Category: Money

Senior Manager, PayPal Maximilian  Ekesi, has said Nigeria has made tremendous progress in the e-payment space but that it can do better by adopting agile practices in their operations.

Speaking ahead of the Fifth Annual Agile Nigeria Conference, themed “Continuous improvement strategies”, he said the banks could increase speed and efficiency in customer services.

Also, the Chairman, Agile Practitioner Association of Nigeria, Mrs. Abiodun Osoba, said it was in view of the period’s global realities brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic that the association made last year’s conference a virtual event and it turned out a huge success.

For this year’s conference, she said the event organiser decided to make the conference a hybrid event due to the restriction that has been lifted in most countries to enable attendees to partake either virtually or physically, adding also that COVID-19 protocols would be observed for the safety of its members, facilitators and other participants who will attend.

“So, whether you’re with us in Lagos or joining from across the globe, you’ll have the chance to learn from experts, connect with the community, and leave inspired,” she assured.

The conference is scheduled for March 1 and 2, 2022 at Radisson Blu, Ikeja, Lagos.

Nigeria’s rising debt profile has become a big challenge to the economy. Chairman, Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, Akin Ogunbiyi has advised the Federal Government not to take further loans to fund recurrent expenditure. For him, loans should go to projects with capacity to repay them through revenue earnings. He speaks on the pension industry, workers’ welfare, capital flight, inflation, and how the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC)’s allocation to states reduces drive to increase revenue in many states. COLLINS NWEZE reports.

Nigeria’s inflation rate rose for many months but has been declining in recent months, according to  the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Do you think the NBS figures reflect the market prices?

When COVID-19 came, economic activities were not the way they used to be. But now, we are having a bit of stability and I think that is impacting positively on economic development and inflation rate. What was published by the NBS is close to reality when you look at how economic activities in the country have improved.

It is not just government spending that is making the impact, but when you look at the individuals and various companies, economic activities have actually picked up and that will definitely impact the economy. Look at real estate, trade and commerce, even major towns and cities in Nigeria, economic activities have picked up, except in the North where we have insecurity issues. The level at which we were bringing things to the South was badly affected when COVID-19 started.

Nigeria is spending a substantial part of its revenue on debt servicing and is still borrowing. How sustainable is Nigeria’s mounting debt?

Let the government analyse the debt profile and tell us what they used each debt they have taken for?

The National Assembly will not ask questions.There is nothing wrong with taking debt. America borrows but it is still the wealthiest country. They are taking debt to satisfy their needs. If you are going to borrow money, attach it to a particular project.

Let the project have its life, cash flow generation, then the project will pay back. If it is a social project like education and health, let us see exactly what you used the money for. I don’t subscribe to Nigeria taking any further credit because they took this money to satisfy the few.

How can you be taking debt to satisfy your recurrent expenditure? Is that how it is done? How sustainable is that? It is unfortunate that you pass debts to other governments after you. I will say Nigeria should stop borrowing to fund recurrent expenditure. The projects awarded in the country most times are exaggerated.

If you are borrowing money, give it to people who will deliver the projects, but do not overload the cost of the projects. How many billions have they spent? They are too complacent; nobody asks questions. And when our youths rose up, they killed them. I just pray that in the next elections, Nigerians should vote rightly. How can you sell your conscience because of money? The youths have the power to change the leadership in this country.

What advice do you have for the youth given the challenge facing the country?

Let them come together and form a party. They have the population. I am challenging our youths to rise up. We don’t have another country.

Our country is one that we should be proud of. I am challenging the youth; don’t just go and protest.There are better ways to do it. The election is 2023; they can organise themselves. Let them register online. There will be sanctity in the unity of Nigeria; we should not compromise it. We can do it better.

Many states have very low internally generated revenue and are depending on the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) funds to meet their financial needs. How can this trend be addressed?

One thing affects the other. How many states are viable the way they are run? That is why I support the idea of regionalisation. Many of our states are not viable.

If we run federalism the way it should be run, the states should have control over any resources that are in their domain. The power at the centre should be decentralised to the states.

For example, Osun State can provide resources that oil is providing. We have stock of mineral resources in Osun State, but what is the state getting out of the mining business that the Chinese are doing in the state? If the Federal Government allows Osun to take over the resources and ensure the management of it, you will see the development.

