through its implementation stage, focusing on key economic sectors integration to plug leakages. Addressing the press conference, Minister of State for Finance Ali Pervaiz Malik said the increase in tax resources, keeping them judicious and extending to all sectors of the economy were the basic element of national tax strategy. Besides, he said execution of modern tools and digitization of FBR and conversion from indirect taxation to direct taxation as well as use of modern algorithms was the other objectives of the strategy to bring the people into a normal tax regime for ensuring tax compliance culture in the country. Accordingly, he said the government had also formed a task force for the capacity building of institutions, which comprised experts from the IT sector, academia, data analysis and businesses, adding that it helped to establish different dash-boards in the FBR to strengthen the efforts of tax compliance. Using the data analysis, he said, the government had identified about 190,000 potential taxpayers, who must be in the tax net, adding that the data was further authenticated by field formations, following this ground-truthing of the top 5,000-6,000 was performed through field staff that confirmed around Rs7 billion in taxes from them. “If calculated today on the basis of 190,000 persons who should be direct taxpayers, there is an Rs50-60 billion taxation pocket, easily,” he elaborated. He said the government had also introduced measures to protect common man in the country from the inflationary shocks through overcoming its deficits and economic management. “These measures are now bearing results and inflation rate has come down to a single digit.” FBR Chairman Rashid Mahmood Langrial said the FBR was committed to digitization and automation in tax system and a lot of work had been completed for digitization and automation and execution was also priority of the institution. He said that FBR coordinated well with all relevant institutions, and currently, all the main institutions were working together with FBR to achieve the annual revenue target in the current Fiscal Year (2024-25). The chairman said that currently FBR has evolved its data analytic systems and added that the total tax gap was Rs7.1 trillion. “We are mainly focusing on the top five percent in terms of revenue collection and out of the top five percent people, which are 3.3 million, 600,000 people have so far filed their returns.” He said out of 190,000, only 38,000 people have filed returns and paid Rs370 million tax, while notices were issued to 169,000 wealthy non-filers. The FBR so far sent out tax notices to 186,000 high net worth individuals for possessing substantial assets, income and vehicles but never contributed up to the desired mark. The top five percent wealthy individuals who come into account, 670,000 are potential tax dodgers in the country who spent money but never bothered to come into the tax net. These 0.6 million high net worth individuals are on the radar screen of tax authorities. However, the minister for finance did not reply directly when asked whether the government would bring a mini budget or make an effort to convince the IMF for slashing down the FBR’s tax collection target keeping in view the shortfall in the range of Rs340 billion. The minister for finance replied that they would show the IMF sincere efforts undertaken by the government, adding that some assumptions were changed as inflation came down at an accelerated pace. “We will share all details with the IMF mission in good faith when they come for review talks,” he added. The finance minister said that the National Fiscal Pact was signed by the Centre and the provinces and it would be implemented in cooperation with the federating units. He said the Agriculture Income Tax (AIT) law was passed by the Punjab Assembly while other provinces were making progress but at different stages. He said the FBR achieved revenue growth of 29 percent but the target for the current fiscal year was set with an ambitious target of 40 percent. Sharing the criteria for prioritising potential high net worth individuals, the FBR chairman said that the revenue collector had identified 190,000 non-filers on the basis of six factors such as who earned bank profit of Rs1.3 million per annum, owned more than 3 vehicles with cumulative value of Rs10 million, transaction of more than two properties with cumulative value of Rs16 million, withdrawal of more than Rs3.5 million per annum and possessed two bank accounts, deposited at least Rs28 million and owned credit card. He said the FBR could easily collect Rs50 to Rs60 billion from these high-net worth individuals but conceded that the tax laws could not be implemented as criminal law, so there was a set procedure which would be followed. The FBR’s official data shows that Regional Taxpayer Office (RTO), Lahore, sent out tax notices to 38,828, RTO-II Karachi 15,000 and LTU Karachi only 75 individuals. For sharing digitization up-date for execution of FBR’s transformation plan, the tax compliance gap stood at Rs7.1 trillion -- sales tax of Rs4.1 trillion, income tax Rs2.4 trillion and Customs duty Rs0.6 trillion. Only 38,002 individuals have filed their returns and deposited Rs377.62 million. It was agreed by the government and FBR high-ups that in the short run, the FBR might face revenue shortfall but there was no other way to plug the leakages. “Our hands have been tied and there is no other way for broaden the tax base,” the finance minister said, adding that how long the FBR would collect taxes from salaried and formal manufacturing sector, so the retailers and others