Travel/Tourism
Nwugo To Address AU Summit
Managing Director/CEO of Femaz Micro Finance Bank, Dr (Mrs) Sandra Nwugo, has been billed to address the African Fashion Business Summit scheduled for September 13–15, 2016 at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Dr Nwugo will join other business leaders from around the world to address practitioners in the fashion, garment and textile industry from over 30 African countries.
The African Fashion Business Summit is one of the activities lined up during the Africa Fashion Reception after which all participating countries will be presented to the international audience in Paris in October.
The theme for the Summit is ‘Creating Wealth for African Economies through its Fashion, Garment and Textile Industry’.
The Africa Fashion Reception is a Pan African Initiative organized by Legendary Gold in partnership with the African Union. This year’s event will gather fashion designers, dignitaries, Ambassadors and media from over 30 African countries, in a celebration of cultural diversity expressed through the artistic fashion discipline with the proud theme ‘Africa is the New Inspiration of Global Fashion’
The Africa Fashion Reception is aimed at achieving the following objectives using the creative industry of Fashion as a vehicle:
To build bridges by creating free trade and partnerships among fashion practitioners throughout the African continent
To attract global attention to Africa’s very rich and diversified dress culture which can be explored as a catalyst for the social economic growth of the continent’s garment/textile industry.
To expand the potential power of fashion as a tool of fighting poverty in Africa by creating wealth through the empowerment of women and youths in the various fashion vocations through training, capacity building schemes, workshops and setting up of medium/small scale businesses thereby supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union Agenda 2063
To bring about self-reliance as this initiative will create millions of jobs across the continent for Tailors, Creative Directors, Textile designers, Models, Cutters, Pressers, Fashion Photographers & Writers, Hair Stylists, Make-up Artists etc
The 1st edition of the Africa Fashion Reception presented participants from 16 African countries. The 2nd edition saw participants from 24 countries. This year, participants are expected from over 30 countries.
The invitation of Dr Nwugo to address the African Fashion Business Summit by the African Union is due to her enviable trail blazing achievements with her bank, Femaz Micro Finance Bank where she has been able to create lots of jobs through the empowerment of women and youths. Her topic of address during the summit is ‘The role of Microfinance bank in creating wealth for SMEs in the fashion industry.’
Dr Nwugo is an entrepreneur, banker, motivational speaker and a filmmaker. She began her banking career as an accountant with ECN Professional Services in Lagos State.
She later joined Joinder Gas and Petroleum Company, also in Lagos, where she worked as a Cash manager. She joined Fortis Microfinance bank in 2010 as a Relationship Manager and Cash Collector in charge of cash movement and customer management.
She displayed her entrepreneurial skills in 2013 when she founded the financial institution known as Femaz Cooperative Society Ltd. Two years later, the institution evolved to Femaz Microfinance Bank Ltd.
Besides being the CEO/MD of Femaz Micro Finance bank, Dr Nwugo is also the founder of Busy Minds Entertainment Limited and Esther City of Zion Orphanage in Abuja, Nigeria.
She has a PHD in Philosophy from Global Oved Dei Seminary & University {GODSU} in Washington DC, MBA in Marketing, Post Graduate Diploma in Banking and Finance and a Bachelor degree in Mass Communication from Enugu State University.
She has received the following awards – the Capital Territory and Advancement Award for Creativity and Enterprises (2015), Excellence for Women Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Award, Young CEO Business Award, Capital City Role Model and Awards (2015). She is also a member of Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).
Her prowess as an outstanding entrepreneur and philanthropic gestures spread across the Nation. More elaborately, Dr Nwugo has been engaged in so many humanitarian projects such as the Establishment of Esther Zion Orphanage, Abuja Nigeria, Human Capital Development through her Femaz Microfinance Bank, Media Campaign for support to vulnerable children as seen in her movie “REVELATION” produced in 2014 etc.
To applaud all her efforts, she has been nominated for lots of other awards due to her Humanitarian Acts and Excellence in business. Dr Nwugo has won a number of Awards including African Achievers Award as fastest Growing entrepreneur on the 25th of July 2015.
She is happily married to Dr Engr Henry Emeka Nwugo and blessed with three children.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A travel card designed for tourists, business visitors, Diaspora returnees has been launched by Verve in partnership with Providus Bank.
Known as the ProvidusVerve Travel Card, the Naira-based travel card will allow inbound travellers to enjoy a smooth, secure, and convenient payment experience throughout their stay in Nigeria. It was powered by Verve’s secure.
Created to support the surge of tourists, expatriates, business visitors, conference delegates, and returning diaspora expected during the festive Detty December season, the ProvidusVerve Travel Card enables seamless payments for transportation, hotels, dining, shopping, entertainment, and everyday essentials nationwide.
