Small Business Owners in Edo Hail Wema Bank for Support

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 Modupe Gbadeyanka Customers of Ecobank Nigeria have been urged to remain on the alert as some scammers are taking advantage of SIM swaps to dupe their unsuspecting victims. The financial institution issued this alert in an email message to customers, urging them not to lose guard. The bank said phone users, who attached their mobile numbers to their bank accounts, to take extra caution when swapping their SIM cards, so as not to be victims of fraudsters. The lender explained to customers that SIM swap fraud occurs when scammers use your phone number to access your accounts. “Scammers impersonate

By Adedapo Adesanya Neo-bank, PayDay, may get a new owner as its founders, which include Mr Favour Ori, are considering a sale in the coming months, per sources who spoke exclusively with TechCabal. According to the report, the company is in the process of being sold, with some developments that followed the exit of its co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO), Mrs Yvonne Ogechi Obike. In March, the company raised $3 million to expand its footprint into the United Kingdom and Canada. This round was led by Moniepoint Inc. and saw contributions from HoaQ, DFS Lab’s Stellar Africa Fund, and

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has disclosed playing N16.18 billion in liquidation dividends to depositors, creditors, and stakeholders of 20 banks in liquidation. According to a statement from the corporation’s Director of Communication and Public Affairs, Mr Bashir Nuhu, this follows impressive recoveries from debtors and the realisation of assets of banks in liquidation. As a result, the NDIC, which is responsible for protecting depositors and guaranteeing the settlement of insured funds when a deposit-taking financial institution can no longer repay their deposits, said it had commenced verification and payment of stakeholders covered by the declarations

By Dipo Olowookere The management of Saint-Gobain has announced acquiring Spin-Works International Corporation, an innovative manufacturer of 3D-printed and extruded silicon carbide ceramic components that improve energy efficiency, recover waste heat and reduce emissions for customers in a wide range of high-temperature industrial processes. According to Saint-Gobain’s High-Performance Refractories, this acquisition is mainly to help its customers’ processes more sustainable—especially in the steel and automotive businesses. Spin-Works is based in Northeast, Pennsylvania (near Erie), and has approximately 20 employees. Saint-Gobain High-Performance Refractories is a global leader in ceramic and refractory solutions, with 14 manufacturing facilities throughout the world, including a

By Modupe Gbadeyanka An alumnus of the Lagos Business School (LBS), Mr Paul Orajiaka, a member of the Advanced Management Programme 20 and the Executive MBA 14, has been announced as an Influential Leader in the 2018 Influential Leaders Challenge of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International. AACSB International is the world’s largest business education network, which celebrates the positive impact business school graduates make in communities around the globe as part of the 2018 Influential Leaders Challenge. The challenge honours notable alumni from accredited schools whose inspiring work serves as a model for the next

By Dipo Olowookere The Financial Times of London has once again endorsed the award-winning Kwara Community Health Insurance Scheme for its transformational impact on the people of the state, particularly the rural dwellers. In an article titled, ‘The Innovators: devices and services to improve maternal and child health’ published on its website on Thursday, the Financial Times listed Kwara Community Health Insurance among few projects with the potential to ease the burden of maternal and child mortality around the world. The Financial Times noted that the scheme, which is operated in collaboration with Hygeia Community Health, the Netherlands government and

By Adedapo Adesanya The value of the Naira to the American Dollar grew on Monday at the parallel market and the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market. The Naira had taken heavy beatings in recent weeks as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sent people into panic mode by announcing plans to redesign the banknotes next month. This put pressure on the local currency as currency hoarders were making efforts to mop up Dollars to remain safe. In the black market yesterday, the Nigerian currency appreciated against the greenback by N15 to trade at N870/$1 compared with

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed flat on Tuesday, January 25 despite recording a price loser at the close of transactions. The depreciating stock was Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc, which recorded a 0.04 per cent or 10 kobo loss to close the session at N234.90 per share as against N235.00 per share it ended a day earlier. As earlier stated, despite this, the major performance indicators of the unlisted securities market remained unchanged when trading activities were wrapped up for the day. Consequently, the market capitalisation of the NASD Exchange retained the previous

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Organisers of the prestigious GTBank Fashion Weekend are offering free retail stalls to exhibitors at this year’s event. However, to enjoy this freebie, those who wish to sell their fabulous fashion apparels and accessories will have to register for it. According to a statement issued by the organisers, to apply for the free Retail Space at the GTBank Fashion Weekend, intending exhibitors will have to visit https://fashionweekend.gtbank.com/apply. Now in its third year, the GTBank Fashion Weekend has become the premier consumer-focused event that places African fashion on the global stage and helps small businesses in the local

By Adedapo Adesanya President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday launched the Eastern railway rehabilitation project. The Eastern corridor is a narrow-gauge rail track stretching from Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, through the South-East, North Central and North-East, terminating in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital. With a total of 61 stations and passing loops, the project has a contract timeline of 36 months. It was designed for a maximum speed of 80km/h on the mainline as well as 60km/h on the branch line. The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) is also handling the project like it did with other rail projects in the

By Dipo Olowookere The budget estimate of Delta State for the 2021 fiscal year has been raised 34.05 per cent or N96.2 billion higher than the 2020 financial year by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa. On Tuesday, the Governor presented the Appropriation Bill to the Delta State House of Assembly and during the presentation, he said the sum of N378.48 billion is to be spent next year as against N282 billion approved for this year. Mr Okowa, who described the bill as Budget of Recovery, noted that more funds would be used to carry out projects across the state, justifying the reason