would have to come into the tax net. He said that the tax-to-GDP ratio hovered around 9 to 10 percent, which would be jacked up to 13.5 percent over a five-year period. The FBR chairman said the government undertook actions against sugar sector and also implemented faceless assessment and examination mechanism to end collusion among the importers and Customs high-ups. He said that PRAL’s new Board was inducted. The new hiring would be done with an injection of Rs4 billion. The FBR would hire 550 new auditors to improve efficiency. Meanwhile, the Senate Standing Committee on Finance has unanimously passed the Tax Laws Amendment Bill 2024 which recommended that the sale of property and gold related restrictions be placed to bar substantial transactions. The Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenues met under Chairman Senator Saleem Mandviwalla here on Wednesday. Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Rashid Mehmood Langrial said 95 percent households would not be affected by the proposed legislation to ban major transactions of ineligible people and businesses, rather these measures would help increase tax collection, as around Rs1.6 trillion gap exists in 5 percent top earners compared to Rs140 billion in the rest of the 90-95 percent alone in the Income Tax side. According to the proposed legislation, the ineligible person would not be able to transact certain economic transactions (certain basic exclusion applies). An ineligible person will not be able to transact economic transactions unless he became an eligible person. The eligible person is one who had filed an income tax return for the last preceding tax year along with an online filing of statement of investment and expenditure. The eligible person must have sufficient resources in his wealth statement (130 percent) of cash and cash equivalent. Regarding income tax amendments -- insertion of new section 175AA, the committee was informed that the purpose is to detect and take corrective measure against under declaration of income/ sales by fetching taxpayers’ banking system data and match with the declaration filed with the FBR. The FBR and banks would agree on an algorithm for setting banking transaction thresholds based on declared turnover and income of the person in the previous years against each CNIC. CNIC-based banking transaction threshold would be shared with the central depository of the banking system and such transactions would be reported to the FBR. The FBR would take legal action against such persons. Regarding the federal excise duty (FED) amendment, the committee was informed that Sections 26 and 27 are regarding seizing duty and sales tax unpaid goods in the country, authorising federal and provincial authorities to seize and destroy such unpaid goods. The minister for finance and revenue noted that while banks already had systems in place, integrating additional data could improve the identification of suspicious transactions.( MENAFN - The Rio Times) The dollar's value increased today, closing higher after the Central bank intervened in the currency market. The bank sold $3 billion in the spot market to stabilize the real amid rising concerns about Brazil's debt sustainability. Investors reacted by offloading Brazilian assets, questioning President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's ability to manage public finances effectively. The dollar traded at R$6.178 for purchases and R$6.179 for sales, marking a 0.38% increase. Earlier this week, it closed at R$6.185 for buying and R$6.186 for selling. Today's dollar performance is directly linked to the Central Bank 's actions, which have totaled $30.77 billion over two weeks of intervention. These measures include both spot transactions and swap auctions designed to meet the demand for dollars from companies and funds, particularly common at year-end. Analysts noted that today's auction effectively held the dollar 's depreciation in check, contrasting with previous auctions where the currency rebounded after interventions. Despite these efforts, investors remained cautious, keeping a close watch on political developments in Brasília. Reports indicated that Chamber President Arthur Lira convened an emergency meeting with House leaders. The meeting was called to address a Supreme Court decision impacting R$4.2 billion in parliamentary amendments. Additionally, the Central Bank reported a negative foreign exchange flow of $18.427 billion in December up to the 20th. Last week alone saw net outflows of $11.640 billion as companies sought to send funds abroad. Meanwhile, the Central Bank conducted multiple currency auctions to manage this demand. This situation underscores the ongoing challenges facing Brazil's economy and highlights the delicate balance between government intervention and market forces. MENAFN26122024007421016031ID1109033453 Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.We have much to be thankful for this year. One of those things is the defeat of Proposition 5, which would have made it easier to raise property taxes. Affecting homes, apartment buildings and commercial real estate, Prop. 5 would have burdened Californians with a higher cost of housing and a higher cost of living. We can all be grateful that voters resoundingly said no to that. It is also a good reminder of why we Californians should be thankful for Proposition 13, the 1978 initiative that put sensible limits on increases in property taxes, and put those limits into the state constitution. Prior to Proposition 13, property taxes were out of control. The tax rate throughout California averaged 2.67% of