Economy

Chooya Gets $950k to Proffer Marketing Solutions to Businesses

Published

4 years ago

09/11/2021

By Adedapo Adesanya

As part of efforts to further spread financial technology solutions to other parts of the country, Chooya, an Aba-based e-commerce startup digitising word-of-mouth marketing for African businesses and consumers, has announced funding of $950,000 in cash and program support from Entrepreneurship World Cup.

As one of the top 100 EWC finalists chosen from 200,000 participants spread across 200 countries, Chooya will benefit from the over $75 million service support from Misk Global Forum, Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), and other world-class partners.

With the injection of funds, Chooya will be tapping into product development, marketing and human resources to reach businesses (local and online) struggling with new customer acquisition to help them digitize word-of-mouth marketing and grow their sales.

According to the company, for any business to reach new customers and grow their sales they have to engage in marketing.

However, currently available channels do not provide an easy or budget-friendly way to automate word-of-mouth marketing which by research is the most effective type of marketing.

Chooya’s word-of-mouth mobile solution called “addds” plans to target 5,000 businesses by the third quarter of 2022 and help them boost sales by 300 per cent.

Speaking on this, Mr Igwe Uguru, founder and CEO of Chooya said, “I was inspired to digitize word-of-mouth marketing by my experience helping my 72-year-old father at his local business.

“Without any form of paid commercial or social media ads, I watched the customers grow every single month through word-of-mouth marketing and helped my father train all his five children in the high institution. We are very excited about Chooya’s future and the impact we are set to make considering the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, especially on small businesses.”

On his part, Mr Jonathan Ortmans, President, Global Entrepreneurship Network — “As one of the top 100 EWC finalists chosen from 200,000 participants spread across 200 countries, we are excited to have Chooya join this community of promising founders.

“Through the Club, GEN Starters access global connections with experienced entrepreneurs, mentors and investors within the Global Entrepreneurship Network and our partners – as well as year-round opportunities for additional support and visibility through curated networking opportunities at special events and learning experiences through GEN Accelerates – our training platform.”

Chooya was founded in 2019 as a search engine for African traditional markets. It has been bootstrapped since its inception. It has previously received recognition and awards from Alibaba Business School and African Leadership University (2020).

The Entrepreneurship World Cup is more than just a pitch competition. It gives everyone who enters access to the knowledge, networks and for some, the capital they need to start and scale a company.

Chooya received a $100,000 national and $850,000 global prize from the EWC.

Economy

NNPC Runs to Chinese Firms to Revive Port Harcourt, Warri Refineries

Published

3 hours ago

05/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with two Chinese companies to get the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries working again after decades of repeated failures.

The deal, through a potential Technical Equity Partnership (TEP) in support of the completion and operation of the refineries, was signed by the chief executive of the NNPC, Mr Bayo Ojulari; the chairman, Sanjiang Chemical Company, Mr Guan Jianzhong; and the chairman of Xinganchen (Fuzhou) Industrial Park Operation and Management Company Ltd, Mr Bill Bi, in Jiaxing City, China, on Thursday, April 30, 2026.

The potential framework would cover completion of outstanding work at the two refineries, together with operating and maintaining both facilities to achieve best-in-class, sustainable performance.

Planned expansion and upgrades would elevate both facilities to cleaner, more profitable product standards, according to a statement by the NNPC’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Mr Andy Odeh, on Monday.

The NNPC said that the deal reflects the parties’ shared intent to progress discussions in good faith, with any definitive arrangements to follow in due course and subject to customary approvals.

“The potential collaboration also contemplates expanding the refineries’ petrochemical capacities and harnessing gas and downstream opportunities through the development of co-located, gas-based industrial hubs,” it added.

Speaking shortly after the signing, the NNPC helmsman described the MoU execution as a significant milestone, following more than six months of concerted engagement between the technical and management teams of NNPC and the two Chinese partners, Sanjiang and Xinganchen.

“All parties recognise mutually beneficial opportunities for the development and long-term sustainable profitability of NNPC’s refining assets in Nigeria, and the collective weight required for success,” Mr Ojulari noted.

He further stated that the MoU was an important step on the journey towards identifying potential technical equity partner(s) to restart and expand NNPC’s refineries, and to explore opportunities in co-located petrochemicals and gas-based industries.

“The MoU reflects the parties’ shared intent to progress discussions in good faith, with any definitive arrangements to follow in due course and subject to customary approvals,” the statement added.

Economy

NASD OTC Exchange Sustains Uptrend With 0.52% Gain

Published

4 hours ago

05/05/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange started the new week on an upward trajectory after it closed higher by 0.52 per cent on Monday, May 4.

This raised the market capitalisation by N12.48 billion to N2.409 trillion from last Thursday’s N2.396 trillion, and moved the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) higher by 20.86 points to 4,026.64 points from 4,005.78 points.

The unlisted securities market gained weight yesterday despite recording two price gainers and two price losers.

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc added N8.92 to sell at N98.14 per share versus N89.24 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc appreciated by N1.12 to N77.14 per unit from N76.02 per unit.

Conversely, NASD Plc lost N3.47 to sell at N31.23 per share compared with the previous price of N34.70 per share, and Food Concepts Plc declined by 26 Kobo to settle at N2.41 per unit, in contrast to the previous rate of N2.67 per unit.

During the session, the volume of securities traded by investors fell by 14.4 per cent to 751,518 units from 877,682 units, and the number of deals decreased by 44.1 per cent to 31 deals from 56 deals, while the value of securities climbed 32.8 per cent to N35.4 million from N26.7 million.

The most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis remained Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 60.2 million units transacted for N4.1 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units sold for N1.9 billion.

GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.

Economy

Naira Gains 0.7% to Trade N1,365/$1 at Official Market

Published

4 hours ago

05/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira opened the week in the green territory in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday after it further appreciated against the US Dollar by N9.71 or 0.7 per cent to quote at N1,365.23/$1 compared with the previous session’s value of N1,374.94/$1.

The scenario was not different with the Pound Sterling at the same market window, where it gained N6.99 to sell for N1,851.25/£1 versus last Thursday’s closing price of N1,858.24/£1, and appreciated against the Euro by N8.62 to close at N1,607.58/€1, in contrast to the N1,612.87/€1 it was traded in the previous trading day.

Similarly, at the black market, the Naira improved its value against the greenback yesterday by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the previous rate of N1,385/$1, and at the GTBank FX desk, it closed flat at N1,384/$1.

The Nigerian Naira put up a good performance against the Dollar during the session due to sustained monetary tightening by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and a steady increase in foreign exchange inflows.

Specifically, stronger diaspora remittances, oil-related inflows, and a decline in speculative demand for the Dollar played pivotal roles in anchoring market expectations.

Sufficient FX liquidity has continued to keep the Naira stable. The local currency stayed strong despite an 83 per cent decline in CBN FX intervention in April to $150 million from $985 million in March.

As for the cryptocurrency market, prices were mixed as broader crypto markets were diverse and macro risks persisted, amid ongoing US-Iran tensions and steady central bank policy, with upcoming US earnings and jobs data seen as potential catalysts for further bitcoin volatility.

Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1.3 per cent to sell at $80,889.94, Ethereum (ETH) jumped 0.3 per cent to $2,376.40, Cardano (ADA) increased by 0.2 per cent to $0.2529, and TRON (TRX) appreciated by 0.2 per cent to $0.3399.

On the flip side, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid 0.8 per cent to $0.1113, Ripple (XRP) went down by 0.5 per cent to $1.40, Binance Coin (BNB) dropped 0.4 per cent to $626.41, and Solana (SOL) shrank by 0.3 per cent to $84.60, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.