Banking
UK’s Impact Investor Gives Ecobank $50m for African Trade
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The United Kingdom’s Development Finance Institution and impact investor, CDC Group, has approved a $50 million trade finance facility for Ecobank International (EBI SA), the Paris based member of the Ecobank Group.
The loan would enable the lender to provide further support for African trade, especially at a time the businesses need funds to be able to unlock the several opportunities in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
But the facility was given to Ecobank to support businesses across the continent, which have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The global health crisis has had a significant adverse effect on trade flows, business operations and jobs in Africa’s markets. This CDC facility will support the continent’s economic recovery and is expected to generate between $70 million to $140 million in additional trade annually.
The investment will enhance the import of essential goods, commodities and capital equipment, while also helping to expand access to goods and services in general.
“Our partnership with Ecobank presents an opportunity for CDC to provide trade support where it is most needed.
“Keeping trade flowing across the continent is a key objective in CDC’s COVID-19 response, and we are thrilled that our patient capital can support businesses that are at the centre of economic activities in our markets.
“We remain committed to playing our part in closing the trade finance gap in Africa, by helping to facilitate business and job growth, and building resilience for the long term,” the Director, Head of Trade & Supply Chain Finance, CDC Group, Admir Imami, said.
Also speaking, the Ecobank Group Executive Corporate and Investment Banking, Akin Dada, disclosed that, “Our partnership with CDC to enhance finance and capacity comes at a crucial time in Africa’s history with much-needed recovery from the challenges of COVID-19 and the immense trade and investment opportunities being created by the AfCFTA.
“We welcome the opportunity to work with development finance institutions such as CDC to help realise Africa’s potentials and sustainably drive its economic development.”
Also, the acting Managing Director at EBI SA, Jean Erwin NIZET, said, “This partnership with CDC will allow EBI SA to provide further support for African trade.
“In this challenging COVID-19 environment, this represents an important step in increasing Ecobank’s trade capacity and better serve its clients in Africa. This will ensure that Ecobank continues to contribute to the creation of value and sustainable growth across the continent.”
EBI SA, the international subsidiary of Togo-based Ecobank Group, is regarded as an ideal partner to boost CDC’s impact across Africa and help strengthen financial support for local banks and the businesses that they serve.
With the Ecobank Group’s extensive footprint and operations across 33 countries on the continent, the facility will broaden economic opportunities and inclusive growth, particularly in markets such as Togo, Burkina Faso and Chad.
The trade finance risk-sharing facility will meet the liquidity needs of local African banks at a crucial time especially with the economic impact of the pandemic.
By committing capital to address these shortfalls, CDC is taking on additional risk and providing further credit support and trade finance lines to local banks, thus protecting commerce across the continent.
The facility contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals Zero Hunger (SDG 2) and Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8).
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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