Do Small Businesses Really Need Online Presence?

By Olutayo Irantiola In the last few weeks, many markets across Lagos State have been locked and opened by the Ministry of Environment and the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA). There is no gainsaying that these markets are due for closure. However, what next after the re-opening of the markets? One of the places in town synonymous with huge refuse generation is the markets. Many times, markets are considered to belong to nobody; as such, traders want their immediate environment habitable for their businesses, and at the close of the day, they “drop” the byproducts of their wares somewhere, mainly

By Emmanuel Udom Today, most contract security guards are earning slave wages, putting their lives in danger while ensuring the safety of other people, corporate bodies, government agencies, etc, 24/7. It is noted that all over the world, security business is deadly, risky, slippery, dangerous and sophisticated. Like in other business concerns, owners of registered and yet-to-be-registered private security companies are in for raw deals. They are driven by profits, the laws of supply and demand and the desperate hustle for big, juicy contracts, our investigations have shown. Private contract security companies hire all sorts of people, give them one

By Michael Owhoko, PhD Any Nigerian with a rational and open mind knows that the complexity of governance in Nigeria today is rooted in the country’s political system, which by any stretch of imagination and logic, is unsuitable for a heterogenous society like Nigeria with over 250 ethnic groups that is characterized by incompatible cultures, varied history, background and interests. These ethnic groups were hitherto independent nations that ceded their sovereignty to the Nigerian state under federalism, a political system that took cognizance of their peculiarities and agreed upon by the country’s founding fathers. But ever since this system was

By Gorata Ogotseng Ask most entrepreneurs what their biggest challenge is and there’s a good chance they’ll list access to investment and funding among them. That’s particularly true in many of Africa’s biggest entrepreneurial markets too. In a survey released by the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation (EO) South Africa earlier this year, for instance, nearly half of South African entrepreneurs said they don’t get enough funding from the public or private sectors. Another survey released by East Africa Com, meanwhile, saw 59% of East African entrepreneurs list a lack of access to investors as a significant business barrier. Similarly, a 2021EFInA report

By FBNQuest Research The hospitality sector, which is classified by the NBS as the accommodation and food services segment, is regarded as one of Nigeria’s vibrant industries. However, it did experience reduced patronage in the recent recession. The national accounts from the NBS show that the sector grew by 0.2% y/y in Q3 2017, compared with a contraction of -4.9% in the corresponding period of 2016. Now that the economy has emerged from the recession, we expect to see a pickup in consumer spending. Although the fx market is now relatively stable, we gather that restauranteurs have turned towards the

**Celebrates Customers By Dipo Olowookere Wema Bank Plc., this week, joined other service organizations world-wide in celebrating the 2016 International Customer Service Week. The bank kicked off the celebration at one of its newly remodelled branches at Admiralty Road, Lekki, Lagos where the Managing Director, Mr Segun Oloketuyi joined some staff and customers for a health and fitness walk. Customer Service Week is an annual international event devoted to recognizing the importance of customer service and honouring the people who serve and support customers with the highest degree of care and professionalism. This year’s event held from October 3 to

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) have taken their collaboration a notch further by setting up a joint committee of senior and management staff for the implementation of inter-agency strategies for enhancing national revenues in the telecommunications sector. The two agencies inaugurated a 17-member team on Tuesday in Abuja with the mandate to review the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the NCC and the FIRS on June 9, 2020; and carry out inter-agency interaction on the implementation of the NCC’s Revenue Assurance System (RAS), to ensure that it incorporates the needs

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria’s crude production stood at 2.07 million barrels per day during the first quarter of 2020, the country’s highest level in more than four years. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in the latest Gross Domestic Production (GDP) figures released on Monday, GDP expanded 1.87 percent in the three months through March from a year earlier, compared with growth of 2.55 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019. While crude prices started dropping in the first quarter due to the tension between Saudi Arabia and Russia that led to an oil price crash during the

With Nigeria’s 43.3 percent unemployment rate, the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) has urged Nigerian women to further sharpen their entrepreneurial skills in order to reduce the rate of unemployment and poverty in the country. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), women constitute over 50 percent of Nigeria’s population. While a recent report by the World Bank said Nigeria’s population has been increasing exponentially, with an estimated figure of 300 million by the year 2050. Speaking at the 3rd edition of the Women In Leadership and Career Empowerment Programme (WILCEP) Africa, Managing Director of Development Bank of Nigeria

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The 2022 edition of Africa NXT, formerly known as Social Media Week, will have the full support of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, the company has confirmed. The financial institution is throwing its weight behind the programme as part of its commitment to youth development. This year, the event is slated to take place from February 27 to March 4, 2022, and it is themed The Next 10 Years: Reimagining Our Collective Commitment to Africa’s Prosperity. As an institution leaning towards the use of technological innovation in the financial space and an official sponsor of the Africa NXT

By Adedapo Adesanya Despite a surge in trading value and volume, the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended in the negative territory on Wednesday, February 8, as it depreciated by 0.34 per cent. Three price losers were responsible for the decline recorded by the unlisted securities market yesterday, with the value shrinking by N3.17 billion to N929.62 billion from the preceding session’s N932.79 billion. In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) depreciated during the trading day by 2.42 points to end at 707.46 points compared with Tuesday’s 709.88 points. Data showed that market participants executed 23 deals

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A credit facility with flexible terms to support students and businesses in various sectors has been designed by First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Plc in partnership with Terra Academy for the Arts (TAFTA). The leading provider of world-class creative education, career support, and entrepreneurial opportunities said it collaborated with the mid-level lender to enable students and small business owners, particularly those in the creative industry, to have access to funds. Through this provision of soft loans, TAFTA hopes to further establish itself as a prominent institution committed to nurturing artistic talents and educational excellence. The funds, which