assessed value, and assessed value was regularly updated to match current market value. As inflation and market factors pushed property values higher and higher, homeowners received property tax bills based on their “paper profits,” with no limits on annual increases. Some properties were reassessed 50 to 100 percent higher in just one year, so their owners’ tax bills skyrocketed, often beyond the homeowners’ ability to pay. In one year in Los Angeles County alone, 400,000 people had not paid their property tax because they didn’t have the money, running the risk of being forced out of their homes. Retired people on fixed incomes were among the hardest hit. Many had paid off their mortgages yet faced losing their homes because they couldn’t afford the annual property tax bill. Then, just as millions of Californians were at risk of being driven out of their homes, Howard Jarvis gathered more than 1.5 million signatures to qualify a statewide initiative that would finally end excessive taxation and protect the security of property ownership — Proposition 13. An overwhelming majority of Californian voters voted for Proposition 13 despite a campaign of scare tactics. It turned out that nothing scared Californians more than opening their property tax bill. Proposition 13 made property taxes predictable and manageable. First, Prop. 13 cut the property tax rate from a statewide average of 2.67% down to 1%. To this day, even new homeowners are saving money compared to what they would have been paying. Check out the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association’s calculator at GuessingGame.org for a look at how much you’d be paying in annual property taxes if Prop. 13 had never passed. Second, it limits the annual increase in assessed value to the rate of inflation, capped at 2%. Under Prop. 13, even if a property doubles in market value in a single year, its “taxable value,” against which the assessor applies the 1% tax rate, can only be increased a maximum of 2% per year. Related Articles Opinion Columnists | Gavin Newsom should stop showboating and just do his job as governor of California Opinion Columnists | Will Trump double down on or fix Biden’s antitrust insanity? Opinion Columnists | Rafael Perez: Americans really need to relax and stop taking national politics so seriously Opinion Columnists | Elon Musk gets it: America’s legal immigration process need to change Opinion Columnists | Susan Shelley: The mundane reality of UFOs Third, Prop. 13 requires reassessment of property when it changes hands. This provides local governments with a stable and predictable source of tax revenue, which has grown virtually every year since 1978 in percentages that exceed inflation and population growth. Proposition 13 also protected taxpayers by requiring a two-thirds vote of the state legislature to raise taxes and by giving Californians the right to vote on local tax increases, with a two-thirds vote required to pass certain tax hikes. The two-thirds vote is particularly critical when it comes to property taxes. Because people can lose their homes if they can’t pay the property tax bill, the vote threshold must be higher than a simple majority of voters, many of whom are voting on a tax they won’t personally have to pay, at least not directly. It’s this two-thirds protection that Proposition 5 attempted to destroy. It’s hard enough to pay the bills in this state without politicians trying to raise taxes in every election. We’re thankful that Proposition 13 is protecting Californians, every day. Jon Coupal is president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.
The NBA got viewers for Christmas, even while going up against NFL games. The NBA's five-game Christmas lineup was the league's most-watched in five years, with the games averaging about 5.25 million viewers per game across ABC, ESPN and its platforms, the league said Thursday based on Nielsen's preliminary numbers. It's an 84% rise over the NBA's Christmas numbers from 2023. The Los Angeles Lakers’ 115-113 victory over the Golden State Warriors — a game pitting Olympic teammates LeBron James and Stephen Curry — averaged 7.76 million viewers and peaked with about 8.32 million viewers toward the end of the contest, the league said. Those numbers represent the most-watched NBA regular season game in five years. “I love the NFL,” James said in his televised postgame interview Wednesday night. “But Christmas is our day.” The NBA said all five Christmas games on its schedule — San Antonio at New York in Victor Wembanyama's holiday debut, Minnesota at Dallas, Philadelphia at Boston, Denver at Phoenix and Lakers-Warriors — saw year-over-year viewership increases. Wednesday's numbers pushed NBA viewership for the season across ESPN platforms to up 4% over last season. The league also saw more than 500 million video views on its social media platforms Wednesday, a new record. For the NBA, those are all good signs amid cries that NBA viewership is hurting. “Ratings are down a bit at beginning of the season. But cable television viewership is down double digits so far this year versus last year," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said earlier this month. “You know, we’re almost at the inflection point where people are watching more programing on streaming than they are on traditional television. And it’s a reason why for our new television deals, which we enter into next year, every game is going to be available on a streaming service.” Part of that new package of television deals that the NBA is entering into next season also increases the number of regular season games broadcast on television from 15 to 75. AP NBA: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NBA
