Credit Access for Africans in Diaspora #NIUK

Space Summary

The Twitter Space Credit Access for Africans in Diaspora #NIUK hosted by NIUKCommunity. The Twitter space on credit access for Africans in the UK provided valuable insights into financial challenges and solutions within the Nigerian community in the UK. Discussions revolved around the significance of financial literacy, community support, and tailored financial strategies for enhancing credit access. Participants delved into topics like credit history, loans, and credit scores, emphasizing empowerment through education and collaborative efforts. The space highlighted the role of community resources in fostering financial growth and resilience, showcasing the importance of networking, empowerment, and community-driven programs in improving credit opportunities.

For more spaces, visit the Lifestyle page.

Questions

Q: How does financial literacy impact credit access?
A: Financial literacy enables individuals to make informed decisions, understand credit terms, and manage finances effectively.

Q: What role do community resources play in supporting financial growth?
A: Community resources offer education, mentorship, and financial tools that empower individuals to improve their credit standing.

Q: Why is building credit history important for accessing financial opportunities?
A: Establishing a positive credit history opens doors to loans, mortgages, and other financial benefits.

Q: How can individuals improve their credit scores?
A: Managing debt responsibly, making timely payments, and monitoring credit reports are key steps to boosting credit scores.

Q: What are the benefits of networking within the community for financial support?
A: Networking provides access to advice, resources, and potential collaborations that can enhance financial stability.

Q: What strategies can be employed to enhance credit access?
A: Tailoring budgets, seeking financial coaching, and exploring credit-building products are effective strategies to improve credit access.

Q: How does financial empowerment contribute to credit opportunities?
A: Empowered individuals are better equipped to make sound financial decisions, leverage credit options, and achieve financial goals.

Q: How can collaborative efforts strengthen financial resilience within communities?
A: By pooling resources, sharing knowledge, and supporting each other, communities can collectively enhance their financial well-being.

Q: In what ways can community initiatives facilitate access to loans?
A: Community-driven programs, loan circles, and cooperative lending structures can provide avenues for individuals to secure loans and financial assistance.

Highlights

Time: 00:25:16
Financial Empowerment Through Education Discussing the impact of financial education on empowering individuals to navigate credit systems.

Time: 00:40:09
Tools for Credit Improvement Exploring practical tools and strategies for individuals to enhance their credit scores.

Time: 00:55:32
Community Support for Financial Growth Highlighting the importance of community networks in fostering financial resilience and growth.

Time: 01:10:45
Personalized Financial Strategies Sharing insights on tailoring financial plans to individual needs for improved credit access.

Time: 01:25:18
Collaborative Initiatives for Financial Inclusion Examining the role of collaborative projects in promoting financial inclusion and access to credit.

Time: 01:40:55
Loan Accessibility Through Community Programs Discussing how community-based initiatives can facilitate easier access to loans for individuals seeking financial assistance.

Key Takeaways

• Importance of financial literacy in credit access.
• Community resources play a vital role in supporting financial growth.
• Navigating credit systems can be challenging for Africans in the UK.
• Building credit history is essential for accessing financial opportunities.
• Education on credit scores is crucial for making informed financial decisions.
• Networking within the community can provide valuable financial support.
• Personalized financial strategies are key to improving credit access.
• Empowerment through financial knowledge enhances credit opportunities.
• Collaborative efforts can strengthen financial resilience within communities.
• Access to loans can be facilitated through community initiatives.

Behind the Mic

Introduction and Purpose of the Discussion

Washington, I believe my ear saving. Good evening everybody. Happy Sunday. Happy Sunday to every one of us on this space this Sunday evening. I hope all of us are having fun and hope's been a good day so far for everyone of us this evening. So yeah, we're going to be talking about credit assets for Africans in diaspora itself. So not just Nigerians, but Africans in general itself this evening. And we have a wonderful guest speaker with us, Mister Babatunde Adebajo, who's going to be educating us, enlightenment and of course talking about the issues itself and of course how to make life a lot easier for Africans in diaspora itself in 2024.

The Importance of Credit for Diaspora Africans

Of course, there's a lot of Africans who have moved around the world and of course a lot of us live in the UK, the US, Canada and so many different countries around the world. At the end of the day, what matters is how do we assess credits, how do we make life a lot easier for ourselves at the end of the day, most things, if you're not doing up in diaspora, you need a credit facility. It's just not record science, it's just basically ABCD. You need a credit support. You need to make sure you can access credit. If you can access credit, I'm afraid you not live a comfortable lifestyle. You plan to want to live yourself in countries like, you know, in senaclimes, in abroad itself.

Challenges Faced by Africans in Accessing Credit

And of course, a lot of people get mortgages, you know, maybe you want to start a small scale business or big scale business, you know, buy a car in a certain cars, and finances, you know, a lot of these things also matter to make sure people can access credit at all times, you know, even getting loans and so many things you want to do at all times. I'm glad to have Mister Babatunde Adebajo, who's going to enlighten us this evening. I'm going to talk about a few things regarding credit assets for Africans in diaspora. So please share this space on your timeline. Let's give up our people on board. Let's, you know, educate ourselves. Let's find a way forward to make life a lot easier for ourselves as Africans in diaspora.

Financial Struggles of the Diaspora Community

Listen, a lot of things are going on. A lot of people are struggling financially. Things are not right. You know, people are asking themselves the questions, they don't make the right decision to travel abroad and so many other things as well. But at the end of the day, what matters most is how do we find a way forward? How do we make life a lot easier for ourselves as Africans in diaspora? A lot of our people are struggling. I'm not going to sit and lie. A lot of our people are struggling financially, people trying to pay school fees. In fact, the past couple of weeks, a lot of Nigerian students, their universities have closed their portals because of course, you know, lack of school fees payments.

Seeking Solutions for Credit Access

A lot of them have been told, so you have to leave the UK to go back to Nigeria. People are struggling left and right, even pay bills. So many things in detail. To make life a lot easier for us. We need to access credit is very important. A lot of people, you know that communities are doing it. So why can't we not do it as Africans? So we need to enlighten ourselves, open our eyes, and like one of my brothers, SQL says, information is the key. With the right information, you know exactly where to go to, you know, the right support system you need, you know exactly what you can do to push yourself out there to make life a lot easier for you as an African in diaspora.

Navigating the Credit System

Listen, it's not going to be easy. So for it to be easy, you need the right support system. For us, it's okay. You know what? If I can assess this credit, this is my goal, this is my plan. Maybe you want to start a small scale business, for example, you know, maybe, you know, pay your tuition fees off or even, you know, pay deposit towards your mortgage. You know, so many maintenance, you know, at the end of the day comes back to you to make sure, you know, you have the right information to make your life a lot easier. Plan your finances in Dustpro itself.

Introducing the Guests

So joining me on this space this evening is my wonderful co-host, Rayo is also going to be co-hosting me for this space. And our guest speaker, Mister Babatunde Adebajo. Good evening, Raya. Happy Sunday. How are you today? Good evening. Happy Sunday. I'm fine, I'm chilled, I'm ready to learn. Like, we all know, credit is what the western world lives on, you know, although we are not used to it in Africa. But credit is basically what the millionaires, the billionaires lives on. And they get this in terms of, you know, their lifestyle, they are able to build through it and they are able to establish wealth through it. So I hope it will be much easier for us to have access to it also.

