By Modupe Gbadeyanka

A business storytelling podcast designed to inspire, educate and empower entrepreneurs, founders, business leaders and the next generation of African innovators has been launched by Ecobank Nigeria.

Known as Scaling Up!!!, this platform will be used to propagate authentic conversations with some of the continent’s most accomplished business personalities, reinforcing the lender’s commitment to supporting businesses beyond banking by creating a platform where entrepreneurs can learn from the experiences of successful founders, creatives and industry leaders who have built thriving enterprises across diverse sectors.

The podcast will be available on Ecobank Nigeria’s official YouTube channel and other major digital streaming platforms. It will feature compelling conversations on entrepreneurship, leadership, innovation, resilience and business growth.

Scaling Up!!! offers practical lessons and real-life insights that aspiring and established entrepreneurs can apply in building sustainable businesses.

The inaugural season features an impressive lineup of distinguished guests, including beauty entrepreneur and chief executive of Beauty by AD, Adeola Adeyemi (Diiadem); renowned filmmaker and founder of Golden Effects Pictures, Kunle Afolayan; veteran music producer and founder of Coded Tunes, ID Cabasa; luxury fashion entrepreneur, Ejiro Amos Tafiri; celebrated commercial photographer, Emmanuel Oyeleke; co-founder and Lead Interior Designer of Siriano Limited, Adewunmi Adegbola; and founder of Windsor Gallery and Nahous Creative Hub, Richard Vedelago.

Each episode explores the guests’ entrepreneurial journeys, highlighting the opportunities they embraced, the challenges they overcame and the strategies that enabled them to build enduring brands and successful businesses.

“Scaling Up!!! reflects Ecobank’s belief that empowering entrepreneurs goes beyond providing financial solutions. Through authentic storytelling and insightful conversations, we are creating a platform where business owners can learn directly from people who have successfully navigated the realities of building sustainable enterprises.

“It is another way we are reinforcing our commitment to driving entrepreneurship, innovation and economic growth across Africa,” Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Ecobank Nigeria, Mr Austen Osokpor, stated.

Also speaking, the Head of SMEs, Partnerships and Collaborations at Ecobank Nigeria, Omoboye Odu, said, “Entrepreneurs learn best from the experiences of those who have walked the journey before them. Scaling Up!!! provides practical insights, inspiration and valuable lessons that will help founders make better business decisions, overcome challenges and unlock new opportunities for growth. The podcast further strengthens Ecobank’s role as a trusted partner supporting SMEs at every stage of their entrepreneurial journey.”

Sharing the creative vision behind the initiative, the Producer of Scaling Up !!!, Jemimah Ugiagbe said, “Our goal was to create more than just another business podcast. We wanted honest, engaging and relatable conversations that reveal the realities behind success, the setbacks, the resilience, the bold decisions, and the lessons that every entrepreneur can learn from. Every episode is designed to leave listeners informed, inspired and motivated to build businesses that create lasting impact.”

The podcast further strengthens Ecobank Nigeria’s position as a trusted partner for entrepreneurs by providing a knowledge-sharing platform that extends beyond traditional banking services. Through meaningful conversations with accomplished founders and innovators, the Bank continues to demonstrate its commitment to fostering enterprise development, encouraging innovation and promoting sustainable economic growth across Africa.

Scaling Up!!! is targeted at SMEs, entrepreneurs, founders, startups, business executives, creatives, students and young professionals seeking practical business insights from some of Africa’s most respected industry leaders.

New episodes will be released regularly across Ecobank Nigeria’s YouTube channel and other major podcast streaming platforms, offering audiences thought-provoking conversations on entrepreneurship, leadership, innovation and business growth.

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

More than $700 million was disbursed in loans to Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in 2025 by Moniepoint, the financial technology (fintech) firm said in its inaugural Impact Report titled Creating Financial Happiness.

The report also revealed that for three out of four borrowers, a loan from Moniepoint was the first formal business credit their enterprise had ever accessed because of the strategies deployed by the organisation to make financing more accessible to small business owners.

