Banking
Ecobank Assures Young Entrepreneurs Access to Funds, Markets
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Young entrepreneurs have been assured of access to funds and markets across Africa so as to take their businesses higher.
This assurance was given by the Managing Director/Regional Executive of Ecobank Nigeria, Mr Patrick Akinwuntan, when he had a Brunch With Entrepreneurs in Lagos.
The entrepreneurs were those who pitched their business ideas on the TV reality show, Lions’ Den Season one program, sponsored by Ecobank.
“This interaction is a continuation of our journey of building Pan African multinationals by hosting these young entrepreneurs that have debuted on Lions’ Den program, the reality show being produced by our partner, Ultima productions.
“Lions’ Den is a program that exposes promising entrepreneurs to potential investors who are called Lions. The Lions are businessmen and women who have pedigree, who know what it takes to make a success of a business.
“They are bringing their wealth of experience and capital to the stage to assist people with brilliant and creative ideas. I mean young Nigerians, females, and males, willing to take up the challenge of future Pan African entrepreneurs,” Mr Akinwuntan stated.
He disclosed that the bank is offering its platform, Pan African network, digital offerings, and all necessary support to make the young entrepreneurs achieve their dream.
“Ecobank Nigeria is an affiliate of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI). We are present in 35 countries in Africa and global presence in Dubai, London, Paris, and Beijing. We provide unique opportunities and platforms to access finance, access to markets across Africa, skills, and resources.
“This is for all the young entrepreneurs that presented business ideas at the reality show, whether the Lion’s invested in their business or not. The fact that they have reached the level to pitch for equity or venture capital, they are qualified as entrepreneurs in the making.
“We will support them with our various digital payments and collections such as Omnilite; SME academy, appropriate financial package, and mentorship to enable them to achieve their dreams and become world leaders,” he added.
Advising the young entrepreneurs on how to pitch and get investors, one of the Lions, Mr Dan Ngerem, Chairman of Hensen Group, urged them to maintain the originality of their business idea and remain focused in their presentation.
“The keyword here is to be original. Ensure you think through your project from conception, stick with the originality. Do not cannibalize your idea. Don’t oversell yourself or the project to impress, remain focused, sharpen your presentation skill, do not be scared while presenting and take notes,” he said.
He thanked Ecobank for offering its platform for budding entrepreneurs to explore and achieve their dream.
Chief Executive Officer, Ultima Studio, Femi Ayeni, applauded Ecobank’ decision to also assist the young entrepreneurs whose business idea could not get investors in the reality program, explaining that the partnership with Ecobank on the project is borne out of a passion to assist young entrepreneurs to achieve their dream.
Cross-sections of the young entrepreneurs were full of praises for Ecobank and partners for giving them the platform to realize their dream.
According to Idorenyin Akpabio, founder/Creative Director, Aideeology, a company that conceptualize and create interactive and intellectually stimulating tabletop games for the education and recreation of kids, teens and even adults, the meeting with Ecobank management was insightful, stressing that the engagement has added a lot more value to him and to his digital rolodex.
“We had an audience with the Ecobank MD and his amazing team. We had insightful discussions on Entrepreneurship Development, Start-up Funding, FinTech, the Pan-African Market etc.
“He took time to explain Ecobank’s vision and plans for Entrepreneurs, and candidly answered all questions we posed to him. It was worthwhile chatting and networking with these financial heavyweights. This has added a lot more value to me and to my digital rolodex. Behold, a pregnant future beckon,” he stated.
Obukovwo Etudoh, Chief Executive Officer, ClassiClicks Limited, a firm that manages primary and secondary schools in using Games like Chess, Scrabble, Monopoly, Coding, said her appearance on the reality show is a dream come through. She said though her business was not selected, she is optimistic that she could still achieve her goals through Ecobank.
Lion’s Den is a reality show produced by Ultima Studios and sponsored by Ecobank. It provides budding entrepreneurs investment opportunities through successful pitches.
The reality show airs every Sunday at 7 pm on AfricaMagic Family, Channels 154 on DSTV and GOTV Channel 2; with repeat broadcasts on Wednesdays at 3 pm and on Fridays at 5 pm on Africa Magic Urban, DSTV Channel 153.
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.
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.
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.
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