Reflecting on the Importance of Credit

I'm sure we'll be able to learn one of two things, and I'm ready to learn. Thank you very much. Fantastic. Fantastic. Thank you very much, Raya. Thank you. Okay, let me give the mic to our guest speaker, Mister Babatunde Adipajo. Good evening, sir. Happy Sunday, sir. How are you today? Good evening. Nice to be here. I'm doing well and I hope our listeners are also doing great this Sunday evening. It's nice to be here. Thank you so much. Fantastic. Okay, thank you, sir. Let's get a space up and running.

Background of Mister Babatunde Adipajo

Would like to know more about yourself, so just tell us more about yourself, what you do, your company and everything else. Just a quick intro by yourself, first place, so that the audience could get to know you as well. Thank you, sir. Thank you. So, yeah, I'm Babasani Adiba Joe. I have over ten years working experience, hands on working experience working in finance. I've been involved in creating product, especially for immigrants in the diaspora with a couple of commercial banks.

Current Role and Focus

Back here, back in Nigeria, a couple of things. Currently I lead the retail business for Rank Capital. Rank Capital is a Y combinator backed business trying to create shared prosperity for Africans. For a while now, we've been focused on offering credits on the African continent. Currently we have presence in Nigeria, in Benin Republic, in Guinea, Konakri. But we also realized that beyond just the African market, there is a lot of Africans in the diaspora who also are unable to access credit.

Addressing Credit Access for Diaspora Africans

So currently we have a couple of partnerships with some UK brands trying to also offer credit to Africans in the diaspora. So that's. That's basically my experience so far, being involved in retail business. And if you're familiar with what retail business is in finance, it's basically about providing credit, providing investment solutions to individuals. So that's. That's basically my background at the moment.

Discussion on Credit Access Challenges

Okay, fantastic. Thank you very much, Mister Abubasune. Thank you for lighting us and expressing yourself as well. So let's get this space up and running. My first question to you will be, of course, we plan to have assets for credits, assets for people in diaspora. So what are some of the main challenges Africans in diaspora face? You know, there's a lot of Africans in different countries from, you know, Africa itself to Europe, to Asia, to South America. So what are some of the challenges that Africa's in diaspora face when trying to assess credits?

Cultural Shifts and Barriers to Credit Access

And how can they overcome these barriers itself? Because, listen, a lot of us that travel abroad, you know, we go to new territory. We really not sure exactly what we are going to do in some of these places when we travel abroad. I mean, some of the good news now for Africans going abroad is that's why Nigerians, we have a lot of Nigerian communities in diaspora that sort of can make life a lot easier for people. So, but for me, personally. The question I put to tuna is how can people overcome these challenges? And of course, what are some of the barriers that make it difficult for Africans in diaspora? Credits.

Understanding the Need for Credit

The mic is your son. Thank you. Thank you very much. So to start with, from my experience, I will say the first, the first thing about Africans in diaspora and credit is even understanding the need for credit. So a couple of, a lot of us grew up with different biases around credit. So the culture shock that a lot of us get when we get into the diaspora and we see that everything runs on credit in European market, in the US market.

Shifting Mindsets about Credit

So the first thing is that mindset shift, that culture shock that credit is not a bad thing. A couple of people from there are a lot of African myths around credit. I see a lot of people tell you, no, no, I don't want credit. The first thing a lot of people, first of all deal with is the fact that cultural shock, that credit is not a bad thing. Now, when they get over that, and because again, they realize that everything they have to do revolves around credit.

Challenges Due to Lack of Credit History

So the next order becomes the lack of a credit history. In Nigeria, you can go to a bank and basically answer a few basic questions, or in other African countries and you get access to credit. But in the developed market, in Europe, in the US, it's not like that. You need a credit history. So that's like the first barrier that a lot of African immigrants face when they go into this economy's lack of a credit history, that poses a huge challenge. And without one for you to be able to generate a credit score, you basically cannot access credit as an immigrant.

Transferability Issues with Credit Histories

So the first barrier or second barrier, I will point out is, one, the lack of a local credit history, a couple of people, and for people who have enjoyed credit back home within the African market, the fact that those credit facilities are unable to, they're not transferable to wherever country they found themselves, that's another huge challenge. So one, lack of credit history within those local markets where they've migrated to, the fact that they cannot transfer.

Documentation and Financial Technology

For those who have built credit history back home, the fact that those credit histories are not transferable into those markets, the rating agencies, credit rating agencies in those markets don't really regard some of this history. So that's another one. Another major challenge also that a lot of immigrants face is documentation requirements. There is a huge, there is a huge challenge around that because again, different immigrants with different ways by which they've emigrated.

Solutions and Building Credit History

So that's another one. And one thing I'll also say is you don't even have providers looking to solve this problem until now, where there is now a lot of consciousness around financial technology companies trying to bridge this gap. So you can also say there are no provision, credit provision for immigrants per se to fit their peculiarities. Some of which I've mentioned is the lack of credit history. Another key one is before you can even access credit, time for you to build that credit history, for you to be able to generate a credit score, it takes time, takes in some cases a minimum of six months, in some cases even longer than that.

Understanding Affordability and Discrimination Issues

Then the definition of affordability. In a lot of these markets, for example, the UK market, by the time you look at their definition of affordability of credit, most immigrants will not even be able to afford or qualify for this credit. Then again, there is the issue of discrimination, outright discrimination and bias around immigrants, though that's, again, you might not have it documented, but we, all of us understand that this bias is there. This discrimination exists within some of these credit policies when it comes to an immigrant, especially from the African continent.

Reviewing Barriers to Credit Access

So, yeah, in a nutshell, I will say those are some of the general barriers for Africans, African immigrants to be able to access credit. One, the fact that you cannot transfer your local credit history from the market, to the fact that the length of time even takes for you to be able to qualify for a credit, that's another challenge. Discrimination is one definition of affordability. A couple of immigrants coming from back home, they are unable to even meet the criteria that has been described for affordability of a credit.

Building Credit History Upon Arrival

So all of these are the critical issues. Now, if to speak to some of how you can overcome it, because I know the question is split into two in order to overcome this one, it is important that for any African immigrant, wherever you found yourself, you pay attention to your finance and most importantly, pay attention and try to build local credit history. It is very important, it is extremely important for you to do this without true leveraging some of the solutions, like lockbox, to quickly start building a credit history.

Utilizing Available Financial Solutions

Where possible, leverage buy to let, buy now, pay. Sorry, buy now, pay later solutions in the market, so that first and foremost, you are quickly. So in some cases, where you have cash to pay, you leverage buy now, pay later solutions. Because some of these products help you to quickly start building a credit history so that you're able to generate a good credit score, with your rent payment, also where you've been able to secure, affordable accommodation, you should find a way to make this, your rent payment history also count because all of this helps in building, a credit history which enables you to be able to generate a credit score.

Understanding the Significance of Credit Scores

Like I, like I mentioned, credit score is very important. It's not just for you to build a credit score, but for you to build a good credit score. I'm going touch about touch on that as we move on. So one which is very important is as soon as possible, start trying to build a local credit history. Another thing you should also do is gather the necessary documentation. So when you are open an account, as soon as possible, also try to open your own personal account.

Preparing for Credit Access

And once you do this, start asking the necessary questions around how you can go about assessing credits so that you can also start gathering the document, not when you are in that dire need of a credit or something to manage yourself. So it's important that you start paying attention to building credit history to some of the ways you can talked about your rent, I've talked about leveraging buying our pay later products. You can even apply for credit card.