Browns star Garrett, on the cusp of 100 sacks, is driven to be the best
RGC Resources, Inc. Schedules Fourth Quarter 2024 Earnings CallROME Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reaffirmed her country's full support for ending the war in Gaza and pursuing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during her meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday. Meloni "reiterated Italy’s commitment to work for a long-lasting political solution, based on the prospect of two states, whereby Israel and Palestine coexist in peace next to each other, with security for both," according to a statement from her office after a meeting Abbas in Rome. She said Italy fully supports the efforts of mediators to achieve an end to hostilities in Gaza and the release of hostages held in the enclave, according to the statement. It added that Meloni also said that Italy is making strong efforts to support the civilian population of Gaza, noting its humanitarian “Food for Gaza” initiative. Meloni stated that the Italian government is committed to playing a key role in the stabilization and reconstruction of Gaza. She also pledged Italy's support for the reform and strengthening of Palestinian institutions. Israel has launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip that has killed nearly 44,900 victims, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants last month for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on Gaza.
Former reality star Gerry Turner may be dealing with an incurable form of cancer, but that and his highly publicized divorce aren't keeping him from seeking romance and connection still. Gerry confirmed he had been diagnosed with a rare slow-moving form of bone marrow cancer earlier this year. As a result, he wound up no longer “prioritizing” his marriage to Theresa Nist. Theresa has since released her own statement about his diagnosis and their split. While f ans have since apologized for the things they’ve said about him since learning of his diagnosis, Gerry is now sharing that he is looking more towards his future–and hasn’t given up on finding love . Golden Bachelor fans pologize for treatment of Gerry Turner after cancer news Inside how Gerry Turner's cancer diagnosis led to divorce as Theresa speaks out In a new interview, he admitted that despite his diagnosis, he has continued to date since he and Theresa split up. In fact, he also does have someone new in his life that he is currently seeing. Speaking to Fox News Digital , Turner, 73, made the reveal. “I have dated a bit, off and on,” he said. “Currently, you know I am dating someone, and I will continue my search to find my partner for the rest of my life.” Admitting it was a bit early to officially label the relationship, he also admitted it was a “refreshing” change from his past, as the current person in his life wasn’t familiar with his fame, and wasn’t invested in social media. “There is a certain freedom involved, a certain acceptance for who I am,” he said. “Almost a humorous lack of understanding of where I’ve come from in the last year, year and a half. It’s really quite refreshing to have someone who hasn’t seen all the history in a relationship with me. They didn’t watch the show. They’re not interested in what’s on social media. They don’t care.” Don't miss: Gerry Turner admits Theresa marriage was 'nt priority' after cancer diagnosis [LATEST] Golden Bachelor's Gerry Turner was diagnosed with cancer weeks before split [UPDATE] Charles Ling could be weapon to help 'failing' Golden Bachelor franchise [INSIGHT] It comes after he and Theresa famously divorced just three months after their televised wedding ceremony, which itself came just a month after they revealed their engagement to the world on the Golden Bachelor finale. At the time, they shared that distance and inability to agree on a place to live was the main reason that they split up, but Gerry now admits that his diagnosis was one of the factors that ultimately led him to decide to split from her. “...the truth of the matter is that when I got that news and I got over that period of time where I just felt like I had just been gut punched, I realized the things that were the most important. I kind of fell back to the old habits, the old familiar feelings of a family and my two daughters and thinking about when my wife passed away and how that affected not just me, but my girls,” he said. “I’m not sure it’s all completely logical, but sometimes feelings aren’t logical,” he added. “But the bottom line is that it had a huge impact on my thinking about my relationships with Theresa and that marriage.”
is increasingly being considered one of the major drivers of digital transformation in Africa and other parts of the world. This is partly because it has the power to change lives and communities, allowing them the opportunity to access different services and contribute to the growth of their economies. There is thus no gainsaying the importance of tools like digital identity that enable financial inclusion to the overall digital transformation agenda of many African countries, including those of the Central Africa subregion, grouped under the umbrella of the Central Africa Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC). These countries include Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon and have a combined population of more than 60 million people. The region has an ambitious plan to achieve a 75 percent financial inclusion rate by 2030 through an initiative