Banking

Banks Begin Disbursement of N26.4b to SMEs

Published

8 years ago

08/01/2018

The Deposit Money Banks have begun the disbursement of the more than N26 billion enterprise development intervention fund under the Agriculture and Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS) by the Bankers’ Committee.

The bankers at their yearly retreat in Lagos, last December, agreed to put the funds in the hands of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises’ across sectors starting January 1, 2018, regretting that such a huge amount pooled together since last year had remained idle.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, assured: “We are going to be disbursing small loans like N100,000; N200,000; and N500,000 at not more than five per cent.”

The disbursements, is targeted at small businesses owned by “weak and vulnerable” entrepreneurs who cannot kick off their bankable projects due to funding, include barbers, hairdressers and small agribusiness schemes.

The bankers also expanded the scheme to incorporate those who want to learn tiling, mason and house interior decorations, among others, offering to train and equip, as well as take them through the daily management of such enterprises.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, said the move to support artisans and increase their number, is targeted at creating about 100,000 jobs in the first quarter of this year.

The tenor of the facility is long enough for small businesses, with a minimum of seven years and moratorium, so that those who accessed the fund can do so at low pricing and at a tenor that would give them ample time to repay.

“We are going to get people who will train them in those various skills taking into consideration the various geo-political zones. After training them, like we do in Anchor Borrowers Programme, where we buy seedlings, fertilisers, herbicides for them, we will buy equipment and deliver to them.

“When we cost their project, we will also deliver to them some kind of working capital, in case they need to rent a store and those kind of things to make them operational,” he said.

On the part of the CBN, its entrepreneurial development centres across the six geo-political zones of the country may now serve as a training place for people that would benefit from the scheme.

To get banks committed fully to the initiative, the committee agreed that as it takes off this January, while it must be a non-profit maximisation goal, there must be professional and transparent management process, to give everybody comfort.

Meanwhile, other incentives that would serve as a morale booster for banks’ participation may soon be unveiled, to keep the agreements binding as the funding takes off.

These include risk sharing modal, involving the borrowers, the apex bank’s use of differential Cash Reserve Requirement and possible participation of Development Finance Institutions.

“Currently on the agriculture side, CBN has an institution known as the Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing for Agricultural Lending. That is working, but the committee feels that CBN can create a Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing for SME Lending still under the same NIRSAL.

“We give ourselves the target that once we resume in January, it is going to be all work to make sure that those who require credit and the help of the banking system to create jobs that would grow the economy, will get them seamlessly.

Banking

Secure IT, StockMed, 18 Others Make Wema Bank Hackaholics 6.0 Top 20 List

Published

3 days ago

18/12/2025

Modupe Gbadeyanka

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The six edition of the Hackaholics of Wema Bank Plc has produced 20 top finalists shared equally between two streams, Ideathon and Hackathon.

The Hackathon finalists are Rapid DEV, Secure IT, Neurafeed, Trust Lock Babcock, Pulse Track, IlluminiTrust, Trust Lock FUTA, Fix Fraud AI, KASH Flow and VOC AI.

The Ideathon finalists include PLOY, Fertitude, VarsityScape, Mama ALERT, StockMed, Chao, All Arbitrate, FarmSlate, Sane AI and Cycle X.

They emerged after a two-day pre-pitch held on December 16 and 17, 2025, for the grand finale slated for Friday, December 19, 2025.

They grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0 will convene the top players in Africa’s tech and innovation ecosystem, creating an avenue for these finalists to not only put their creativity to the ultimate test but also give their solutions visibility to potential investors for additional funding opportunities beyond the prizes to be won.

The prizes to be won for the Ideathon include N25 million for the winner, N20 million for the first runner-up, N15 million for the second runner-up and N5 million each for two women-led teams.

In the Hackathon category, the first to fourth-place winners will receive N20 million, N15 million, N10 million and N5 million, respectively.

The pre-pitch saw the top 43 contenders battle in a game of innovation and problem solving, presenting compelling pitches for a chance to make it to top 10 in their respective streams.

