What to do to Stand Out in Business—Interswitch Boss

By Bliss Okperan The Minister of FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike, has been advised to extend an olive branch to the Governor of Rivers State, Mr Siminialayi Fubara. The Minister, who handed over the reins of Rivers State to Mr Fubara, has been at loggerheads with his successor. A few weeks ago, some lawmakers of the Rivers State House of Assembly loyal to Mr Wike attempted to impeach the Governor, but President Bola Tinubu quickly intervened and doused the tension. However, all is still not well with both parties, with the Minister granting an interview last week to accuse his ‘political

By Adedapo Adesanya The management of Ikeja Electric Distribution Company (IKEDC) has cautioned customers not to load the energy tokens purchased during a recent upgrade glitch which left customers unable to buy and load much-needed electricity tokens on their prepaid meters. In a statement on Friday, the distribution company said, “We apologise for the inconvenience experienced when loading your energy token during the TID rollover upgrade. The issue has been resolved and we thank you for your patience and understanding.” The issue commenced when the company instructed customers to link their respective prepaid meters to the National Identification Number (NIN)

By Bliss Okperan The Governor of Ogun State, Mr Dapo Abiodun, has asked Nigerians to give President Bola Tinubu more time, saying he has performed well in office since taking over on May 29, 2023, noting that he inherited an almost comatose economy from former President Muhammadu Buhari. “The President Tinubu-led administration has been very bold and audacious. They’ve taken the bull by the horns. They’ve done what no government has done in the history of Nigeria,” Mr Abiodun said during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics show. Recall that a few days ago on Channels TV, the Governor

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A key suspect in the Dangote Cement price slash scam, Mr Benjamin Ezeukwe, has been arraigned in court by the police in Lagos State. A statement issued by the spokesman of the Lagos Command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Mr Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed that the accused person was taken to court for prosecution after he was arrested in Rivers State. The Police Public Relations Officer, who is a Superintendent of Police (SP), disclosed that Mr Ezeukwe was picked up by police operatives on Thursday, October 19, 2023, in the Rumuolumeni area of Obio/Akpor local government area

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Shareholders of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc have approved the payment N8.491 billion special dividend and the N478 million final dividend proposed by the board of directors of the consumer goods firm. The approval was given at the 47th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company held at Muson Centre Onikan in Lagos, chaired by Chairman of GSK Nigeria, Mr Edmund Onuzo. A breakdown showed that the N8.491 billion special dividend represents N7.10k per share, while the N478 million final dividend represents 40k per share for the year ended December 2017. According to Mr Onuzo, the rise in

By Adedapo Adesanya  Oil prices tanked to multi-week lows early on Tuesday, the first full trading day after the new U.S. and Chinese tariffs and counter-tariffs entered into force and as signs emerged that both OPEC and its key partner in the production cut deal, Russia, boosted oil production in August. As at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude was down $1.17 or 2.12 percent at $53.93 and Brent Crude fell further below $60 a barrel—to $58.25, down by 0.7 percent or $0.41. Market participants were again concerned about the repercussions of the U.S.-China trade war on

By Modupe Gbadeyanka An employee of Access Bank Plc in Lagos has landed in hot soup for allegedly stealing about N13.6 million from the accounts of two customers of the financial institution. The suspect, Mr Kolawole Agboola, was on Friday arraigned at the Tinubu Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos Island on a three-count charge of conspiracy, fraud and theft, which he pleaded not guilty to. The Idimu, Lagos-based 29-year old banker, according to the prosecutor, Sergeant Hafsat Ajibode, committed the offences between October 2017 and March 2018. The offences contravened Sections 287 (7), 325 and 411 of the Criminal Law

By Afrinvest Last week, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and People’s Bank of China (PBoC) announced the conclusion of a bilateral currency swap agreement between Nigeria and China valued at Renminbi (RMB) 15.0bn or N720.0bn. The 3-year Agreement, signed by respective Central bank Governors on Friday, 27th April 2018, followed a 2-year long negotiation process between the two countries which began during President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to China in April 2016. Consequent on the opening of the “Swap Line”, both central banks would exchange a stock of their local currencies (RMB 15.0bn/N720.0bn), which could either be extended by mutual consent

By Dipo Olowookere The management of Mission Securities Limited has announced the appointment of Mrs Olufemi Owopetu as a non-executive director of the company. The stockbroking firm, in a statement last week, disclosed that it was also seeking the approval of the appointee for the position. Mrs Owopetu holds a Master’s degree in Banking and Finance from University of Lagos, Akoka and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). She is also an Associate member of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers of Nigeria (CIS) and Financial Market Dealers Association of Nigeria (FMDA). Prior to her

By Adedapo Adesanya Leading Ghanaian healthtech startup, mPharma, has announced the closure of a $17 million funding round that will help it expand its foothold in Africa. The company is known for improving access of medicine to patients, pharmacies, and hospitals through innovative inventory financing solutions. The business operates on the approach of stocking pharmacy shelves without demanding any upfront payment. Lower prices are achieved through collective bargaining with the help of its network and also by using aggregative and predictive data analysis. The startup began operations in 2013 with the cooperation of its founders; Daniel Shoukimas, Gregory Rockson, and

By Gregory Kronsten We listened with great interest to four prominent private equity players in Africa in a discussion of prospects during and after COVID-19. The event took place in early November, and so was before the announcement by Pfizer and Moderna on their vaccines to tackle COVID-19. The panel discussion was part of the Africa Debate, an annual event put together by an established London-based business association. Private equity houses are generally optimistic and did not disappoint in the discussion. They had to contend with the great returns available in China and foreign exchange issues in several African markets

By Dipo Olowookere Sanity was restored to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday, thanks to Dangote Cement and six other equities, which closed green. The seven stocks halted the eighth-day losing streak on the exchange yesterday with a 0.78 per cent growth boosted by the industrial goods sector, which grew by 2.57 per cent and ended the session as the lone gainer. Profit-taking persisted in the other sectors as the banking sector lost 2.98 per cent, the insurance counter dropped 2.93 per cent, the energy space fell by 0.90 per cent, while the consumer goods index declined by 0.32