And that is how it is happening in many other states. The way we operate our federalism is the issue. We first contribute resources to the centre and the centre looks at it. Look at the recent agitation on the Value Added Tax? A state that contributes little is getting more. Some states are challenging the Federal Government.

They are right. They don’t have to do any out-of-court settlement. They should challenge this federalism. That is the beginning of restructuring. The states should allow the Supreme Court to make a pronouncement because they are right. When you don’t have control over the resources you generate. Again, in terms of IGR, many people cut corners. How many businesses are registered in the states? How many businesses are paying taxes? Tax evasion is criminal.

If you are a petty trader, there must be a registration.

Who is implementing the laws? The laws are there. I wish and I pray that the right leadership will emerge for this country and for each state. It takes boldness on the part of a governor to challenge the Federal Government. All of them should wake up and get the right things done.

What are the economic implications of doctors and lecturers going on strike and way to solve these incessant strikes?

The implication is capital flight, brain drain. It is because of the insensitivity of our leadership.

Tell me one hospital that you can walk into and get services that you need. Is it teaching hospital? They are glorified hospitals and we have lots of people working there who would not even go to work.

All the doctors there have their private practice. It is because of continuous neglect of these facilities. So, you will continue to have strikes. If you have certain things, when you don’t even have funds for the basic things, all you pay is salaries, and that is what you find not only in the health sector but also in education. Do you know that private universities are more than the public universities?

What are your thoughts on funding for health and educational sectors?

The first thing to ask is the budget assigned to education and health. Do the funds get to such projects? When you select people who are incompetent, they value the wrong things. Somebody talked about knowledge, power and wealth; it is only a fool that will go for wealth.

If you have knowledge, that knowledge will give you power, and that power you will use to create wealth. We know that in civil service, when you retire, you get your pensions. The funds under the Contributory Pension Scheme is about N13 trillion.

Almost 80 per cent of the funds have been borrowed by the government. How will they pay back? They way they will pay back is to print naira. But in this economy, who cares about pensioners? If you retire, you don’t even talk about pension for the next five years for which you may have even dropped dead. It is unfortunate.

There has been neglect over the years, but there has to be somebody who is competent to handle this. Look at what happened in Ghana, the president went to an hospital, everything was empty. No equipment was working. And he said I want this, if you don’t fix it in two weeks, everybody is fired. He got there, everything was renovated, equipment working, everything. Why, corruption?

A country that neglects its best and goes for medicals abroad, what do you expect? As long as we don’t go the conventional way of seeking knowledge, to give us power and to create wealth, instead of just spending and spending.

With good leadership, does it mean all these challenges will stop?

There are many corporate gurus that have done extremely well and they have gone out there to take leadership courses for this our country.

But the way in which leaders are selected in this country is a challenge.By the grace of God, I started out with Mutual Benefits and now we employ over 5,000 Nigerians. You can imagine, the federal and state government that is the largest employer, what do they give? There are many civil servants that are unproductive; there are those that are corrupt. It is not as if they don’t have something to offer, but because the system does not encourage them. We need good leadership in this country. When you have these good qualities, you put them into use to make this country to grow.

Many people who require travelling to do their businesses are scared of going by road because of insecurity, and travelling by air is expensive. How in your view on the insecurity affecting the business environment?

I’m happy with the aviation industry each time I travel and see the activities at the airport, and the response index with the level of traffic; it is phenomenal.

The airlines are buying new aircraft. It is not that they are too comfortable, but they are managing themselves and they are responding.Why will people abandon the roads and go for aircraft? It is at a great inconvenience, I must say. What is the cost of a flight from Lagos to Abuja? It is so high.

But can you blame them? Insecurity in this country has affected trade and commerce. Even the few people travelling by road and carrying their goods are being disturbed on the road by Customs agents.  Customs are to secure the borders. But if the goods have passed the borders and somebody is travelling within and he has to pass through several checkpoints by Customs, and for every point, he has to drop something, it will only add to the cost of the goods, apart from the insecurity on the roads. You have to organise your security if you are going by road. Thank God for IT, services can be rendered online. But no matter what, some services have to be done physically. We don’t have good roads also, aside from the security challenge.

Global payments and collections company, Leatherback has received  the nod to carry out transactions.

