Banking
Marshal-Idio Wins Heritage Bank’s N5m at The Next Titan Season-3
By Dipo Olowookere
A winner has emerged in the Heritage Bank’s sponsored entrepreneurial competition show, The Next Titan Season 3.
The contest was won by a budding entrepreneur with unique business idea of turning trashes into beautiful furniture, Mrs Marvis Marshal-Idio.
Mrs Marshal-Idio went home with the star prize of N5 million from Heritage Bank, which is the headline official sponsor of the competition and a brand new car from Coscharis Motors.
At the grand finale held at weekend in Lagos, four finalists: Ronald Ajiboye, a first class graduate of a Russian University who is into drones production, Mrs Marvis Marshal-Idio emerged winner, Victoria Mamza, founder of Wangarau Foods was the 1st runner-up founder and Sunday Ewolabi of Naija Peanuts emerged as the 2nd runner-up.
Impressed by the commitment and tenacity shown by contestants in this year’s edition of The Next Titan, Nigeria’s Entrepreneurial Reality TV Show, Heritage Bank Limited has restated its commitment for the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria.
The bank said the scheme is a veritable platform through which the financial institution is propagating its campaign for youth empowerment programme in the country.
Mr Ife Sekibo, the Managing Director of the bank, who was represented by Mrs Ori Ogba, Divisional Head, SME & Retail, Heritage Bank, said he was satisfied with the degree of commitment shown by each contestant who participated in the competition.
Meanwhile, Mr Sekibo said Heritage Bank instituted The Next Titan with a view to igniting the entrepreneurial spirit in the youth.
His words: “At Heritage Bank, we have discovered that SMEs have a crucial role to play in nation building process anywhere in the world. This is why at Heritage Bank we shall not relent in our support for young entrepreneurs who have a clear projection of their future plans.”
He stated that that the bank’s participation the Next Titan TV Reality Show as lead sponsor is to reinforce the financial institution’s promise of supporting the sector and fighting unemployment in the country.
Meanwhile, Mr Mide Kunle-Akinlaja, the Executive Producer of the Next Titan commended the bank for the support given to the reality show.
“I want to thank the management of Heritage Bank, headed by the indefatigable and visionary entrepreneur, Mr Ifie Sekibo, for sponsoring this innovative Show. Heritage Bank has been greatly visible in the area of making future leaders in Nigeria. We are indeed grateful to Heritage Bank for being the major sponsor of the Show”, he stated.
According to him, the basic objective of the scheme is to demystify entrepreneurship and present it as a viable career options to millions of young talented graduates especially in this era of unemployment ravaging the nation.
The Next Titan TV Reality Show is a 10-week programme designed to ignite the entrepreneurial spirit of Nigerians.
The TV Reality Show gives an opportunity to young talented Nigerians who fall within the age bracket of 18-39 years with great, innovative and unbeatable business ideas, to compete against one another in real-life entrepreneurial challenges in a bid to ultimately win N5 million and a brand new car to start their new business or to support their existing business.
The Season 3 auditions were held in Abuja, Port-Harcourt, and Lagos with over 50,000 contestants participating.
The Next Titan is a global standard television platform aims at practically engineering entrepreneurship among Nigerian youths through identifying the best business minds and supporting their entrepreneurial acumen through financial and logistical assistance, informal training, knowledge and other requisite services needed to propel them into successful business personalities.
Tonye Cole, Co-Founder/MD, Sahara Group; Chris Parkes, Chairman/CEO, CPMS Africa; and Lilian Olubi, CEO, Primera Africa Securities Limited were the judges for the competition.
Iroghama Ogbeifun, a passionate and goal-getting entrepreneur was the winner of the Season One. Iroghama is from Edo State, Nigeria, and auditioned for The Next Titan in Port-Harcourt, Nigeria. Similarly, the winner of the Season Two is Davies Okeowo, who holds BSc in Accounting. Davies is from Agege, Lagos Nigeria.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A collaboration to enable fast money transfers into Nigeria has been entered into between Flutterwave and Xoom, PayPal’s international digital money transfer service.
The partnership allows Xoom transfers to be converted by Flutterwave and settled locally in Naira, enabling quick transfers directly into recipients’ bank accounts at Access Bank, UBA, Zenith Bank, First Bank, GTBank, and additional participating banks across Nigeria.
The deal also enables Xoom’s global network with Flutterwave’s local payout infrastructure, allowing users globally to send funds directly into Nigerian bank accounts with improved speed and efficiency.
