The Executive Chairman, Ogun State Internal Revenue Services (OGIRS), Mr. Olugbenga Olaleye says digitisation of processes involved in payment of taxes in Ogun State will reduce revenue leakages to the barest minimum and increase revenue generation in 2022.
Olaleye made this known in Abeokuta, while defending his agency’s budget proposal of over N56B for the next fiscal year before the State lawmakers, saying OGIRS is also focusing to ensure that Tax Agents and Taxpayers carry out their civic responsibilities with comfort.
He affirmed that the filling processes were on digitisation, which is called Ogun State Electronic Tax Administration Portals (OGETAX) for the typical business environment, saying “the Tax Auditing Monitoring Agents (TAMA) do not come to our office, but operate from the comfort of their homes, they could open the portals, see the audits allocated to them, as the reports are coming in, they download into the system and review, these are areas done manually in the past where there were leakages”.
The Chairman expressed confidence and enthused that 2022 revenue figure would be delivered as presented, especially with the right infrastructure received on time from the State government.
While appreciating the government for operational vehicles received in year 2021, he solicited for provision of more buses that would enhance revenue enforcement drive in year 2022.
Interswitch offers product Developers access to APIS for increased productivity
Africa’s leading integrated payments and digital commerce company, Interswitch, is providing technology developers in Nigeria with the appropriate tools to create new digital products and solutions with ease.
At the Interswitch Developers’ Summit which held in Abuja on Tuesday, December 14, 2021, developers from all over the city gathered to learn more about the remarkable possibilities that Interswitch Application Programmable Interfaces (APIs) offer.
Addressing the group of developers at the summit, the Products and Developers Relations Executive at Interswitch, Tochukwu Achebe, said the API plugin enables businesses to generate their Unstructured Supplementary Service Data(USSD), Quick Response (QR) code and wallet.
He said the API enables developers across Africa to innovate and automate their businesses seamlessly, irrespective of the kind of services they offer, while hinting that the API marketplace will be unveiled in the first quarter of 2022.
Achebe said, “With our developer community, we are building an ecosystem where we can receive feedback, go to markets quickly with our solutions and create an opportunity for everyone to integrate and build their solutions seamlessly around the APIs.
We have also created a sandbox to allow developers to test API end points and confirm their effectiveness.”
Also speaking, the Group Head, Business, Merchant Acquiring at Interswitch, Jeffrey Williams-Edem, said the organisation has created a platform and an ecosystem that allows developers to build Point of Sale (POS) applications.
He listed some of the recent improvements made on the Quickteller payment platform and the POS terminals.
According to Williams-Edem, users of the Quickteller Business app are able to view real-time data on settlement and refunds and also initiate dispute settlement.
He added that the storefront; payment link; electronic invoicing; transaction status; customer data and insights coupled with payment on the web and POS are some of the functions that have been integrated into the platform.
“We remain resolute in our effort to be an African payment gateway that enables prosperity in Africa, by empowering businesses and individuals to execute seamless trade using tokens and wallets to make payments on Interswitch Point of Sales (POS) terminals or gateways” Williams-Edem said.
He added, “Interswitch is building an ecosystem where there will be about 5,000 different micro-applications on POS terminals for merchants.”
He explained that merchants have been provided with an option to automate taxes and other deductions based on their existing business partnership deals.
In order to enable ease of purchase for customers, he said the organisation has developed a value financing initiative in partnership with lenders, adding that the initiative will be unveiled soon.
“Today, fraud management is essential and Interswitch provides an enterprise solution that allows you to protect your funds using the two-factor authentication and one-time password,” Williams-Edem added.
As a payment gateway, Edem explained that all necessary certifications to enable businesses run efficiently have been obtained and multiple payment options have been unlocked, making it easier for businesses to accept payments.
Interswitch, through a host of APIs is empowering developers with resources that improve people’s lives, fostering collaboration through its developers’ community and building Africa’s digital ecosystem.