by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) to ensure the establishment of across the six countries in the next five years. The mid-term plan is to have 350,000 such payment points by 2027. It’s worthy of note that this part of the continent faces considerable economic inequalities that seriously threaten the realisation of this ambition. ID4Africa Executive Chairman, Dr. Joseph Atick, and Cameroonian tech startup consultant, Ayuk Etta, share their expert views on how the CEMAC subregion can lay the foundation for a stronger financial inclusion push in order to advance economic growth and development. CEMAC is considered the least developed and least tech-driven subregion in Africa, despite its huge economic growth potential and strategic geographical location of its member states. A large segment of the population here remains either unbanked or underbanked, which hinders both development and economic freedom especially among vulnerable groups of persons such as women and adults with lower-incomes. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank’s , the number of adults in this region who are unbanked is below the global average. It is the same case with Cameroon which is considered the region’s biggest economy, as well as all the other five countries. In the Republic of Congo, just around 18 percent of adults were said to have a formal relation with banking institutions as of 2021. The situation is in the Central African Republic where less that 15 percent of the population is said to have a bank account, while just around 14 percent of adults are able to participate in any form of financial transaction such as mobile money services. At least 74 percent of women across the subregion are estimated to be financially excluded. In its , BEAC noted that the overall rate of financial inclusion in the subregion stood at 32 percent as of that year. What this means, experts say, is that innovative tech solutions as well as the right digital infrastructure and policies could possibly offer a window to effectively address major loopholes in financial accessibility in the region. The low level of financial inclusion within CEMAC, just like in other regions of Africa, is blamed on a litany of factors which include a paucity of digital public infrastructure, high cost, a weak and unaligned regulatory environment, and other socio-economic factors such as a high rate of poverty among countries of the subregion. To enable wider participation in the financial ecosystem of CEMAC, it is vital to consider changes to a number of things, including enhancing efforts in financial literacy. It also requires starting from the basics such as building the appropriate digital public infrastructure (DPI), says digital ID expert and Executive Chairman, Dr Joseph Atick. “I think the very first thing, of course, is getting people into the national population registers. If they are not registered, then there is nothing you can do to enable them to participate. It is clear from the standards and best practices within the financial sector that identity is a pillar upon which you have to build financial services,” he tells in an interview. “You cannot do anonymous if you are to protect the financial ecosystem from being hijacked from fraud, from criminal activity, from money laundering, from the criminal networks that will exploit it. You must have a reliable, robust identity system that has maximum coverage of the population. That is the prerequisite for financial inclusion. You can’t talk about financial inclusion without talking about identity.” Further stressing the place of digital identity in financial inclusion, Atick avers: “Financial inclusion is highly correlated and related to digital identity. And our statistics show that the penetration of digital identity is very low in the Central Africa region, which is actually among the regions that are hardest hit by certain economic conditions. This can have a corresponding [negative] impact on financial inclusion. I expect that financial inclusion has a long way to go in many areas in Africa.” , a Cameroonian tech startup architect agrees with Atick on the need for robust digital infrastructure such as digital identity, which for now, is almost entirely inexistent in CEMAC countries. At the moment, only a national digital ID system as part of its DPI journey. “To do this, I think it’s important to implement strategies, set up the right infrastructures, get the appropriate policies and innovative methods to be able to push the agenda of financial inclusion,” Etta notes. “I believe the infrastructure needs to be extended to be able to get to those people down there. That would also mean building more digital infrastructure generally speaking, like digital identity systems. We understand this is an important aspect of driving financial inclusion. We also need interoperable data exchange platforms.” “If we don’t build this infrastructure, which I believe is the driving force of digital transformation, we will not go far. It will always be at a level where we are trying, or not getting it done. If digital identity is not properly implemented, there are many things that cannot happen. Financial inclusion is also about how people access loans easily. If you cannot properly identify somebody digitally, for instance, you cannot give them a digital loan,” Etta, who’s also CEO of , a tech and innovation company in Cameroon, argues. Beyond the infrastructure, financial inclusion would see a leap forward in CEMAC if the right policies and platforms exist. “The number two thing is that you have to have the right policies in place which are going to establish