“Ten years ago, we began this journey with a simple but audacious goal — to build financial infrastructure that worked for everyone. Today, that goal has crystallised into our mission of creating a world where every African, everywhere, can experience financial happiness.

“This report shows how that vision is taking shape, through the lives and businesses that are improving because they now have access to the right financial tools.

“For 75 per cent of the businesses we lent to this year, ours was the first formal business loan they had ever received. We also significantly expanded lending to women-owned businesses because we know that when African women thrive, entire communities are uplifted,” the chief executive of Moniepoint Incorporated, Mr Tosin Eniolorunda, stated.

The report showed that Moniepoint now serves over 20 million businesses and individuals, processing over $250 billion in transaction value annually.

It also highlights the impact of expanded access to credit, banking, and business management tools for MSMEs in Nigeria, which face a funding gap of approximately $32.2 billion.

In addition, businesses that received credit recorded a 36 per cent increase in average transaction value, while enterprises banking with Moniepoint employed more than 8 million people in 2025.

Beyond access to credit, Moniepoint’s payments infrastructure is extending financial access to underserved communities, as customers without smartphones or reliable internet can use the company’s USSD service, which turns a basic feature phone into a banking tool.

It was observed that people without smartphones carried out over $170 million in transactions by dialling a simple code.

Across the country, Moniepoint’s POS terminals operate in all 774 local government areas and enable payments for 100 million people in 2025. These gains are showing up in how people experience their financial lives.

In surveys of Moniepoint users, 83 per cent reported that their quality of life has improved, and 85 per cent reported increased confidence in achieving their financial goals.

Beyond its commercial operations, the report also highlights Moniepoint’s broader contribution to economic and social development through investments in talent, education, entrepreneurship and community development.

Guided by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the financial giant has expanded employment pathways through initiatives such as Women in Tech and DreamDevs engineering programmes, while supporting STEM education, financial literacy, women entrepreneurs and underserved children, collectively reaching tens of thousands of beneficiaries.

Through strategic delivery partnerships, Moniepoint has also supported large-scale government intervention programmes, enabling subsidised food distribution to more than 800,000 people in northern Nigeria.

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

It was a double honour for Zenith Bank Plc at the prestigious Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2026, clinching the biggest and most coveted national and continental awards in banking.

The lender was named Africa’s Best Bank and Nigeria’s Best Bank, the latter for the second consecutive year, at a ceremony held on Thursday, July 16, at The Peninsula London Hotel, London, England.

The Euromoney Awards for Excellence are among the most respected in the global financial industry, evaluating banks on criteria including strategy, profitability, risk management, digital transformation and impact on stakeholders. Victory at the awards is regarded as a mark of the highest distinction in global banking.

“We are deeply honoured by these recognitions from Euromoney. Being recognised as Africa’s Best Bank and Nigeria’s Best Bank reflects the trust of our customers, the dedication of our unicorn workforce, and our unwavering commitment to building a truly African global financial institution.

“These awards inspire us to do even more to deliver superior value, drive financial inclusion, and support the growth of businesses across Africa,” the chief executive of Zenith Bank, Ms Adaora Umeoji, said.

The dual recognition of Zenith Bank is a testament to its sustained excellence in financial performance, customer service, digital innovation, and its contribution to economic development across Nigeria and the wider African continent.

In this year’s edition, a record of over 770 entries were received from world-class financial institutions, including HSBC, Morgan Stanley, Citibank, Barclays, Standard Bank and DBS Bank of Singapore.

Zenith Bank has continued to deliver strong financial results while accelerating investments in technology, artificial intelligence, and digital banking solutions.

In the 2025 financial year, the bank grew gross earnings by six per cent year on year to N4.19 trillion and delivered profit after tax of N1.04 trillion, while reducing its non-performing loan ratio from 4.7 per cent to 3.8 per cent.

In keeping with its dividend policy, Zenith Bank rewarded its investors with a record-breaking total dividend of N10.00 per share (totalling N410.69 billion) for the 2025 financial year, representing a 100 per cent increase over N5.00 per share paid in 2024.