Over $200 million contributed by indigenous ship owners operating in Nigeria may have been stuck in the Treasury Single Account (TSA) until the regulation guiding the disbursement is reviewed. Indigenous ship owners who spoke at a stakeholders’ forum organised by Alumni of Maritime Academy of Nigeria Oron (AMANO), with the theme, ‘The State of the Nigerian Maritime Domain in 2022 and Beyond,’ in Lagos, disclosed that not a dime has been disbursed from the fund. The CVFF was established under the Cabotage and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act of 2003, to provide finance to indigenous ship owners to maintain their vessels…
Author: Temitope N.
For Nigerian ports to improve in the Ease of Doing Business (EODB), concerned stakeholders in the industry have urged the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to stay away from the seaports. The Director-General, SON, Mallam Farouk Salim, had recently sought the return of SON to the ports, claiming that this would strengthen its regulatory capacity and save the country from the influx of injurious goods. But maritime stakeholders disagreed with this move, saying SON’s return to the seaports will drag Nigeria down the ladder in the Ease of Doing Business ranking. To improve Nigeria’s ranking on the EODB, Vice President…
Anticipation of improved first quarter (Q1) earnings triggered bargain hunting in the equities sector of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), last week, as the All-share index and market capitalisation appreciated by two per cent to close the week at 48,459.65 and N26.125 trillion respectively. Similarly, all other indices finished higher except NGX Insurance, which depreciated at 0.05 per cent while NGX Asem, NGX Afr. bank value and NGXGrowth indices closed flat. Analysts linked the performance to bargain hunters’ positioning for blue-chip companies as profit-taking slows down amidst rekindled buying interests ahead of more scorecards. According to them, despite the mixed…
The Chief Consultant of Biodun Adedipe Associates, Dr. Biodun Adedipe has advised the insurance and pension industries to explore opportunities created by the COVID-19 Pandemic to grow the two sectors. Adedipe who spoke on ‘Prioritising Excellent Customer Services in Insurance and Pension Businesses’ at the 6th edition of the Business Communications Conference in Lagos, said that the sectors could witness the required growth and contribute significantly to the economy if the operators embrace innovation in product development and customer service. He said the type of product a company offers and the service it renders determine whether its customers will return…
Dangote Cement Plc has sustained its position as a leading contributor to Nigeria’s economy with a tax charge of N173.93 billion for last year. According to the group’s audited results released on the portal of the Nigerian Exchange Ltd (NGX), the tax charge represents an increase of 78.7 per cent over N97.24 billion paid in 2020. Analysis of the cement company’s financial result indicated that the group’s sales volume stood at 29.3 metric tonnes (MT0, with Nigeria accounting for 18.61MTs while operations in other countries did 10.86MTs. Group revenue was N1.38 trillion or the full year, made up of N993.34…
The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) have applauded Dangote Petroleum Refinery for its application of world-class technology in the construction of the 650,000 barrels per day refinery project. The two associations, which leaders were on a tour of the petroleum refinery project recently, expressed the belief that the refining facility is capable of redefining Nigeria’s domestic fuels production. They also said that completion of the gigantic project will secure the future of young engineers in Nigeria and put them at par with their counterparts in the global oil and gas industry.…
HealthPlus, Nigeria’s first integrative pharmacy continues to take leaps and strides in strides in keeping its commitment to raise the standard of care and provide safe access to wholesome medications. Since the exit of its Founder and former CEO, Bukky George, the business has executed some turnaround initiatives including focus on core business activities, asset optimisation and business innovation to bring about an improvement in the performance of the company. Chief Transformation officer Chidi Okoro remarks “we have embarked on a range of measures to recover from a period of a performance turbulence and transition, these measures have marked a significant…
ETAP, an insurtech startup in Nigeria has obtained $1.5 million in funding as it looks to improve the penetration of car insurance across Africa. To achieve this, the startup said it is working with a wide range of automotive value chain players, adding that it will also work with a wide range of automotive value chain players. Led by Mobility 54 (the Venture Capital arm of Toyota Tsusho and CFAO Group), the funding round also saw participation from Tangerine Insurance, Graph Ventures (invested in Clubhouse), Newmont and other Angel investors. The startup said the funding will support the rollout of…
Equinix Incorporated, a multinational and one of the world’s largest digital infrastructure companies, has decided to expand into the African market, with the acquisition of MainOne, a telecommunications service provider for $320 million. MainOne touts to be West Africa’s leading data center and connectivity solutions provider with presence in Nigeria, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire. The firm provides highly reliable services to major telecom operators, ISPs, government agencies, small to large enterprises, and educational institutions. According to a press release by Equinix, the completion of this acquisition augments Equinix’s long-term strategy to become a leading African carrier-neutral digital infrastructure company by being able…
Eterna Plc has notified The Exchange and investing public that the SEC has granted Preline Limited, the Authority to Proceed with the acquisition of 1,300,000 units of ordinary shares, equivalent to 0.10% stake in Eterna Plc. This comes after Eterna plc, in November 2021, released a press statement on the acquisition of over 700 million units of ordinary shares by Preline Limited, to become the largest and majority shareholder of Eterna plc. Preline Limited acquired a total of 794,969,774 ordinary shares, representing 60.98% stake in Eterna Plc in November 2021. The acquisition of over 700 million units of Eterna Plc shares by…
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…
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…