Using Credit Responsibly

There's a couple of credit card lender providers where you can even deposit a few amount and use that. It's usually called secured lending through a credit card. So that allows you to be able to start building your credit history which again enables you to generate a, a credit score. I think those, in my, in my experience, those are some of the quick things you can quickly do in order for you to start to break some of those barriers. Like, like I mentioned, it is extremely important for you to start building a credit history as soon as you settle in the start looking for ask after asking the questions around what you need to do.

Assessing Local Financial Systems

Because this varies for different markets. For different markets, there are different conditions, there are different things you need to do. For example, in the UK there are three major credit rating agencies. So again, start asking questions. Register with some of these agencies. The popular ones are Experian, there's transunion start. You need to take this very seriously. Not when you need credit immediately, but as soon as you've settled in. Credit is something that you need to ensure that you have access to.

Building Relationships with Financial Institutions

And in doing that, you need to quickly build a credit history by some of the ways I've mentioned and open a bank account and start engaging. Build active relationship with the bank. With the bank. With your bank relationship managers ask questions. Then most importantly understand the local financial system. Wherever you find yourself as an African immigrant, pay attention to understanding what the local financial system is in that country. That helps a lot of us don't pay attention to this.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

We just get in. I know it can be tough trying to settle in a new. In a new place, but these things I've mentioned for, in order to ease your settling in process, you need to pay attention to these critical suggestions I have made. Thank you very much. Yeah, thank you very much for that. You know, like you said, the importance of taking credit seriously.

Importance of Credit Utilization

Like I advise, between 25% to 30%. Utilization is good. Again, a good credit score is very important. If you. If you. If you are looking to build a portfolio, a property portfolio, acquiring assets. So with a good credit score, you get good offers around mortgages and you also get very good deals for this. For a lot of immigrants, again, one thing is important. A lot of immigrants, from my experience, a lot of immigrants leverage the school route, the school option to emigrate. You can also leverage services like the prodigy student loans. there's a productive finance company. They offer immigrants, especially for postgraduate students, they offer student loans. what I will advise is whether you, at that moment, whether you. You need it urgently or not, you can leverage that. Take some amount and that feeds into your credit score. That feeds into your credit score so that by the time you are even out and you basically need that credit, it becomes easier and you would have generated a good credit score that will enhance your, your offers, enhance the number of loan or credit offers you are getting, where you also get, you get to pay very low interest, because again, you are perceived as someone who is managing his or credit properly, finance properly, thank you.

Understanding Financial Products

Okay. Thank you very much. So I was looking at the log box that you are talking about and then I wanted to notify something. So there is lockbox and then there is lockbox practice and there is log box patient and logbooks academy. So I understand there is different type of it. And also I know there was a complaint when the log box just came out. People were, I think they have to pay certain amount. Am I correct in the aspect? Okay. Yes. I know people have to pay certain amount and I don't know how it works, but I know they have to pay certain amount for you to work. So just the people that wants to go ahead to use that, they are aware. Also I know credit file is a very good one as well because that record your, what's it called? The rent. Yes. So that records the rent. Exactly. Just the way lockbox also does. It shows your rent payment history, which again helps in building your credit score.

Comparing Lockbox and Credit File

Okay. So in terms of the, sorry. In terms of lockbox and the credit file. So you know they both have payments per month. So which one would you advise? So again, first thing you need to understand is all of these pro offerings. And I also talk, I'll just quickly mention some of other options for people, especially by local businesses, like what we also offer. What we need to also understand is, for example, for lockbox, they have different offerings from allowing you to be able to upload your rent payment history to also offering you the ability to save. Again, remember what I explained around credit score? Credit score is a reflection of how you're managing your finance. So it is important that when you're signing up for these solutions again, their products, their businesses that are helping you to stand a better chance of managing your finance. So what they do is they show you there are different offerings, from savings to even borrowing on this service to also uploading your history like the rent history.

Evaluating Financial Services

So at that moment, if you look at their fees and visa vis the benefit they offer you, I will say look around for the ones that the fee is the least. But again, offers you all of this. So I won't be recommending to say, okay, choose log box or choose this. No, it's a bit of you have to do to look at all of the options available from this. But again, don't, what's the word? The issue should not be the payment. Look at all of the. What enables you to be able to achieve just to add at rank capital, where I currently work, we are also, in fact, we have immigrants that we are helping at the moment we're offering credit to, based on their local credit history before they left Nigeria. What we are doing now is we are working with some other institutions in the UK, some other financial lenders in the UK to be able to integrate this into their credit score.

Navigating Credit History

So currently we have people that we've offered credit to based on their local credits before they left Nigeria. We are piloting this for the Nigerian market at the moment and we are doing this in partnership with some other lenders in the UK. But again, it is a service. So what we are just doing, because again, by the time you build a good credit score, it's the benefits completely outweighs whatever the fee you are paying now. So what our advice is one, ensure that you research a lot of options and ensure that you are choosing the one with the least fee. These are these the benefits that you are enjoying. For example, if you're on lockbox and you're using the lockbox safe, you get some very decent interest on your savings. So that in a way can even cushion the fee you are paying. Because whatever you are building on the savings and the interest you are earning, you can even factor it. And okay, this covers this. And while you are also using, leveraging it to build your credit history, to enhance your chance of being able to access cheap credits because you've built a good credit score.

Advice for Diaspora Africans

I don't know if that answers your question. Yes, it actually does. You've actually explained quite well in regards to that. So I will ask one question in regards to what are the things Africans in diaspora actually needs to know when it comes to navigating the different financial system, especially when it comes to loans and investment. Because I know a lot of our people find this really tough a lot of the time. I know that it does. Like you said from the beginning, credit does work in a way that when you're putting more effort in it, that's not when you actually need it, because it's like a track record, really. But, you know, just in terms of, in your own professional and more knowledgeable views, what you can. I'll pause in terms of navigating those questions. Thank you. Sorry, I lost you for a bit. I was trying to ask what are the things.

Key Steps for Financial Navigation

So, like, the Africans living in diaspora, for example, now, what are the things that they need to do in terms of knowing how to navigate the financial system, especially when it comes to loans and investments? Okay, so, before I answer this question, there are a couple of things I wanted to mention on the credit score, which again, they are basic, but I just need to reiterate them. One, it is important that you pay your bills on time. If you, if you are running late on your payments, yeah. It impacts your credit score hugely negatively. So it is important that in building a good credit score, you pay your bills on time. I know sometimes we don't want to prioritize this. We want to leave it to the last. I would strongly suggest that you make a settlement of your bills priority. It is very important because not just what it does at that moment, but the impact it would have on your credit score. It is very important.

Utilization of Credit Cards

I talked about the utilization on your credit card earlier also. That's also very important. Don't. Don't ensure that your utilization is kept reasonably low, 25% to 30%. Like I mentioned, it is also important that you manage your debt wisely. Don't start looking out for too many credit at the same time. So manage the number of applications you have. It is. It is very important. And also for some of us that have joint account, please ensure that the people we are co signatories to account are. They are also conscious. Don't, don't go and be a co signer to a joint account with somebody with a bad financial management system. Ensure that whoever you are co signing an account with your boots have you are conscious of some of these things is very important.

Familiarizing with Financial Regulations

Now to your question around what are the things Africans in the diaspora need to know about navigating? I think for me it must start from regulations. You need to understand the financial regulations of whichever country you found yourself. It is very important. Different countries, especially within the EU region, they have different UK and some other countries. They have some differences around these regulations. It is important. That's where it starts from. You must familiarize yourself with the rules and regulations around wherever you found yourself. You find yourself is very important. Credit history and reporting also please, from time to time, take time to just check your credit history. Check your credit history. Check your credit score. Ensure that there are no. Ensure that there are no irregularities around mistakes around the filings and what or what you have on your history and record.

