Economy
Sekibo Wants Better Ties Between Banks, Entrepreneurs
By Dipo Olowookere
Managing Director of Heritage Bank Plc, Mr Ifie Sekibo, has encouraged the budding African entrepreneurs of the Next Titan Housemates to talk to small and medium enterprise (SME) desks of banks because the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has a policy for disbursing money to banks for SMEs sector.
Mr Sekibo stated this while delivering a keynote address titled: Why African needs new breed of entrepreneurs and why is Heritage Bank championing it, at the premiere of the 5th edition of the Next Titan TV reality show in Lagos over the weekend.
The Next Titan is Nigeria’s entrepreneurial reality TV show where thousands of ambitious young entrepreneurs across the country compete with one another for a grand prize of N5 million and a brand new car to start his or her dream business.
He, however, challenged the budding entrepreneurs to stir up their entrepreneurship DNAs in a bid to allow innate ideas to flow and blossom.
According to Mr Sekibo, the entrepreneur is not the risk taker but the person who relentlessly pursue opportunities without recklessness, without regard to not having money, house or car or any strong financial support from family members, remarking that in most cases, he is the one that drops out at of school.
He said during the pre-colonial era in Africa, Africans, (our fore fathers) who were the entrepreneurs of those days in places like Lagos Island and Badagry were engaged in fishing and farming as well as trade across the west coast among themselves under an organised system.
The bank’s boss said during the colonial period, (our fathers) were affected by the culture and traditions of the colonialists a development which affected their psyche, thereby making what is foreign to be more important than what is local.
Mr Sekibo said western tradition became the order of the day as Africans moved away from entrepreneurship to white collar jobs to earn monthly income and the word job came into play, adding that work was no longer defined as the work of a tough man or woman on the farmland but depended on how much of the colonial language one understand.
In order to reverse the trend, Mr Sekibo contended that budding African entrepreneurs should relive the DNAs that their forefathers left for them by uncapping them so that their innate ideas could flow and blossom.
He said Africans burn with ideas but they needed to mine them so that they could blossom, remarking that they need to have mentors that will enable them to achieve their goals.
The Chief Executive also said money is very critical to entrepreneurship and they had to be bold and courageous to get it, adding that there is a spirit behind getting money which is largely influenced by character and integrity. He enjoined them to collaborate to bring down the cost of money.
Mr Sekibo enjoined them to be bold and should not be afraid to fail because failing is not a failure and should not give up because they had failed.
Also speaking, Mr Folusho Philips, Managing Director of Philips Consulting, listed some factors for successful entrepreneurship. They are competence, character and behaviour, study and steadiness as well as compliant and chemistry of the prospective entrepreneur.
Mrs Yetunde Odejayi, Permanent Secretary to the office of the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, noted that entrepreneurship was part of key programmes of the current administration. She encouraged them to be bold and resilient and be prepared to face challenges and also informed them about state’s Ministry of Wealth Creation and the Lagos State Trust Fund (LSSTF).
Mr Babarinde Abiona, General Manager (Marketing) with Coscharis Motors, tasked them to believe in themselves and be focused, adding that Coscharis, a major dealer of Ford Motors in the country will give a brand new Ford Focus to the winner.
One of the boardroom judges, Mr Chris Parkes, commended Heritage Bank for investing in the project and noted that judges would be very critical of their ideas because they want ideas that could add value to the country’s economy.
About 60 finalists were unveiled at the premiere out of more than 2,000 contestants that were screened at various auditions in Port Harcourt, Enugu, Abuja and Lagos, however only 16 made it to the house while Heritage Bank used a wild card to add two more contestants: Kalu Sylvester and Ugochi Ogadi to bring the number to 18.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The United States has lamented Nigeria’s import ban on 25 different products, particularly in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, beverages, and consumer goods, as it rationalised the recent decision to slap a 14 per cent retaliatory tariff.
The United States Trade Representative, in a statement on Monday posted on its X platform, said Nigeria’s restrictions on items like beef, pork, poultry, fruit juices, medicaments, and spirits limit US market access and reduce export opportunities.
“These policies create significant trade barriers that lead to lost revenue for US businesses looking to expand in the Nigerian market,” it wrote.
Last week, the administration of President Donald Trump imposed various tariffs ranging between 10 per cent and 65 per cent on different countries across the world, including Nigeria which got a 14 per cent tariff on its exports to the US.
