London Stock Exchange Lists Ecobank Nigeria’s $300m Bond

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Despite the harsh operating environment and the unexpected policies of the government that affected businesses in Nigeria, Unity Bank Plc showed resilience in the first six months of 2023. In its half-year unaudited financial statements filed to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited over the weekend, the bank marginally improved its gross earnings by 0.37 per cent to N27.5 billion from N27.4 billion in the first half of last year. It was observed that 10 per cent growth in the fees and income commission to N3.5 billion from N3.2 billion helped the lender jerk up its income in

By Modupe Gbadeyanka It was a double reward for a foremost microfinance institution, Advans Nigeria, at the recently concluded Marketing Edge Awards in Lagos. The firm, a subsidiary of Advans Group, was announced as the Most Innovative Microfinance Bank of the Year and the Most Customer-centric Microfinance Bank of the Year. The double awards are coming after the organisation was recently named as The Best in Retail Banking of the Year at the Pan African International Award. Advans Nigeria won the accolades due to its top-notch financial services and unwavering commitment to its customers. “We are immensely proud to receive

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

By Adedapo Adesanya Yellow Card has joined forces with MoonPay, a global leader in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, towards expanding cryptocurrency accessibility in Nigeria by leveraging local bank transfers. Despite a ban on trading via official channels, Nigeria has emerged as a powerhouse in the African cryptocurrency landscape, with increasing numbers of individuals turning to digital assets to hedge against inflation and economic uncertainty. The volatility in the local crypto market, marked by the recent challenges faced by various crypto companies in Nigeria, has underscored the critical need for a stable and reliable means of accessing cryptocurrencies. This partnership between both

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The operating licences of Silverbird TV, Rhythm FM and others have been revoked by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC). A statement issued on Friday by the agency disclosed that the action was taken over the failure of the broadcast stations to renew their licences after being given time to do so. The affected media platforms were given 24 hours to stop operations or risk being forced to do so with the help of security operatives. “After due consideration, NBC hereby announces the revocation of the licenses of the under-listed stations and gives them 24 hours to shut

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange shed 0.83 percent on Tuesday, April 28, 2020. This contraction was caused by the poor performance of a leading milk producing company, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Plc. Share price of the firm fell 3.81 percent or N4.40 to trade at N115.60 kobo per share in contrast to N120 per share of the previous day. The company was the day’s only loser. The loss recorded by the milk producer, which is one of the market’s bellwethers, lowered the market capitalisation by N4.3 billion to N510.44 billion from N514.74 billion it ended on Monday. In

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has warned telecommunications consumers, whose Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards were barred from making calls, not to fall victim to a viral weblink claiming to unlock their numbers. In a notice on Monday, the telecommunications regulator firmed that affected SIMs will not be unbarred by the service providers until they are linked with the National Identification Numbers (NINs) of the SIM holders. It warned that this became necessary in view of the viral calls unblocking website, https://bit.ly/NCC-Sim-Unbar-Gov-Ng, being circulated on social media and on some websites. It stressed that the link and

Ahmed Rahma A leading player in the non-for-profit and women empowerment sector in Nigeria, Women in Successful Careers (WISCAR), has said one of the two contestants for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) director-general job, Dr Ngozi Ogozi-Iweala, will be at its annual conference. The former Minister of Finance is the keynote speaker at the 2020 edition of the yearly leadership and mentoring seminar, which will hold virtually on Saturday, November 28, 2020. A statement from the organisers said the event will feature key industry leaders who will lead proactive round table discussions on the theme The Future We Want. In

By Dipo Olowookere Reports reaching us indicate that some gunmen suspected to be militants have kidnapped two principals and some students of the Lagos State Model College at Igbo Nla, Epe. The suspected hoodlums reportedly stormed the school on Thursday morning while the students were observing the daily morning assembly. Principals of both the junior and senior segments of the college were taken away by the unknown gunmen. They also left with some students during the raid. The incident has left the school in pandemonium as parents, who have heard of the news, are in confusion and are making efforts

By Nonso Okpala “You have less than 100 years to make a mark.” Three years ago, I started searching for a table based on two basic considerations. First, I wanted a functional table to get work done; one that wasn’t too high or too low but would lend support to my posture and allow me to work for long hours easily. The second consideration was more complicated but can be summarized in a single word — Legacy. Legacy means what you inherited from the people before you — your dad, mum, relatives or loved ones. The flip side, seldom contemplated, is that legacy also

By Dipo Olowookere The heating up of the political terrain in the country is gradually having a negative effect on the Nigerian stock market, Business Post reports. During the just-concluded trading week, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) lost about N416 billion as a result of huge selling pressure at the market. Analysts had predicted that trading during the week would be positive as a result of improving macroeconomic indices in the domestic space, especially with the further ease in the inflation rate, positive GDP growth, passage of the 2018 budget and retention of the interest at 14 percent by the

By Dipo Olowookere A Nigerian hacker arrested by the Lagos State Police Command, Mr Michael Williams, has disclosed that financial institutions operating in the country have porous online banking system. Mr Williams, a 28-year-old medical doctor turned hacker, made this disclosure on Monday when he was paraded before the media by the Commissioner of Police, Mr Edgal Imohimi. He was arrested for purchasing a N28 million Porsche car from a dealer with fake bank alert. “In Nigeria, you can sit and hack any account but abroad, it is only through the Swiss account because the money is much. “Nigerian bank