Economy
FBNQuest Sees Education as Catalyst for Economic Growth
Across the globe, organisations have intensified efforts towards preparing their workforce for the demands of the future.
The preparation comes in the form of education (or training), that is, upskilling (technical, soft skills, mentorship) and digitisation training programs which will avail workers the ability to acquire knowledge, skills, tools and the ability to use the ever-changing technologies in their workplaces and private affairs.
As a critical component of a country’s human capital, evidence abounds as justifications for investing in educating the workforce: a leading determinant of economic growth, employment, and earnings.
The need for education in all its form cannot be overemphasised in this rapidly changing world. For instance, 2020 in retrospect, particularly between the second (Q2) and third quarter (Q3), have it that the global economy witnessed a significant amount of disruption.
From SMEs to big corporations, economic activities were at a standstill. Despite the technological advancement of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, the tale was not palatable.
The world’s biggest economy, the United States, was not left out as its economy plunged by 31.4 per cent within the period. The Eurozone witnessed a 12.1 per cent decline in its real GDP growth rate by the same period, and the impacted some economies within the Euro area.
Spain’s real GDP growth rate declined by 18.5 per cent; France’s fell by 13.8 per cent, Italy saw its real GDP decline by 12.4 per cent, while Germany’s sank by 10.1 per cent.
Further, some countries including Africa’s biggest economy, Nigeria, slumped into recession. This spiralled into a significant amount of job loss across every sector of the economy, not leaving the western world behind.
As a bounce back, education took its role leading to inventions and innovations. The lockdown forced companies and businesses to think outside the box for a quick fix—upskilling their workforce. Consequently, companies in Nigeria began to train their workforce to adopt digital means of doing business which then led to remote working as part of the new normal.
In effect, technology came atop as one of the catalysts that individuals, firms and government turned to inject life into their businesses and other activities.
From virtual meetings to online learning, mobile technology and online support for offline sectors, governments and corporate bodies switched to the new normal. Apps like Zoom, Google Meet, GoToMeeting, Join Me, Webex, Slack and Microsoft Teams to mention a few became a central platform for conferencing.
According to Sensor Tower, the global app revenue jumped to $50 billion in the first half of 2020, representing 26.1 per cent of the corresponding quarter in 2019, and partly due to COVID-19, with Google Play taking the largest chunk of the global revenue.
Although training and capacity building remains a critical pillar in recent times, the process of developing human capital through education requires creating the necessary environment in which employees can learn better, apply innovative ideas, acquire new competencies, develop skills, behaviours and attitudes.
Education can be formal, informal and non-formal with the desire to get improved performance, enhance innovation in new strategies and products, reduce employee turnover, and boost the organisational profiles. This consequently affects the gross domestic product (GDP) of a country. A country’s economy becomes more productive as the proportion of educated workers increases.
Education, through digital technology, has started to transform the lives of smallholder farmers, thus reducing post-harvest losses, by having the means to better storage and processing facilities and access to market information and subsidized farm inputs.
With the introduction of Onecourse, a software application that improves reading, writing and mathematics, the Malawian government was able to narrow the gender gap in reading and mathematics skills. Rwanda implemented a mobile app called Babyl. With this app, patients are given information about their symptoms and referral givens when it becomes unavoidable.
The Nigerian labour force demonstrates the characteristics of individuals who urgently need training such as coding and innovation to be relevant in the 21st-century workplace.
According to the recent labour force data, 30 per cent of Nigerians never attended school. Further analysis shows that 17 per cent had primary school certificates, 36 per cent had secondary school certificates, while those in possession of degree and higher certificates constituted 20 per cent of the nation’s workforce.
Even within this group, 8 per cent have Ordinary National Diploma(OND)/Nigeria Certificate In Education (NCE) certifications; 9 per cent have first degrees (BA/BSc/Bed/HND), while 1 per cent have post-graduate degrees (MSc/MA/MAdmin).
Above this is the 0.1 per cent group which have doctorate degrees. However, according to the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, the number of out-of-school children had dropped from 10.1 million in 2019 to 6.5 million in 2020. This shows an intentional effort by parents, governments and organisations to narrow the gap as well as tackle the prevalent challenges, albeit primary education is officially free.
Some organisations envisaged the impact of education/training as a catalyst for Nigeria’s economic growth in Nigeria’s economy. To corroborate this, analysts at Businessday Research and Intelligence Unit (BRIU) understudied the impact of upskilling and digital transformation in driving economic growth in Nigeria.
From the report, it was projected that the Nigerian economy will grow by $8.79 billion by 2023 and this growth will be largely driven by some sectors—ICT, agriculture, health, finance and insurance sectors— and by companies that spend more on training, research and development and technology acquisition.
In this light, FBNQuest, through its Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CR&S), continues to focus on knowledge and skills development for economic growth.
Thousands of students have been trained in financial literacy which includes ways to earn, save and grow money; hundreds of women have also been trained on financial literacy through female economic empowerment and capacity building initiatives; A Bloomberg Room was set up in Lagos Business School (LBS) to help students gain access to real-time financial data through the use of the Bloomberg Terminals; employees have volunteered to mentor Teach For Nigeria (TFN) fellows; to mention a few.
Research shows that several present-day jobs may disappear in the next few years, while the jobs of the future are not yet created, requiring that workforces across different sectors need new skills while for firms to remain competitive, digitalisation is the way to go.
In all, it is envisaged that the gross domestic product of many economies will increase noticeably due to the implementation of upskilling and digitisation programs across the world.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, increased by 55.4 per cent on a month-on-month basis to 71.5 million litres per day in November 2025 from 46 million litres per day in October.
