Economy

MIPAD Educates Entrepreneurs Ways to Attract Investors

Published

7 years ago

05/09/2019

By Adedapo Adesanya

Capital is an integral part of business and its importance cannot be overlooked in Africa; this is why the Most Influential People of African Descent (MIPAD) has called on entrepreneurs to build their profiles so as to ensure easy access to investors and get opportunities and capital for their businesses.

This call was made by a panel of honourees comprised of Abayomi Awobokun, CEO, ENYO Retail and Supply; Dr. Ola Brown, Managing Director, Flying Doctors Nigeria; Obi Ozor, Managing Director, Kobo 360 (represented by Samuel Riou); Bunmi Akinyemiju, CEO, Venture Garden Group and Ukinebo Dare, Head, Edo State Skills Development Agency (EdoJobs), during the Class of 2019 100 Under 40 event organised by MIPAD, held at the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Friday, 30 August 2019.

Amongst the honourees who made this call was Abayomi Awobokun, during his opening remark at the event informed the audience that MIPAD was focused on changing the narrative about Africa and he encouraged honourees worldwide to leverage this global network to make major changes in the way Africa and Africans are seen by the world.

Supporting this during the panel discussion moderated by Ukinebo Dare, was Bunmi Akinyemiju, CEO, Venture Garden Group, who, speaking on this year’s theme Raising Capital in Africa, said there was a need to drive and encourage a better outlook for business looking for prospective investors in Africa.

He said “Entrepreneurs looking for prospective investors must have a good story, a consistent story that show their promises kept, and not just turning up at the investor’s door with a request for investment.”

Another member of the panel, Dr. Ola Brown, a medical doctor cum venture capitalist and Managing Director of Flying Doctors Nigeria, corrected the preconceived notion held by entrepreneurs about ideas, stating that ideas are not enough to attract investors but also the viability of these ideas in the market.

According to her, “it is true that investors look for those companies that can fill the gaps in the market but they also ensure that there is enough market in the gap to ensure good and timely returns on investment.”

Dr Brown then used the opportunity to call on entrepreneurs to increase the scope of their businesses and social circles to include people with clout and social stature in order to ease their search for investors.

On his own part during the panel discussion, Abayomi Awobokun, another noted that investors are always looking at the market realities and would go for businesses that are poised to maximally exploit these realities.

“You must show the problems they are solving as well as show passion and energy to solve those problems in order to attract investments.” He said.

Awobokun, using his capacity as Chief Executive Officer of ENYO Retail and Supply, listed other factors that brought about desirability to include a dedicated team to scout for investors, entrepreneurial resilience, a long-term investment horizon, the integrity of entrepreneur and in-house of corporate governance structure.

Kamil Olufowobi, Founder & CEO, MIPAD, during his goodwill messages to the 2019 honourees of the group disclosed that these leaders will be representing Nigeria, the largest country in the world of People of African descent, at MIPAD Recognition Week on the side-lines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, slated for September 27th – October 3rd 2019.

“Honourees are decision-makers from over 60 countries worldwide, selected based on their political clout, business acumen, social media following and humanitarian endeavours in support of UN International Decade for People of African Descent (IDPAD) and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” he explained.

Olufowobi also noted at the event which served as the luncheon for the organisation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) platform where its honourees and the global community can discover their primary SDGs numbers.

“We are excited to align all MIPAD honorees with creating social impact because influence can only be understood when it is manifested in making real change and impact in society,”

Olufowobi went on to disclose his primary SDG number is 17 and encouraged others to discover their primary social impact number within the frameworks of UN SDG at sdgs.mipad.org

Another highlight of the occasion was the presentation of a free Ethiopian Airlines ticket to the UNGA in New York City to a lucky winner.

Economy

Four Securities Erase N51.17bn from NASD Exchange

Published

1 day ago

27/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Four securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.95 per cent on Friday, erasing N41.17 billion from the bourse, which had its market capitalisation at N2.567 trillion compared with the previous session’s N2.618 trillion.

In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) decreased at the close of business by 85.28 points to 4,277.07 points from 4,362.32 points.

