TEF Gets N400m NEPC Grant for 50 Entrepreneurs

By Bliss Okperan The Managing Director and chief executive of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Mr Adesola Adeduntan, has disclosed that financial institutions in the country have the balance sheet to support big-ticket transactions, particularly from offshore investors. President Bola Tinubu travelled to the United States last week for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and went with some businessmen and bank executives, including Mr Adeduntan. The Nigerian leader used the occasion to urge foreign investors to bring their funds into the country because he would create a business-friendly environment to make their investments grow. Nigeria, which is the largest

By Adedapo Adesanya President Bola Tinubu has been charged by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) to investigate the allegations that over $15 billion of oil revenues and N200 billion budgeted to repair the refineries are missing and unaccounted for between 2020 and 2021, as documented by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI). In the letter dated September 23 and signed by SERAP deputy director, Mr Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation urged him to “name and shame anyone suspected to be responsible for the missing and unaccounted for public funds and to ensure their effective prosecution as well as

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria emerged as the overall champion of the 2023 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) African Para Championships, which ended on Saturday, September 23, 2023, in Giza, Egypt. The country went away with 12 gold medals to dethrone Egypt as the new para table tennis champion in Africa. The three-day tournament had hosts – Egypt – Algeria, Nigeria, Mauritius, Cameroon, South Africa, Kenya, and Cote d’Ivoire competing in the singles, doubles, and mixed doubles events. However, Nigeria dominated as the continent’s champions by leading the singles event to pick up most of the tickets to the Paris 2024

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The medical practitioner who performed surgery on the late 12-year-old Adebola Akin-Bright at the Obitoks Hospital in the Alimosho area of Lagos State, Dr Abayomi Baiyewu, has been described as a quack surgeon. The Chairman of the Lagos State House of Assembly ad-hoc committee with the mandate to investigate the circumstances that led to the disappearance of Adebola’s small intestine, Mr Noheem Adams, said the doctor was not qualified to carry out the exercise. Adebola died on Tuesday at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, where he was receiving treatment after he underwent surgery two

By Modupe Gbadeyanka It was a double reward for a foremost microfinance institution, Advans Nigeria, at the recently concluded Marketing Edge Awards in Lagos. The firm, a subsidiary of Advans Group, was announced as the Most Innovative Microfinance Bank of the Year and the Most Customer-centric Microfinance Bank of the Year. The double awards are coming after the organisation was recently named as The Best in Retail Banking of the Year at the Pan African International Award. Advans Nigeria won the accolades due to its top-notch financial services and unwavering commitment to its customers. “We are immensely proud to receive

By Bliss Okperan The University of Osun State (UNIOSUN) has set a goal to achieve a spot in the 10 top universities in Nigeria by 2026. The Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Clement Adebooye, while speaking on Friday at the main campus of the university in Osogbo, said the management also intends to make the school one of the 25 best in Africa in three years’ time. According to him, the management has begun to implement the strategies designed to meet this target, including providing a peaceful academic environment for students and others. He expressed the commitment of the

By Nathaniel Nyika Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the beating heart of Africa’s economies. According to the World Economic Forum, as engines of growth, SMEs are responsible for around 80% of the continent’s employment, ultimately helping to reduce poverty and income inequality, enabling the establishment of a new middle class and driving demand for new goods and services. That’s why creating an enabling environment for SMEs to access finance will enhance their ability to not only contribute to Africa’s labour force but also facilitate the continent’s development and economic growth while driving the innovation needed to help solve the

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed in the green territory after it chalked up by 0.37 per cent on Friday, September 22, as three securities finished on the price gainers’ chart and one stock closed in the price losers’ table. This raised the market capitalisation of the OTC Exchange by N4.24 billion to N1.143 trillion from the previous day’s N1.139 trillion, as the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) increased during the session by 3.00 points to finish at 808.95 points compared with Thursday’s 805.95 points. At the close of transactions, investors traded a total of 10.7

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira closed mixed at the foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday, depreciating against the US Dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) segments and appreciating in the parallel market amid a new leadership at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). On Friday, the CBN announced the resumption of Mr Olayemi Cardoso as the next head of the apex bank, in an acting capacity pending his confirmation by the Nigerian Senate. He is taking over the role amid a worrying FX market, high inflation, and increased call to halt interest rate hikes which currently

By Adedapo Adesanya Crude oil prices went in different directions on Friday amid profit-taking as markets weighed supply concerns from Russia’s fuel export ban against demand woes from future rate hikes. While the Brent futures lost 3 cents to close at $93.27 a barrel, the US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) futures rose by 40 cents to sell for $90.03 a barrel. However, both benchmarks closed downwards on a week-on-week basis, with Brent shedding 0.3 per cent, breaking a three-week streak of gains, and WTI sliding by 0.03 per cent for the week, the first decline in four weeks. Russia