Okojie: Scrum Has Taken a Foothold in Nigeria

The Head, Scrum Master, Patricia Technologies, Ehidiamen Okojie, successful this interview, talks astir the adoption of Scrum successful Nigeria, the fiscal and Digital outgo industry, and the outlook of fintechs successful 2023. TECH THIS WEEK presents excerpts.

Patricia Technologies is said to beryllium advancing alternate concern successful Africa. What relation precisely bash you play successful Patricia?
Essentially what I bash for the Patricia squad is caput some the merchandise absorption squad arsenic good arsenic a small spot of their engineering squad arsenic the caput Scrum Master. I’m liable for making definite that the roadmap for Patricia each azygous twelvemonth meets the management’s expectations successful presumption of delivering features and functionalities connected the products that we have. Over the years, we’ve been capable to present antithetic features and functionalities connected our existent user product, which is the Patricia app, wherever our customers are capable to transportation retired their fiscal transactions, not conscionable connected the crypto broadside of things due to the fact that arsenic you know, we play a batch successful the crypto space, but we besides let them to beryllium capable to wage their bills, bash definite fiscal transactions connected our legacy.

Currently, I person a precise thin team. We’re liable for gathering caller versions of our user app currently, arsenic we speak. We volition beryllium going unrecorded with a caller mentation of the app precise soon. This caller app provides our customers the accidental to play with much tokens. Currently, we lone bash 2 tokens but with this caller diagnostic and mentation of the app, customers tin bash much than 2 tokens which volition beryllium astir 4 tokens and volition beryllium capable to bash much things similar swap, bargain and past sell. Essentially, that’s what I bash for Patricia. I negociate the products and marque definite the product, the features and functionalities are delivered connected clip successful presumption of making definite our customers are ever happy, entree to the app and availability is astatine its highest constituent truthful that determination is nary downtime and past Patricia tin proceed to beryllium a going interest successful presumption of processing caller transactions.

Could you archer america a spot astir Scrum? Does it person a aboriginal successful Nigeria, and is it thing to beryllium embraced?
Scrum is simply a methodology of managing Agile projects. In the past, radical would bash the waterfall benignant of task management. What that means is that you bash not person worth for your merchandise until the extremity of the project. However, Scrum arsenic a methodology allows you to person incremental worth for your merchandise connected a biweekly ground oregon monthly basis. That methodology breaks up your full merchandise and task into chunks, and those chunks for each merchandise are called iterations.

For each iteration, you are receiving worth each azygous clip arsenic opposed to successful the past, wherever you would person a merchandise oregon task merchandise that could span 12 months. And successful today’s exertion oregon integer space, you cannot spend to hold 12 months due to the fact that clip to marketplace is key. By the clip you hold for 12 months, your competitors person released respective versions of their products implicit time, and past you are conscionable coming with the precise archetypal version.
Scrum has taken a foothold successful Nigeria, and this is owed to the information that if you look astatine our fintech and integer space, utilizing a emblematic illustration successful Nigeria today, you tin number implicit 10 antithetic outgo apps contiguous successful Nigeria, providing the aforesaid benignant of service. The crushed wherefore that is happening is due to the fact that fintechs person started to clasp the scrum benignant of task absorption that allows them to merchandise their products. There is nary fintech successful Nigeria contiguous that wants to survive, that is genuinely successful it to bash concern that does not follow that beardown benignant of task absorption oregon agile task absorption due to the fact that it works connected the rule that you lone request a precise thin team, conscionable a tiny squad to turn a merchandise and marque it scale.

What different projects person you worked on?
Aside from moving with Patricia, I americium besides the caput merchandise manager astatine Clever money. One of the things that makes maine blessed is the benignant of worth I provide. One that resonates truthful overmuch with maine is the instauration of Access bank’s integer banking platform. I played a pivotal relation successful creating entree bank’s existent mobile banking app, ATM merchandise plan and Internet banking app. I americium truthful arrogant because, earlier that time, I knew wherever the banks’ channels were astatine that constituent successful time. We were 1 of the archetypal radical to make an omnichannel banking app. In fact, entree slope today, due to the fact that of that task that I was on, was capable to physique the precise archetypal integer slope successful Nigeria.
After this was done, I went up to assistance Access Bank with the merger with Diamond bank. I was besides liable for merging and integrating those 2 systems. It was a happening of joyousness for maine due to the fact that I recovered myself doing thing that was highly important to the bank, and astatine the extremity of the day, the effect shows successful their bottommost line. I built the instauration they are utilizing connected the mobile app, the ATMs, net banking and they are inactive gathering connected what I person done, that makes maine highly proud.

Clever wealth is besides a fintech that is beloved to my heart. It is simply a startup that started a mates of years ago. I person been capable to assistance them physique their products to marque them much acceptable successful the market. They person an bureau banking merchandise which allows customers to person entree to outgo solutions anyplace successful Nigeria from the usage of a POS terminal successful which you tin retreat money, deposit money, transportation money, and wage bills. I person been capable to assistance them acceptable up, assistance thrust their sales, and assistance them thrust their concern to wherever it is today.

What are the cardinal events that volition signifier the Fintech abstraction successful 2023?
Presently, determination are a batch of outgo applications. Everybody is gathering a outgo application. So, what I spot happening is the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) mightiness person to measurement successful again to bash thing similar what they did to banks a mates of years agone erstwhile they told them to either consolidate oregon adjacent store due to the fact that determination were excessively galore banks astatine that time. I foresee the aforesaid happening happening wherever CBN would say, ‘Guys, you person excessively galore outgo apps. I cognize you are doing fantastic enactment however, we privation this abstraction to beryllium much efficient, truthful we request you to consolidate. Any fintech that does not person a valuation of a definite magnitude of wealth tin spouse with respective fintechs astir to spot however you tin consolidate your valuation’. We would spot consolidation of respective fintechs happening successful Nigeria. That is what I envisage.

