Access Bank Makes Move to Unfreeze Accounts of #EndSARS Protesters

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A partnership for the deployment of a patronage reward product has been entered into between Unity Bank Plc and Cashtoken, a cash reward-as-a-service company that operates a loyalty programme designed to power customer engagement and improve customer satisfaction. This collaboration will see the bank’s customers winning millions of Naira in cash rewards and guaranteed instant cashback. A statement issued by Unity Bank said this scheme provides an opportunity to migrate old and new customers to a platform that will continually create exciting rewards and appreciation for loyalty. It said this initiative would not only reward existing customers

By Adedapo Adesanya The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed banks across the country to continue issuing and accepting old as well as the redesigned Naira banknotes following the order of the Supreme Court. Business Post reported on Wednesday morning that the apex court granted the prayer of the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation to extend the use of old Naira banknotes ad infinitum, scrapping a previous deadline of December 31. In a statement after the judgement, the central bank “directed all its branches to continue to issue and accept all denominations of Nigerian banknotes, old

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of Coronation Merchant Bank (CMB) has been downgraded by Fitch Ratings to ‘CC’ from ‘B-‘, with its Viability Rating (VR) also lowered to ‘cc’ from ‘b-‘. In a note released on Monday, the rating agency said it also demoted the bank’s National Long-Term Rating to ‘B+(nga)’ from ‘BBB-(nga)’, raising some red flags that prompted its latest decision. According to Fitch, CMB was moved down in the pecking order due to a “significantly weakened capital position”, which if not quickly addressed, “could lead to a material capital shortfall.” Already, the financial institution

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A cutting-edge German-Nigerian financial technology (fintech) firm, BFREE, plans to put down $40 million to acquire some distressed loan portfolios in Union Bank of Nigeria. A statement from the Nigerian lender said both parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Berlin on November 21, 2023, at the German-Nigerian Business Forum. It was disclosed that BFREE would partner with its international financing partners to refinance bad loans from Union Bank, particularly those delayed in repayment or already written off. Union Bank expressed its optimism that this strategic partnership with BFREE would not only bolster the bank’s financial

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The largest pension fund administrator (PFA) in Nigeria, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited, has refuted reports making the round that it gave out gift items to its clients last December in defiance of the directive of the National Pension Commission (PenCom). In order to stop unhealthy competition in the pension industry in the country, PenCom directed operators to stop luring customers with incentives. It was reported that Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, which controls over 1.9 million retirement savings accounts (RSAs) and over N4.5 trillion in assets under management, gave out loyalty gift vouchers last month. But the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The management of Flour Mills Nigeria (FMN) Plc has announced raising its stake in Rom Oil Mills Ltd from 90 percent to 95 percent. This information was made known on Monday in a statement signed by the Group Managing Director of FMN Plc, Mr Paul Miyonmide Gbadebo. Rom Mills Ltd, located in Ibadan, Oyo State, is a subsidiary of Flour Mills Nigeria. Mr Gbadebo explained that the decision to increase the shareholdings in Rom Oil Mills was informed by Flour Mills’ strategy of continually investing in the development of quality foods and agro-allied products for its consumers.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka All civil servants from grade levels 1-12 in the Bayelsa State Civil Service have been directed to resume work from Tuesday, September 1, 2020. This directive was given by the state Governor, Mr Douye Diri, on Monday during a meeting with the state’s COVID-19 Taskforce in Government House, Yenagoa. He ordered the Head of Service, Mrs Biobelemoye Charles-Onyeama, to ensure that workers abide by all COVID-19 safety guidelines when they resume. “We insist on the use of face masks, especially in urban areas. We are appealing to the sensibilities of people to comply with the COVID-19 protocols

The Ghana Health Service (GHS), in collaboration with Sambus Geospatial Limited (SGL) has developed a location-intelligence platform to report and share authoritative information about the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana. This collaboration as part of our Corporate Social responsibility is to support the GHS in managing coronavirus outbreak as they provide data on all the cases recorded in Ghana. Sambus Geospatial Limited is the official distributor for Environmental Systems Research Institute’s (ESRI) Geographic Information System (GIS) Software – ArcGIS in Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Gambia and Gabon with over thirty (30) years’ experience in the Geospatial Industry. This initiative allows for the

By Ahmed Rahma The federal government is considering coming up with policies that could make players in the private sector to invest in agricultural extension service delivery in Nigeria. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Muhammad Sabo Nanono, gave this hint recently at an event held in Abuja. Speaking during the Sensitization Workshop on Revitalization of Agricultural Extension with the theme Catalysing Effective Agricultural Extension Service Delivery at the Grassroots, the Minister tasked participants to come up with ways to achieve this goal. According to him, these policies will help the country get out of recession quickly because

By Dipo Olowookere The sum of N647.39 billion has been shared to the federal, states and local governments from the federation account. The amount was the money generated as revenue in the month of February. This information was made known at the end of the Federation Accounts and Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting on Wednesday. The meeting was declared inconclusive yesterday after issues with the money from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). It was gathered that the revenue figures presented by the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) was adopted at the meeting today and shared among the three tiers

By Dipo Olowookere Founder of BUA Group, Mr Abdul Samad Rabiu, has disclosed that he plans to list his company on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Mr Rabiu made this known while speaking with Channels Television on the sidelines of the just-concluded Africa CEO Forum held in Ivory Coast. In the interview, which was monitored in Lagos by Business Post, the Kano-born businessman said he would list the cement segment of BUA Group on the stock exchange as soon as the necessary parameters are met. According to him, “We are definitely going to list the cement business

By Ahmed Rahma Close to 100,000 business owners in the Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) sector of the economy in Nigeria have received loans worth N150 billion from the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN). The loan was disbursed to the beneficiaries since the lender commenced operations in 2017, the federal government disclosed, adding that the funds were shared through 27 participating financial institutions. The central government, in a post on Twitter, a social media platform, stated further that about 52 per cent of loans by the bank in 2019 were allocated to businesses owned by youth and women.