First Bank Pledges More World Class Services To Customers

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The popular Ajose Adeogun Street and Roundabout on Victoria Island, Lagos, is wearing a new look, thanks to Zenith Bank Plc, which designed the areas with beautiful Christmas decorations. The yearly ritual of the financial institution is a part of its Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives aimed at setting the tone for the Christmas and Yuletide seasons. Performing the Light-Up ceremony, the 17th of its kind recently, the chief executive of Zenith Bank, Mr Ebenezer Onyeagwu, expressed his delight in heralding the 2023 Yuletide season by lighting up the iconic Ajose Adeogun Street and Roundabout. He urged everyone

By Adedapo Adesanya Klasha, a leading global cross-border payments company, has been granted a Money Services Business (MSB) license by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to operate in the world’s largest economy, the United States. This license authorizes Klasha to operate as a currency exchange and money transmitter in the US. With this MSB license, Klasha can now offer its innovative cross-border payment solutions and financial services to businesses in the United States that want to send and accept cross-border payments from Africa and carry out foreign exchange services and international money transfers with ease and security. “We are

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of Coronation Merchant Bank (CMB) has been downgraded by Fitch Ratings to ‘CC’ from ‘B-‘, with its Viability Rating (VR) also lowered to ‘cc’ from ‘b-‘. In a note released on Monday, the rating agency said it also demoted the bank’s National Long-Term Rating to ‘B+(nga)’ from ‘BBB-(nga)’, raising some red flags that prompted its latest decision. According to Fitch, CMB was moved down in the pecking order due to a “significantly weakened capital position”, which if not quickly addressed, “could lead to a material capital shortfall.” Already, the financial institution

By Dipo Olowookere The managing director of Unity Bank Plc, Mrs Tomi Somefun, has promised customers of the financial institution innovative digital banking services. She made this pledge while reacting to the financial statements of the company for the period ended September 30, 2023, where the lender grew its customer deposits by about 5 per cent on a year-to-date basis to N344.4 billion from N327.4 billion in December 2022. Mrs Somefun attributed this to the competitive products Unity Bank offers customers, as the company drives initiatives to ramp up transactions as part of its strategy for the short and medium

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has advised Nigerians not to engage themselves in the purchase or sale of pre-registered SIM cards, warning that it is against the law and punishable too. This advice was given at the Abuja International Trade Fair which held on October 7, 2016 at the J.T. Useni International Trade Fair Complex KM 8 Airport Road Abuja. Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the NCC, Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, who represented by the Commission’s Head of Public Affairs, Mr Reuben Muoka, also said that the regulatory body was making endless efforts towards protecting, educating and

Customer-focused telecommunications company, 9mobile, has said that its Iska Weather (forecast) service launched recently in partnership with weather forecasting portal, Ignitia, has gained impressive traction among the target users over the short period since its introduction. The telecom firm said users have commended the innovative service because of the positive impact it has had on their businesses. A user, Jibrin Yakubu Gama – a Kano-based businessman, in his testimonial said, “I use the weather forecast for trading. It helps me know how to schedule my plans for the day.” Another subscriber, Nazif Umar, lauded the service in these words, “I

By Gregory Kronsten We are indebted to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for its recent poll to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the population. The bureau’s telephone coverage of the same 1,950 households it contacted in 2018/19 within its general household survey does not make pleasant reading. It held between 20 April and 11 May, and therefore covers the period of the FGN lockdown. A follow-up after another three months may give an idea of the extent to which the damage has been made good. The World Bank gave its support on the technical side and will, we

By Dipo Olowookere The first trading session of the new week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed marginally lower by 0.01 per cent on Monday. This was influenced by the losses posted by some large and mid-cap tickets at the local bourse, particularly in the financial services and industrial goods sectors. Although the 1.82 per cent growth reported by the consumer goods space, the 1.56 per cent decline by the banking counter, the 0.71 per cent fall in the insurance space, and the 0.08 per cent drawback in the industrial goods sector weakened Nigerian stocks at

By Lefentse Nokaneng The Johannesburg summit declaration proposes a number of additional cutting-edge measures for strengthening relations between BRICS and Africa. The special invitation extended by South Africa, in its capacity as BRICS Chair, allowed African leaders and delegations to participate in the BRICS-Africa Outreach and the BRICS Plus Dialogue, where several important issues were discussed. Held under the theme, “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism,” primarily shows the bloc’s key objectives, among others, to promote global peace and development and work towards a new world order. The growth in its numeral strength

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Governors elected under the platform of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have lamented the excruciating hardship and suffering Nigerians are currently going through. The Governors under the PDP Governors’ Forum said the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has turned the country upside down, making life very difficult for citizens. They said the lives of Nigerians under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari have been miserable unlike when the PDP was in power from 1999 to 2015. At the end of their meeting in Aba, Abia State, they said the opposition party was ready to “take over

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A veteran journalist, Mr Bayo Onanuga, has been appointed as the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy. A statement issued on Friday by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Ajuri Ngelale, said Mr Tinubu also appointed Ms Delu Bulus Yakubu as his Senior Special Assistant on Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. In the statement, the President wished his new aides “well in the discharge of their duties,” noting that their appointments were “part of efforts to prioritize effective and efficient working synergy between the Presidency and Federal Ministries.

By Dipo Olowookere Friday, September 23, 2016, has been fixed for the Lagos audition of Nigeria’s fairest pageant, Miss Global Nigeria. The audition will hold at the prestigious R & A Hotel located on 2, Majekodunmi Street by Oshopey bus stop, off Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos at 10am prompt. The screening exercise, according to the organizers is one of the prerequisites to choosing the contestants who eventually compete for the annual beauty competition. Interested candidates are expected to have pre-register or get the forms at the venue of the audition with a view to being part of the 2016 show.