PalmPay Users in Nigeria Reach 10 million

By Modupe Gbadeyanka One of the leading digital and mobile banking institutions in Nigeria, OPay, has been praised for revolutionising financial inclusion in the country and Africa. This commendation came from the World Economic Forum (WEF), which said OPay’s ascent in the financial inclusion landscape stands as a testament to its unwavering commitment to innovation and customer-centricity. In its recent report titled Here’s Why Africa is the World Leader in Digital and Mobile Banking, OPay was lauded for leveraging cutting-edge technology to democratise access to vital financial services, such as money transfers, bill payments, airtime purchases, and merchant transactions, reaching

By Adedapo Adesanya The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to strengthen its banking supervision to prevent some crucial Nigerian banks from failing due to its planned recapitalisation. Last Friday, the Governor of CBN, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, said the CBN would be directing banks to increase their capital base to serve a $1 trillion economy to be achieved by 2030. In a statement signed by Mrs Chinyere Almona, the director general of LCCI, the chamber said, “On recapitalisation of banks, we commend the plan of the apex bank to review the

By Bliss Okperan Users of neo banks like Opay, Carbon, Kuda, and PalmPay, among others, are worried over the new directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which intends to freeze bank accounts not linked to a Bank Verification Number (BVN) and a National Identity Number (NIN). Last week, the apex bank directed deposit money banks (DMBs) to place a “Post No Debit (PND)’ on any accounts with BVN and NIN from next year. For most neo banks, account numbers are opened with just users’ phone numbers without the BVN, unlike the traditional banks. However, they cannot make transactions

By Modupe Gbadeyanka For supporting Micro, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (MSMEs) with credit facilities, Ecobank Nigeria Limited has won big at the 2023 Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) Annual Service Ambassador Awards ceremony held in Lagos. The DBN Ambassadors Programme was designed to increase the sense of ownership among participating financial institutions, build capacity, increase on-lending small businesses and ultimately deepen financial inclusion in Nigeria. Ecobank is a participating financial institution in partnership with DBN to provide credit facilities, credit guarantees and technical support to MSMEs. It got an award for Platinum Service Ambassador; Bank with the Highest Impact on

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) rebounded on Wednesday with a 0.63 per cent gain on the back of renewed bargain hunting by investors. Also, news that the exchange has concluded its conversion into a public company excited investors yesterday as the shares of the regulator would now be available to the general public for trading. At the close of transactions at the midweek session, the market capitalisation of the bourse grew by N128 billion to N20.369 trillion from N20.241 trillion. Also, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 244.40 points to settle at 38,931.25 points in contrast to

By Dipo Olowookere If quality and affordability is what you are looking for, look no further. East, West, North or South; Peak Wazobia Milk is the brand that provides quality nutrition to all classes of people at a pocket friendly price. Milk is a highly essential and nutritious dairy product fortified with essential nutrients to enhance the performance of the body and mind. This dairy product forms a key part of most homes breakfast table and can be taken with cereals, pap, custard, tea and so many more. East or west, north or south there is no demographic barrier to

By Adedapo Adesanya The Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) has asked the National Assembly to consider legislation against energy theft and the establishment of electricity special courts to try offenders in the country. The managing director of Eko DisCo, Mr Adeoye Fadeyibi, suggested this when the Senate Committee on Privatisation visited the company recently. He also sought the intervention of the Senate for the recovery of N21 billion owed by some ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). Mr Fadeyibi explained that the MDAs were the biggest debtor to EKEDC to date, adding that various efforts had been made to recover the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The 2023 budget estimates presented last month by Governor Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom State have been passed by the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly. The appropriation bill was passed on Thursday by the Akwa Ibom Assembly after its size was increased by 0.4 per cent to N700 billion, with capital expenditure gulping N355.995 billion and the recurrent expenditure taking N344.005 billion. The budget was passed after the Chairman of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Mr Uduak Odudoh, submitted his report, which members looked into clause-by-clause and was, after that, unanimously accepted. The report

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The appointment of Mr Aghughu Adolphus Arhotomhenia as the new Auditor-General for the Federation has been confirmed by the Senate. Mr Arhotomhenla was nominated for the position by President Muhammadu Buhari and his name forwarded to the Senate through a letter for confirmation. When the letter was read by the Senate President, Mr Ahmad Lawan, it was forwarded to the Committee on Public Accounts headed by Senator Matthew Urhoghide for further action. On Wednesday, Mr Urhoghide submitted his report and urged his colleagues to confirm the appointment of Mr Arhotomhenia on the back that he is capable

By Jerome-Mario Chijioke Utomi For those unfamiliar with the acronym, ‘DESOPADEC’, it is simply a contraction of the Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission. The interventionist agency was created by the enabling Act in Delta State to secure 50% of the 13% Oil Derivation Fund accruing to Delta State government and the received sum used for rehabilitation and development of oil-producing areas of the state as well as carry out other development projects as may be determined from time to time. From the above, it becomes evident that the commission was designed to play a key role in attracting

By Dipo Olowookere Nigerian stocks showed resilience at the exchange on Wednesday, rebounding by 0.98 per cent after being pinned down by the bears for two straight days due to profit-taking triggered by the recent FTSE Russell downgrade. During the midweek session, investors reacted to the positive earnings releases by UBA Plc and others. The tier-1 lender surprised the investing community with a 150 per cent rise in its interim dividend payout, tempting traders to mop up the company’s shares. This partly contributed to the growth recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited yesterday, as the All-Share Index (ASI) closed

By Dipo Olowookere The collaboration between the Lagos State government and the Department for International Development (DFID) in its quest to improve on the quality of education in the state will continue to have the backing of the government. This assurance was given by the Deputy Governor, Dr Idiat Adebule on Tuesday during a courtesy visit to her office by the DFID Deputy Head of Regional Operations, Mr Ben Nicholson and his team. Mr Adebule stated that previous collaborations with the body has brought significant improvement to the growth of quality education in the State, adding that the DFID’s Education