Not restricted by the many regulatory requirements expected of traditional banks, fintechs have leveraged their position as disruptors in the market, promoting their ability to offer more agile services at lower prices.

Leatherback Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ibrahim Toyeeb, said though fintechs have disrupted the financial services market, the word ‘disruption’ has been over-used in the sector.

“Technology, innovation, regulation and experience should go side-by-side. It should not be a matter of one or the other. The ability of fintechs to sidestep regulation has created distrust amongst consumers, who are increasingly voicing their need to be assured that their money is safe.

“That is why – when we started Leatherback – we decided to view regulation as our friend, rather than our enemy. From the beginning, our model was always to get licences in the countries we operate in,” he said.

Leatherback’s licensing approach is rooted in the understanding that getting licensed helps build trust with clients, and provides them with the peace of mind that comes with knowing they are dealing with a fully regulated entity.

Leatherback began the licensing  in the United Kingdom (UK) and Canada. “Notably, we are licensed with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, which is the highest regulatory body in the world. This means we are held to extremely high standards. We benchmark all our processes against the FCA and our systems are structured to adhere to all FCA requirements,” he said.

Despite the onerous processes involved in obtaining licences, Toyeeb said Leatherback is also Electronic Money Institution (EMI)-licensed in the UK, which allows it to offer e-money services.

“At the same time, we obtained a licence in Canada as a money service business, a move that was aimed at making our Canadian clients feel comfortable with our platform and providing them with the same level of comfort they get from their banks and other financial services providers,” he added.

Leatherback is licensed – or in the process of being licensed – in 13  countries it operates in. “Every regulator expects us to meet specific technological requirements and partnership standards. We are going through all of these regulatory processes and applications to make sure when consumers hear the name Leatherback, they feel comfortable hearing it.They know they are working with a properly structured and fully regulated organisation that will keep their money safe and give them the best possible service,” says Toyeeb.

The technology company is being licensed in developed and frontier markets. While regulators in some of these markets may not be up to date, Leatherback has liaised with regulators to ensure that it offers the best services to its clients.

By being licensed, Leatherback does not have to leverage third party providers. “Because we are licensed, we can tap into the local infrastructure in every country, which means we are able to offer first-layer services to our clients. This means not having to look to a local party, with its own layer of pricing. Licensing helps us offer more affordable services to our clients, which is why our global accounts are free. Nobody does that in the market today,” noted Toyeeb.

Leatherback has, however, joined hands with recognised and reliable solutions providers such as Currency Cloud, which provides account solutions in the United States and parts of Europe, ClearBank, one of the largest banks in the UK. It has also partnered 4Stop, a Know Your Customer (KYC), compliance and anti-fraud solution provider, and Yes Bank in India. It has over 40 partners globally, and partnerships with about three banks in each country of its operation.

Ensuring it operates within regulatory confines does not mean Leatherback has compromised on innovation. “We are committed to providing our clients with a unique financial technology experience that helps them explore different opportunities, while at the same time not erring on the wrong side of regulation.

“We understand that regulation, in one way or another, has to catch up with innovation, but we are happy to help play a meaningful role in bridging the gap with various regulators in the sector,”  Toyeeb added.

 

Chivita Active, one of Nigeria’s most admired fruit juice has unveiled new 125ml & 50ml pack sizes for its sub-brand Chivita Active Zest.

Offering same great taste and benefit, which the brand is renowned for, the 125ml & 50ml pack sizes are a strategic move to ensure more  affordability and accessibility to its consumers.

The new Chivita Active Zest size join the 330ml Can on the market shelf and retail at N60 and N30. The affordability and accessibility of the brand is sure to trigger more demand, maintain market dominance, and also improve penetration in geographical markets. So be it during a long walk, exercises, on a road trip or even at work, consumers can have the drink size that best suits their lifestyle and enjoy their favourite Chivita Active Zest, in the right amount.

Chivita Active Zest is made from a mix of citrus fruits with all-natural ingredients, no artificial preservatives, and flavors. Also, it is fortified with vitamin C for immunity support, and it is a good source of vitamin B1 and D3 for faster body metabolism.

The product also contains calcium for optimum bone health, making it a smart choice to get the right dose of essential vitamins and minerals for a healthy active life.