Also, radical request to commencement looking astatine seeing players successful the existent property marketplace utilizing exertion now. Up until now, determination has not truly been a solution that provides customers oregon users an quality to bargain existent property comfortably and safely. What you would spot happening are products that supply customers an quality to bargain spot connected an app. Some of these existent property companies mightiness pivot to becoming proptechs. They person been doing it the accepted way. They volition infuse exertion and the infinitesimal they instrumentality that decision, I tin warrant you the effect would beryllium 10X due to the fact that radical would beryllium much comfy due to the fact that the young assemblage we person successful Nigeria are truthful tech savvy. Anything that does not marque their beingness easy, they locomotion distant from. So that is going to hap this twelvemonth arsenic well.

What tin beryllium done to summation the spot quotient regarding integer payments and innovations?
As a country, we are not teaching astir the integer abstraction good enough. We tin accidental convey God for COVID-19, a batch of innovations came retired wherever radical were capable to larn things online, but I consciousness contiguous successful our schools, we are not grooming our young kids capable astir the opportunities successful the tech space. We are besides not trying to propulsion the connection of the easiness of doing concern with technology. What should ideally beryllium happening is determination should beryllium much collaborations successful our integer space, looking for initiatives to propulsion the connection further into the region to accidental determination are truthful galore things we tin bash with technology. For america to inactive enactment with what we person to summation that spot quotient, it is important that businesses pat into immoderate opportunities they get to beryllium capable to thatch radical what they tin bash successful that space.

At Patricia today, we person a mentation of a diagnostic connected our merchandise that teaches radical astir the innovations successful the space, what they tin bash successful the abstraction and the opportunities available. If different businesses tin replicate the aforesaid and marque it a civilization to perpetually preach the gospel of integer translation successful Nigeria, I judge that the spot quotient would spell up. Cybercriminals volition ever beryllium here. However, if you are equipped with the close benignant of information, you volition cognize the pros and the cons truthful arsenic not to get burnt.

There’s a batch of contention successful your space. What are you doing differently?
Competition is bully and healthy; it keeps everybody connected their toes. However, spot is going to beryllium a increasing concern. It is important that your users spot you. They privation to beryllium capable to spell to furniture astatine night, aftermath up successful the greeting and inactive person their assets, their money, their fiat successful the aforesaid spot they near it successful your custody. So, gathering connected that spot of your customers requires you ever being connected your toes successful presumption of protecting their interest. Cyberbullies bash not sleep, truthful perpetually we are innovating ways to support our customers.

Today, we person thing called two-factor authentication, you are incapable to bash transactions without two-factor verification. I would not counsel anybody to download a fiscal app that does not connection two-factor verification due to the fact that it is the astir basal benignant of extortion you tin springiness your customers. We are besides integrating authentication apps which springiness codes and token numbers.
What we are doing otherwise astatine Patricia and Clever wealth is to physique connected securing the involvement of our customers. If our customers are assured that their assets and information successful our attraction are safe, they volition perpetually travel back.
Secondly, I volition accidental stability. We are gathering a unchangeable system. There is

no strategy that is 100 per cent without issues, but adjacent erstwhile those issues happen, we instantly marque definite we travel backmost to our customers and accidental we person thing we are moving on, and you whitethorn not beryllium capable to person entree to your asset, but we would beryllium back. How galore times successful a period oregon however unchangeable is your merchandise to your customer? Does it interruption down each different day? So, gathering a unchangeable merchandise is what we are doing differently. We marque definite we perpetually show astir the timepiece to marque definite we are catching these things aboriginal and dealing with them.

The tech assemblage has continued to get slammed successful 2023. Last twelvemonth wasn’t a fantastic twelvemonth for a batch of fintech companies. What are your projections for the fintech abstraction successful presumption of layoffs this year?
Unfortunately, a batch of radical would not privation to perceive this, but determination would beryllium a batch of layoffs this year. The crushed for that is not conscionable due to the fact that of the economy, adjacent though it has a large portion to play, but immoderate of these companies bash not deliberation done their roadmap. Coinbase, which is simply a large subordinate successful the cryptocurrency space, laid of 20 per cent of their staff, why? It is not conscionable due to the fact that the marketplace is bearish, it is because, contempt the information that they mightiness person a thin team, it is not giving them the worth they privation to spot truthful wherefore support those people? 

They would alternatively enactment with the tiny radical that springiness them the astir magnitude of value. There volition beryllium much layoffs this twelvemonth and the crushed immoderate of these things are happening is due to the fact that determination has been a inclination wherever immoderate radical conscionable privation to person startups, enactment done a fewer months of transactions and past spell and get effect wealth successful dollars. So, astir of those guys don’t person the close subject oregon the close absorption to support those companies arsenic increasing concerns. Most of them are reasoning astir the extremity but they bash not privation to warrant the means. So, what happened to astir of those fintechs that laid disconnected oregon closed up is they projected they were going to deed radical with a fantastic merchandise and marque wealth but erstwhile they did not get that money, they were incapable to continue.
The lone ones who volition proceed to stay applicable are those who are consenting to instrumentality those pugnacious decisions, fig retired the trajectory to cognize if they volition beryllium profitable oregon not by the extremity of the twelvemonth and marque those cuts now. You volition commencement to spot a batch of cuts not conscionable successful the cryptocurrency abstraction but successful those outgo apps that you are seeing today. You would besides commencement to spot cuts successful unit and resources arsenic well.