The price decliners were led by 11 Plc, which gave up N20.50 to sell at N200.50 per share compared with the preceding day’s N221.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dropped N16.94 to close at N155.20 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N172.14 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by N2.11 to N84.68 per share from N86.79 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 11 Kobo to end at N16.74 per unit, in contrast to the N16.85 per unit it closed a day earlier.

During the trading day, the value of transactions jumped by 172.1 per cent to N29.9 million from the preceding session’s N10.9 million, and the volume of trades soared by 136.5 per cent to 955,096 units from the previous 403,901 units, while the number of deals went down by 11.4 per cent to 31 deals from 35 deals.

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 68.6 million units sold for N4.7 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 exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed 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.

Economy

Cautious Trading, Profit-taking Weaken Nigeria’s Stock Exchange by 0.66%

Published

1 day ago

27/06/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The last trading session of this week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a negative note, with a 0.66 per cent loss on Friday.

This was influenced by sustained selling pressure and cautious trading, which forced investors into profit-taking.

Data obtained by Business Post showed that the energy sector fell by 4.66 per cent, the insurance counter dipped by 2.23 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.96 per cent, and the banking segment shed 0.28 per cent, while the industrial goods space remained unchanged.

At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) of Nigeria’s stock exchange went down by 1,531.81 points to 232,049.02 points from 233,580.83 points, and the market capitalisation dropped N983 billion to settle at N148.905 trillion compared with Thursday’s N149.888 trillion.

Aradel was the worst-performing equity after it lost 10.00 per cent to close at N1,417.50. International Energy Insurance slipped by 9.95 per cent to N5.79, Trans-Nationwide Express depreciated by 9.89 per cent to N3.28, eTranzact crashed by 9.79 per cent to N14.75, and UPDC slumped by 9.72 per cent to N28.12.

The best-performing equity for the day was Universal Insurance, which gained 6.32 per cent to close at N1.01, McNichols grew by 5.52 per cent to N8.60, Linkage Assurance expanded by 4.67 per cent to N1.57, NGX Group appreciated by 4.35 per cent to N120.00, and Transcorp increased by 3.62 per cent to N41.50.

As look at the activity level indicated that investors traded 388.7 million stocks worth N18.4 billion in 44,631 deals compared with the 393.7 million stocks valued at N19.2 billion executed in 45,813 deals a day earlier, representing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 1.27 per cent, 4.17 per cent, and 2.58 per cent, respectively.

Economy

Official FX Market Sees Naira Dip to N1,380.93/$1

Published

1 day ago

27/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira recorded a loss of 82 Kobo or 0.06 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 26, exchanging at N1,380.93/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,380.11/$1.

Equally, the domestic currency further weakened against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market yesterday by N6.06 to settle at N1,824.90/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,818.84/£1, and lost N10.74 on the Euro to sell at N1,577 .58/€1 versus N1,566.84/€1.

At the GTBank forex counter, the Naira depreciated against the greenback during the session by N4 to close at N1,387/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s value of N1,383/$1, and at the parallel market, it was unchanged at N1,395/$1.

Interbank FX activity among financial institutions has fluctuated amid a sharp slowdown in forex market interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as it allows demand and supply to move the market.

Also, a stronger greenback has generally put significant pressure on emerging-market currencies.

Nigeria has accessed the first tranche of a proposed $5 billion derivatives financing arrangement with First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, the largest lender in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The $5 billion facility, approved by the National Assembly earlier this year, is part of the federal government’s plan to diversify external financing sources and reduce borrowing costs. Structured as a Total Return Swap with First Abu Dhabi Bank, proceeds are earmarked for refinancing debt and supporting infrastructure financing.

If the proceeds are brought into the country through the official FX market, the transaction will increase the currency reserves or Dollar liquidity.

At the cryptocurrency market, Solana (SOL) grew by 2.2 per cent to $71.92, Cardano (ADA) gained 1.1 per cent to trade at $0.1474, Ripple (XRP) also appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $1.05, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 0.9 per cent to $0.0755, and Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.4 per cent to $1,578.84.

On the flip side, TRON (TRX) slid 0.6 per cent to $0.3203, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 0.3 per cent to $564.33, and Bitcoin fell by 0.2 per cent to $60,219.37, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.