Toyin Nnodi, CHI Limited Marketing Director stated that the new Chivita Active Zest packs are convenient, easy to use, affordable and will attract more consumers to try out this healthy great tasting juice.

“We are pleased to launch Chivita Active Zest 125ml and 50ml packs at a very affordable price point enabling more consumers to try as well as enjoy their favourite juice. These forward-looking packs and pocket friendly pricing represent an important milestone along our journey to make Chivita Active Zest more affordable and accessible to all consumers” she said.

Chivita Active Zest’s 125ml and 50ml pack sizes are available in all departmental stores and neighborhood shops located across Nigeria.

Leading automotive technology company, Autochek is set to hold the first auto finance summit on Wednesday,  February 23, 2022 at the Civic Centre, Lagos.

With the theme:“Creating economic and human capital opportunities through auto financing”, the event will feature panel discussions covering key industry challenges that affect the growth of the industry in Africa.

Among the notable guests being expectd are the Director-General, National Automotive Design And Development Council, Jelani Aliyu; Chairman, Association of Motor Dealers of Nigeria, Prince Ajibola Adedoyin; Senior Partner TLcom Capital and Chairman Guinness, Omobola Johnson; Executive Director, FundQuest Financial Services Limited, Bisi Oni and Group Head Access Bank, Uche Onyeigwe.

At a briefing, the Senior Vice President West Africa, Autochek, Mayokun Fadeyibi,  said collaboration is key in the industry, highlighting partnerships with OEMs, banks such as Access Bank, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), and United Bank for Africa (UBA).

Key discussions to be addressed at the summit include ‘Unlocking constraints to boost growth and job creation in the automotive industry’, ‘Future of automotive financing and opportunities for the continent’ and ‘The ripple effect of embedded finance to support digital and financial inclusion in Africa’.

 

Access Bank Chairman, Ajoritsedere Awosika has reaffirmed the bank’s strategic objectives to be positioned as ‘Africa’s Gateway to the World’.

Speaking on the bank’s sponsorship of the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, she explained that sports is one of the gateways to Africa and conversely one of Africa’s gateways to the world.

She said the yearly Access Bank Lagos City Marathon connects with the bank’s strategic objectives to make the continent more attractive to global investors and trade partners.

On the bank’s long-term plan in relation to the marathon and sports, she stated that it is going global and that the bank’s team has been given a target of about five years to achieve this goal.

“Access Bank is looking at getting beyond today. It’s already in our strategic plan,” she said.

It would be recalled that the marathon, which returned to its full-scale,  saw Geleta Ulfata of Ethiopia emerging as the winner of the 42km men’s race. Ulfata beat about 300 marathoners on Saturday morning to claim the grand prize of $30,000. In a closely contested finish, Ulfata edged out David Barmasai and Emmanuel Naibei — both from Kenya — who finished second and third, and will go home with $20,000 and $15,000.

Ethiopia’s Dagne Siranesh Yirga was the first woman to cross the finish line at two hours 33 minutes and 50 seconds. She was followed in second place by compatriot Alemenseh Guta and Kenya’s Naomi Maiyo in third place. They would go home with $30,000, $20,000 and $15,000 .

The Access Bank Lagos City Marathon was led by key figures in Lagos State and beyond. They include Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; his deputy, Femi Hamzat; Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu; Minister of Youth and Sports Development; Mr. Sunday Dare; Group Managing Director, Access Bank PLC, Herbert Wigwe;  and his deputy, Roosevelt Ogbonna.

New Boston Consulting Company (BCG) research  has shown that growth in Nigeria’s financial sector is driven by digital transformation.

In the report, the Managing Director, Partner and Head of BCG Nigeria, Tolu Oyekan, said the country’s financial industry has demonstrated how successful digital transformation can lead to innovation, sustained relevance, profitability and business expansion.

He said the emergence of digital natives (fintech) that are leveraging technology to offer disruptive services pushed the incumbent banks to embrace digital transformation initiatives that have improved financial inclusion and the growth of digital economy.

“There is, however, a lot more that these companies and those in other sectors can do to build digital capabilities comparable with digital natives,” he added.

The research shows that successful digital transformation companies are breaking away from their legacy counterparts and capitalising on an innovation-focused agenda. It added that end game for companies remains to be Bionic – leveraging the potential of tech and human to re-imagine and deliver on business outcomes. Digital natives risk giving into organisational complexity and technological debt over time

The report, released last Wednesday, shows that some companies are leveraging the full potential of technology and human capabilities to deliver innovation, adaptability and high performance.

