Access Bank to Issue American Express Cards in Nigeria

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The forthcoming trade expo organised by Fidelity Bank Plc has received the endorsement of the Mayor of Houston Texas, Mr Sylvester Turner. Mr Turner, in a short video, highlighted the several side attractions scheduled for FITCC Houston and encouraged businesses to take advantage of the expo to expand their businesses beyond borders. He described the event as “A catalyst to support bilateral trade between Nigeria and Houston; and an opportunity for the Houston community and the diaspora to explore emerging trends, forge new partnerships and unlock new possibilities.” The Nigerian lender will, on Tuesday, October 24 and

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The board of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has raised the bar in the interim dividend payout for the first half of 2023, increasing it to 50 Kobo from 20 Kobo in the same period of 2023. This was after the bank recorded triple-digit growth in the bottom line, as the profit before tax (PBT) jumped by 371 per cent to N404 billion from the N85.75 billion recorded in the first half of 2022, translating to an annualised Return on Average Equity of 57.7 per cent as against 17.1 per cent a year earlier, as the

By Dipo Olowookere Schools have been urged to choose Ecobank Nigeria Limited as their preferred financial institution for fee payments and collections because of the exciting advantages the lender offers. The Head of Consumer Banking at Ecobank, Mrs Korede Demola-Adeniyi, made this appeal while rolling out the special loan packages designed by the bank for its back-to-school initiatives. Mrs Demola-Adeniyi said the financial institution created some packages for parents, guardians and schools in line with its overall strategy to support the development of the nation’s education sector. According to her, there is a Banking-for-School pack for educational institutions to access

By Aduragbemi Omiyale If Nigerian banks intend to have a competitive advantage in the global market, then they must quickly integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles into their business strategies. This was the submission of the chief executive of the NGX Regulation Limited (NGX RegCo), Ms Tinuade Awe, at the 16th Annual Banking and Finance Conference organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Nigeria (CIBN) in Abuja. Recall that Nigeria has made a commitment to adopt the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards. At a panel session titled ESG in the Financial Services Industry: Challenges, Opportunities, and the

By Investors Hub Asian stocks ended a choppy session on a mixed note on Tuesday after U.S. shares recovered from sharp losses to close higher overnight. A cautious undertone prevailed as U.S.-China trade tensions simmered, oil held its biggest loss in two weeks and U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May postponed a Parliamentary vote on a Brexit deal. Chinese shares closed higher ahead of industrial output and retail sales figures for November due on Friday. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 9.51 points or 0.4 percent to 2,594.09, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index inched up 19.29 points or 0.1 percent

**Announces Zero-Rates Visits to NCDC, FMoH Websites In pursuit of its Corporate Social Responsibility philosophy to be an enabler in the provision of healthcare to the less privileged and indeed all Nigerians, Airtel Nigeria, has announced the commencement of a national awareness campaign on Coronavirus to curb the spread of the deadly disease. The telco also announced its donation of 40 mobile phones complete with a Closed User Group (CUG) to the Port Health Services, an arm of the Federal Ministry of Health, to support its effort to track and verify passenger information at the country’s local and international airports.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Nestle has teamed up with Ghana Bamboo Bikes, a social enterprise in Bekwai in the Ashanti region of the country, to prevent and eliminate child labour from its supply chain. This it is doing by providing locally made bamboo bikes to help child labour officers in Ghana monitor their work on the fields. Ghana Bamboo Bikes aims to create employment opportunities and training for skilled and unskilled young people, especially women. As part of its commitment to this cause, Nestle is providing 30 bamboo bikes to be given to 30 new community liaison officers with an additional

By Dipo Olowookere For the 13th consecutive month, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation rate in Nigeria, dropped to 14.33 percent in February 2018 against 15.13 percent recorded in January 2018. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which released the inflation data on Wednesday, this was 0.8 percent points less than the rate January 2018 rate. The stats office disclosed that increases were recorded in all COICOP divisions that yield the Headline Index. On a month-on-month basis, the Headline index increased by 0.79 percent in February 2018, down by 0.01 percent points from the rate recorded

By Adedapo Adesanya President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to the Senate to confirm the nomination of Mr Ahmad Halilu as the substantive Director-General of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA). This was disclosed by the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja. In a letter to the Senate President, Mr Ahmad Lawan, the President said he was acting in line with Section 14 (1) (2) of the NASRDA Act 2010. Mr Halilu was until his nomination is the acting Director-General of the agency after being the Director

By Dipo Olowookere Ahead of 2019 general elections, Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ibrahim Magu, has warned Bureau de Change operators to stop aiding corrupt practices of politicians, as he vowed to prosecute operators and bankers who fail to comply with laws guiding the financial regulating system. Mr Magu made this known on November 14, 2018, at the Commission’s headquarters in Jabi, Abuja, during a meeting with the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON). “These politicians transfer these looted funds from government accounts to BDC’s account; in 10, 20 millions of

By Adedapo Adesanya Plans to commence operations by the first quarter of 2020 at the $14 billion worth Dangote Refinery located in Lagos State have been plagued with an air of uncertainty. The proposed plan to make the 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery operational by early next year may no longer be possible, if words from the man at the helms of affair at the company is anything to take to the bank. According to Mr Devakumar Edwin, the Group Executive Director of the refinery, there are challenges that may see the refinery commence its operations not earlier than

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria’s oil production rebounded by 120,000 barrels per day in December 2022 compared to November, according to a monthly Reuters survey published on Wednesday. The rebound raised the oil output of the broader Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) last month, though the oil cartel still pumped well below the collective target of the 10-member group bound by the OPEC+ pact. The larger OPEC+ group moved to cut its collective production target by 2 million barrels per day in November—about 1.27 million barrels per day set to come from OPEC members. The member states of OPEC,