This was contained in the November 2025 fact sheet of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) on Monday.
The data showed that the nation’s consumption also increased by 44.5 per cent or 37.4 million litres to 52.1 million litres per day in November 2025, against 28.9 million litres in October.
The significant increase in petrol supply last month was on account of the imports by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited into the Nigerian market from both the domestic and the international market.
Domestic refineries supplied in the period stood at 17.1 million litres per day, while the average daily consumption of PMS for the month was 52.9 million litres per day.
The NMDPRA noted that no production activities were recorded in all the state-owned refineries, which included Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries, in the period, as the refineries remained shut down.
According to the report, the imports were aimed at building inventory and further guaranteeing supply during the peak demand period.
Other reasons for the increase, according to the NMDPRA, were due to “low supply recorded in September and October 2025, below the national demand threshold; the need for boosting national stock level to meet the peak demand period of end of year festivities, and twelve vessels programmed to discharge into October, which spilled into November.”
On gas, the average daily gas supply climbed to 4.684 billion standard cubic feet per day in November 2025, from the 3.94 bscf/d average processing level recorded in October.
The Nigeria LNG Trains 1-6 also maintained a stable processing output of 3.5 bscf/d in November 2025, but utilisation improved slightly to 73.7 per cent compared with 71.68 per cent in October.
The increase, according to the report, was driven by higher plant utilisation across processing hubs and steady export volumes from the Nigeria LNG plant in Bonny.
“As of November 2025, Nigeria’s major gas processing facilities recorded improved output and utilisation levels, with the Nigeria LNG Trains 1-6 processing 3.50 billion standard cubic feet per day at a utilisation rate of 73.70 per cent.
“Gbaran Ubie Gas Plant processed 1.250 bscf per day, operating at 71.21 per cent utilisation, while the MPNU Bonny River Terminal recorded a throughput of 0.690 bscf per day during the period. Processing activities at the Escravos Gas Plant stood at 0.680 bscf per day, representing a 62 per cent utilisation rate, whereas the Soku Gas Plant emerged as the top performer, processing 0.600 bscf per day at 96.84 per cent utilisation,” it stated.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The proposed share reconstruction of a local gaming firm, Secure Electronic Technology (SET), has been suspended.
The Lagos-based company decided to shelve the exercise after negotiations with potential investors crumbled like a house of cards.
Secure Electronic Technology was earlier in talks with some foreign investors interested in the organisation.
Plans were underway to restructure the shares of the company, which are listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
However, things did not go as planned as the potential investors pulled out, leaving the board to consider others ways to move the firm forward.
Confirming this development, the company secretary, Ms Irene Attoe, in a statement, said the board would explore other means to keep the company running to deliver value to shareholders.
“This is to notify the NGX and the investing public that a meeting of the board of SET held on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, as scheduled, to consider the status of the proposed share reconstruction and recapitalisation as approved by the members at the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held on April 16, 2025.
“After due deliberations, the board wishes to announce that the proposed share reconstruction will not take place as anticipated due to the inability of the parties to reach a convergence on the best and mutually viable terms.
“Thus, following an impasse in the negotiations, and the investors’ withdrawal from the transaction, the board has, in the interest of all members, decided to accept these outcomes and move ahead in the overall interest of the business.
“The board is committed to driving the strategic objectives of SEC and to seeking viable opportunities for sustainable growth of the company,” the disclosure stated.
Business Post reports that the share price of SET crashed by 3.85 per cent on Tuesday on Customs Street on Tuesday to 75 Kobo. Its 52-week high remains N1.33 and its one-year low is 45 Kobo. Today, investors transacted 39,331,958 units.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Clea, a blockchain-powered platform that allows African importers to pay international suppliers in USD while settling locally, has officially launched.
During its pilot phase, Clea processed more than $4 million in cross-border transactions, demonstrating strong early demand from businesses navigating the complexities of global trade.
Clea addresses persistent challenges that African importers have long struggled with, including limited FX access, unpredictable exchange rates, high bank charges, fraudulent intermediaries, and payment delays that slow or halt shipments. The continent also faces a trade-finance gap estimated at over $120 billion annually, limiting importers’ ability to access the FX and financial infrastructure needed for timely international payments by offering fast, transparent, and direct USD settlements, completed without intermediaries or banking bottlenecks.
Founded by Mr Sheriff Adedokun, Mr Iyiola Osuagwu, and Mr Sidney Egwuatu, Clea was created from the team’s own experiences dealing with unreliable international payments. The platform currently serves Nigerian importers trading with suppliers in the United States, China, and the UAE, with plans to expand into additional trade corridors.
The platform will allow local payments in Naira with instant access to Dollars as well as instant, same-day, or next-day settlement options and transparent, traceable transactions that reduce fraud risk.
Speaking on the launch, Mr Adedokun said, “Importers face unnecessary stress when payments are delayed or rejected. Clea eliminates that uncertainty by offering reliable, secure, and traceable payments completed in the importer’s own name, strengthening supplier confidence from day one.”
Mr Osuagwu, co-founder & CTO, added, “Our goal is to make global trade feel as seamless as a local transfer. By connecting local currencies to global transactions through blockchain technology, we are removing long-standing barriers that have limited African importers for years.”
According to a statement shared with Business Post, Clea is already working with shipping operators who refer merchants to the platform and is also engaging trade associations and logistics networks in key import hubs. The company remains fully bootstrapped but is open to strategic investors aligned with its mission to build a trusted global payment network for African businesses.
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