The Nation Newspaper

Category: Money

  • Sterling Bank’s MSME Academy begins

    Sterling Bank’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Academy is billed for Wednesday, this week. It is part of the lender’s value-added offering for its SUPA Business Account holders.

    The academy, which will commence with a pilot session in Lagos, is a product of the bank’s partnership with BusinessDay.

    This is in furtherance of the bank’s commitment to enrich lives by focusing on the unique needs of its entrepreneurial customers, and giving teeth to private sector involvement in the development of small businesses and the economy at large.

    Managing Director, Mark-George Consultants, Olugbolahan Mark-George, will train SMEs during the programme in which operators will be engaged one-on-one on their business challenges and offered advisory services.

    According to the bank’s Group Head, Strategy & Communications, Shina Atilola, “the Sterling MSME Academy is aimed at capacity building for existing and emerging Micro, Small and Medium-sized enterprises to enable them build viable businesses and position them to access funds for expansion. MSMEs would also enjoy access to relevant and reliable business intelligence and information that would help them to navigate the challenging operating environment.”

    The academy will also be facilitated by International Finance Corporation and Enterprise Development Centre certified and seasoned MSME trainers and will run from September 30 to October 21. Registration started on August 17, this year and is to last for three weeks.

    Business owners/ MSME operators interested in participation are expected to fill in their details and get the necessary information on the registration portal.

    The bank had last June partnered with LEAP Africa on the 10th edition of the Annual Africa CEO Forum. The forum with the theme: ‘Staying Ahead: Maximising Profit and Mitigating Risk’, was an avenue for the CEOs to understand how to ensure proper risk identification, assessment and analysis. These factors were identified as key to minimising revenue loss and ensuring continued business survival.

     

  • FirstBank unveils Life is a Movie campaign

    First Bank of Nigeria Limited is offering its customers and consumers a unique opportunity to participate in a onetime blockbuster titled: Life is a Movie featuring ‘Customers’ Firsts’.

    In a statement, the bank said it is again living up to its brand promise to put customers first, through a series of consumer experience, exploring the concept of ‘First’ from a customer’s perspective.

    “Moments in our lives play out like scenes from a movie which could fit into the genres of romance, adventure, comedy and definitely drama. Whatever this moment is, FirstBank is requesting you to share this moment with us  so we can begin to see the world from our customers’ point of view,” it said.

    With the ‘Life is a Movie Campaign’, the bank is requesting its customers to share experiences and moments of their ‘First’ activities of interests, such as your first bike ride, first plane ride and other first adventure periods of your lives.

    Customers can take on characteristics they want exemplified in a movie and send video recordings of not more than one minute to the bank.

    The best entries will be pulled together to make the first ever customer focused television commercial in Nigeria . In a statement by the bank’s spokesperson, Folake Ani-Mumuney, FirstBank has chosen its customers to run its new ‘Your  First’ advertising campaign in movie style.

    “Having the faces of our customers used as part of our advertising campaign represents not only what we do for our customers, but what our customers do with us. With this campaign, we want our customers assured that even when life feels like a movie, FirstBank will be  part of the script with lifestyle-fit products and services you need to make sure your life follows the script you planned,”she stated.

    This campaign demonstrates how the bank enables its customers to be first, presenting the different dimensions of Fists and enabling customers claim First in their own lives. Whether it is getting them to do something for the first time, putting them first in line for something special or growing their business to become first in class, customers can show the world what matters to them and FirstBank would work to support them, ensuring that they enjoy the different moments of their lives.

    Having been around for over 120 years, FirstBank has become the trusted and dependable partner throughout the journey of life – experiencing many moments right along with its consumers and thus, playing a major role in the movie of their lives.

     

     

     

  • AfDB gears up for role in post-2015 agenda

    AfDB gears up for role in post-2015 agenda

    A delegation from  the African Development Bank (AfDB) led by its new President, Akinwumi Adesina, would ensure that Africa’s voice is heard at the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Summit holding next week in New York.

    During the visit, Adesina and his team are expected to participate in a series of multilateral and bilateral meetings and engagements with partners, civil society, media and many eminent persons, including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde and Bill Gates.

