Diaspora remittance: VFD Group expands operations to Africa – MD
By Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma
VFD Group, a financial service focused proprietary investment company, has expressed commitment to expand to more African countries to enhance Nigeria’s Diaspora remittances.
The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, VFD Group Plc, Mr Nonso Okpala, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.
Okpala said the company would expand to key locations within Africa to dominate the remittance space.
“We are looking to be in key locations across Africa so that we can replicate the success of remittances in Nigeria to those respective African countries with the ultimate objective of integrating the exchange opportunities within these respective countries.
“We think remittances align with the economic structure because there are a lot of Nigerians in the Diaspora and all these Nigerians have one thing in common, to work hard diligently and to remit funds to support their families back home in Nigeria.
“For us, those are the kind of compelling investment opportunities that we like to take advantage of because they are interwoven with the fabric of the society,” Okpala said.
Speaking on multiple exchange rates, he said every business or sector presents threats and opportunities.
Okpala explained that the company had built skills set to mitigate the threats in the Bureau De Change sector, having been in operation for 11 years.
“When you are in an industry or sector, there are threats and opportunities that you have to live with.
“For the opportunities, you have to be able to identify them in a way that gives you an edge; and you also need to execute strategies to take advantage of those opportunities so that your business can be profitable.
“On the aspect of the risk or the threats, you have to understand the threats and build the skill sets and capacity to manage and mitigate the threats.
“And if you are able to do these two things very well, you will come up as a successful company that will experience growth and profitability.
“In the past 11 years, we have been in this sector, and we have been profitable.
“So, it only means we have been able to understand the threats and manage them and we have been able to identify the opportunities and accordingly took advantage of them.
“We are not bothered a lot about those threats, we think that it’s part of the hazards of business and it behooves us to further understand any emerging threat and take advantage of it accordingly,” Okpala said.
On policies to pursue in 2021 to ensure stability, he commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for ensuring the stabilisation of the naira and economy at large.
“The CBN has done a remarkable job in the stabilisation of the currency and the economy at large.
“I think a continuation of that policy is what we require to ensure that there is no systemic shock in the Nigerian economy.
“Typically, one will expect that when there is a threat of devaluation of the local currency, people should be excited to execute an import substitution strategy.
“In the case of Nigeria, we do not have the capacity to execute that strategy, so we are left with the option of just ensuring that the economy is not exposed to a huge foreign exchange shock.
“And the CBN has distinguished itself in respect to how it has managed the situation.
“I have no doubt whatsoever that they will continue to do a great job in 2021 in this respect, ” he said.
VFD Group is a financial service focused proprietary investment company that creates value by working within Nigeria’s informal financial sector to create innovative products and solutions that are accessible to the everyday Nigerian citizen and entrepreneur.
The company operates in every area of the financial industry through their subsidiaries, providing financial advisory, asset management, currency, real estate, debt services and private funds Management services, among others. (NAN)
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