XLR8 Emerges ‘Best Corporate PR Practitioner of 2017’

By Adedapo Adesanya The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has alerted Nigerians of unauthorised bank withdrawals linked to Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card swap fraud. The commission issued the alert on Monday in a statement by the Head of Media and Publicity, Mr Dele Oyewale. According to the EFCC, fraudsters engaged in this activity typically keep a debit card from the same bank and, under the guise of assisting a confused bank customer at an ATM point, swiftly swap the card while memorising the PIN used with fake cards. “These cards get stuck in the machine due to a

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

Sterling Bank Limited’s cutting-edge investment platform, Doubble, has been upgraded with new features aimed at improving investment returns for existing and new customers. With various flexible naira and dollar investment options, including money market offerings with returns higher than your bank’s returns on savings. The digital savings and investment platform provides a seamless avenue for individuals to build wealth. Users are provided with a guaranteed income stream and fixed growth over a set period, as well as a hedge against market volatility, the ability to secure loans against account balances, and the convenience of transferring the annuity to a spouse

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A cutting-edge German-Nigerian financial technology (fintech) firm, BFREE, plans to put down $40 million to acquire some distressed loan portfolios in Union Bank of Nigeria. A statement from the Nigerian lender said both parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Berlin on November 21, 2023, at the German-Nigerian Business Forum. It was disclosed that BFREE would partner with its international financing partners to refinance bad loans from Union Bank, particularly those delayed in repayment or already written off. Union Bank expressed its optimism that this strategic partnership with BFREE would not only bolster the bank’s financial

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh After the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit held in Washington in mid-December, the National Basketball Association (NBA) has agreements to open and further expand American sports in Dakar, Senegal and Lagos, Nigeria. Reports say the NBA has a long history in Africa and opened its African headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2010 and additional offices in Dakar, Senegal, and Lagos, Nigeria, in 2022. The league is committed to expanding efforts to make the game of basketball and the NBA more accessible across the continent. For the 2022 season, following the establishment of a standalone entity in 2021,

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it does not have any intention to prevent offshore investors from participating in its regular sale of short-term bills via the Open Market Operations (OMO). Recall that a few years ago, the apex bank barred local investors from buying the liquidity management instrument. The attractive financial asset was only made available to foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) as part of moves to boost foreign exchange (FX) inflows into the country, especially at a time the nation was experiencing a squeeze in FX liquidity, which was putting pressure on the Naira

By Adedapo Adesanya  President Muhammadu Buhari has signed the 2021 Appropriation Bill of N13,588,027,886,175 into law. This was disclosed by the Personal Assistant to the President on New Media, Mr Bashir Ahmad, on Thursday. He said the short signing ceremony was done this morning at the Council Chambers of the State House, Abuja. The president was flanked by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the Senate President, Mr Ahmad Lawan; Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha; Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed; amongst others. The signing came three days after it was transmitted

Many have hailed the appointment of Mr Frank Mba by the Police Serve Commission (PSC) as Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG). The appointment of the former 3-time Force Public Relations Officer was announced on Friday, June 16, 2023. A consummate, refined and vastly experienced cop with 31 years in service with the Nigeria Police Force, Mr Mba has transversed different departments of the force in strategic areas of investigations, operations, administration and public relations/communications. Commenting on the promotion, the spokesman of the Police Service Commission, Mr Ikechukwu Ani, explained that Mr Mba is the most senior police officer from the

Nigeria’s largest credit bureau, CreditRegistry, is offering lenders free usage of its premium credit reporting service to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses. According to a statement issued by the firm, this offer, estimated at more than N25 million, is timed to come into effect with the commencement of the phased easing of the lockdown on May 4, 2020 in Lagos, FCT and Ogun as announced by President Muhammadu Buhari. Lenders not yet subscribed to its platform are able to use CreditRegistry’s credit reporting service at no cost throughout the month of May. This offer enables lenders,

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Union (AU), the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), and Africa50—in partnership with several global partners—have launched the Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa (AGIA), an initiative to help scale and accelerate financing for green infrastructure projects in Africa. The alliance is seeking to raise up to $500 million of early-stage project preparation and development capital with the goal of boosting project bankability and generating up to $10 billion in investment opportunities for the private sector. The collaborating global partners working with the lead partners are the African Union Development Agency, the European Investment Bank, the

By Adeniyi Ogunfowoke When it comes to choosing the right payment platform for your business, it is important you do exhaustive research before making a decision. This is because you don’t want any time lapse or delay when customers want to pay for services. Interestingly, there are thousands of payment platforms in Nigeria today that you may be in a limbo on which to choose. Not to worry, we share some tips. Be aware of transactional fee This is one of the most important things you must consider before choosing a payment platform. This is because you don’t want your

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has asked 17 insurance companies in the country to review and resubmit their plans, which highlights how they intend to meet the new capital base requirement requested for by the regulator. NAICOM had given the underwriters till Tuesday, August 20, 2019 to submit the recapitalisation templates, which should contain a resolution of the board on how the funds for the exercise would be sourced with timelines and deliverables. “Companies intending to seek funds from the capital markets are required to submit their plan of action on a file-and-use basis. “Companies that intend