Economy
Diamond Bank Sustains Empowerment of NYSC Members
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
One of the top financial institutions in Nigeria, Diamond Bank Plc, has continued to showcase its passion for youth development, youth empowerment and support for young entrepreneurs through the National Youth Service Corps Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (NYSC SAED) initiative.
Recently, the lender rewarded a set of NYSC members for the third year in a row.
Speaking at the NYSC orientation camp at Iyana-Ipaja, Lagos, the Product Manager of Diamond SWAG (Student With a Goal), a prime financial product for students in tertiary institutions and young graduates, Chinenye Nwosu, stated that the NYSC SAED (Skills Acquisition & Entrepreneurship Development) initiative is aimed at preparing all corps members towards the development of their business ideas, whilst teaching them to harness innate entrepreneurial skills in the face of huge unemployment challenges in Nigeria.
According to her, the “lion’s den” is the business plan competition that wraps up the SAED activities at the end of every camp season, adding that apart from the winners of the business plan competition, there will also be five lucky winners that will emerge.
The winners will be paid N5,000 pocket money every month for one year by Diamond Bank.
In her address, wife of the Lagos State Governor, Mrs Bonlanle Ambode, urged the corps members to take full advantage of all opportunities and programs made available to them in the camp and during the service year as it will arm them for the next phase of life after the one year national service.
She also encouraged them to stay safe, obey constituted authorities and be great ambassadors of the NYSC program and their Alma Mata.
Admonishing the NYSC members, Mr Abiosun Folawiyo, one of the past winners of the BET (Building Entrepreneurs Today) program, another platform through which Diamond Bank grooms and supports young entrepreneurs, urge them to think out of the box, find a workable goal and run with it.
He said, “No matter what your dream is, if you back it up with a great passion, tenacity and with quality support from a great institution like Diamond Bank, the sky is your starting point”.
Prince Mohammed Momoh, the NYSC State coordinator in his speech, applauded the corps members for their excellent behaviours in the camp and encouraged them to participate fully in all camp activities and take advantage of all opportunities presented to them like the SAED as it is aimed at equipping them to be active participators in the economy.
The event, which started with Platoons 1, 2, 4, 8 and 10 competing for the crown, saw Platoon 4 with the highest points winning the business plan competition.
They were rewarded with three sets of table top refrigerators for the representatives of the platoon and a cash prize for the platoon.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
