Economy
Heritage Bank Sponsors ‘The Next Titans’ Season 4
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
In a bid to continue boosting entrepreneurship development in order to curb the high level of unemployment in the country, Heritage Bank Plc says it will once again be the headline sponsor for the fourth season of ‘The Next Titans,’ a Nigerian entrepreneurial Reality TV Show.
The move by the bank is a consistent commitment to build the next generation of sustainable Nigerian businesses; young and budding entrepreneurs who will end up becoming ‘titans’ in their own disciplines whether in Technology, Inventions, Media, Real Estate, Fashion, Agriculture, or Productions, and so on.
Speaking at a press conference to flag off the season 4 of the project in Lagos over the weekend, the Group Head of Corporate Communication of the lender, Mr Fela Ibidapo, explained the reasons for the continued support of The Next Titan project, stating that because it is associated with the development of young people through small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs).
“We decided to support The Next Titan project, because its scope resonate with what our brand stand for which is the business of raising young people through SMEs either through the Youth Innovative Entrepreneurship Programme (YIEDP), an initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in conjunction with the Nigeria Youth Service Corp (NYSC), in partnership with the Nigerian Youth Professional Forum (NYPF) to support entrepreneurship and education in the country with N500 million Young Entrepreneurs and Students (YES) grant and the bank is also in partnership with Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL) empowered 100 aspiring start-up entrepreneurs under the Young Entrepreneurship Business Training Programme (YEBTP), among others,” he stated.
He said the financial institution has always being supporting SMES from the creative industry to the agricultural sector of the economy among others.
He said at the heart of management of the bank is that one day, “We would be able to put people in front of the press to say that indeed this people came to us about two, three years ago and now we are taking their companies to the stock exchange for listing.”
The show will also bring the reality of pains and gains of entrepreneurial journey into the living rooms of millions of Nigerians, and viewers will be given opportunity to vote for whom they believe has the composite of a successful entrepreneur.
At the audition holding in Abuja, Port Harcourt and Lagos from next week, 50 best applicants would be chosen from thousands of young and ambitious entrepreneurs that are willing to demonstrate their commercial insight, entrepreneurial acumen, and street-smartness, pitch their business ideas, before selection of the final 16 contestants who will tough it out over 10 weeks to see the crowned Next Titan carting away the ultimate prize of N5million and a brand new car.
Executive Producer of the Next Titan, Mr Mide Kunle-Akinlaja, said the importance of the Next Titan lied in igniting entrepreneurial spirit and showcasing the possibility of entrepreneurship in transforming lives with just an idea that could be scaled to greatness with a market and with Nigeria’s population.
He said the show, by scouting for young talented people who have entrepreneurial acumen, grooming them through a rigorous task and boardroom process and eventually funding a winner’s idea, leading to an opportunity to create jobs for themselves and others is indeed a big contributor to the socio-economic development of Nigeria.
The Executive Producer said the Next Titan was designed to sharpen and ignite the entrepreneurial spirit in young Nigerians, and it represented opportunity and more importantly recognize ordinary Nigerians that have determination, gusto and can do attitude with some of the best ideas.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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