Sydney Imuetinyan Aigbogun, CEO of CashBox, flanked by two CashBox representatives at an event in Lagos. He says the platform is looking to grow into an asset management firm.
The founder and CEO of CashBox, Sydney Imuetinyan Aigbogun, says part of the plans of the savings platform is to grow into an asset management company with a possible investment portfolio in agriculture, real estate, and construction, among others. This is in addition to its intent to introduce foreign exchange (FX) savings and other better investment options for users.
Two years after it came into existence, CashBox is already diversifying from a mere savings platform and delving into investments in other financial instruments, including treasury bills, alternative assets, and other portfolios.
According to Aigbogun, CashBox, from its inception, has set its sights on the big stage, nationally and internationally, with no glass ceiling wide enough to cage it for long.
On the platform’s expansion, Aigbogun indicated that CashBox presently has users in major cities across Nigeria, with a majority of these users based in the country’s commercial capital Lagos. But he told The Guardian that there are targeted plans to roll out in more cities in Nigeria and across Africa to “open up the opportunity of facilitating seamless cross-country transfers.”
For most companies desirous of expanding operations, fundraising by way of share offering has often been the path to toe. But this has not been the case for CashBox with Aigbogun saying the need to fully understand the market informed his decision to keep the operations relatively quiet until now.
“I am not an advocate of raising funds for the sake of raising funds when you do not need it. We believe we should wait until we are already to use whatever we get to the fullest. And, I think that we are now ready for that,” he said.
“At the inception, we had some negative reviews because we were fine-tuning the process at that time. Today, that has been replaced by positive reviews and testimonies because our focus has been helping our customers achieve their life goals.”
In what could pass as justification for not raising funds through a public offering of shares in the past two years, Aigbogun said that there was initial scepticism on the part of the public; a development that strengthened his resolve to woo the public with incredible service delivery.
“People were initially scared of CashBox, especially during our first six months of operation, but right now that’s no longer a worry for us.
“Our presence online is very visible and they see so many reviews from users saving with us. Seeing these reviews gives new customers confidence in us,” added the CashBox boss.
Speaking further, Aigbogun urged Nigerian youths to imbibe the culture of savings as that is one way they can be the best of themselves.
“What is important is the fact that with little as ₦100 daily, a user can begin a plan and watch it grow to a reasonable amount at the end of a few months or even a year. Money spent on buying bottles of alcoholic beverages, cigarettes and other vanities can be saved for one’s good,” he said.