    AfDB said more than 150 world leaders are expected to attend the summit to adopt an ambitious new sustainable development agenda. This agenda will serve as the launch pad for action by the international community and by national governments to promote shared prosperity and well-being for all over the next 15 years.

    Building on Adesina’s five-point vision, to “Light up and Power Africa, Feed Africa, Integrate Africa, Industrialise Africa, Improve quality of life for the people of Africa, the bank committed to play a catalytic role to mobilise funds for the Social Development Goals (SDGs).

    The post-2015 agenda provides a new global framework for countries to better focus, coordinate and integrate their efforts as they work towards sustainable development, while eradicating poverty in all its forms.

    The new 17 SDGs are universal set of goals, targets and indicators that UN Member States are expected to use to frame their national development plans and policies over the next 15 years. The SDGs follow, and expand on, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were agreed by governments in 2000, and which are due to expire at the end of this year.

    Aligned to the AfDB’s 10-Year Strategy 2013-2022, the SDGs reflect the development aspirations of African countries that emphasise the need for inclusive and green growth in the quest for sustainable development and poverty eradication.

    The AfDB said it will along with other development partners, will be providing support to its Regional Member Countries in Africa in implementing the SDGs by mobilising additional resources and providing technical assistance and policy advice.

    The bank is also actively contributing to the development of the SDGs and raising the African voice in the discussions, including through a dedicated Africa Regional Report on the SDGs, jointly produced with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Union.

    The UN Summit follows the Addis Ababa Financing for Development Conference held in July 2015, where the broader development community and the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), including the AfDB, were called upon to enhance the leverage and multiplier effects of financing and provide innovative financing solutions in order to help countries to maximize their own resources.

    The AfDB co-authored a paper with other MDBs entitled “From Billions to Trillions”, which affirms how the SDG goals are ambitious, and how they – in turn – demand equal ambition in using “billions” in official development assistance (ODA) and available development resources to attract, leverage and mobilize “trillions” in investments.

     

     

     

  • Nigeria, Kenya battle currency risks, recession threat

    Nigeria, Kenya battle currency risks, recession threat

    The threat of recession in Nigeria and weaker growth in Kenya prompted policy makers in the two countries to keep interest rates unchanged despite pressure on their currencies to weaken.

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) kept its policy rate at a record 13 per cent last Tuesday, while the Central Bank of Kenya left its benchmark rate at 11.5 per cent, matching the forecasts of most of the economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

    Nigeria and Kenya are among African nations that have tightened monetary policy since last year to bolster their currencies, bucking a global trend of lower interest rates. A plunge in commodity prices and weaker global demand, particularly from China, are putting the brakes on Africa’s growth boom, giving policy makers on the continent reason to pause.

    Kenya’s rate decision “has the impact of stabilising the market and does not curtail expansion of the economy because banks will not punish borrowers,” Fred Moturi, head of fixed income trading at Sterling Capital Ltd., told Bloomberg. “It also shows that the need for growth won over the need to stabilise the currency.”

    Kenya’s shilling has weakened 14 per cent against the dollar this year, prompting the central bank to raise borrowing costs by 300 basis points since June. Economic growth has come under pressure following a collapse in tourism and lower tea output, the nation’s biggest foreign-currency earners.

    CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele has turned to foreign-exchange controls this year to stabilise the naira after the currency fell almost 10 percent against the dollar in the first two months of the year. The economy of Africa’s biggest oil producer is struggling after crude prices more than halved since June last year.

    Emefiele said that the economy is at risk of falling into recession next year if “proactive steps” are not taken to support key industries. Gross domestic product rose at the slowest pace in at least five years in the second quarter, expanding 2.4 percent from a year earlier.

    The governor’s signaling of a recession is “a clear indication that the growth story has got to be a big focus going forward,” Manji Cheto, vice president of Teneo Intelligence in London, said by phone.

    Emefiele has resisted pressure to devalue the naira, a policy stance that has undermined confidence in the central bank and may add to growth concerns as foreign-currency restrictions curb liquidity.