Building Credit History

That's also very important. Learn how credit histories are built and computed by the rating agencies. For example, in the UK I mentioned there are three major rating agencies. They are written, are quite similar. So wherever you are, understand how those credit rating, how is it done, where you are, how is the credit reporting also done? It is. It is very important in your host country for you to find out about that. Again, you should also pay attention to investment opportunities and this you can do through research, listening and watching investment rated products, sorry, programs. It is also important, so you need to pay attention to that because understand some of the conversations around investments. These are things that are readily available to you from local tv stations, from conversations even across radio in some of these countries.

Utilizing Financial Advisors

So all of this gives you an idea of what are the opportunities that you can benefit from and some of the risks associated with some of these opportunities. Also, and most importantly, where you have a bank account, ensure to know the financial leverage, the financial advisory service that is available. But again, it's important that you go from a place of knowledge, which is why I strongly advise that you do a bit of research. You listen to business news in that country, understand the regulations from time to time, just check it out and most importantly, check your own credit history and reporting and understand how it is done. Understand what is being reported about you, where do you stand, whether you need a credit or you don't, it is just important for you to know all of these things. And most importantly, build active relationship with your financial advisors in whichever bank you have as when you have the time.

Engaging with Financial Institutions

A lot of them offer virtual sessions these days. So you are able to leverage that, have sessions with your financial advisors to understand what are the investment opportunities available to you. So yeah, I think those would be my thoughts and advice around how you can leverage the opportunities available. Thank you. Thank you very much. I will actually go on that last point that you highlighted. So I always say to people, if you have certain amount of salary, obviously, if you're not like on the minimum wage range and you know, that you put in certain amount of money into your bank account, please do not have all those online bank accounts. Only try and have a bank account. Like the commercial, full fledged commercial bank.

Choosing the Right Banking Solution

Yeah. You know, like, because I. So there is a, like you said, with the FCs in this country, there are certain bank that the, that has the COVID when it comes to the financial responsibility. Like you have certain amount of money, you know, if anything happens to this bank today, you are covered to a certain amount of money. And there are banks that if anything happens, especially the online ones, you know, and we have to know because all these online ones, their basis is more from the US. So you need to understand what you're getting. If I may advise. Yeah. While I agree you should have a commercial bank, they are more established, they offer you a lot of other solutions. But for a lot of the online banks.

Ask Questions About Financial Services

Also, you should also, again, some of the things you should also consider when opening a bank account, whether it's a digital bank or a brick and mortar or commercial bank, is important that you also ask questions. I read some of the terms and conditions. Again, you cannot afford to be careless with your finance. I think I need to reiterate this. A lot of things that we get away with over here in Africa, you might not get away with it over there because ignorance is not an option. So it is quite important that you understand the insurance premium cover over your funds, whichever financial institution you are opening a bank account with, their commercial, sorry, community banks, they are the big banks.

Assessing Financial Risks

So again, whichever bank you're opening an account with, it is important for you to understand, which is why I said leverage the financial advisory service. Some of these guys offer to understand. You can ask them some of these questions. For a lot of commercial banks, it's not something that you pay on. It's part of the service they offer for you. Open an account with them. So it is quite important that you understand what are the risks, what are the coverage you have? Should there be any eventualities around those businesses? Yeah, I think that's also very important.

Premium Banking Options

Yes. Yeah, sorry. That's exactly what I'm trying to point out. And then I will say, actually, if you are someone that is very interested investment, you're someone that has mortgages, you're someone that has certain amount of, you know, money in your account, I will say pay for premium banking. Premium banking is very good because you will actually get like a lot of nuggets when it comes to tips from your bank. And you will get a lot offers that is going to be premium because you're a premium member. So sometimes bank, always the premium service, you know, monthly payments is not really that bad.

Establishing Credit for New Immigrants

Sometimes it's like it ranges from 15 pounds now. So it depends on the banking. So it's not really that bad and you will actually benefit more from it, you know, so try and look into that. I always say that to people, like, just try and do that premium banking if possible. If possible. So I will say, I wanted to ask a question about how can newly arrive immigrants in the diaspora establish credit wilderness, especially when they lack, you know, their local credit history, you know, the one from Nigeria. And then they came here, then they have to start building.

Options for New Immigrants

Okay. Yeah, I think some of the good things around this is one now for new immigrants, you have a lot of options. I talked about what some of people like us around capital we are doing where we're able to just look at your history, your financial footprint in Nigeria, from Nigeria, and be able to offer you credit. And what that also does is it fits into your credit history in whichever, for example, that offer is available in the UK, there's also hybrid credit. Hybrid credit is another startup they are trying. They are working on how you can transfer your local credits from your home country to your new home country.

Establishing Credit Worthiness

So that's also very important. But in terms of how newly new immigrants in the diaspora can establish credit worthiness, I mentioned some of this earlier. Start with secured credit cards. So what a secured credit card means is you have to drop a bit of funds to do that. If you have that option, if you have the capacity, that's quite good. They require you deposit a certain amount of money, but they are always very easy for you to get. So where you do that, you drop a certain amount of money against the credit line that is being offered you. So that's always a good way to start because like I said, it's easier to get.

Building Credit Through Relationships

So that's number one, open an account. It's very important. Establish a bank account and maintain a good relationship with your bank is very important. Also. I mentioned that earlier. And another good thing you can do is you can get a phone contract. I advise that you get a sim only contract so that it reduces your outgoings but helps you in building your credit. So it's very important that where you have the opportunity, get a phone contract. We talked about using services like lockbox and other options that are available. Another key thing is register to vote. A lot of people don't know this, but it helps, it feeds into your credit, your credit history.

Registering to Vote

And all of this affects your credit score. A lot of us, I know a lot of people from, especially from Nigeria, we've lost faith in the voting system here, but over there is way better. So register to vote as a registered voter, it also feeds into your credit history and your credit score. Again, it shows that you are a responsible person. So please, that's another key thing that you can also do to quickly build credit worthiness. Register to vote in that country. Use a credit card. I've explained this earlier, but again, please, in using a credit card, ensure that your utilization rate does not exceed 30%.

Managing Credit Responsibly

it is very important, but by using a credit card it quickly build and show that you are a credit worthy person. for those in the UK, please register with the credit rating agencies, experian and trans student. There's a third one I can't remember at the moment, but there are three major credit rating agencies in the UK. Please register with them from time to time. Check your, what your credit history looks like, what your rating looks like, and where possible. Also, please avoid moving houses too frequently when you're changing addresses, you also impact your credit worthiness, impact it negatively.

Stability and Credit Forms

So where possible, please, at least for the initials, for the start, for a start, avoid moving houses too much, too many times that impacts your credit service or your credit worthiness also. Then, like I mentioned earlier, leverage, buy now, pay later solutions to enhance your credit score. It is very important. Leverage, buy now, pay the time. I know a lot of times we just don't see that. We, once we have the phone and we can afford it, just want to buy it and move off. Please. Especially when you are someone that is planning on taking a mortgage and all these other credit facilities, please leverage, buy now, pay later solutions because they help you ensure that you follow through with your payment plan.