The card also works on select global merchant platforms that accept Verve, including Netflix, Google Play, and other digital services, ensuring travellers enjoy uninterrupted access to familiar services.
The ProvidusVerve Travel Card eliminates the hassle of sourcing naira or converting foreign currency on arrival. It enables instant, secure transactions, reduces reliance on cash, and supports compliance with the cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
It also mitigates the risks associated with carrying physical cash such as loss, theft, or fraud, offering a safe, regulation-aligned option for both online and in-person payments.
“The ProvidusVerve Travel Card is a timely solution for inbound travellers seeking reliability, security, and simplicity while navigating Nigeria.
“Together with Providus Bank, we have created a product that eliminates the friction traditionally associated with accessing local payments.
“Whether for tourism, business, or festive activities, this card ensures a smooth financial experience from the moment visitors land,” the Vice President for Issuing and Acquiring Management for Africa at Verve International, Mr Paul Ohakim, stated.
On his part, the Divisional Head for Product Management and Solution Delivery at Interswitch, Mr Ademola Adeniran, described the partnership as a reflection of “Verve’s commitment to designing products that respond to real user needs.”
“The ProvidusVerve Travel Card supports everyday experiences — from booking rides and hotels to shopping, streaming, and dining. It provides inbound travellers with a secure, compliant, digital-first way to experience Nigeria without financial barriers,” he added.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, has disclosed that the federal government may recover and sell the assets of Dana Air to refund passengers and travel agents whose funds remain trapped following the suspension of the airline’s operations.
The Minister disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday at the Ministry’s fourth quarter stakeholders’ engagement to enhance governance for effective service delivery in aviation.
Speaking at the event themed “leveraging public feedback to drive excellence in aviation services, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) will be directed to probe why funds trapped by the airline are yet to be refunded.
He revealed that the authority suspended the operations of the airline as a matter of choice between safety and disaster.
“For Dana, the problem is that it was a choice between safety and disaster. So we didn’t take the commercial thing as priority. The priority was safety, and we all looked at the damning reports that we had met on the table.
“It was a decision of the NCAA to suspend them, but I pushed them to say, look, these are the reports we are seeing on the table about safety record, about lack of standards that put the lives of Nigerians at risk. If they continue flying, I don’t know whether most of us will be here. Many of us would have been victims of one of those flights. God forbid.”
According to him, “I have asked Najomo (NCAA director general) to dig deep to find out how those passengers and agents will be refunded. He has to dig deep on that.
“One solution will also be that if that same individual or those entities are trying to come back to aviation under any guise, whether to go and register a new AOC or use any business within the aviation sector, they have to go and settle their debts first.
“We should look at their assets. There are assets that are still available. Let them sell their assets. Let’s cannibalize their revenue and pay people. Let’s find a way to go after their assets and get money to pay Nigerians who are owed.
“NCAA should do that because they can’t get away with it.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said it has imposed a N5 million penalty on Qatar Airways for consumer protection violations.
The announcement was made on Wednesday by the NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs & Consumer Protection, Mr Michael Achimugu, on X, adding that there may be other sanctions depending on how the airline treats other cases.
“Glad to announce that, today, the NCAA has sanctioned @qatarairways to the tune of five million naira being penalty for consumer protection-related infractions. In addition, the letters of investigation (LOI) written to the airline over other cases may lead to further sanctions if not treated satisfactorily,” Mr Achimugu wrote.
The fine followed an incident when a Nigerian passenger was accused by a Qatar Airways cabin crew member of sexual harassment during boarding in Lagos for a flight to the United States via Doha, Qatar.
The allegation was only reported in Doha, where the passenger was arrested, detained for 18 hours, fined, and compelled to sign a document written solely in Arabic.
Qatar Airways allegedly refused to continue his journey, forcing him to purchase another ticket at considerable financial and reputational cost.
The NCAA said it invited Qatar Airways’ country manager to a meeting over the incident, but he failed to attend, sending subordinates instead.
“I understand that some countries do not have advanced aviation consumer protection regulations like Nigeria does. In certain cases, some countries don’t even have any. This creates a situation where airlines operating out of those countries (mostly national carriers) act with disdain towards consumer protection enforcement in Nigeria.
“This is not a situation that we would accept here. It is against the law for ANY Airlines not to respond to the NCAA. It is against the law to provide false information to the NCAA. It is against the law to fail to comply with the provisions of Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023,” Mr Achimugu said in an earlier post.
In September, the NCAA accused Qatar Airways of mistreating Nigerian passengers and failing to comply with consumer protection regulations under Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023.
The regulator then threatened stiff penalties against the airline for repeatedly disregarding its directives.
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