In response, the Nigerian Minister of Trade, Industry, and Investment, Mrs Jumoke Oduwole, said Nigeria would take a pragmatic approach and will boost non-oil exports to deal with the drawbacks from the US move.
She also said Nigeria will be willing to negotiate and will be speaking with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on the way forward.
On his part, the Minister of Finance, Mr Wale Edun, said that the Economic Management Team (EMT) would meet to assess the likely impact of the 14 per cent tariff on goods exported from Nigeria to the US.
He said the EMT will afterwards, make recommendations to cushion its impact on the nation’s economy.
The Minister also said the federal government will boost non-revenue as a means of cushioning the adverse effects to trade tariffs imposed on countries by President Trump.
Mr Edun also assured that while the adverse effect on Nigeria will be through an oil price plunge, the government is intensifying efforts to ramp up oil production and boost non-oil revenues.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria and Japan have launched a strategic venture capital initiative that will channel Naira-denominated investments into high-growth startups, shielding them from currency risks while unlocking access to long-term concessional financing.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, met with officials from the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to finalise the framework of the fund, which has now received formal approval from the Japanese government.
Speaking on the development, Mr Edun welcomed the development, calling it a timely response to Nigeria’s youthful demography.
He said this fund provides critical financial backing across the capital structure—from equity to debt—and is aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for inclusive economic growth, he stated.
On his part, NSIA CEO, Mr Aminu Umar-Sadiq confirmed that the initiative satisfies two key conditions set by the Minister: mitigating foreign exchange volatility by investing in Naira and securing first-loss or grant capital to de-risk private investment.
“With JICA’s support, this is not just a proposed solution—it’s a fully approved, ready-to-launch initiative,” Mr Umar-Sadiq said.
By combining international concessional financing with domestic currency stability, the fund marks a new model for venture capital in Africa, aimed squarely at empowering the next generation of Nigerian innovators.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Minister of Finance, Mr Wale Edun, has said the country’s Economic Management Team (EMT) would meet to assess the likely impact of the 14 per cent tariff on goods exported from Nigeria to the United States.
Mr Edun made the disclosure while speaking at an event organised by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) on Monday.
The Trump administration recently imposed various tariffs ranging between 10 per cent and 65 per cent on different countries across the world, including Nigeria which got a 14 per cent tariff on its exports to the United States.
He said the EMT will afterwards make recommendations to cushion its impact on the nation’s economy, noting that the federal government will boost non-revenue as a means of cushioning the adverse effects to trade tariffs imposed on countries by President Trump.
Mr Edun stated that while the adverse effect on Nigeria will result in an oil price plunge, the government is intensifying efforts to ramp up oil production and boost non-oil revenues.
The Finance Minister noted that the US, which is at the centre of the tariff war had on April 2, announced that it would exempt mineral exports, including oil.
“Therefore, it’s the price effect, the oil price effect that may affect Nigeria. And it is the job and responsibility of the economic management team of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, amongst others, to look at the various scenarios that might play out.
“There’s global uncertainty at a huge level, so nobody knows exactly what will happen- the announcement that has been made. We’re not sure what will be delayed, what will be reversed, or what will be implemented.
“So, it is not an announcement that the budget is being reviewed. It’s an announcement that it is our responsibility to look at the various scenarios and options and advise government accordingly.”
Mr Edun also highlighted plans to look at budget adjustment, expenditure prioritisation as well as innovative non-debt financing strategies.
According to him, Nigeria had recorded a trade surplus in the last three years (2022-2024) with the US.
“Nigeria-US Trade has been in surplus in the last 3 years (2022-2024). Nigeria’s exports to the US were N1.8 trillion, N2.6 trillion and N5.5 trillion in 2022-2024, respectively.
“Fortunately, oil and mineral exports accounted for 92 per cent. Implying oil and minerals exports amounted to N5.08 trillion in value while non-oil was just N0.44 trillion.
“Consequently, the tariff effect on exports is negligible if we sustain our oil and minerals export volume.
“The adverse effect on Nigeria will be through oil price plunge. We are intensifying efforts to ramp up crude oil production to curtail any price effect
“We are also focusing on non-oil revenue mobilisation by FIRS and Customs, budget adjustment and prioritisation where possible, and also and innovative non-debt financing strategies,” the Minister said.
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