Understanding Payment History

It is, it is extremely important let repayment missed payments. They impact your credit score extremely badly if you have things like that. Because if you look at the weighting for credit score, again, might not be 100%. But from research, what we've seen is payment history covers about 35% your credit score waiting. So if you understand what that means, if you start missing payments or you're making late payment, it's negatively impact your credit score, the amount owed, which relates, that's about 30% also.

Credit Score Composition

So payment history, how well you quickly honor your obligations is very important. About 35% of your credit score computation, 30 goes to the amount which, again, if you have a credit card, the utilization is very important. then the length of credit history, how long have you been building, which is why I mentioned that as soon as you get in, please start building the credit history. It is very important. And when you start changing addresses, this also impacts, your credit history, because again, it doesn't show a bit of consistency. If possible, stay in the same address for considerable time.

Impacts of Changing Addresses on Credit

All of these things enhance, because what it could connote is it connotes stability around you that you are stable. But when you start moving houses all around it gives a bad impression that you are not stable. And when you are not stable, the first thing anybody is thinking about is maybe you're not even financially. Also, you're struggling a credit mix, which is where the things like buy now, pay later comes in. If you have a good balance of credit mix, it also helps. Yeah. I think these are things you can do as a new immigrant that will enhance your credit worthiness significantly.

Conclusion of Discussion

Thank you. Okay. All right. Thank you very much. Mister Babatunde Adebajo, the head of retail business for money YC wooden a two to itself. Really glad to have you on board this evening. Thank you for all your submission so far and enlighten us and everything. Indeed, really grateful for that. So I'm just going to make a few announcements guys. While one day on the space this evening, just going to make a few announcements.

Community Support Initiatives

So show that if you being active in the community for the past few days, there's a few things going on. So if you go on the jumbotron, we have some cofounding links on the jumbotron. We lost one of our sisters, Julian. She had a headache and unfortunately she passed away just a few days ago at the hospital itself. She left behind her husband and a five years old child. Also on the 26 August we lost a gentleman as well, Miss Alexandra. Unfortunately he was rushed to the hospital but passed away in the ambulance on his way to the hospital itself. He also left behind a wife and a ten year old.

Memorial for Departed Members

Ten months. Ten months old son. So both of them, if you go on the jumbotron, we have the links there. Please let's support his families.

Community Support and Fundraising Efforts

Let's give them a befitting burial. They obviously looking up to us. Doesn't matter what is, you know, anything you have just give something. It all just shows the support and love for ourselves as a community of Nigerians in diaspora itself. I'm going to announce some bad news. Unfortunately the news reaching me this afternoon that we've had another Nigerian who's passed away. He passed away on the 4 September just three days ago. Unfortunately I'm not too sure myself exactly what's going on but we'll be reaching out to the nigerian embassy in London tomorrow and probably find a way, maybe a welfare package of, you know, maybe reaching out some doctors in our communities and just finding something because clearly all is not well. And that's just bottom truth. We'll announce it tomorrow. I'm not sure exactly what's going on but at this stage I think I'm disturbed myself. Exactly where exactly is going on? You know. Yes, people pass it away but the frequency of, you know, young people passing away doesn't sound too right.

Upcoming Events and Community Engagement

But we'll be talking about that more in the next coming days itself. So please join the jumbotron let's support these families. Let's give them burial. The GoFundMe link is on the jumbotron as well. So on Friday, next week, Friday, we're gonna be having an event with called vibes and Chill with Lemfy. It's gonna be in London. Monica restaurant is in Desford, which is just ten, less than ten minutes away from London Bridge. I could just get the allowed train to destroy itself. The event is gonna be free. So all you need to do at the event is for you to get in the premises. You need to show Lemfi app on your phone. And that's all it is from 05:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Friday the 13 September, which is just a couple of days away. At the end of the day, it's not about, you know, paying bills.

Balancing Life and Community Connection

Bills, they choke all this time. You know, as much as we're on this space today, talking about credit, assets and stuff, we also need to have sort of a balanced equation that once in a bloom, we need to relax. It's not about picking shift 24/7 it's not about walking. No, relax as well and have a life. And people can connect. So it's important that if you're London or you're not so far away from London, please feel free to pop in there. It's free of charge. Just your lemfire app on your phone to gain entry into the venue itself. On the 28 September, we're gonna be the Black Scottish Awards gonna be happening in Scotland. Glasgow itself and the Radius Glasgow is gonna be massive for black people in Scotland itself. Just about, you know, representing black people in Scotland, you know, showing the love and come together. It happens regularly, so it's going to be one of the biggest events for the black committee in Scotland.

Encouraging Attendance at Various Events

It's going to be happening on the 20 September Radisson Hotel in Glasgow. Black Scottish Awards. If you're in Scotland, blacks abiding ball, Aberdeen in a mother. Well done, this place. The glass girl. Come down and show some love. Buy your tickets in advance and show some love at events. I'm going to be there myself, live indirectly on the 20 August in Glasgow. I'm looking forward to seeing Nigerians in Scotland on the 20 September Radisson Hotel in Glasgow. For the Black Scottish Awards in Glasgow itself on next week's Saturday, 14 September, we're going to be having an event called Postmortech and Cultural Summit. The likes of Doctor Purple, Mister Toye Buki, PBM, Mister Deshunbomi so many people mentors in our community.

Promoting Community Competitions and Workshops

We're gonna be there. A lot of Nigerians from Portsmouth, Southampton, places, London. I'm gonna be there myself. A lot of people gonna be at events itself, you know. Please make sure if you're on the area, let's turn up and support it as a postmortech and cultural summit. Very, very important for all of us to learn, enlighten ourselves. You know, when a transition to different careers, others opportunities will be there for you to do needful itself at all times. Also we have one of our community members, Ifeuma was representing the Nike community. She's going to be doing Miss Nigeria UK competition. So please let's support her, let's be with her to make sure she brings the crown back home.

Upcoming Workshops and Financial Education

Very, very important, you know. Now we one of us, we need to make sure we support her to bring Crown back home. So we ride back behind you informal for Miss Nigeria UK. Events coming up soon, in the next couple of days on the 21 September we have the project management workshop with APBM is virtual, so the link is also on Jumbotron. Even after the project management and kind of those stuff like that. APBM booking is the best way to do in the UK itself. So please make sure you do the needful at all times. Next week, Sunday, we going to be having handling personal finances in the UK. Wonderful call is going to be Skelp Royce and of course our guest speakers, Mister Inde Financial. My name Mister Yemi. People going to come and educate us and enlighten us.

Discussing Financial Literacy and Resources

It's important we talk about finances just like we're talking about this evening as well. Credit assets for african diaspora. Next Sunday we're going to be talking about highly personal finances in the UK. A lot of us, a lot of us don't have the right information. A lot of us don't know how to handle finances. So many things we can do. And of course this kind of spaces is going to enlightenment of us. We're going to learn to understand, okay, if I'm doing eight b cd, what can I do better? What am I doing wrong? Am I gonna, you know, make progress and stuff? So this space for example, we'll have this even. And what we're gonna have next week, Sunday is gonna enlighten us regarding personal finances in the UK at all times.

Highlighting Two Major Upcoming Events

On the 20 September also we're going to be having an event called african summit and innovation. It's going to happen in Cambridge. So if you can go to Glasgow, you can also go to Cambridge. So there's two big events that's going to happen in Cambridge. So the event in Cambridge is going to be in the morning from 12:00 p.m. but the one in Glasgow is going to be evening. So if you can make both of them fantastic, you know, I'm going to be in Cambridge myself and I'm also going to be in Glasgow on the 20 September catch me in cloud in Cambridge early for the african summit innovation in Cambridge. It's going to be amazing events.

