Diamond Bank Closes Apapa Branch After Mob Action

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Despite the harsh operating environment and the unexpected policies of the government that affected businesses in Nigeria, Unity Bank Plc showed resilience in the first six months of 2023. In its half-year unaudited financial statements filed to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited over the weekend, the bank marginally improved its gross earnings by 0.37 per cent to N27.5 billion from N27.4 billion in the first half of last year. It was observed that 10 per cent growth in the fees and income commission to N3.5 billion from N3.2 billion helped the lender jerk up its income in

By Dipo Olowookere The Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in charge of Financial System Stability, Mrs Aishah Ahmad, has been apprehended by the Department of State Services (DSS). The central banker was arrested by the country’s secret police to harvest vital information from her over the sale of a first-generation bank, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, to a relatively new lender, Titan Trust Bank Limited. The acquisition of the more than 100-year-old financial institution by the less than 5-year-old bank raised eyebrows because the buyer coughed out $300 million to complete the transaction. Titan Trust Bank

By Adedapo Adesanya Neo-bank, PayDay, may get a new owner as its founders, which include Mr Favour Ori, are considering a sale in the coming months, per sources who spoke exclusively with TechCabal. According to the report, the company is in the process of being sold, with some developments that followed the exit of its co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO), Mrs Yvonne Ogechi Obike. In March, the company raised $3 million to expand its footprint into the United Kingdom and Canada. This round was led by Moniepoint Inc. and saw contributions from HoaQ, DFS Lab’s Stellar Africa Fund, and

By Adedapo Adesanya Brent crude rose to the $41 levels on Tuesday, pushed by traders’ optimism despite concerns about a second wave in coronavirus cases. The international benchmark crude gained 38 cents or 0.93 percent to trade at $41.18 per barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 75 cents or 1.96 percent to settle at $38.94 per barrel. There have been worries about a resurgence of coronavirus cases in some parts of the US and some European countries which could offset recovering fuel demand. The market has made improvements from April’s collapse brought by lockdowns to control

By Dipo Olowookere Leading banking software company, Temenos, has won the ‘Best Islamic Banking & Finance Software Solution’ award in World Finance magazine’s annual Islamic Finance Awards. Temenos’ IslamicSuite was first nominated by World Finance magazine readers and users of their website before being strictly evaluated by a judging panel along with other competitors. Criteria in this judging included Shari’ah compliance, the solutions forward-looking approach, innovation, product and service delivery, growth, market presence and governance. During the evaluation process, Temenos was commended by the World Finance Awards Committee for the remarkable feedback received from subscribers regarding the solution’s flexibility in

By Adedapo Adesanya  President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the ongoing re-organisation at the presidency was aimed at enhancing service delivery to Nigerians. Mr Buhari said this via a statement issued by one of his spokespersons, Mr Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Saturday. The statement noted that the President, while fielding questions from State House Correspondents, shortly after his arrival at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja from London on Friday night, said, ”It is unfortunate that the recent disengagement of some political appointees from the presidency had been given ‘ethnic and political interpretations.” “They said

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Peer-2-Peer (P2P) but weakened at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) and the parallel market windows of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday, April 28. In the P2P wing of the market, currency traders exchanged the Naira to the Dollar at N749/$1 during the session versus N750/$1 a day earlier, indicating that the local currency appreciated by N1 in 24 hours. But it was a different story in the black market, where the domestic currency depreciated against its American colleague by N2 to sell at N739/$1 compared with

By Adedapo Adesanya FBNQuest, the investment banking and asset management subsidiary of FBN Holdings Plc, has continued to demonstrate itself as a forerunner in supporting the growth of technology startups in Africa through its recent participation in the 2nd investment vehicle of TLcom Capital (TIDE Africa Fund II – TAF 2). TLcom Capital LLP, an Africa-focused venture capital firm recently announced a first close of $70 million for its $150 million Africa focused tech fund (TIDE Africa Fund II -TAF2), this achievement firmly positions the firm as one of the largest independent Venture Capital (VC) fund managers fully dedicated to

By Quantitative Financial Analytics NIFEX Spot The FMDQ NIFEX Spot gained increased by 0.36% or N1.13 to end the day at N314.875 against the previous day’s close of N313.75. Open Interest and Volume Analysis Open interest in currency futures increased by 0.31% from 3,614.72 to 3,625.9 following additional notional purchases of $11.18 million involving just two currency futures, NGUS DEC 21 2016($3.68m) and NGUS NOV 29 2017 ($7.5m). Mark to Market Analysis and Attribution Mark to Market increased by N4.52 billion or 2.23% as the estimated Mark to Market (MTM) of open interest now stands at N207.47 billion, against previous

By Agusto & Co Prior to the emergence of core payday lenders in the country, commercial banks dominated the financial services sector, providing loan facilities and savings to corporate clients and to a significantly lesser extent, retail customers. Retail financial services offered were primarily tailored to the upper tiers of the country’s income categories, focusing on high net worth individuals and high earning employees of prominent organisations in the country. Although alternative lenders such as community banks and credit unions existed, these organisations were often left to operate in the periphery due to the dominance of commercial (and merchant) banks.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A group known as Flying Doctors Nigeria has offered to assist a sickle cell patient, who desperately needs help to save his life. Abiodun Bakare, a university student and a sickle cell anaemia patient, who initially needed N18 million for a surgery in India, got a hospital in Nigeria’s northern state of Sokoto, where medical experts agreed to perform the operation for a nominal fee. But his critical condition became a thing of huge concerns on how he would make the 18-hour overland journey safely. Fortunately, the Flying Doctors Nigeria stepped in and agreed to fly Bakare