    “The strategy seems to keep controls in place until demand adjusts to meet available foreign-exchange supply,” Razia Khan, head of Africa economic research at Standard Chartered Plc in London, said in an e-mailed note to clients.

  •  BoI seeks long term funding for SMEs

     BoI seeks long term funding for SMEs

    Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) need long term loans to achieve their full potentials, the Managing Director, Bank of Industry (BoI), Rasheed Olaoluwa, has said.

    Speaking during a conference for financial journalists  in Lagos at the weekend, he said finance has been identified in many business surveys as a critical factor for the survival and growth of SMEs in both developed and developing countries.

    “Access to finance allows SMEs to undertake productive investments to expand their businesses and to acquire the latest technologies, thus ensuring their competitiveness and that of the nation as a whole.

    “Poorly functioning financial systems can seriously undermine the macroeconomic fundamentals of a country, resulting in lower growth in income and employment,” he said.

    Olaoluwa, who was represented by the General Manager, SMEs, Abdul-Ganiyu Mohammed, said despite their dominant numbers and importance in job creation, SMEs traditionally have faced difficulty in obtaining formal credit, or equity.

    “For example, maturities of commercial bank loans extended to SMEs are often limited to a period far too short to pay off any sizeable investment. This is due to the short-term nature of their funds, with the attendant mismatch if granted as long-term facilities to SMEs. Meanwhile, the tendency is for access to competitive interest rates to be reserved only for prime customers, while loan interest rates offered to SMEs remain high. Accordingly, bank credit in Nigeria is characterized by limited availability of medium- to long-term credit tenors, short moratorium, and high collateral requirements,” he said.

    Speaking further, he said recent surveys of SMEs and banks by the World Bank and other stakeholders, have identified several factors limiting access to bank finance for SMEs.

    “In recent years, deposit money banks (DMBs) have continued to dominate Nigeria’s financial system. With relatively under-developed corporate bond and alternative securities markets, bank credit has constituted the main source of formal financing for Nigerian companies,” he said.

    He explained that based on the results of a World Bank survey of Nigerian SMEs in 2011, only an estimated9.5 per cent of Nigerian SMEs had a loan or line of credit in 2011, and bank financing of working capital and fixed assets was estimated to fill respectively only three per cent and two per cent of outstanding needs.

  • Renaissance Capital appoints new CEO for Nigeria

    Renaissance Capital, an emerging and frontier markets investment bank, has announced  Temi Popoola as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Nigeria.

    In his new role, Popoola will focus on equities and growing the investment banking side of the business, as well as overseeing a 25-strong team in Lagos. He will report to Igor Vayn, CEO, and Ruslan Babaev, Chief Business Officer, with additional reporting lines to Ben Samuels, Global Head of Equities, and James Friel, Global Head of Investment Banking.

    Popoola joined Renaissance Capital in July 2015 and has been working closely with the sales team, traders and research analysts both locally and across the Firm’s network of offices to drive the Nigerian equities business.

    He has over 13 years of international experience in equities and derivatives in emerging markets. Prior to joining the Firm, he played a key role in building a successful equities business at CSL Stockbrokers/FCMB in Lagos, enabling the company to become the number two by market share on the NSE in 2014.

    Mr. Popoola began his career as an asset manager in London in 2002, before joining Bank of America Securities in New York in 2006 as a trader in equity derivatives. He then moved to Lagos three years later to join the United Bank for Africa as Head of New Products and Investments. Mr. Popoola was also the co-founder of Centurion Capital Partners, an asset management firm based in New York.

    He holds a First Class degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Lagos and obtained a Master’s Degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

  • Diamond Bank rewards customers

    Diamond Bank rewards customers

    Ten undergraduates studying in various Nigerian tertiary institutions have been rewarded   by Diamond Bank with   N1.2 million for owning   and operating a customized savings accounts.

    The accounts, the bank said, exposes students  to the huge benefits that savings and financial prudence offers in competitive adult life.

    The winners emerged through an online electronic draw, which was conducted  among the thousands of students and youth corps members who opened and operate Student-With-A-Goal (SWAG) account with the Bank since the campaign for PocketMoney4AYear, kicked off.