what would constitute acceptable identity authentication for identity transactions. So, be it for onboarding or identity transactions, you have to have a policy. Saying that we’re going to do biometric authentication for every transaction, no matter what value it is and what context it is, doesn’t make any sense,” Atick holds. “You have to have a policy that is basically a risk-based policy. And we have lots of experience in that. Some countries started with their own policies, and over time, they started to understand it. Luckily, there is a lot of knowledge now that we can share on this point. This is why we’re doing the Financial Inclusion Symposium at the ID4Africa Annual General Meeting next year [ ], because these countries are going to share their knowledge and experiences.” “The symposium at the AGM will basically be on digital identity and finance. It’s going to focus on the stages of financial inclusion, and what are the risk-based policies countries must put in place to achieve the desired outcome, which is a low-cost, high-robustness and trustworthy ecosystem that enables anybody to enter the system and to conduct transactions securely.” Talking about another important aspect, which is having the financial platform, Atick explains: “Even if people are known to you in the Civil Register or the National Population Register; if you do not have the financial platforms and access to these financial platforms, then you cannot participate. So, you need a mobile phone, for instance. Digital identities are now issuing credentials which have QR codes.” “It could be a mobile phone, either smart, which is a problem in many countries, or a feature phone. But apart from that, you should also be able to give people paper-based IDs with digital seals that are able to link the physical world to the digital world upon which the financial ecosystem runs. You have to make sure that there is a financially suitable credential, and that’s easily presentable so that people can use it and can link to it.” To Atick, the other important thing to do is to encourage the people to accept and use the issued identity credential for the purpose of payment. “We have several countries which have now achieved total coverage of the population for their ID program but there is still limited use of the ID in the financial sector. Therefore, I would not say that they are financially included because people got IDs. It’s like I have a bank account, but I cannot use it. Don’t mistake that for financial inclusion. Financial inclusion has to be real, practical, accessible,” Atick insists. While countries in the CEMAC region and the continent at large look to build their infrastructure to propel financial inclusion, they must have issues like fraud and scale in mind. They must build systems that are scalable and have strong security measures around them to prevent financial fraud and other forms of criminal intrusion. “There are countries that are scaling up their systems so that everyone can use them, but these countries are struggling with fraud which is at all levels of society. We have seen even in the developed world where financially included people are targeted. Fraudsters use social engineering by targeting the weakest link in the digital chain which is the human.” “Financial inclusion is a very, very complex ecosystem. It’s not just about giving excluded people or the poor access to bank accounts. It is about enabling a robust and highly fraud-resistant ecosystem that allows transactions for service delivery.” As part of the push, fintechs, mobile money services, and other instant payment systems are also playing a major role in opening up the financial space for millions of citizens of the subregion, even if such instant payment infrastructures are limited and not inclusive. According to a SIIPS report , the CEMAC subregion has the lowest number of live and operating instant payment systems (IPS). Although it has one regional IPS dubbed , the efforts remain slow and the system has its limitations as it is linked to a bank card, meaning you must have a bank account to be able to use the service. In a report on financial services within CEMAC in 2022, BEAC said just two percent of all transactions involved traditional bank transfers or cards. In the subregion, there are two major multinational companies, namely MTN and Orange, which offer mobile money banking services. There are many other existing and emerging fintech startups which also facilitate instant payments in the form of mobile money. “The instant payment system is one of the use cases of digital ID that allows the financial identifier to be useful and meaningful. So yes, instant payment is very, very important. But let’s not get hung up on terms: whether it’s digital public infrastructure or not, countries don’t think that way. Countries think of problems and what the practical solutions are. They think of how to deploy the necessary tools and infrastructure,” Atick opines. He notes that for the case of Africa, instant payment services like mobile money helped the continent leapfrog the rest of the world in the last 20 years, despite the interoperability issues the service has suffered. BEAC reported in 2022 that over 96 percent of all transactions within CEMAC that year were completed through mobile money channels. “For many, many years, mobile money was just not interoperable, but it’s still heavily used in East Africa. But I think the time has come for a general interoperable instant money similar to mobile money that used to be there, and that actually connects you to the bank account, so that you have a whole list