Tingo, ITScope Team to Develop SMB Management Portal

A new online portal called the Integrated Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (iMSME) ecosystem aims to solve the problems of those left out of the internet’s global connectivity, according to a Wednesday press release (Jan. 12).

The portal is a collaborative effort between ITScope Consulting, a business solutions company, and Tingo, a tech and communications company, along with the Nigerian government.

The Nigerian government will be participating through the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), which is charged with monitoring and stimulating the small business sector. iMSME will be open to any kinds of businesses, but will focus mostly on small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

It plans to try and help offer more ways to let businesses communicate among themselves and build relations with potential clients, customers and partners. According to the release, the portal should make business processes “more intuitive” and will let businesses benefit from the larger ecosystem.

One feature in the iMSME will be MyQ, an appointment scheduling system which will allow for the businesses to take more control over how their appointments are booked. Per the announcement, this should help out with cutting costs and adding efficiency.

In other news related to Nigeria, PYMNTS reported last month that Standard Chartered plans to close around half its branches there.

Read more: Cash Still King in Nigeria Despite Digital Drive

The company will instead be focusing more on digital banking. Some of the office closures started in December. The lender will have 13 branches in Nigeria when it’s done — down from 25 in the country before.

In other news, while Nigeria has been seeing a flux of digital payments, cash does still reign supreme there. Last October, circulation of cash hit record numbers there.

Nigeria’s naira notes and coins went up 4.6% at that time, to 3 trillion naira ($7.3 billion). Despite this, there has been an effort to push for cashless transactions from officials there.