Fidelity Bank Announces Gross Earnings of N105.8bn in H1 2020

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 Aduragbemi Omiyale The forthcoming trade expo organised by Fidelity Bank Plc has received the endorsement of the Mayor of Houston Texas, Mr Sylvester Turner. Mr Turner, in a short video, highlighted the several side attractions scheduled for FITCC Houston and encouraged businesses to take advantage of the expo to expand their businesses beyond borders. He described the event as “A catalyst to support bilateral trade between Nigeria and Houston; and an opportunity for the Houston community and the diaspora to explore emerging trends, forge new partnerships and unlock new possibilities.” The Nigerian lender will, on Tuesday, October 24 and

By Dipo Olowookere The acquisition of the United Kingdom subsidiary of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Union Bank UK, by Fidelity Bank Plc, has been completed. Fidelity Bank is a tier-2 financial institution in Nigeria, intending to move to the tier-1 category. Over a year ago, the lender announced that it was planning to take total control of Union Bank UK as part of its growth strategy. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), a body which regulates the country’s banking industry, authorised Fidelity Bank to go ahead with the deal. In a disclosure on Wednesday, the bank said it has

By Dipo Olowookere The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Citibank Nigeria, Mr Yemi Cardoso, has been nominated to serve as the new Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The renowned stockbroker and investment banker was picked for the position by President Bola Tinubu, according to a statement issued on Friday by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Ajuri Ngelale. He would be screened by the Senate, and on confirmation; he will take over from the acting CBN Governor, Mr Folashodun Shonubi, for a term of five years at the first instance.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Controller General of Nigerian Prison Service (NPS) Mr Ja’afaru Ahmed has directed State Command Officers of the Service to establish and sustain a mutual relationship with the media if they must succeed in their assignments. CGP Ahmed gave the directive at the end of a two-day seminar jointly organised by the NPS and the Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC) for Command Officers in Abuja. He said that henceforth the Command Controllers and their respective public relations officers would be responsible for information dissemination and crisis management in their catchment areas. “With the training programmes organised for Controllers

By Adedapo Adesanya The Lagos State Government has unveiled the Citi Monitor App in a quest for a cleaner Lagos city initiative through citizens adherence and participation. This online application will be used to monitor and report all environmental infractions. The app named CitiMonitor Application and Enterprise Environmental Monitoring Infrastructure Information system (EEMIIS) was launched by the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Mr Tunji Bello. Mr Bello stated that it would give the government a wider reach in monitoring and responding to environmental issues reported by residents. “This app will maximise the reach of the government using the

By Adedapo Adesanya The World Bank alongside the European Union, China, the United Kingdom and the United States have pledged immediate humanitarian relief worth over €252 million ($297.08 million) to Lebanon. Last Tuesday, the capital city of Beirut was rocked by two huge explosions that have claimed more than 200 and injured 6,000 others. The aid pledged followed a United Nations-backed virtual conference hosted by French President, Mr Emmanuel Macron. The donors thereafter issued a joint statement, pledging solidarity with and support for the Lebanese people. “The participants agreed that their assistance should be timely, sufficient and consistent with the

By Adedapo Adesanya Premier Paints Plc has released its unaudited financial statements for the half year (H1) 2019 and from what was included in the results, the company closed its half year ended June 30, 2019 with a lower turnover compared with what was recorded by the paint manufacturing company in H1 2018. Total revenue as at the end of June 30th  was N74.7 million in contrast to N97.9 million actualized in H1 2018 as the company had lesser cost of sales, totaling N58 million from N70 million in the comparative period last year. The company however recorded a loss

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has reported a net income of $87.3 million in the first quarter of the year, a statement issued on Thursday from its headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, disclosed. In its unaudited financial statements for the period ended on March 31, the bank said the increase was achieved largely due to a 23 per cent growth in net interest income, showing strong and resilient growth ahead of 2020 results and in line with expectations. It added that the increase in net interest income arose from a 41 per cent growth in net loans and

By Dipo Olowookere Barely 24 hours after he posted an untrue post on his Facebook page, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has sacked one of his media aides, Mr Murtala Adigun. Until his removal, Mr Adigun, who is popularly known as Adigun Ibadan, served as the Special Assistant to the Governor on Digital Media. On Thursday, the former aide, a product of the prestigious University of Ibadan, posted pictures showing some fumigation equipment purchased by the Lagos State government as an achievement of his boss. He was highly criticised for lying about this after he captioned the images, “Oyo

By Adedapo Adesanya Under latest projections by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the COVID-19 could kill between 83,000 and 190,000 people in Africa and infect as much as 44 million in the first year if it is not properly contained. The latest grim reports are contained in a new WHO Africa study based on assumptions that no containment measures are put in place. But the Head of WHO Africa, Mrs Matshidiso Moeti, in a teleconference held on Thursday, said fortunately, this has not been the case. According to her, most countries on the continent have imposed restrictions on public gatherings,

**As Mathen Becomes Airtel Tanzania PLC MD By Modupe Gbadeyanka Former CEO of Vodacom Tanzania PLC, Mr Ian Ferrao, has been appointed as the Regional Director of Airtel Africa in East Africa. The appointee, who holds a First Class Honours Degree in BSc Management Sciences from the Warwick Business School, has more than 12 years of experience in senior management telecommunications roles in Africa. Before joining Airtel Africa, he was also the CEO of Vodacom Lesotho and Chief Commercial Officer at Vodacom Business Africa. He is expected to use his experience to expand the footprints of the leading telecommunications services