Lagos Business School Trains South African Bankers

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 President Bola Tinubu has thrown his full weight behind the plan by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to increase the capital base of banks in the country. The President expressed his views on this move, which last occurred in 2005, through his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, in his message at the 40th anniversary of The Guardian Newspapers in Lagos on Tuesday. He said bank recapitalisation was crucial to Nigeria achieving a $1 trillion economy. “Amidst the general lull in a global economy, our ambition to attain a $1 trillion economy appears

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 Adedapo Adesanya The African Union said on Wednesday it has suspended Sudan until civilian rule in the country is restored, saying it rejected the military takeover, describing it as an “unconstitutional” seizure of power. The continent-wide bloc said it “strongly condemns the seizure of power” and was suspending Sudan from all AU activities “until the effective restoration of the civilian-led transitional authority”. The World Bank also decided to suspend aid to Sudan. Sudanese General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Monday ordered the dissolution of the government and declared a state of emergency, sparking widespread international condemnation. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Members of the Association of Bikers and Drifters intending to be in Gombe State from today, Thursday, June 8, 2023, have been assured drinks that would energise their system. This assurance was given by Fearless Energy Drinks, which supports the Gombe Grand Coverage under its Embrace the Thrill slogan. Business Post reports that activities lined up for the 5-day event will include the arrival of bikers and stunts, aerobics, indoor games, motorsports, music performance, fireworks, library commissioning, tree planting and a courtesy visit to the palace of the Emir of Gombe, Mr Abubakar Shehu Abubakar III, who

By Adedapo Adesanya The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has said that plans are underway to partner with investors on the local assembly of smartphones. This was disclosed by the Director-General of the agency, MrJoseph Ari, during the graduation ceremony of ITF/Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) vocational skills training programme on Monday in Abuja. He expressed delight that the trainees were able to assemble the first indigenous Global System for Mobile (GSM) smartphone in the country, a move that has prompted the need for collaboration with investors to ramp up production. “I am thrilled to inform you that from

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Innovative fintech and payment startups across Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa have been invited to the Visa Everywhere Initiative (VEI) 2022. The global platform will give participants the opportunity to showcase their products and innovations to a wider audience and also get a chance to win $45,000 in prize money. Winners of the competition will be awarded monetary prizes and the opportunity to partner with a global, trusted brand like Visa. This year’s program has expanded to include startups that are using cryptocurrency and Visa Direct, a payment solution that can help businesses

By Adedapo Adesanya The National Association of Securities Dealer (NASD) Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange returned to gaining ways on Wednesday, August 10, with a 0.10 per cent growth following a team effort by CitiTrust Holdings Plc and FreislandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc. The market capitalisation of unlisted securities went up by N1.03 billion to settle at N1.007 trillion from the previous session’s N1.006 trillion, while the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) grew by 4.79 points to wrap the session at 768.87 points compared with 764.08 points of the previous session. At the midweek session, the stock price of CitiTrust Plc rose

By Timi Olubiyi, PhD World over, competition exists across several fields and sectors of the economy and it is inevitable in business regardless of the business type, structure, size, and industry of operations. Fair competition exists when no single buyer or seller can control the price or product in the market. Even if a business enjoys a monopoly in a sector, it must compete with other businesses over where consumers spend their money. Consequently, competition is really not a bad phenomenon as it can spark innovation, productivity, competitiveness, and it largely contributes to an effective business environment. For this reason

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) reported a sharp drop in profit for 2022 as the country’s wealth fund profits declined 33 per cent to N102.4 billion ($222.2 million). This happened as total income dropped by 28 per cent to N111.4 billion compared with a year earlier. In the report released over the weekend, NSIA said this was caused by macroeconomic conditions in developed and emerging markets as well as in the local economy. Net assets grew by 10.5 per cent to N1.00trillion while earnings from interest income, infrastructure business revenue, and fiduciary activities’ management fees increased

By Ebireri Henry Ovie Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has reiterated his administration’s determination to support the education of brilliant students in the state. Mr Bello made this disclosure when he received the best graduating student at the 2015 Call to Bar examination of the Nigerian Law School (NLS), Ms Fatima Bombom Sani, her relatives and Barrister Natasha Akpoti at the Government House. The Governor lamented a situation where academic excellence has not been given the requisite reward in Nigeria. He then gave the young lawyer scholarship to the tune of $93,000 for her effort at the law school.