OjirehPrime began as an online food store in 2016, and then in 2018, launched her OjirehPrime prepaid card, which grew organically to a 40,000-user community by 2020. In 2021, they announced their investment in Solid Allianze Microfinance Bank, representing a strategic repositioning that puts her on the road to building a digital bank. Ojirehprime takes pride in delivering a more customer-centric digital bank that focuses its resources on the many touchpoints with its customers to provide custom-tailored banking services. The advantages of OjirehPrime include the ease of opening a bank account in 90 seconds, free interbank transfers, no account maintenance…
Author: Temitope N.
In the first phase of the project, a total of 30 African techpreneurs representing 15 projects/business ventures with great entrepreneurial ideas will be trained, mentored, and supported to transform their ideas into investable and sustainable ventures. The beneficiaries who are selected for the training will undergo a 6-month (April to August 2022) management programme which delivers specialist knowledge transfer, education, coaching, and mentoring to propel their venture ideas to investment readiness and connect them to a nexus of investors. Speaking at the formal launch of the project which was held virtually on March 30, 2022, the Project Director and LBS…
Elon Musk’s The Boring Company which is set to build underground highways to alleviate traffic congestion, beautify cities and enable rapid point-to-point transportation has raised $675 million Series C round, bringing its total valuation to $5.7 billion. According to the company, the new funding will be used to increase hiring across engineering, operations and production in order to build and scale Loop projects as well as to accelerate the research and development of Prufrock, the company’s next-generation tunnelling machine. The funding round was led by Vy Capital and Sequoia Capital, and also saw participation from Valor Equity Partners, Founders Fund,…
NFTs have revolutionised a variety of industries, including arts, music, fashion, entertainment, sports, and gaming. Furthermore, the potential transformation of several industries has opened up more opportunities in the NFT industry for entrepreneurs. Additionally, creators such as musicians, artists, and others can monetise their digital works by converting them into NFTs. Blockchain technology is used to create NFTs, and it’s entirely up to you to decide which blockchain network to use. Ethereum (ETH) is the most popular, but a number of competitors have surged in popularity in recent times, chiefly Flow (FLOW), Cardano (ADA) and Parody Coin (PARO). Take a look at some alternative blockchains for…
Jaiz Bank Plc, the Premier Non-Interest Bank in Nigeria has released its audited financial results for the period ended 31 December 2021. The results as released to the Nigerian Exchange Group, showed a 43% growth in Profit Before Tax from N3.07billion in December 2020 to N4.37 billion in December 2021. This is on the backdrop of an increase of 31.76% in Gross Income from N19.61 billion realized in 2020 to N25.84 billion in 2021. Similarly, the Bank’s Total Asset grew by 19.55% from N233.60 billion to N279.28 billion while Shareholders’ Funds for the period grew by 36.20%, from N17.85 billion…
Following a five-year streak of outpacing the industry players in claims expense to its policyholders, Leadway Assurance Company Limited, Nigeria’s foremost insurer, maintained another year-on-year increase with N48bn claims – the highest annual claims expense as of December 31, 2021. Leadway Assurance’s claims expenses for 2021 recorded a 10% increase from N43.5billion in 2020 to N48 billion relative to the previous year. The shareholder’s fund also recorded 18.8% increase from N67.8 billion in 2020 to N80.6 billion in 2021, while posting a Total asset of N500.2 billion in 2021. The company also recorded a 31% premium income growth from N53.65…
Coronation Merchant Bank Limited has issued and quoted a N25 billion Series 1 and 2 Commercial Paper under its N100 Commercial Paper programme. The proceeds from this programme would be channelled towards meeting the bank’s short-term working capital requirements. The Issuance will be across 182 and 269-day tenors for a target amount of up to N25 billion. The company’s issuer ratings are B- (Fitch), A+ (Agusto), A- (GCR). This was contained in a notice sent out to investors and the minimum subscription for interested investors is N5 million and multiples of N1,000 thereafter. Investors are to fund their commitments by April 25, 2022.…
Premium Trust Bank has joined the list of licensed commercial banks operating in Nigeria. The bank launched and opened its first branch on Tuesday, 19th April 2022 in the city of Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Premium Trust Bank is on a mission to provide solutions to peculiar financial challenges of customers through innovation and speed of execution, improving lives, communities and businesses. The bank says it will do this through premium service delivery, premium human capital, and premium customer experience. Speaking at the launch event, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Premium Trust Bank, Mr. Emmanuel Efe Emefienim…
Recently, World Health Day was commemorated globally on 7th April, as numerous institutions (public and private), groups, individuals etc. across the world were given the needed charge to double efforts in making the world a healthier place. World Health Day is a global health awareness day commemorated every year on the 7th of April to mark the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948. The global body uses the opportunity to draw worldwide attention to a subject of major importance to global health. The 2022 edition is themed Our planet, our health. In Nigeria, the country’s premier Banking…
Professor Pat Utomi, Founder/CEO of the Centre for Values in Leadership has stated that Nigeria must focus on its educated young and unemployed population to double its GDP in 5 years. Utomi disclosed this while being a guest of Sunday Politics, an interview programme on Channels TV hosted by Seun Okinbaloye. The former presidential aspirant hinted that he will be part of a political coalition for Nigeria’s Presidency in 2023, with the goal of doubling Nigeria’s GDP. He stated that he once told someone that within a week of being president, he will put an order that will put every unemployed…
