Fidelity Bank to Promote Nigeria’s Non-Oil Exports in UK

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 Modupe Gbadeyanka Last week, the United States Mission in Nigeria organised the annual US College and Career Fairs at the Ecobank Pan African Centre (EPAC) on Victoria Island, Lagos. The US Consul General, Mr Will Stevens, while speaking at the event, said that America remains a leading destination for international students, noting the United States offers students an unrivalled educational experience, flexibility, and diversity. “We are happy to provide Nigerian students who wish to study in the United States a unique opportunity to learn about the diversity of the programs offered at various U.S. educational institutions,” Mr Stevens said.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Africa’s leading payment cards and digital tokens brand, Verve, has joined forces with a fast-rising digital bank, Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, to provide customers with cutting-edge financial solutions. Recall that recently, Moniepoint announced its foray into the retail banking segment, issuing debt cards to its customers. The financial technology (fintech) firm boasts over 1.5 million businesses using its terminals across Nigeria to serve 30 million banked Nigerians. To pave the way for enhanced access to financial services for Nigerians and bridge the gap between traditional banking and modern fintech innovations, both parties are collaborating. The partnership will give

By Adedapo Adesanya The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has unveiled a digital platform for the submission of Microfinance Bank (MFB) licence applications with effect from Monday, September 25. The apex bank made this known in a statement signed by its Director of Corporate Communications, Mr Isa AbdulMumin. “The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is pleased to announce the unveiling of a new online platform for submission of microfinance bank (MFB) licence applications,” the statement released on Wednesday said. According to the statement, the new online platform is called the CBN Licensing, Approval and Other Requests Portal (CBN LARP) and

AXA Mansard Insurance plc, a member of the AXA Group, has recorded 12 per cent revenue growth for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023, following the implementation of the IFRS17 and IFRS9 accounting standards. The accounting standard became effective on January 1, 2023. consequently, gross earned premiums (Insurance revenues) become the principal revenue indicator given the change in accounting standard The commercial activity of insurance operations will now be reported using insurance (earned) revenues as against gross written premiums (GWP). The reinsurance expenses will now also be reflected as “net expenses from reinsurance contracts held” with the main difference

By Adedapo Adesanya Guinness Nigeria Plc has announced plans to expand its factory in Benin City, Edo State as part of efforts to deepen investment and boost job creation in the Heart Beat of Nigeria. At a presentation on Tuesday, Mr Baker Magunda, the Managing Director of Guinness Nigeria, said during a courtesy visit to the acting Governor of Edo, Mr Philip Shaibu, that the brewery giant would also invest in clean water projects for both the company’s utilisation and communities in the state. “We are interested in the opportunities we see in Edo, Guinness success is beyond dividends for

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Federal Government, as part of efforts to improve tax compliance levels, has commenced reviewing the tax compliance records of all contractors who received payments from its various agencies in the last seven years. This, we gathered, follows the results of a sampling exercise conducted by the Ministry of Finance which found that less than 20 percent of contractors reviewed accurately stated the income received from the Federal Government in their tax returns, whilst many made no declaration at all. A prominent result of the sampling exercise showed that some tax clearance certificates which were presented at the

By Ahmed Rahma, Adedapo Adesanya The Naira extended its gaining position against the Dollar at the black market segment of the foreign exchange (forex) on Thursday. During the session, the Nigerian currency appreciated by N3 to close at N475/$1 compared with N478/$1 it was exchanged at the preceding day. Also, the Naira appreciated against the Pound Sterling at the parallel market yesterday by N2 to finish at N650/£1 versus N652/£1 of the previous day and gained N5 against the Euro to settle at N570//€1 in contrast to the previous trading rate of N575/€1. However, at the Investors and Exporters (I&E)

One of Nigeria’s leading Public Relations and Integrated Communications Consulting firms, Chain Reactions Nigeria Limited, has announced Mr Uche Ugorji as Vice President, Strategy and Business Development. Mr Israel Jaiye Opayemi, who is the Managing Director and Chief Strategist of Chain Reactions Nigeria, which is the Nigerian affiliate to Edelman, the world’s largest Public Relations firm, said in a statement that the appointment of Mr Ugorji was part of a holistic and aggressive business development drive the company was embarking upon. Mr Opayemi, who said the appointment was effective Friday 1, November 2019, stated that Mr Ugorji was picked with

By Nneka Okumazie What era is Africa in? What are the obvious commonalities across Africa that signify what Africa currently faces? What are problems unique to the countries, the people and continent? How remote is Africa, from where it should be? Though statistics say the percentage of extreme poor around the world has dropped, yet, quality and standard of living for many in Africa looks like unvarnished poverty, even if income seem above what it used to be decades ago. There is so much corruption, unfairness, rigidity, repetition of what has failed, blaming of the government while ignoring the change

By Michael Owhoko, PhD As Nigerians file out to elect a new president on February 25, it is imperative to remind electorates that a country’s future and destiny are shaped by the choice of personality they elect as president. Entrusting a country’s leadership and resources to someone with impaired vision and dubious national disposition will be a tragedy. In context, the Nigerian President is one of the most powerful in the world, given the scope of responsibilities and powers as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution. With 68 items on the exclusive list and mere 12 items on the concurrent list

By Dipo Olowookere Benue State Governor, Mr Samuel Ortom, has said that the condemnation of the proposed cargo airport in the state by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar was borne out of ignorance. Mr Ortom stated this while fielding questions from newsmen shortly after he commissioned ambulances purchased for primary healthcare centres in some local government areas by the Millennium Development Goal (MDGS) yesterday. “The Sultan spoke in ignorance. Anyone criticizing the cargo airport project is either ignorant, illiterate no matter his level of education, or doing so out of mischief or jealousy,” he said. The Governor, who