By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The N148.7 billion rights issue of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc has continued to attract the interest of shareholders of the company because of the track record of the financial services provider.

The rights issue commenced on January 15, 2025, and is expected to close of February 21, 2025. The exercise offers existing shareholders the opportunity to increase their stake in the company from the available 2,944,772,083 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N50.50 per share.

Business Post reports that the rights issue is structured on a ratio of five new ordinary shares for every 22 ordinary shares held as of October 29, 2024.

Stanbic IBTC created the rights issue to strengthen its capital base, enhance its funding capacity and position it for sustainable growth as it will enable the company’s banking subsidiary meet the new minimum capital requirement set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), thereby ensuring regulatory compliance and potentially strengthening its Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR).

“The pricing of our rights issue acknowledges the confidence of our shareholders have in the company’s vision and strategy.

“We are committed to delivering value to our shareholders and stakeholders, and this rights issue is a critical step in achieving our goals,” the acting chief executive of the firm, Mr Kunle Adedeji, said when Stanbic IBTC Holdings held its Facts Behind the Rights Issue at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited in Lagos last month,

“At Stanbic IBTC Holdings, we believe that strong shareholder support is the cornerstone of our growth.

“The rights issue reflects our stakeholders’ trust in our company and reinforces our commitment to delivering sustainable returns.

“Together, we will navigate the path to success and continue to achieve our strategic objectives,” he added.

On his part, the chief executive of Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mr Wole Adeniyi, said, “This is a significant milestone in our journey to becoming Nigeria’s leading financial services organisation and a critical step in our efforts to meet the evolving needs of our customers and stakeholders.

“We are committed to maintaining our leadership position in the industry, and this capital raise will enable us to invest in our business, drive innovation, and deliver sustainable returns to our shareholders.”

Speaking further, he expressed the gratitude of the company to its shareholders for demonstrating their “confidence in our ability to deliver long-term value.”

“This rights issue will enable us to build on our strengths, capitalise on new opportunities, and drive growth and profitability in the coming years.

“This is an exciting time for Stanbic IBTC Holdings and Stanbic IBTC Bank, and we are pleased to have commenced this important capital raise.

“We are well-positioned to drive growth, innovation, and customer satisfaction, and we look forward to continuing to deliver value to our stakeholders,” Mr Adeniyi said.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The proposed Africa Energy Bank, which aims to fund oil and gas projects across the continent, is set to start operations by June 2025.

According to Reuters, this information was disclosed by Afreximbank Senior Executive Vice President, Mr Denys Denya, on the sidelines of Africa’s annual Mining Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa.

The bank, a partnership between Afreximbank and the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO), is meant to help plug a funding gap in Africa amid pressure on major banks from environmental groups to shift investment dollars away from climate-warming oil and gas projects.

“We are in the capital raising phase. A number of countries have already put in the money, (so) we’re talking to a number of countries to bring in the capital so that we can start trading,” Mr Denya said on Tuesday.

He also disclosed that South Africa has indicated interest to join the new bank.

“Definitely, we’ll start trading this year. We’re hoping that we can start trading before the half-year stage,” he said.

The bank will be headquartered in Nigeria with an initial capitalization of up to $5 billion, offering tailored funding solutions to meet Africa’s energy needs.

Mr Denya said that in addition to Angola, Egypt, Nigeria and Ghana, there were countries – including South Africa – that were not members of APPO that had indicated interest to be part of the bank.

In July 2024, Nigeria was chosen to host the Africa Energy Bank.

Nigeria, which is Africa’s top oil producer beat three rival countries for rights to the multilateral lender after it ratified the bank’s charter and President Bola Tinubu approved a $100 million investment to the bank, greater than the required $83.33 million for APPO member states.

According to Nigeria’s Minister for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Mr Heineken Lokpobiri, this indicates Nigeria’s unwavering commitment to be at the forefront of energy on the continent.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The Nigerian banks at the risk of having their Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) services, designed for financial transactions, being disconnected by telecommunications operators have made partial payments.

This development was confirmed recently by the chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Mr Gbenga Adebayo.

Speaking at forum in Lagos, Mr Adebayo revealed that, “The matter has been de-escalated. Money has been paid, and we are making progress thanks to the regulators.”

Recall that on January 15, 2025, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) issued a public notice that customers of nine deposit money banks (DMBs) may not be able to use the USSD services to complete transactions through their banks because of debts worth N160 billion.

The telcos accused the banks of not remitting the USSD access fee (N6.98 telco fee) charged by financial institutions when customers use the service to purchase airtime or make fund transfers via their mobile devices.

The telecom sector’s regulator named the affected lenders as UBA, Sterling Bank, Polaris Bank, Zenith Bank, Jaiz Bank, FCMB, Fidelity Bank, Wema Bank, and Unity Bank.

The latest development means the USSD services of these financial institutions were not disconnected by the telco by January 27, 2025, as earlier threatened.

About N250 billion was initially owed the telecom operators, but this has been brought down to N160 billion, and according to the payment timeline earlier released by the NCC, the next instalment should be by July 2, 2025, and the final payment by December 31, 2025.