First Bank’s Adeduntan Joins Bretton Woods Committee

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 Aduragbemi Omiyale The chief executive of CardinalStone Finance, formerly CSAdvance, Mr Ayoola Adeola, said the company would deliver enhanced financial solutions and empower its customers with financial flexibility. Mr Adeola said this while commenting on the recent change of name of the organisation, done because it intends to offer a comprehensive range of financing solutions to a diversified clientele, including SME businesses and high-net-worth individuals. CardinalStone Finance is the subsidiary of CardinalStone Partners Limited. The firm said the transition marks a pivotal moment in the group’s pursuit of becoming a world-class financial services firm, catering to the evolving needs

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) recorded a 107.1 per cent growth in total interest income to $1.1 billion for the half-year of 2023 versus $540.8 million in the same period of 2022. This was contained in the consolidated financial statements of the bank and its subsidiaries for the half year ended 30 June 2023, which demonstrates a strong and resilient performance, which was ahead of expectations due to global headwinds. The growth in its total interest income came as a result of increased volume of interest-earning assets, particularly loans and advances and higher interest rates. Afreximbank Group’s

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 Dipo Olowookere A suit filed by Oando Plc against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been thrown out by Justice Folashade Giwa-Ogunbanjo of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja. The judge, while delivering a judgement on the matter on Thursday, said her court lacks the jurisdiction to entertain the suit and directed the company to file its case before the Investment Securities Tribunal (IST), which she said was the appropriate court to hear the matter. Oando had gone to the court to argue that its fundamental rights were trampled upon by the apex regulatory agency in the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A system aimed to allow businesses and merchants to collect online payments without stress has been launched by OnePipe and Fidelity Bank Plc. The platform called PayGatePlus is an enhanced version of PayGate, which is Fidelity Bank’s flagship gateway. PayGatePlus helps take away the hassles of irreconcilable payments, reporting and settlement as the comprehensive embedded finance platform empowers organisations in any sector to integrate financial services within their businesses and offerings. Since its soft launch about a year ago, several brands across FMCG, aviation, agency banking and fintech sectors have embedded a range of the services available

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The International Monetary Fund (IMF) team and the Togolese authorities have agreed on a programme supported by the bank’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement. The agreed economic program supported by the ECF arrangement aims to improve the living conditions for the population and to maintain a stable macroeconomic environment that is compatible with public debt sustainability The team, led by Cemile Sancak, visited Lomé, the country’s capital, from January 5-18, 2017 to carry out discussions with the Togolese authorities on a program supported by the IMF’s ECF arrangement. After the visit, Ms Sancak noted that, “The IMF

By Dipo Olowookere Access Power, a developer, owner and operator of power projects in emerging markets and a Power Africa partner, today announced the launch of ACF 2017, the third edition of the highly successful funding and support platform for renewable energy projects in Africa. The official opening of the submissions process was announced today at the Power Africa Annual Partners Meeting in Washington. Now in its third year, the ACF is an innovative $7 million financial support mechanism designed to provide local power project developers and originators with project development support, technical experience, expertise and funding required to bring

By Aduragbemi Omiyale A subsidiary of FBN Holdings Plc, FBNQuest Merchant Bank Limited, is selling commercial paper worth N15 billion to investors. The lending institution in the real estate industry is offering the debt instrument in two series and the exercise is expected to close on Tuesday, March 15, 2022. Business Post reports that series 1 is with 180 days maturity, while series 2 has 270 days tenor, according to details of the exercise. The discount rate for the six-month paper is 7.9275 per cent and has an implied yield of 8.2500 per cent, while the discount rate for the

By Dipo Olowookere Motorists have been warned against travelling with gallons of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) tucked inside their vehicles’ booths. This warning was given on Thursday by the Commander, Ore Unit of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Ondo State, Mr Philip Ozonnandi. Mr Ozonnandi said carrying petrol in jerry cans was not only “very dangerous” for motorists, but was also a “great offence.” “We are aware of the fuel situation right now but it is a great offence for motorists to travel with petrol in jerry cans in their vehicles’ booths. “We are reminding motorists that the

By Adedapo Adesanya **Cancels Naira Redesign Policy The Supreme Court has ordered that old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes should remain in circulation till December 31, 2023. The apex court also nullified the federal government’s Naira redesign policy, declaring it as an affront to the 1999 Constitution. The Supreme Court delivered judgement in the suit brought against the federal government on the Naira redesign policy. Sixteen states of the Federation instituted the suit to challenge the legality or otherwise of the introduction of the policy. The suit initially instituted by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states has been slated as the

By Dipo Olowookere The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has described inconsistences associated with the preparations for the 2019 generations as supervised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as “part of a deliberate plot by anti-democratic forces to derail Nigerian democracy and enthrone an interim government in country. The group made this allegation in reaction to the postponement of the February 16, 2019 presidential and National Assembly polls by INEC this morning. In a statement by its Secretary General, Mr Willy Ezugwu, the CNPP wondered why “an election that took the electoral umpire four years to prepare for