Sterling Bank Plc has apologized to the public for putting up a post that compared the resurrection of Jesus Christ to the rise of Agege bread on its social media page and subscribers’ mail. In celebrating Easter, the bank had shared a post with the quote, “Like Agege Bread, He Rose” which met serious reprisal by many Christians. Describing the post as one that is insensitive and insulting to Christians, social media users demanded that the post be brought down immediately and an apology be tendered by the bank. In their reaction, the bank pulled down the post on its…
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has disclosed how it foiled attempts by Brazil-based drug cartels who attempted to smuggle large consignments of cocaine into Nigeria through three international airports across Nigeria within six days. This was confirmed by Femi Babafemi, Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA. According to the spokesperson of the agency, the cartels and seven traffickers were arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport and Port Harcourt International Airport. Babafemi disclosed that five suspects were arrested on April 9 at the Port Harcourt International Airport. He said, “Three of them were arrested during the…
The Lagos State Government is proposing to raise ethical and sustainable financing such as Sukuk, Green, and Blue Bonds to execute infrastructure projects that would further consolidate the State’s position as an economic nerve centre. This was made known by the Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Rabiu Olowo, during a training session for the Staff of Debt Management Office on Sukuk Issuance, facilitated by STL Trustees at the State Treasury Resource Centre, CBD, Alausa, Ikeja. Olowo said that the appetite of investors across the world is for ethical and sustainable financing which, ultimately, is a win-win situation for all…
The Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, has explained that the Agro-Cargo Airport currently being constructed by his administration would serve as a conglomeration to agro-processing companies as well as aerotropolis that have added value services, when completed. The governor noted that the airport is expected to provide facilities for cargo processing, storage, warehouses and a training centre, among others. This was made known by Abiodun over the weekend when he conducted the Chief Executive Officer, Arise Integrated Industrial Platform, Mr. Gagan Gupta around the airport at Illisan-Remo. Abiodun said that this is just not an airport, but also one…
The Federal Government has established its commitment to the completion of the stalled Brass Liquefied Natural Gas (BLNG) project as it seeks for new investors to revive the project. This was made known by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, during an inspection of the project site in Twon Brass, Bayelsa State on Saturday, according to a statement by his Senior Adviser (Media and Communications), Horatius Egua. According to NAN, Sylva was on inspection of the project with the management of the Greenville LNG, an interested investor, in the BLNG. Sylva said that the Federal Government…
The Ministry of Mines and Steel Development has refuted the claims that the Federal Government plans to hand over the Ajaokuta Steel plant to a British firm for rehabilitation. This was disclosed by the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc. Olamilekan Adegbite, via a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Ayodeji Adeyemi on Monday. According to the statement, the Minister had never said the plant will be rehabilitated by a British firm. To correct the false narratives that was carried by some media outlets on Ajaokuta Steel plant and the purported handover to a British firm, Adegbite…
The Federal Government announced that it is prepared to renegotiate terms with the Academic Staff Union of Universities to get young Nigerian students back to school. The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige said this when he received members of the government side of the 2009 Federal Government/University-based unions agreement re-negotiation committee led by its Chairman, Prof. Nimi Briggs, on Monday in Abuja. This comes as ASUU had announced last month that it has extended its strike by 2 months. Disclosing details of the recent strike, the Minister stated that the FG has been pushing to see that…
The Nigerian Customs Service has officially released a circular announcing the reduction of import duties on both used and new vehicles. In a statement by, Timi Bomodi, Customs National Spokesman, the service said the new duty rate for both used and new vehicles is now 20% as against the 35% usually paid. The statement noted that implementation will take effect immediately. The service revealed that on April 1, 2022, they migrated from the old version of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff (2017-2021) to the new version (2022-2026). The statement noted that the reduction in import duties on new vehicles was…
Nigeria’s power and rail infrastructure are the most attacked infrastructures in Nigeria in the last three years. This was made known in a report by a socioeconomic research firm, SBM intelligence, on Monday titled, “Attacks on infrastructure in Nigeria.” The report comes as the Federal Government blamed the grid collapse on an act of vandalism on a transmission tower on the Odukpani-Ikot Ekpene 330KV double circuit transmission. The report revealed that from Q3 2019 to Q1 2022, Nigerian power generation plants suffered 6 attacks in the state of Borno alone. In the North West, Kaduna State has experienced 5 train attacks and…
The Clearing agents operating in Nigeria’s maritime sector may soon protest and embark on industrial action, withdrawing their services, following the reintroduction of a 15% National Automotive Council (NAC) levy by the Nigeria Customs Service on imported used vehicles. This was confirmed by affected stakeholders in the industry on Tuesday. They lamented that such a levy will have an adverse effect on the sector and if the decision is not reversed, it would lead to protest and strike from April 14, 2022. The Chairman of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents, Ports & Terminal Multipurpose Limited…