Community Support and Membership Details

I'm also looking forward to meeting Nigerians in Cambridge and so many middle people in Cambridge itself. So yeah, if you can make Glasgow, you can also be in Cambridge, 20 September Saturday at events at around 12:00 p.m. african Summit and innovation in Cambridge itself on Saturday 28 September. Also for the community, we have a twelve pounds year membership. If you're going to jumbotron, please make sure you support the community. There's no way the country can move forward without funding. We all together here as one big family. Let's do the needful. It's twelve pounds a year membership which works out to be one pound in a month. I'm sure that's not rocket science.

Encouraging Membership and Community Growth

One pounds in a month is very reasonable. Let's support the community to make sure the nigerian community in the UK is making progress and we're moving forward as a committee of Nigerians in diaspora. Go on the jumbotron if you haven't PD membership. So please do the needful ASAP. Tell a friend to do the needful as well. Twelve pounds a year is supporting a community of Nigerians in the UK. Also, if you're not general community, all you need to go to join the trunk is the official handle. Just have a profile picture, you know, make sure you're based in the UK and request to join the community and a member of the moderator team will accept your request to join the community.

Engaging with Speakers and Sharing Insights

Raoul, the mic is yours. Thank you. Yeah. Oh, thank you very much. So I'm going to ask about the. Sorry, can you guys hear me? I feel like my service is going up. Can I. Go ahead. Okay. Okay. So I wanted to ask about the. Can you share some tips, you know, or strategies in regards to Africans in diaspora looking to invest back home? Are there any particular sector, resources or opportunity you recommend? Yeah, Mister Batunde, you have to unmute your mic. Sir, please. I think he needs to meet his mic. Okay, okay. Yeah, mister Babatunde. Okay. Okay. Okay. Because I think I muted him earlier on, so you have to meet your mic, please, sir. I guess he's not used to Twitter space.

Investment Strategies for Africans in Diaspora

Okay, Mister Robasunde. Okay, let me just send me the DM too. Initial submit his mic. Yeah. Okay. Okay. I've just sent him a DM now. Okay, you know what, let's just take him off the speaker. Maybe he would, maybe that will help. And then he can just request again. Okay, he's requesting back now. Fantastic. Okay, Roy, go ahead. Mister Babatuni, can I hear us? Yeah, we can. Yes, we can hear you. Oh, okay. Apologies, I was struggling to unmute the mic. It was going on and off. Okay, so, I had the question, by the way. Okay, so the question is opportunities for Africans in diaspora looking to invest back home. Yes.

Understanding Investment Goals and Risks

I think the first question, or the best way to answer this would be one you need to define what your investment goal is. So are you planning that sometimes in the near future you want to go back home? Because again, this will inform what you can leverage. So I'll start by saying for someone, because again, there are opportunities you can leverage, which is one for a nigerian. I think I should be specific with this. Again, it's not so different for other Africans in the diaspora. You realize that the local currency is always devaluing against some of these dominant currencies, like the british pound, the USD and the euro generally.

Leveraging Foreign Currency Gains

So what you can leverage in is depreciation of your local currency against this dominant currency. So if you're in the UK, for example, and you want to be sending pounds back home, you are leveraging foreign currency gain. The exchange rate gains, that's the word you're enjoying, exchange rate gains, but it is important that as you are leveraging it, if you want to go back, if you want to move from naira back some of these currencies, it might impact what you're going to get. So you might also now become a risk. So in terms of your goals, what is your objectives for investing? Is it short term, is it long term, is it medium term? You need to clearly understand that and define it.

Investment Options in Emerging Markets

So for somebody whose goal is short to medium, what I typically advise is if you look at emerging markets like Nigeria and most other african countries, the interest rates and the yield on investment is typically higher. What do I mean by this? So if I have pound sterling or USD, and I send that back home without converting it, please note, without converting it to I have a local domiciliary account in Nigeria and I'm funding it with USD, right. I can enjoy the higher interest rates window in developing economies compared to what you have in developing. For example, in the US, in the UK, the interest rates on fixed income investment is typically around five to 4%, between four and five, now that everybody is actually even reducing rates now that inflation is coming down.

Exploring Fixed Income Investment Strategies

So what that means is, but if you look at developing economies like Nigeria, you still get investments offering as high as 10%, 8%. So for somebody in the diaspora with a mid to short term investment goal, you can leverage that. So you can look at people like where I work, rank capital offer that you can get between six, seven, eight, 9% returns on your fixed income investments. And by fixed income, these are typically low risk investments. So you can check out asset management firms back home. And this is typically the same across Africa, the african continent for Africans.

Long-Term Investment Considerations

So you can leverage the higher interest rates window that we, that you have in these developing economies and build and gain more than what you have in the developed market. So for somebody who's in the UK, for example, instead of you earning four, 5% returns on your fixed income investment in the UK, you can do that back home. Look for reputable secured assets and wealth management companies here like rank capital and invest for higher returns. So for mid to short term people, that's something I will recommend you leverage for long term investments where you know that, okay, you want to keep your position in naira for a long time.

Diverse Investment Avenues in Nigeria

In Nigeria, you want to invest in businesses. Real estate is another good environment. You can leveraging the exchange rate gains. You can buy properties around choice areas in the market, from Abuja to Lagos, very good areas. Because again, in that way, you are leveraging the exchange rate gains. So you can invest in real estate for long term. For some people, you can invest in businesses. There are a lot of tech stand ups, startups in emerging markets in Africa. Now you can take advantage of that, buy in some of these business.

Assessing Long-Term Potential of Different Investment Types

Again, I know there's a lot of uproar against bank shares a couple of weeks ago, but for long term, people who are buying for keep, they are also worthwhile investments. You can do. And I'll give you an example, even for that opera. Remember that I talked about those shares dropping. But right now, some of those shares are in around 44 naira. If you had bought them at maybe 20 naira back then, right now some of them are going for 44 naira, 37 naira. So if you buy substantial amount, you can see the yield you'll be getting on some of these investments.

Research and Investment Strategy

So again, these are for. Again, it is. This has to be for long term investment. And before anything, you have to also take a bit of research. Research the market, like for example, treasury bill in Nigeria is doing upward of 20%. There are a couple of fixed deposit returns doing, even above 25, 26. And these are very secured, instruments. So for long term gains, naira gains, you can do that since you know that those funds you are not looking to repatriate back to, those other developed markets is also important that you do that.

Recognizing Opportunities in an Evolving Market

So these are some of the things that comes to mind. I talked about real estate, I talked about technology startups in different places. You can invest in some of those instruments. Agriculture is always a safe bet. Also, people always, there always be needful food. If you look at the how prices of food commodities have skyrocketed in Nigeria between last year and now. If you have a farm and you have trusted ants managing it, imagine how much gains you would have recorded. So, yeah, there would always be opportunities in developing economies like most african that most african economy markets are, Nigeria being one.

Higher Interest Rates and Investment Risks

Also, there is always higher interest rate environment, even across fixed income products, compared to what you have in all these developed markets. So those are things you should consider if you are in, you are living in the diaspora and you're looking to invest back home. But like I mentioned, you need to first of all define what your investment goals and objectives are, because that will guide your decision making, so that you can avoid the pitfall of exchange rate risk and leverage exchange rate gains instead.

