Standard Chartered Bank Launches Digital Bank, Hires Drogba

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Like a golden fish, which has no hiding place, Stanbic IBTC Capital, the investment banking subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, was the cynosure of all eyes at the recently concluded Association of Issuing Houses of Nigeria (AIHN) Investment Banking Dinner and Awards ceremony. At the event held in Lagos, the company went home with five awards, named as the Best Investment Bank in Nigeria, the Equity Deal of 2022, the Best Equity House of 2022, the Best Corporate Bond House 2022 and the M&A Deal of the Year 2022. The recognitions spread across Stanbic IBTC Capital’s Advisory,

By Adedapo Adesanya President Bola Tinubu has thrown his full weight behind the plan by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to increase the capital base of banks in the country. The President expressed his views on this move, which last occurred in 2005, through his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, in his message at the 40th anniversary of The Guardian Newspapers in Lagos on Tuesday. He said bank recapitalisation was crucial to Nigeria achieving a $1 trillion economy. “Amidst the general lull in a global economy, our ambition to attain a $1 trillion economy appears

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A business grant of N10 million has been given to 30 members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), who partook in the entrepreneurship development initiative of Unity Bank Plc known as the Corpreneurship Challenge. The young entrepreneurs received funding support for developing innovative solutions in several business value chains like honey production, rice, and snail farming, among others. The beneficiaries pitched their business ideas to judges selected for the competition across 10 state NYSC Orientation Camps; Katsina, Kano, Kwara, Imo, Rivers, Delta, Sokoto, Edo, Akwa-Ibom, and Osun States. At the NYSC Orientation camp at Ikot Itie

By Adedapo Adesanya All bank accounts without Bank Verification Number (BVN) and National Identification Number (NIN) will from April 2024 have “Post No Debit (PND)” placed on them. This is the latest directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to financial institutions operating in the country. In a circular issued by the apex bank and sent to all deposit money banks (DMBs) on Friday evening, the CBN said all the BVN or NIN attached to and/or associated with AL accounts/wallets must be electronically revalidated by January 31, 2024. In the circular seen by Business Post, the central bank said

By Adedapo Adesanya The 2019 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Report has revealed that the number of “multi-dimensionally poor” Nigerians increased by 12 million from 86 million to 98 million between 2007 and 2017. The report, released in New York on Thursday by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, noted that the proportion of people who “are multi-dimensionally poor” had remained constant at just over 50 percent over the past decade up to 2017. Multidimensional poverty includes the various deprivations experienced people in their daily lives – such as poor health, lack

By Adedapo Adesanya Russia has become the world’s second-largest oil producer, beating Saudi Arabia after producing more crude oil in June, data from the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI) has shown. The country is only behind the world’s number one producer, the United States, according to the data. Despite output cuts from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, OPEC+ the country’s crude oil production stood at 8.788 million barrels per day, according to the data released by the JODI database, which collects self-reported figures from 114 countries. By comparison, Saudi Arabia’s production in the same

By Adedapo Adesanya The Director-General of the National Association of Commerce Industry Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Ambassador Ayoola Olukanni, has said that the over N5 trillion spent annually by major businesses in the country to provide power is a big drain on resources. Speaking in Lagos on Monday, the NACCIMA boss explained the negative effects of this menace on his members and the economy at large. According to him, the huge sum is majorly expended on generators, maintenance and fuelling by private businesses. “We spend about $14 billion annually on generators, maintenance and fuelling in other to keep our business

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been urged to consider extending the deadline for rejecting old Naira notes as legal tender in Nigeria from January 31, 2023, to June 30, 2023. This followed the point of order cited by one of the Senators, Mr Ali Ndume, during a special plenary at the upper chamber of the National Assembly on Wednesday, December 28, 2022. Coming under orders 41 and 51 seeking the leave of the Senate to move a motion on the urgent need to extend the withdrawal of old currency from circulation, the lawmaker argued that

By Dipo Olowookere Last week, President Muhammadu Buhari travelled to Germany on an official visit. During the trip, he addressed the media in Berlin alongside his host, Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany. After his address, questions were received from newsmen at the event and Mr Buhari was asked to react to an interview his wife, Mrs Aisha Buhari, granted the BBC, where she claimed a cabal had taken over her husband’s government. Mr Buhari gave a response that has set the cyber space on fire since then and even caused his host in Germany to abruptly end the briefing.

In the history of providing financial interventions for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria, a mix of funding in different areas, to support the textile, manufacturing, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and housing sectors have received a boost to ensure the growth and sustainability of these industries in order to reduce the burden and effects of unemployment in Nigeria. What comes to mind is that the support provided for these small businesses should produce a cumulative effect in job and wealth creation as well as contribute to national and economic development by moving most Nigerians out of the poverty line into

By Dipo Olowookere South African national football team on Saturday defeated Nigeria in the 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying match played in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, Nigeria. The Bafana Bafana beat the Super Eagles by two unreplied goals scored in the second half of the match. It was the first win against Nigeria for South Africa in a competitive match. Rantie Tokelo put the South Africans ahead 10 minutes into the second stanza of the match played at the Godwills Akpabio International Stadium before Percy Tau doubled the lead 8 minutes from time. Both teams, in Group E, are

Nigeria and Spain are to make stronger their bilateral trade relationship in oil and gas for the benefit of the two countries. Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Kachalla Baru, disclosed on Thursday in Abuja while receiving the Spanish Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Alfonso Barnuevo to the NNPC Towers. Baru noted that NNPC as an integrated oil and gas company is currently undergoing transformation which includes increasing the Corporation’s refining capacity. He added that the corporation would work closely with the Spanish National Oil Company, REPSOL, to improve the technical capacities of the refineries.