The study, entitled: The Rise of the Digital Incumbent, explores how traditional companies that have  undergone digital transformation (digital incumbents) are building disruptive capabilities to compete with digital natives.

This is as legacy incumbents—traditional companies that have yet to deliver a successful digital transformation—struggled to drive growth and improve productivity using predominantly traditional levers.

The article describes a new hierarchy for business and highlights the different digital dynamics in four types of companies: legacy incumbents, digital incumbents, digital natives (companies founded in the digital era), and hyperscalers – the top dozen or so digital natives whose platforms, infrastructure, and data scale with enormous breadth and depth, thus conferring major structural advantages.

BCG leveraged global data from more than 950 senior leaders from various companies who were asked to describe where they are on their digital or bionic journeys, and to self-score their digital capabilities.

The research show that digital transformations are difficult, but companies can flip the odds of becoming a digital incumbent by applying the six key success factors for digital transformation that were identified in 2020.

“The paradigm is no longer simply, ‘digital natives will destroy incumbents’,” says Romain de Laubier, a BCG managing director and partner and a coauthor of the article. “Digital incumbents in traditional industries are joining digital natives and digital hyperscalers in the congregation of companies that have the capabilities to disrupt existing business models and deliver innovation and revenue growth,”  he said.

The article asserts that the successful companies of the future will build the digital capabilities—both human and technological—to become what BCG calls bionic. They will deliver superior innovation and performance, it adds.

“Digital incumbents should take heart from the findings of this research,” says Patrick Forth, a BCG managing director and senior partner and a co-author of the article. “They must continue to develop the five bionic attributes, which requires making the transition from successful digital reengineering to generating growth from innovation. For those that manage to build the necessary attributes at scale, the rewards of being both digitally capable and having the incumbent advantages of scale, scope, customer relationships, and data, will be substantial.”

The authors note that legacy incumbents are being left behind and need to act with urgency to reapply themselves, implementing the digital reengineering that will give them the digital capabilities they need to compete for growth.

The authors listed five attributes that define any company’s progress toward the bionic target. They include leadership with a purposeful digital strategy; culture that promotes innovation, an agile-operating model;  the ability to attract, retain, and develop world-class digital talent and open-architecture technology and data platforms.

Organisations have been urged to migrate to cleaner energy sources for their operations because of the capacity to reduce the impact of emissions on the environment.

Chairman, Stanbic IBTC Plc, Basil Omiyi, who stated this, acknowledged that the economy and society are wholly owned subsidiaries of the environment, he stated that the use of green energy will help keep the environment stable to support economic and social activities.

He noted that for development in Nigeria to be sustainable, there must be a balance that guarantees that the environment and society are not negatively affected by economic activities.

“Green energy is devoid of carbon emissions (unlike fossil fuel energy sources which harm the environment) and is one of the major contributors to climate change. Corporates can shift to cleaner energy sources for their operations. Financial institutions can help advance this shift by facilitating funding (in line with their risk appetites) which will be necessary to achieve growth in the green energy space”, he said.

The Stanbic IBTC chairman also said his organisation was committed to creating a greener environment across its locations.

He said: “At Stanbic IBTC, building environmental resilience is one of our four sustainability pillars. This pillar demonstrates our focus on environmental footprint management.”

In this regard, the Stanbic IBTC has continued to implement and expand on programmes to reduce its carbon emissions. Some of the ways include reduction of energy consumption in office locations using energy-efficient fittings; adoption of cleaner energy sources across the office locations, as well as the Go-Green programmes across some branch locations to reduce energy and paper consumption and improve water efficiency.

The organisation has also adopted tree planting programmes to help with carbon sequestration. Already, over 300 trees have been planted across the country and the number will grow significantly in the near future.

He added that most developing economies do not possess the capacity to implement green energy due to the technical and financial requirements while, conversely, the developed world is responsible for the bulk of carbon emitted into the atmosphere.