Regulatory Environments and Investment Complexity

Thank you. Thank you very much for that. Thank you so much. So that is quite well explained. So I will still say, you know, like you said, people need to do their research before they go into these things. So I think my last question for you will be, how do different regulatory environments in host countries affect credit assets for Africans diaspora and how they navigate these complexities? Interesting question. So, it is important that, how do I explain this? There are varied credit policies across different countries. It is very important, again, in knowing the knowing saves you a lot of stress.

Importance of Local Knowledge and Networking

So what I will say is, yeah, they are very credit policies. It is important that you consult local experts. Trust me, no one knows it all for all the markets. So whichever market you are in, whichever country you are in, work with the financial advisors. You can't go wrong research, put some of these things there, then be informed. So make it a point to maybe not all the time, but listen to popular financial, programs on tv, on radio, financial magazines, where you can subscribe to some of this where you can.

Building Relationships with Financial Institutions

It is important because they keep you abreast of the ever evolving, regulatory landscape of this market. It is very important because again, you understand whether, where you are, there is the nuances you need to understand that. So it's important that again, work with financial advisors or legal professionals who understand the local regulatory environment is important. My first advice will be for you to go with the financial advisors of the financial institutions where you have subscribed to. It is important.

Concluding Thoughts on Financial Integrity

And most times these services are free, they don't come with any extra charge on you. So it is important that you take, at your free time, take 30 minutes or whatever is available to ask questions, to understand the things that you need to be aware of as an immigrant, again. So it is very important that you stay informed, that you also tap into local knowledge of those places. Then most importantly, build relationships, build strong relationship with financial institutions. Building, having this can help you. I know because of what we've seen back home, a lot of commercial banks from Nigeria, for example, is more or less deposit withdrawal, go.

Legal and Regulatory Awareness

But abroad and in some of these markets, it's quite different. you can cultivate, good relationships with your financial institutions that way. you're paying attention to the things that matters. And also again, listening in on, business news and information because some of these things, you realize that there are things that they are usually being debated in parliament, in Congress on. You have different business, shows discussing this. You gain, trust me, you gain valuable knowledge because like I said, different countries with their own rules and regulations guiding some of these things.

Essential Advice for Compliance and Integrity

So it is important that you are not uncompliant, you are compliant with these laws and they will save you a lot of headaches. And most importantly, integrity is key. Everywhere. Integrity is very key. Ensure that your bills are paid as at when due. You prioritize settling your credit obligations. It is very important when you look out to a person of integrity, it saves you a lot of stress. A lot of the things you can get away from a market like Nigeria, trust me, you won't get away because they have quality data and able to fish out. And like I mentioned, your credit score is everything.

Event Introduction and Speaker Acknowledgment

Please keep your questions nice and short and then we will start taking people. Please do have a profile picture. I think that's important. I'm going to leave that to Oluomo to explain more about that. Thank you. All right, thank you, guys. Thank you very much, Mister Babatunde. Okay, let me give the mic to the global african youth. Good evening. The mic is yours.

Opening Remarks by Ambassador Ushi Israel

Wonderful evening, distinguished ladies and gentlemen. I. Am Ambassador Ushi Israel. By the grace of God. I am the executive director of Global African Youth Inclusion. And what we are all about is propagating open governance in the african continent. By the grace of God. I am a nigerian and I just stumbled on this space. All I just want to say is a big thank you for this wonderful initiative by the nigerian community in the United Kingdom. But by and large, what we have to say is that the credit system in our country and the continent at large has experienced a very poor management system. So, as we say, everything rise and fall under leadership at the moment. Now, it is not easy in Nigeria and in the african continent.

Recognition of Knowledge Gains

So we celebrate what you guys are doing and for espousing our knowledge so that we can also relate with our brothers out there and down here. Thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity. We elated that our knowledge have been increased on, you know, assessing credit facilities in Nigeria and also in diaspora. Thank you, everyone. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Mister Global African Institution. Grateful indeed. Thank you, sir. Okay, Amara. Good evening. Mark is yours.

Discussion on Personal Experiences and Credit Management

Good evening, all. I just want to say thank you to forgive my volume. My. I can't speak louder than this right now. I want to say thank you to the speaker, the earlier speaker, you did some justice to that topic about the credit score and credit companies. And you touched on some things which I want to ask about from a personal experience. Now, I'm aware of the. I'm aware of what the instability, seeming instability does to your credit risk. So does your credit score. So when I'm. When I say instability right now, we talk about changing address, changing if you're not working, social condition. So basically, what advice I take your from the financial sector? I can't. I can't. I don't know your name because I joined Midway.

Seeking Advice on Managing Credit Risk

Now, what advice do you. How somebody else who does not have access, who is not a socially inclusive person, somebody who is not, however, somebody who is in a social downtime, how do they manage their credit risk outside of. Yeah, we know that the bills, the phone bill, tv license, all those direct debits. Yes, they count. But how do you manage leveraging, to climb that ladder to build your credit goal when you cannot talk of accessing. credit when you cannot talk of access. I mean, because for you to even access a loan, you, there need to be an income. So for those who are outside that bracket, and if we've never thought about it, there are people, even Nigerians, who are legally here, but they are outside that bracket because of social inclusion or whatever, how do you advise those people? What happens? Is it just to sit and fold their hands or.

Response to Concerns Over Credit Accessibility

Good question. Very good question. Very, very good question. I think. Yeah, it's, it's. I've faced a lot of conversations like that for people who are just trying to find their feet and keep their head above the water. I talked about what people like rank capital were doing because from our research, realized that a large number of people struggle at like the first few months. And some, for some people, it even goes beyond the first few months. So what we are trying to do is, remember when I was explaining eligibility earlier in my point, by eligibility standard of this developed market, a lot of Africans, I wasn't. Yes, a lot of african immigrants are not even eligible for credit.

Support from African Owned Businesses

So it is something that a couple of african owned businesses are trying to solve, like crank capital. So like I mentioned earlier, as I speak today, we have a couple of people in that space today that we are offering soft credit to. Some people, 1000 pounds, some people 500 pounds, some people 3000, 4000 pounds, depending on where they are. Because one, we understand the people's journey. We know where they are at that moment. We're able to redefine what eligibility means to suit those people. Because whether you like it or not, they need credit to find their fit. Some of them are, they have jobs that is barely enough for them to meet what is defined as the eligibility criteria by some of the financial lenders or financial lenders in those markets.

Importance of Credit Accessibility

So what I will say is a couple of these businesses exist, and it's not just for Africans. If you look at the Asians, they have a lot of this time, this type of solutions that they leverage. I was back in April or late May, early May, I was in London and I was having a couple of conversations with some Asians. They have asian type businesses that understand some of the peculiarities. Peculiarities. And they are able to leverage this sort of businesses to access credits. So what we are doing, and what a lot of african businesses are also doing is to have Africans who understand these pain points. Because for us in Athwan capital, we understand this pain point. And that's why we are leveraging your bit of your history, financial footprint from your own, from the home country, are building to underwrite credits for you and ensuring that what we define as eligibility supports you where you are at that moment.

Challenges of Local Vs. Developed Market Credit Rating

So trust me, it's. I'm not sure we can change some of the policies of this developed market, but african businesses will have to rise to that occasion. There are a couple of businesses also trying to even ensure that you can migrate your local credit from your home country, your country of birth, to this market so that they factor into your credit rating and history also. So a lot of work is being done. What our advice is, please speak to friends and family, because most of these businesses might probably not be very big on ads and all of that at the moment. So just like the Asians are also offering this, a lot of african businesses are beginning to rise to this, to the occasion to define eligibility that suits the peculiarities of their people factoring in their, where they are at the moment.

