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ALAT By Wema Shows Sow to Live Soft Life in New Video

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ALAT By Wema
We are going through interesting times in the country today. Nigeria is blessed with many potentials, but it seems to struggle. The suboptimal developmental realities have economically put many Nigerians under a little more-than-normal pressure. The high unemployment rate, high-interest rate, poor access to favourable credit, high inflation rate, and high cost of living, just to name a few.
The better standard of living that is being enjoyed by citizens of other countries, especially those that are more advanced than we are, is not helping matters as it is a constant reminder to Nigerians of what they lack. They, like their contemporaries the world over, want to live in the fast lane too. Unfortunately, this is a tall order. Life in this clime seems hard and challenging. Many Nigerians seem to wonder how and when they can start enjoying soft living.
Such Nigerians do not know that many people were already enjoying soft lives far back in 2017. These are the people who got on board the train of ALAT By Wema, the first fully digital bank in Nigeria and a flagship product of Wema Bank, the country’s oldest indigenous commercial bank.
ALAT By Wema is a branchless and paperless bank that has made it possible for prospective customers to open and operate a bank account without the stress of having to walk into a bank’s physical branch. It created a seamless sign-up process using a mobile phone, PC or tablet.
The ALAT app was designed to match the customers’ lifestyles, help them save more and also give them access to exclusive group and personal savings, a free debit card, lifestyle benefits, up to four per cent annual interest, loans without collaterals and above all, does not charge ridiculous fees like the everyday commercial banks.
The app gives the customer all the banking control he needs with just a click, making all banking services available to customers anywhere they can access the internet. Little wonder the bank gained over 250,000 customers who handled well over N1.6 billion ($4.48 million) deposits in its first year of operations.
To extend the soft lives enjoyed by its privileged customers, ALAT By Wema released a one-minute video titled Wanna join the trybe. Check out the video (www.alatbywema.com/trybe ), which lists five ways ALAT makes the life of anyone who operates an ALAT account ‘soft.’ It not only showed some benefits of operating the account but also how prospecting customers who want to experience the ‘wonder’ product could enlist and operate an account with ALAT By Wema

Economy

Nigeria’s Domestic US Dollar Bond Emerges West Africa Deal of the Year

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Domestic Dollar Bond Sale

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria’s first-ever domestic US Dollar bond has been named as the West Africa Deal of the Year at the 2025 Global Banking & Markets Africa Awards, following a highly successful issuance that raised $917 million.

Announced by the Debt Management Office (DMO) on August 19, 2024, the bond initially targeted $500 million but was oversubscribed by 180 per cent.

The raise came with a five-year tenor and was listed on both the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) and FMDQ Securities Exchange.

The landmark issuance attracted a broad spectrum of investors, including local institutions, diaspora Nigerians, and international players. Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) served as Global Coordinator.

The Ministry of Finance said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that the Minister of State for Finance, Mrs Doris Uzoka-Anite, received the award at the Bonds, Loans & ESG Capital Markets Conference in Cape Town, South Africa.

She formally presented it to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun in his office in Abuja on Thursday.

“This award marks an important step in our ambition to position Nigeria—and Lagos—as a leading international financial centre,” Mr Edun said.

“It also reflects growing confidence in the expertise and resilience of Nigeria’s financial system, which has once again delivered under challenging global conditions”, the Minister affirmed.

The ministry noted that the prestigious award underscores Nigeria’s commitment to developing its capital markets, improving its investment landscape, and attracting foreign investment, adding that it is also a testament to the country’s potential for economic growth and its determination to become a leading international financial centre.

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Economy

Petrol Station Owners Caution Refiners Against Importing Substandard Crude Oil

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Utapate crude oil blend

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has cautioned refinery operators against importing substandard crude oil, following the expiry of the Naira-for-crude deal.

In a statement signed by its National Public Relations Officer, Mr Joseph Obele, the association said imported crude must meet global standards to ensure the production of high-quality petroleum products.

The group stressed that Nigerian crude oil, classified as Sweet Crude due to its low sulfur content of less than 0.5 per cent – ranks among the best in the world, and importation possess a high risk.

“We see no reason why imported crude oil should be of lower standards. The importation of substandard crude oil will compromise the quality of petroleum products, undermine the growth of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, and ultimately harm consumers.”

PETROAN also expressed concern over speculations that petroleum product prices may rise following the expiration of the naira-for-crude arrangement and called for continued access to imported refined petroleum products to stabilize prices and ensure energy sufficiency.

“The permutations in the media that petroleum prices might increase as the Naira-for-crude deal comes to an end is a serious concern to PETROAN. In order to avoid this scenario, we advocate that the window for importing refined petroleum products should remain open.”

The group  urged regulatory agencies to conduct rigorous laboratory testing on all crude oil imports to verify their quality.

“We call on regulatory agencies to be on high alert and conduct thorough laboratory analysis on all crude oil imports to ensure they meet the required standards. We also urge the relevant authorities to ensure that refinery operators adhere to the highest operational standards.”

The association further called on the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Mr Heineken Lokpobiri, to conduct a comprehensive review of the Naira-for-crude initiative to determine the next steps in Nigeria’s energy sector.

“The reforms introduced by the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, encourage competition in the downstream sector. Competition is a catalyst for price reduction in any sector. We believe that as the market adjusts to the new realities, prices will stabilize and eventually decrease.”

PETROAN also announced plans to conduct independent laboratory testing on refined petroleum products.

“We will conduct laboratory testing on refined petroleum products to determine which refinery or depot our members should buy from. This is to ensure that our members and the Nigerian public are not sold substandard products.”

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Economy

Unlisted Securities Investors Gain N4.55bn After Previous Day’s Loss

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Unlisted Securities Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange bounced back on Thursday, April 3 from its previous day’s loss, gaining 0.24 per cent at the close of business.

This increased the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 7.78 points to 3,316.34 points from the preceding trading day’s 3,308.46 points and raised the portfolios of unlisted securities investors by N4.55 billion as the market capitalisation ended at N1.915 trillion compared with Wednesday’s N1.910 trillion.

This growth occurred after the bourse finished with three price gainers and one price loser, IPWA Plc, which shed 5 Kobo to end at 50 Kobo per share, in contrast to midweek’s value of 55 Kobo per share.

Business Post reports that FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained N2.16 to close at N38.66 per unit versus N36.50 per unit, First Trust Microfinance Bank Plc appreciated by 2 Kobo to 58 Kobo per unit from 56 Kobo per unit, and Food Concepts Plc rose by 1 Kobo to N1.18 per share from N1.17 per share.

Data indicated that there was a decrease of 95.9 per cent in the volume of securities bought and sold by the market participants to 372,568 units from the 9.1 million units transacted in the previous trading day.

Equally, the value of transactions slid by 43.7 per cent to N4.1 million from N7.2 million, and the number of deals went up by 81.8 per cent to 40 deals from 22 deals.

When the market ended for the session, Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 70.2 million units sold for N23.8 million, and Geo Fluids Plc with 44.2 million units valued at N89.4 million.

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc finished the trading day as the active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 13.8 million units valued at N531.6 million, trailed by Impresit Bakolori Plc with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 17.8 million units sold for N364.2 million.

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