After a rigorous stretch of pitches and presentations, the top 20 emerged, securing their spot in the grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0.

“Hackaholics started off as a hackathon and morphed into an ideation. For Hackaholics 6.0, the sixth edition, we decided to give both the builders of new solutions and the refiners of existing ones, an opportunity to make meaningful impact.

“For us at Wema Bank, we understand that innovation isn’t just building from scratch. Sometimes, it’s looking at what exists and developing new ways to optimise that and create more efficiency. This is the idea behind our two-stream Ideathon-Hackathon structure.

“Every year, Hackaholics shows us just how eager and motivated Nigerian youth are when it comes to exploring creativity and innovation, and we are honoured to be the institution that provides them with the platform and resources to put this drive to good use.

“We toured seven cities, indulged 1,460 participants and discovered hundreds of remarkable ideas; some of which needed some refining and some of which deserved to move to the next stage.

“For those who needed to go back to the drawing board, we provided useful guidance and for the top contenders, we were able to shortlist to the top 43, who proceeded to the pre-pitch. To every participant, Wema Bank is proud of you. This is just the beginning,” the chief executive of Wema Bank, Mr Moruf Oseni, said.

Banking

Customs to Penalise Banks for Delayed Revenue Remittance

Published

3 days ago

18/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it will enforce penalties against designated banks that delay the remittance of customs revenue, in a move aimed at strengthening transparency and safeguarding government earnings.

This was disclosed in a statement on the NCS official account on X, formerly known as Twitter and signed by its spokesman, Mr Abdullahi Maiwada, who said the delays undermine the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.

“The Nigeria Customs Service has noted instances of delayed remittance of customs revenue by some designated banks following reconciliation of collections processed through the B’odogwu platform,” the statement read.

“Such delays constitute a breach of remittance obligations and negatively impact the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.

“In line with the provisions of the Service Level Agreement executed between the Nigeria Customs Service and designated banks, the Service hereby notifies stakeholders of the commencement of enforcement actions against banks found to be in default of agreed remittance timelines.”

Mr Maiwada disclosed that any bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed timeline will be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the period of the delay.

He added that affected banks would be formally notified of the delayed amounts, the applicable penalty, and the deadline for settlement.

“Accordingly, any designated bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed period shall be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the duration of the delay.

“Affected banks will receive formal notifications indicating the delayed amount, applicable penalty, and the timeline for settlement,” the statement read.

Banking

First Bank Deputy MD Sells Off 11.8m First Holdco Shares Worth N366.9m

Published

3 days ago

18/12/2025

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The deputy managing director of First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Limited, Mr Ini Ebong, has offloaded some shares of FBN Holdings Plc, the parent firm of the banking institution.

A regulatory notice from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited confirmed the development on Thursday.

It was disclosed that the transaction occurred on Friday, December 12, 2025, on the floor of the stock exchange.

The sale involved about 11.8 million shares, precisely 11,783,333 units traded at N31.14 per share, amounting to about N366.9 million.

Mr Ebong, who studied Architecture from University of Ife and obtained Bachelor and Master of Science degrees, became the DMD of First Bank in June 2024. Prior to this appointment, he was Executive Director, Treasury and International Banking since January 2022.

He was previously the Group Executive, Treasury and International Banking, a position he held since 2016 after serving as the bank’s Treasurer from 2011 to 2016.

Before joining First Bank, he was the Head of African Fixed Income and Local Markets Trading, Renaissance Securities Nigeria Limited, the Nigerian registered subsidiary of Renaissance Capital. He also worked with Citigroup for 14 years as Country Treasurer and Sales and Trading Business Head.

He has a passion for market development and has worked actively to drive change and internationalisation of the Nigerian financial markets: foreign exchange, fixed income and securities.

He has worked closely with regulatory bodies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Debt Management Office (DMO) in assisting with the development of fresh monetary and foreign exchange policies, to broaden and deepen markets and open them up to international practices.

At various times he has facilitated and delivered courses and seminars on a wide variety of subjects covering Money Markets, Securities and Foreign exchange trading and market risk management subjects to regulators, corporate customers, banks and market participants.