Banking
Stanbic IBTC Unveils ACAP to Assist Nigerian Importers
Stanbic IBTC Bank has launched an Africa-China Agent Proposition (ACAP) which aims to assist Nigerian importers source and validate quality goods, safely and efficiently, from the most competitive suppliers in China.
The ACAP offering is expected to revolutionise African importers’ view of China’s supplier universe. It will also ease the cash flow of African importers by providing access to financing while empowering importers with sight and control of the entire importing and logistics process.
The offering, which is expected to connect African importers and Chinese exporters and open China to Africa, was officially launched in Nigeria on Tuesday 21 May, 2019, and will also be launched in Ghana and South Africa with other markets in Standard Bank’s African footprint to follow before the end of 2019.
Currently, Nigerian importers order from only a handful of trusted Chinese suppliers. This limits the negotiating power of African importers while stacking the terms of trade against them. While ordering online provides access to a wider range of suppliers, online imports cannot guarantee the quality of goods. In most cases too, advance payments for goods are required. This is often demanded in cash, without reciprocal guarantees of delivery or quality. This means that Nigerian importers often carry a disproportionate burden of risk in most transactions. Language and cultural barriers are also a challenge for African importers when traveling and negotiating supplier agreements in China.
In response to these challenges, and in light of the vast opportunity that China presents as a trading partner, Standard Bank, the biggest bank in Africa, has leveraged its partnership with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the biggest bank in the world, to connect African importers with a dedicated trade agent in China.
“The ACAP offering- underpinned by a letter of credit- will deepen trust in Africa-China trade relationships, guaranteeing African importers access to the best suppliers in China, the best payment terms and the best quality,” said Dr. Manessah Alagbaoso, Head, Africa China Integration, Standard Bank. If any of the terms of the letter of credit are not met, payment will not be made. As such, the offering will, “place African importers in a much stronger negotiating position when it comes to the price, quality and efficiency of importing Chinese goods,” stated Dr. Alagbaoso. At the same time, “Chinese suppliers can be confident that once the terms of the letter of credit have been met, payment will be made in full and on time – guaranteed by Stanbic IBTC Bank or Standard Bank and ICBC,” added Dr. Alagbaoso.
In his remarks, Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC, Dr. Demola Sogunle, reaffirmed the bank’s objective of constantly exploring opportunities of adding significant value to the businesses of its customers.
“Stanbic IBTC has established market leadership in several financial services segments, and our ultimate goal is to continually leverage on our connections, knowledge and experience in delivering impeccable service and value that would similarly make our customers not just get ahead but emerge leaders in their respective business segments and ACAP is another of such enablers”, said Sogunle.
Zhejiang International Trading Supply Chain Co. Ltd (Guomao) is the first Chinese Trade Agent nominated by ICBC to partner with Standard Bank to assist African importers trade seamlessly with China. “Guomao currently has almost 10 000 suppliers that meet the import needs of our clients,” says Dr. Alagbaoso. Where the need of a client falls outside of the supplier base that Guomao currently has, they will source new suppliers for that need after going through a process of new supplier validation and verification.
Guomao will assist Nigerian importers with services such as source the right suppliers, negotiate the best prices and trade conditions, arrange for African importers to travel to China and meet with a broad range of suppliers, provide translators to facilitate trade negotiations and discussions and source and validate the quality of goods. Other functions the agent would offer are to provide quality guarantees on goods from those Chinese suppliers recommended by the trade agent, ensuring that quality meets the expectations of African importers, rectify any quality issues on behalf of the African importer, finance imports based on a letter of credit from Standard Bank and ICBC as required and handle shipping logistics.
With over 20 years’ experience in foreign trade procurement services, Guomao provides a one-stop foreign trade supply chain, supply chain finance, and cross-border e-commerce supply chain service, “able to help Standard Bank’s clients navigate China’s foreign trade supply chain and trade seamlessly,” he added. In time, Standard bank’s ACAP offering will include other Chinese trade agents in other key international trade hubs of China, deepening access to China’s supplier universe.
Importantly, the ACAP offering will ease the cash flow of African importers. “Since Chinese suppliers will be secure in their possession of an ICBC-underwritten letter of credit, African importers will be able to receive goods before payment is made,” said Dr. Alagbaoso. This will allow African importers to keep cash in the business for growth.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The six edition of the Hackaholics of Wema Bank Plc has produced 20 top finalists shared equally between two streams, Ideathon and Hackathon.
The Hackathon finalists are Rapid DEV, Secure IT, Neurafeed, Trust Lock Babcock, Pulse Track, IlluminiTrust, Trust Lock FUTA, Fix Fraud AI, KASH Flow and VOC AI.
