COVID-19: Ecobank Nigeria Donates Food Items to States

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 Modupe Gbadeyanka A business grant of N10 million has been given to 30 members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), who partook in the entrepreneurship development initiative of Unity Bank Plc known as the Corpreneurship Challenge. The young entrepreneurs received funding support for developing innovative solutions in several business value chains like honey production, rice, and snail farming, among others. The beneficiaries pitched their business ideas to judges selected for the competition across 10 state NYSC Orientation Camps; Katsina, Kano, Kwara, Imo, Rivers, Delta, Sokoto, Edo, Akwa-Ibom, and Osun States. At the NYSC Orientation camp at Ikot Itie

By Bliss Okperan A digital investment platform known as AltInvest has been introduced by a new kid in the banking industry in Nigeria, Alternative Bank. According to the non-interest lender, which commenced operations in October 2023, the new product empowers individuals to navigate seamlessly the investment world, blending ethical and digital features for increased accessibility. At the unveiling of the innovative financial solution at the 44th Kano International Trade Fair, the company also launched another produced AltBiz, which it said caters to the financial needs of businesses, offering a comprehensive suite of services to fuel growth, innovation, and sustainability. “These

By Adedapo Adesanya The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to strengthen its banking supervision to prevent some crucial Nigerian banks from failing due to its planned recapitalisation. Last Friday, the Governor of CBN, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, said the CBN would be directing banks to increase their capital base to serve a $1 trillion economy to be achieved by 2030. In a statement signed by Mrs Chinyere Almona, the director general of LCCI, the chamber said, “On recapitalisation of banks, we commend the plan of the apex bank to review the

By Paul Nyakazeya United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) DP World Limited and its subsidiaries have taken legal action against China for building an international free zone on a terminal being disputed with Djibouti. The lawsuit was filed in the High Court of Hong Kong for unlawfully procuring and inducing the Republic of Djibouti to breach various agreements between the African country and DP World. In the lawsuit, DP World sought damages, interest, and a declaration that China Merchants unlawfully procured and/or induced Djibouti’s breaches of its agreements with DP World. When the contract between DP World Limited and the Republic of

By Adedapo Adesanya The Vice President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) for Agriculture, Human and Social Development, Ms Jennifer Blanke, has announced her resignation from the institution. The Abidjan based bank in a statement on Wednesday, June 10 said Ms Blanke will step down from her post next month. The statement quoted Ms Blanke, who joined the bank in 2017, as saying she was leaving “purely for family reasons to rejoin my family in Switzerland”. This came amid media speculations she planned to resign in response to controversy surrounding the bank’s president, Mr Akinwumi Adesina. Mr Adesina was accused

By Dipo Olowookere The board of directors Cadbury Nigeria Plc has announced commencing a closed period, which bars the firm’s top executives from trading in the shares of the company. According to a statement signed by the Company Secretary, Fola Akande, the closed period begins February 19, 2018 and ends March 15, 2018. “This message is to remind all, particularly Cadbury shareholders and other relevant insiders, that Cadbury Nigeria Plc has commenced a closed trading period from February 19, 2018, to end on March 15, 2018, a full trading day after the 2017 audited financial statements have been released to

By Dipo Olowookere Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Founder of the award-winning social payments app Moneymailme, Mr Mihai Ivascu, has announced at the Paris Fintech Forum his company’s secret breakthrough: the world’s first multi-platform blockchain app store for smart contracts called Modex. The Modex Smart Contract Marketplace is scheduled for a product launch on March 15 timed right before the company’s much-awaited ICO. Its token pre-sale opened to the public at the end of January and nearly half of the tokens have been reserved in the first three days. Modex is bridging the gap between businesses and developers in order

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil prices dropped 2 per cent on Tuesday after two sessions of gains as deepening concerns of an economic slowdown and a stronger Dollar outweighed hopes of higher Chinese demand. Brent crude fell by $1.96 or 2.4 per cent to settle at $80.77 a barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped $1.69 or 2.2 per cent to settle at $77.07 a barrel. Consumer confidence in the world’s largest oil producer, the US, dropped to a nine-month low in April, feeding worries about a recession. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index fell to

By Dipo Olowookere The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through the US government’s Feed the Future Initiative, has launched the National Seed Trade Association of Ghana (NASTAG), in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and other development partners. This took place on August 24, 2017 in Accra and was attended by the USAID/Ghana Agriculture Team Leader Jenna Tajchman and Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Dr Sagre Bambangi, who highlighted the importance of growing Ghana’s seed industry to build a food secure future. NASTAG is a partnership between producers, traders, government institutions and processors in the seed industry.

By Cordros Research Unilever Nigeria Plc released its result yesterday and it showed revenue and net profit grew by 36.6% y/y and 142.7% y/y respectively. Compared to our estimate, the reported revenue was ahead by 2% while PAT lagged by 37% on significantly higher-than-expected (278% variance) finance charges. Finance costs increased by 48% y/y and 25% q/q, on the repayment of short term USD intercompany loans. As at end September, gross debt stood at N7.96 billion, the lowest since Q1-14, suggesting – and validated by the N30.7 billion outflow reported under financing cash flow – that management has commenced the

By Dipo Olowookere In line with expectations, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Wednesday, April 15, 2020, lowered the stop rates of treasury bills. The apex bank sold some treasury bills to local investors yesterday and it was projected that the debt instruments would be offered at lower rates. This prediction was based on the rising demand for the investment tool and the present global health crisis has forced some investors to tie their funds to any venture that can fetch them something, no matter how small it is. This reflected in the level of subscription yesterday as a