Nigeria is the leading remittance recipient in Sub-Saharan Africa, receiving over $20 billion in personal remittances in 2024. Despite this volume, receiving international payments has historically remained complex due to FX constraints and settlement delays. This collaboration helps address those challenges in a market of more than 232 million people, where the ICT sector is projected to contribute 21 per cent of GDP by 2027.
By combining Xoom’s expansive reach with Flutterwave’s local compliance and banking partnerships, the two companies are providing a more accessible financial corridor for the continent.
Xoom, a PayPal service, is a fast and secure international digital money transfer service that enables consumers to send money, pay bills, and reload phones for friends and family in approximately 160 markets globally.
As part of PayPal’s global payments ecosystem, Xoom leverages advanced fraud protection, compliance capabilities, and a trusted global network to help millions of customers move money quickly and securely across borders.
“We’re excited to have been chosen by Xoom for their Nigeria expansion. Millions of Nigerians rely on money from abroad to support everyday needs, whether it’s families receiving help from loved ones, freelancers getting paid for their work, or individuals earning income from the global economy. This helps make it easy and more reliable for people in Nigeria to receive funds and stay connected to opportunities beyond borders,” the chief executive of Flutterwave, Mr Olugbenga GB Agboola, stated.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
An initiative known as Nigeria Lightning Rounds, designed to expand funding opportunities for Nigerian startups and small businesses by connecting founders with local and international investors, has been launched by ProvidusUnity Bank, in partnership with US-based global venture firm and accelerator, gener8tor.
Scheduled to be held on July 15, 2026, Nigeria Lightning Rounds will feature carefully selected startups engaging with targeted investors who have expressed interest in supporting Nigerian innovation.
Participating founders will have the opportunity to pitch their businesses through focused 15-minute virtual sessions facilitated by gener8tor and ProvidusUnity Bank’s networks.
The program will focus on high-growth sectors including fintech, healthtech, manufacturing, sustainability, and AI, but welcomes SMEs from all industries, with intending participants urged to apply via https://www.gener8tor.com/lightning-rounds/nigeria.
“We recognise that access to capital remains one of the biggest challenges facing entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Through our partnership with gener8tor, we are creating a platform that connects promising Nigerian founders with investors who can provide the support required to scale their businesses,” the Head of Business Development at ProvidusUnity Bank, Mr Ernest Elue, stated.
“The partnership reinforces ProvidusUnity Bank’s commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s entrepreneurial ecosystem by supporting innovation, enabling access to opportunities, and creating pathways for businesses with high-growth potential,” he added.
Also commenting, the Director of Lightning Rounds at gener8tor, Ms Elizabeth Larios, said, “gener8tor is thrilled to partner with ProvidusUnity Bank to extend the Lightning Rounds model into Nigeria.
“This collaboration reflects our commitment to building equitable ecosystems and driving capital to the most promising and underrepresented entrepreneurs.”
Lightning Rounds are a signature initiative of gener8tor’s investment platform, which has facilitated thousands of investor-startup meetings globally. The format is optimised to eliminate friction, reduce bias in early-stage fundraising, and help founders secure capital from investors aligned with their mission and stage. gener8tor’s previous Lightning Rounds for Nigerian Founders in 2025 featured 18 participating Investors and led to 50 investment meetings facilitated.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The verification of the depositors of the 46 microfinance banks, whose operating licenses were revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over a week ago, has commenced.
The exercise, aimed at refunding those whose funds were trapped in the small lenders, is being conducted by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).
In a statement on Thursday, the agency said its staff members have been positioned at the offices of the affected banks across the country to attend to depositors.
It was disclosed that depositors of the defunct banks, who had their Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) linked to their accounts in the failed banks, will be paid through their alternative accounts in existing banks.
However, depositors whose BVNs were not linked to their accounts in the failed banks have been encouraged to visit the affected banks’ offices with proof of account ownership, a passport photograph, verifiable means of identification (Driver’s Licence, Permanent Voter’s Card, International Passport or National ID Card) and BVN.
NDIC also stated that depositors can alternatively file their claims online through its website: www.ndic.gov.ng, to complete the Pre-Verification Claims Form by clicking on the Search Bar, and typing Pre-Verification Claims Form; opening the Form and filling in their details. They can also do so by clicking the link: https://ndic.gov.ng/ndic-pre-verification-claims-form/ or by visiting any of the NDIC offices closest to them to file their claims.
For further enquiries, the corporation can be reached on any of the following lines: 09037273810, 09038197064, 08104220807, 09064657140.