Basil stated further: “As you saw at COP26 (Conference of Parties 26), the world is attempting to obtain the commitment of Nation States to the Net-zero emission world. The developed world, which is disproportionally responsible, on both gross and per capita basis for the bulk of carbon emission into the atmosphere, is unwilling to drastically cut their energy consumption, as they wish to maintain the standard of living of their people. Therefore, there is a need for a just energy transition strategy that is fair to all and affordable to all.”

“Knowing the urgency in halting climate change, Stanbic IBTC is working with vendors and customers to provide solutions that can help address climate change issues. This is reflected in one of our seven focus SEE Impact Areas – Climate Change and Sustainable Finance – where the Group seeks to provide financial solutions to support climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. We also continue to advance awareness around climate change amongst the general public; leveraging our social media platforms and webinars, for instance, the recently concluded Net Zero Webinar. Similarly, our parent company, the Standard Bank Group hosted a Climate Summit in partnership with University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. We continue to take awareness communication initiatives by sharing practical tips that people can adopt to help address climate change,” he said.

Basil was appointed as the Chairman of the Stanbic IBTC Holdings Board with effect from 15 May 2017. He spent most of his career at Royal Dutch Shell in various roles both in Nigeria and Europe, including Head of Production Technology, Chief Petroleum Engineer, Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd, and ultimately country Chairman of Shell Nigeria.

( He is currently an Independent Non-Executive Director on the Board of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc. He has also held a number of Board memberships and senior advisory positions including; Chairman of Greenacres Energy Limited, Chairman of the Nigerian Upstream Industry Group, Board member of the Nigerian Business Group of New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and Nigerian Extractive Industry.

 

NOVA Merchant Bank has announced that its N20 billion Series 1 & 2 Commercial Paper (CP) issuance under the Nova Merchant Bank Limited N50 billion CP Programme is now open.

The company said the offer which opened on the FMDQ platform has a tenor of 182 days for Series 1 while the Series 2 shall be for 270 days.

The bank notes that the proceeds from this CP will be used to fund short-term working capital requirements and for corporate purposes.

The Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of NOVA Merchant Bank, Nath Ude, said: “The successful listing of our N50 billion CP Programme on the FMDQ platform further gives credence to NOVA Merchant Bank’s confidence in the Nigerian debt capital market and puts the Bank in a position to broaden potential funding sources and create superior value in the financial market it serves. We remain driven by our aspiration to transform the African financial services landscape with fresh thinking and innovative solutions.”

The new offer follows the recent successful run of NOVA’s first bond issuance listing of N10 billion Seven-Year Subordinated Unsecured Bond on the FMDQ platform last year which saw an oversubscription by 300 per cent, as it remains one of the major corporate bond issuances by a Merchant Bank in Nigeria’s capital markets, thus reflecting the bank’s strong credit quality as well as the resilience of the debt market despite current global challenges.

 

First City Monument Bank (FCMB) is offering mortgage loans worth N75 million to simplify homeownership for Nigerians.

According to a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) report, Nigeria requires about 700,000 housing units yearly for 20 years to accommodate the rising population, which is about 197 million.

FCMB seeks to bridge the  housing deficit through its unique homeownership value proposition.

The bank has urged the populace, including workers, to take advantage of its convenient and flexible mortgage loan product to fulfill their homeownership dream. Customers can get the funds needed to finance the cost of buying land to build a home quickly at an affordable interest rate with monthly or quarterly payment options depending on their income.

The Divisional Head, Personal Banking of the bank, Shamsideen Fashola, said: “Homeownership is one of the most important accomplishments of an individual as it goes a long way to secure the future. As a responsive and customer-centric institution, our mortgage loan product is tailored towards helping our customers become landlords, thereby making them secure, accomplished, and fulfilled. The mortgage loan is easy to obtain, and repayment is flexible. We want to be part of the success story of our customers. We will continue to support our customers’ dreams and that of Nigerians by giving them the financial support they need to be homeowners when it matters most. We, therefore, advise them to take advantage of the opportunities we offer in the mortgage segment.”

The bank’s decision to make the loans easily accessible to Nigerians responds to the impact COVID-19 pandemic has had  personal and household incomes and business.

FCMB, a member of FCMB Group Plc, led by Ladi Balogun as Group Chief Executive, is committed to COVID-19 recovery, income equality and poverty reduction by easing credit constraints to disadvantaged individuals and small businesses.

The intervention of FCMB in the housing sector aligns with Goal 11 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focused on making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.