COVID-19: Interswitch, staff raise N305m response fund

In a unique employee-led effort, Interswitch Group, one of Africa’s leading integrated payment and digital commerce players, has raised a total of N305 million towards the organization’s COVID-19 response effort.

The employees of the organisation contributed a total of N75m and the company augmented their efforts with the sum of N230 million, a statement from the company said on Friday.

This is part of a coordinated effort to complement ongoing public and private sector initiatives to address the spread and mitigate the negative impact of the novel Coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria, the company said.

Daily Trust reports that the fund from Interswitch Group and its employees is being deployed to support the setting up and equipping of isolation centres, purchase of COVID-19 Test kits, provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) and related support to frontline heath workers, as well as the operation of food banks to cater to under-privileged communities in Lagos.

Commenting on the essence of these interventions, Mitchell Elegbe, Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer at Interswitch, said: “These interventions sit well within the context of our corporate mission; to create transaction solutions that enable individuals and communities prosper across Africa. Our efforts are underpinned by the realization that this pandemic, if left unchecked is a potent threat to interactions which facilitate entrepreneurship and commerce, without which inclusive prosperity will remain a pipe dream. It is our desire and earnest hope that these initiatives aggregated with the goodwill and committed efforts of many other like-minded corporate entities and well-meaning individuals who have rallied to this noble cause would significantly contribute to the flattening of the COVID-19 infection curve in Nigeria, which remains one of Africa’s most important economic hubs”.