The Ideathon finalists include PLOY, Fertitude, VarsityScape, Mama ALERT, StockMed, Chao, All Arbitrate, FarmSlate, Sane AI and Cycle X.
They emerged after a two-day pre-pitch held on December 16 and 17, 2025, for the grand finale slated for Friday, December 19, 2025.
They grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0 will convene the top players in Africa’s tech and innovation ecosystem, creating an avenue for these finalists to not only put their creativity to the ultimate test but also give their solutions visibility to potential investors for additional funding opportunities beyond the prizes to be won.
The prizes to be won for the Ideathon include N25 million for the winner, N20 million for the first runner-up, N15 million for the second runner-up and N5 million each for two women-led teams.
In the Hackathon category, the first to fourth-place winners will receive N20 million, N15 million, N10 million and N5 million, respectively.
The pre-pitch saw the top 43 contenders battle in a game of innovation and problem solving, presenting compelling pitches for a chance to make it to top 10 in their respective streams.
After a rigorous stretch of pitches and presentations, the top 20 emerged, securing their spot in the grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0.
“Hackaholics started off as a hackathon and morphed into an ideation. For Hackaholics 6.0, the sixth edition, we decided to give both the builders of new solutions and the refiners of existing ones, an opportunity to make meaningful impact.
“For us at Wema Bank, we understand that innovation isn’t just building from scratch. Sometimes, it’s looking at what exists and developing new ways to optimise that and create more efficiency. This is the idea behind our two-stream Ideathon-Hackathon structure.
“Every year, Hackaholics shows us just how eager and motivated Nigerian youth are when it comes to exploring creativity and innovation, and we are honoured to be the institution that provides them with the platform and resources to put this drive to good use.
“We toured seven cities, indulged 1,460 participants and discovered hundreds of remarkable ideas; some of which needed some refining and some of which deserved to move to the next stage.
“For those who needed to go back to the drawing board, we provided useful guidance and for the top contenders, we were able to shortlist to the top 43, who proceeded to the pre-pitch. To every participant, Wema Bank is proud of you. This is just the beginning,” the chief executive of Wema Bank, Mr Moruf Oseni, said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it will enforce penalties against designated banks that delay the remittance of customs revenue, in a move aimed at strengthening transparency and safeguarding government earnings.
This was disclosed in a statement on the NCS official account on X, formerly known as Twitter and signed by its spokesman, Mr Abdullahi Maiwada, who said the delays undermine the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“The Nigeria Customs Service has noted instances of delayed remittance of customs revenue by some designated banks following reconciliation of collections processed through the B’odogwu platform,” the statement read.
“Such delays constitute a breach of remittance obligations and negatively impact the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“In line with the provisions of the Service Level Agreement executed between the Nigeria Customs Service and designated banks, the Service hereby notifies stakeholders of the commencement of enforcement actions against banks found to be in default of agreed remittance timelines.”
Mr Maiwada disclosed that any bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed timeline will be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the period of the delay.
He added that affected banks would be formally notified of the delayed amounts, the applicable penalty, and the deadline for settlement.
“Accordingly, any designated bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed period shall be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the duration of the delay.
“Affected banks will receive formal notifications indicating the delayed amount, applicable penalty, and the timeline for settlement,” the statement read.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The deputy managing director of First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Limited, Mr Ini Ebong, has offloaded some shares of FBN Holdings Plc, the parent firm of the banking institution.
A regulatory notice from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited confirmed the development on Thursday.
It was disclosed that the transaction occurred on Friday, December 12, 2025, on the floor of the stock exchange.
The sale involved about 11.8 million shares, precisely 11,783,333 units traded at N31.14 per share, amounting to about N366.9 million.
Mr Ebong, who studied Architecture from University of Ife and obtained Bachelor and Master of Science degrees, became the DMD of First Bank in June 2024. Prior to this appointment, he was Executive Director, Treasury and International Banking since January 2022.
He was previously the Group Executive, Treasury and International Banking, a position he held since 2016 after serving as the bank’s Treasurer from 2011 to 2016.
Before joining First Bank, he was the Head of African Fixed Income and Local Markets Trading, Renaissance Securities Nigeria Limited, the Nigerian registered subsidiary of Renaissance Capital. He also worked with Citigroup for 14 years as Country Treasurer and Sales and Trading Business Head.
He has a passion for market development and has worked actively to drive change and internationalisation of the Nigerian financial markets: foreign exchange, fixed income and securities.
He has worked closely with regulatory bodies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Debt Management Office (DMO) in assisting with the development of fresh monetary and foreign exchange policies, to broaden and deepen markets and open them up to international practices.
At various times he has facilitated and delivered courses and seminars on a wide variety of subjects covering Money Markets, Securities and Foreign exchange trading and market risk management subjects to regulators, corporate customers, banks and market participants.
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