Insight on Overdraft and Credit Scores

So I think for me that would be my answer. Please seek for that rank capital is offering that we have a couple of partners in the UK that we are already doing this for and people that typically will never even stand a chance to be able to access any sort of credit based on what has been defined as eligibility. I don't know if that answers your question. Yes, it does. I can always get in touch with Romo later or to access to reach out to you. Thank you. You're welcome. That works. Okay, so we are going to go to Mister Akili Akinle.

Inquiries About Overdraft's Impact

Yeah. Thank you. Hello. Yeah, good evening. Good evening, mister, my name is Akhile. Yeah. My question goes, thus, does overdraft have any impact on credit score and is it advisable to take overdrafts? Is it the same thing as when taking credit? Cardinal? It is advisable not to spend more than 25% to 30% or overdraft is a free landing for anyone. And is it advisable to use it and take care of your. That's my question.

Clarification on Credit Utilization

Thank you very much. So, an overdraft is a credit line. So in fact, it counts to, in the competition of your credit score. So an overdraft is good. So again, overdraft credit card, their credits. The only difference is your credit card is on the, in the, on the card is loaded in the card. But overdraft is also a credit line. It allows you to overdraw your account to a certain limit. Just like your credit card also gives you a credit access. So they both count towards the competition of your credit score and they are good. And like I mentioned, please don't also over utilize your overdraft, your OD.

Best Practices for Overdraft Management

Also, it's very important that you don't overdraw it. Maintain between, 25 to 30 piece to 30% where worst case scenario, please don't exceed 40 because it shows that, you are using it for you are rightfully using those lines. You are not living on those lines. That's the word. when you are offered a credit line is for you to utilize, not to live on. So that's the difference. So overdraft is good. It counts to your credit and ensure that you make repayment on a monthly basis. Don't allow it to accumulate. So if you've used 25%, please make the required repayment for that month.

Impact of Repayment on Credit Score

Ensure that you fulfill that obligation as I wend you, because I instead of it now helping your credit card credit score, it can even now impact your credit score negatively significantly. Missed payments is not something you should avoid as much as possible. So yes, to answer your question, overdraft is good. He asked your credit score. Please don't over utilize your credit score also. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Okay. Thank you very much for that.

Conclusion and Closing Remarks

I'm going to go to Mister Tomiwa. Okay, you can ask your question now. Thank you. All right. Good evening everyone. Mine is not a question, actually. Thank you for the privilege. I just chose to share information and I think that also for every one of us are just newly arrived to this country. We may need that. And that is running our accounts. It could be just a basic classic account, which I did. And I realized that as I was running it, after three months, I opened that account I required for overdraft and that bank granted me that overdraft. So why didn't I double draft? And that's where I treat my legs. I treat myself and leg like the money was a bit small, it was 250 pounds.

Personal Experience with Bank and Overdraft

I was like, they should give me 1000 that I can pay this morning. But then when I called the customer service that I've been offering overdraft, but then I wanted to increase the overdraft, limit online and I was like, is it possible, I don't know how it comes? And they just reduced and that was taken off again for like two, three months. But I keep on running my account. I have a banking background back from Nigeria, so I just know how to run accounts, so. And I tried again after like two, three months. I got 400. And this time around it was around what? I mean, I don't even need that phone there, but I took it just for me to have it.

Encouragement to Seek Overdrafts

I've been enjoying that overdraft. So we can actually get good overdraft even at noon, at, within six or four, five months in the country. Just based on how we run our accounts, it could be even. We talked about premium account, which is very good. I'm not even using premium yet because I don't, I'm not yet stable. I'm still finding myself. But then with a little classic correct account, you could get overdraft. So just an information for everyone of us and try it out. You may not get all that loan, but overdraft is good.

Advantages of Overdraft as a Financial Tool

Overdraft is a cheap loan for each and every one of us. The interest is not as even high as credit cards and you can actually use the overtrack. Make sure that you are coming back to. So when you are running your overdraft, don't overdraw too much. Make sure that you come back to use. It's like a swing. When you are doing overdraft, you use a swing analysis. So when you swing back to positive, you keep on having a good rating. So it could be positive for one day. You have crazy. That cycle. That cycle is fine.

Final Thoughts on Credit Accessibility and Usage

You pick it again, you can overdone again tomorrow and bring it back another one week right back to positive. And when you keep on doing that, you can keep on going good over that. Before we access the big facility or whatever we are looking to achieve from our credit report. Thank you. That is what I want to share. Yeah, spot on. Spot on. Thank you very much. So I believe we don't have any more speakers now that want to ask question.

Closing Discussions

So I'm just going to give Mister Babatunde a chance to do give us a closing remarks. Thank you. Thank you very much. It's been a pleasure to be on this space with everyone. Like I said, it is important that you pay attention to your credit, to your finance. Your credit score is a reflection of how you manage your finance and it is very important. Bad credit score. A low credit score of between zero to 440. Most times is rating between zero to 1000.

Guidance on Maintaining a Good Credit Score

A lot of people advise you to say on the average don't have anything below 500, 4560, keep it above that. It's important that you pay attention. Pay your bills as at when due. Very, very important. Don't, please don't wait until you need credit for you to start building a good credit history for you to ensure that to support that you have a good credit score is important. And again, pay attention to your finance.

Navigating Credit in a New Country

It is very important. A lot of things you can avoid if you pay attention early enough, especially in a new country, because over there, your credit score is everything is not like where you're coming from. It is everything you need a credit score for good insurance premium, for good mortgage offerings, for good credit line. It is everything impacts how you are being viewed by the market. So it is important that we pay attention and when in doubt, please ask questions.

Valuable Resources for Credit Management

Leverage financial advisors to gain insight and clarity where you are in doubt. And please always validate also. So don't just take it because again, there's a bit of discrimination. I talked about that. There are some of these guys that just discriminate because they feel we are african immigrants. So it's important that whatever you hear, you also transport as possible to validate those advices you get.

Concluding Remarks and Support

Overall, thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure. You can also reach out for people who would require some more personal clarification around some of these things. I'll be very happy to support on that line. Thank you very much. Okay, thank you. Thank you very much. Like you said, you know, making the utilization of credit card and your credit assets is very important.

Guidance on Credit Assets

And I always say to people to guide their actual credit assets, like. Like criminal records. So you know how people avoid to have any bad criminal record. Exactly, exactly. Very right. So I think we kind of learn in our time that when those uncle, they will go and use your name to collect same card and that same card will literally spoil your credit history for years. You will even be aware later on you not be finding. I feel like, who is all this? How do I know this orange?

Awareness and Support for Credit Management

So I'm glad that all those things are now in the past, people are able to, you know, have good access to information. Now they're able to have good access to all those things. And it's actually really important and is actually very prevalent as well. So thank you very much. Oluomo, do you have any closing remarks? Yeah. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mister Babasi Nadebajo.

Thanks and Appreciation

Thank you for enlightening us on this space this evening. We're grateful. The head of retail business money YC W 22, very grateful indeed at our time. So guys, I'm sure that we've all learned a lot from this space this evening. So just want to say a big thank you to our guest speakers. A big thank you to all our listeners and other speakers. Of course, a big thank you to the wonderful coach Rayo for doing an amazing job this evening itself.

Final Blessings and Good Wishes

Indeed. So thank you, guys. Have a blessed week. God bless Niuk, God bless Nyu, Nigeria, and God bless everyone of us. Take care. Good night for my guys. Good night.