of services, not just holding your money in a mobile credit with a telephone company,” Atick suggests. “While mobile money was very practical and pragmatic and useful for people as one of the alternative mechanisms that was used to bypass this question of people being bankable or people entering the banking system, it has not led to the reform that we had hoped for, which is that you create an ecosystem with many financial services available to an individual with a bank account that they can use and control with their own consent and with their own mechanisms.” Etta concurs with Atick’s view about having a general interoperable instant payment system similar to mobile money, but notes that innovation is what is likely to play the magic. He also believes there’s need to create the enabling regulatory and policy environment for innovative ventures to germinate and thrive. “Innovation is at the center of this transformation. It’s not going to happen if we don’t adopt innovation. Innovation is simply a new way of doing things or better ways of doing things and solving the problems that we face in a country or in a region like CEMAC. A lot of new technology is coming. Today, there’s generative artificial intelligence. To encourage innovation, the most important thing is to create the right environment,” he holds. “This subregion, like the rest of Africa, has a youthful population and these are people who can drive innovation. One thing that has to be done is to create the right framework. In Cameroon, as an example, we have started a Hackathon which is something that brings together young people to build tech solutions to specific societal problems. That’s our own way of trying to push the spirit of innovation. If that gets done multiple times, I think that there’s a lot that can happen in terms of designing new solutions.” In terms of fintechs development and their contribution to financial inclusion, Etta says Cameroon is on the right path with some industry-led initiatives. “In Cameroon today, there’s a lot that’s being done in terms of fintech development and how the ecosystem is evolving. One major milestone that we have achieved today is the creation of a fintech alliance called the Cameroon Fintech Association, and that is led by some of the really big fintechs in Cameroon,” he says. “One of the things we are doing is having a discussion on how the governments or the Central Bank of the subregion can better understand what fintechs are, what they are doing, and what the different avenues of collaboration are, because we really think it’s important to have a vital and strong fintech ecosystem to push financial inclusion.” Although the current realities reflect a not-to-good image and a long path still to be covered, there is some hope that things will improve, provided countries fully understand where exactly to hit the nail and act accordingly, going forward. “It’s not a technical problem, the infrastructure that is needed for that is known. It’s a matter of policy. And it’s also a matter of motivation. We should ask ourselves what the barriers are that we are trying to remove to advance financial inclusion,” Atick says. “I think the level of awareness is accelerating very, very quickly, and that is good news because awareness means informed policies and informed policies will lead to products and solutions that will be accessible by the populations. And when there’s a feedback cycle, the population adopts. A good policy will reinforce the sustainability of these systems.” Atick adds that the future is bright: “Africa will get a sustainable financial inclusion system because all of the economies that are being built in Africa, whether it’s regional or whether it is continental, all rely on one critical assumption. If that assumption fails, then all these, such as the intercontinental free trade agreement, are going to fail.” “Financial inclusion is not just about allowing the poor to get access to financial services. Financial inclusion is about allowing everybody to participate in a usable digital economy,” Atick mentions. To Etta, this is possible in an atmosphere in which governments stay alert and move along with the changing realities of technology. “Another thing is for the governments to be proactive. I don’t think governments should design policies that stay ten years before they are reviewed, because technology is going so fast. And because technology is going so fast, our policies also need to go so fast, to catch up with the growth of technological solutions.” One such new technologies is generative AI, which Etta strongly believes, is useful to drive financial inclusion and digital transformation, generally speaking. “AI is a super powerful tool that we have to make use of to be able to accelerate some of the decisions and projects we want to execute. We just need to understand how it works and how to use it. But more importantly, how to adapt it to our local context in order to get things better done. “So, I will say three things here: one, we need to understand the power of AI. Two, we need to understand that AI is a tool that we can use to accelerate progress and three, we need to adapt it to our context to understand what some of our nuances are.” “I will add that we also need to have really strong AI policies. At one point, AI is really great, and at the other, AI could be very dangerous. So, we need to have policies that guide its implementation and use, but also those policies should not stifle innovation.” | | | | | | | | |Malik Nabers can’t explain it. Once again Sunday, the Giants failed to get their rookie wide receiver involved early.