    The draws were witnessed by journalists, students from various higher institutions in the country and selected Youth Corps members serving in Lagos State. Each of the winners will receive N1,000  PocketMoney4AYear and can draw the cash monthly at any Diamond Bank branch.

    The SWAG proposition is a customised bank account that fits into and enhances the lifestyle needs, culture of learning and freedom of the student and youth corps member with a goal for the future.

    Product Manager, Diamond S.W.A.G, Chinenye Nwosu, said the initiative is designed to ensure  that all   account holders have a   guaranteed  sum   deposited in their accounts every month, stressing that  PocketMoney4AYear  is   a   lifestyle based savings account   targeted at students of tertiary institutions and corps members under the Diamond S.W.A.G proposition.

  • Bankers committee: MSMEs grow economy

    The Bankers’ Committee and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have restated the strategic importance of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) to the growth of the nation’s economy.

    This was stated at the recent workshops in Abuja and Owerri on the N220billion Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise Development Fund organised by the Bankers’ Committee’s sub-committee on Economic Development, Sustainability & Gender in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

    In his remarks, CBN’s Director, Development Finance Department, Dr. Mudasiru Olaitan, said, the essence of the workshop is to get the  Deposit Money Banks (DMB) to key- into the strategic plan of the apex bank for the MSMEs.  “MSMEs are the engine room for economic growth, vehicle for job creation, tools for poverty alleviation and wealth creation for any country’s economy, so there is need to support them to grow so that the economy can grow,” Olaitan  stressed.

     

  • ABCON suspends Amazon BDC over $156,000 cash

    ABCON suspends Amazon BDC over $156,000 cash

    The Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) yesterday suspended Amazon Bureau De Change (BDC). This followed the arrest of Amazon BDC Manager, Nwokenta Emmanuel, and five other persons, by the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for swallowing $156,000 intended for export to Brazil.

    The Executive Council of ABCON also suspended directors and workers of the company pending the outcome of the investigations by the its Disciplinary and Investigative Committee, the NDLEA, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    ABCON President, Aminu Gwadabe who announced the suspension said the group is shocked and highly embarrassed by the development and the involvement of a BDC operator in the act.

    ”While this is not to pre-empt the outcome of these investigations, the suspension is to serve as strong warning to all ABCON members that any case of illegality and unethical conduct will be severely dealt with by the Association. We call on all BDC operators not to allow anyone to use their services or license for money laundering or any act of illegality and criminality,” Gwadabe said.

    He said ABCON has a zero tolerance for non-compliance with regulatory requirement and for unethical conduct amongst its members.

    “It for this purpose that the association created the office of Compliance Officer in its National Secretariat and in all its zonal offices and also provided official vehicles for the compliance officers to regularly pay inspection visits to BDCs under their jurisdictions”.

  • Heritage Bank integrates systems

    Heritage Bank integrates systems

    • Promises improved service

    The Chairman, Board Heritage Bank Limited, Akinsola Akinfemiwa has said the bank is set for a seamless operation that will meet the expectations of its customers and stakeholders.

    Speaking during a parley with reporters in Lagos yesterday, Akinfemiwa explained that the bank has, to this end, integrated its “process, technology, people, and branch networks” to pave way for an efficient and seamless banking service for its customers all over the country and beyond.

    He said: “We have aligned our operations and processes. We have also rebranded all our branches and trained all our workers on all aspects of our core operational services. We have equally harmonised our products, customers and data at all our Experience Centres.”

    He further said the bank is a service organisation engaged in the business of banking, promising that it will operate in a different and special way to satisfy customers and beat its competitors. According to him, the bank is innovative and service-oriented.

    He said: “It is not like any other bank; we are going to use technology to push our operations.”

    The new development, according to him, has fully established the lender as a national financial institution that operates and renders full commercial banking services across the country.

    The bank, which hitherto operated as a regional bank, with 15 Experience Centres, has increased its presence to about 200 service outlets boosted by about 165 branches of the defunct Enterprise Bank, spread across the country.

    Akinfemiwa said this marks a new era in banking in Nigeria as the integration of two entities with similar values, excellent and professional staffing, strong branch network, has led to an entity that is poised for excellent and quality financial services.