NowNow Joins Mastercard Start Path Global Program

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The board of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has raised the bar in the interim dividend payout for the first half of 2023, increasing it to 50 Kobo from 20 Kobo in the same period of 2023. This was after the bank recorded triple-digit growth in the bottom line, as the profit before tax (PBT) jumped by 371 per cent to N404 billion from the N85.75 billion recorded in the first half of 2022, translating to an annualised Return on Average Equity of 57.7 per cent as against 17.1 per cent a year earlier, as the

By Dipo Olowookere Schools have been urged to choose Ecobank Nigeria Limited as their preferred financial institution for fee payments and collections because of the exciting advantages the lender offers. The Head of Consumer Banking at Ecobank, Mrs Korede Demola-Adeniyi, made this appeal while rolling out the special loan packages designed by the bank for its back-to-school initiatives. Mrs Demola-Adeniyi said the financial institution created some packages for parents, guardians and schools in line with its overall strategy to support the development of the nation’s education sector. According to her, there is a Banking-for-School pack for educational institutions to access

By Bliss Okperan The Managing Director and chief executive of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Mr Adesola Adeduntan, has disclosed that financial institutions in the country have the balance sheet to support big-ticket transactions, particularly from offshore investors. President Bola Tinubu travelled to the United States last week for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and went with some businessmen and bank executives, including Mr Adeduntan. The Nigerian leader used the occasion to urge foreign investors to bring their funds into the country because he would create a business-friendly environment to make their investments grow. Nigeria, which is the largest

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The forthcoming trade expo organised by Fidelity Bank Plc has received the endorsement of the Mayor of Houston Texas, Mr Sylvester Turner. Mr Turner, in a short video, highlighted the several side attractions scheduled for FITCC Houston and encouraged businesses to take advantage of the expo to expand their businesses beyond borders. He described the event as “A catalyst to support bilateral trade between Nigeria and Houston; and an opportunity for the Houston community and the diaspora to explore emerging trends, forge new partnerships and unlock new possibilities.” The Nigerian lender will, on Tuesday, October 24 and

By Adedapo Adesanya The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has disclosed that timely and robust actions can reduce hunger and human suffering especially for households in the wake of the disruptions caused by COVID-19. This was noted by the Director-General of the agency, Mr Qu Dongyu, at a high-level pledging event for the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the second-largest donor to FAO’s humanitarian programme. He explained that the shocks of 2020 will reverberate long into 2021 largely due to the extraordinary challenges faced this year from the pan-continental desert locust upsurge to the global pandemic. He said the number

By Dipo Olowookere Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced the inclusion of non-interest financial institution in the N200 billion Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS). A circular issued by the apex bank explained that this was to deepen access to finance and reduce exclusion rate in the country. CACS was created to promote commercial agricultural enterprises in Nigeria, which is a sub–component of the Federal Government of Nigeria Commercial Agriculture Development Programme (CADP). The N200 billion funding package was put in place to complement other special initiatives of the CBN in providing concessionary facility for agriculture such as the Agricultural

By Dipo Olowookere Founder and CEO of Africa Delivery Technologies (ADT), developer of the kwik app, Mr Romain Poirot-Lellig, has assured customers of the on-demand and last-mile delivery platform of improved services in Lagos, where it launched its operations two months ago. Since its launch in the metropolis, Kwik Delivery platform has reached 2000 verified customers and is already well on its way toward 3000 verified customers. Kwik verifies its customers through mobile phone OTP as well as email verification. In addition, corporate customers need to provide their corporate registration number and are brought on board by a dedicated team

By Adedapo Adesanya VFD Group Plc, an investment firm headquartered in Lagos, has been named the 2021 Most Innovative Investment Company in Nigeria by the International Finance Magazine (IFM). IFM is a premium business and finance magazine published in the United Kingdom. It announced the Nigerian firm as winner of the award category at the recently concluded 2021 International Finance Award held in Dubai. VFD Group was chosen as the winner over other nominees, including Investment One, Asset & Resource Management Holding Company, and CardinalStone Partners Limited. According to IFM, the award recognises the Group’s industry talent, leadership skills, industry

By Aduragbemi Omiyale President Bola Tinubu will address the nation on Monday, July 31, 2023, at 7 pm, a terse statement from the Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, Mr Dele Alake, has said. This is coming a day after some alleged hoodlums raided a government warehouse in Adamawa State, citing hunger and growing hardship in the land as the reason behind their action. Since President Tinubu removed the fuel subsidy in May 2023, the cost of goods and services has been on the rise, leaving many citizens frustrated. The government of Mr Tinubu has

By Dipo Olowookere Dangote Industries Limited has been awarded a grant by the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) to support its efforts to develop a 100 MW solar photovoltaic power plant with Black Rhino, an African infrastructure investor, in Kano State. Announcing the grant today, the American agency said the feasibility study will assess the viability of Nigeria’s transmission grid to off-take from a solar PV power plant with generation of up to 100 MW. Specifically, the study will assess the transmission system infrastructure capacity and stability. According to USTDA’s Regional Director for Sub-Saharan Africa, Lida Fitts, “This grid

By Dipo Olowookere The president and chairman of the council of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Mr Emmanuel Okas Wike, has condemned the use of non-practitioners for the valuation of assets by property owners. Speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Thursday, Mr Wike said the law does not permit someone who is not a member of the institute to evaluate properties in the country as anyone caught risks going against the law and can be punished. According to him, estate surveyors and valuers are the only professionals trained and equipped with the requisite

By Dipo Olowookere There was confusion at the popular Port Harcourt Mall in Rivers State on Wednesday as a result of an explosion, which left many shoppers running to safety. However, what was initially feared, a terrorist attack, was not to be so. It was gathered that the explosion occurred as a result of a gas leakage in the kitchen area of the busy mall. But some persons reportedly sustained serious injuries during the incident and were quickly taken to hospital for treatment. Confirming this, Manager of the mall, Ms Chioma Okorie, said, “The fire incident happened in a kitchen