Category: Money

TO develop the capital market and enhance the economy, Stanbic IBTC Asset Management, a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, is set to advance customer assets in the year with its bouquet of investment solutions.

Incorporated in 1992, Stanbic IBTC Asset Management has been providing investment services to foreign and domestic portfolio investors comprising global custodians, fund managers, international brokers as well as domestic institutional investors such as corporations, insurance companies, collective investment schemes and mutual funds, for almost two decades.

With a robust marketing campaign themed ‘Invest for more’, Stanbic IBTC urges investors, young and old, retail and corporate, employed and self employed, to reach for their goals by investing broadly and consistently in a wide range of investment options offered by the company.

The organisation has investment solutions ranging from mutual funds which can be accessed with as low as N5,000 to ethical investment vehicles for individuals seeking Shariah compliant investment options to HNIs and corporates seeking long-term infrastructure options and the Ultra High Net Worth individuals seeking private portfolio management. The only criteria to come on board is a desire for more – everyone can be accommodated by Stanbic IBTC Asset Management.

To ensure that clients have easy access to these solutions, the company’s digital channels have been further enhanced to ensure that clients can set up new investment accounts and top up their investment accounts with ease. The channels also make it easy to monitor investment growth from anywhere clients may be via mobile and web.

To top it all up, the company’s investment managers are available to provide investment advice to clients who wish to get specific guidance on how and what to invest in.

Speaking on the organisation’s plan for the year, Oladele Sotubo, Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Asset Management said, “In 2022, our utmost priority is to champion reform processes targeted at benchmarking the Nigerian capital market to global standards in all areas of operations and market practice. We are ready to improve the assets of all our clients by providing them with even more diversified investment options backed by quality service delivery.”

Sotubo further added that the organisation boasts experienced professionals dedicated to guiding clients in the areas of efficient asset management and veritable investment plans, amongst others. “At Stanbic IBTC Asset Management, investors are advised on investment options to maximise opportunities and minimise risk. Our array of products offer returns on funds invested, which help our clients grow their net worth wealth over time. Our goal is to help facilitate the growth of all our clients’ assets,” he added.

The Chief Executive further encouraged individuals to diversify their investments, describing it as a vital part of mitigating risk and improving overall returns in the long term.

Stanbic IBTC Asset Management’s vast experience in asset management, stockbroking and securities settlement makes the organisation the go-to partner for anyone who desires to build sustainable wealth even in the midst of challenging economic winds.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-led Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) was created to increase banks’ financing to the agricultural sector and create economic linkage between smallholder farmers and reputable large-scale rice processors. Private sector investments in rice farming has also created opportunity for consumers to get the best output from the market, writes COLLINS NWEZE

Samuel Oyetunde, a cashier at a new generation bank, paid his mother a routine visit. Upon his arrival, he was served his favourite meal of rice, native stew and chicken.

Samuel spooned the food,   and the taste exploded on his tongue. As he closed his eyes to savour the delicacy, the unbelievable happened. His teeth crushed some stones and sand hidden in the rice. Samuel was filled with disbelief and sadness.

Unfortunately, many of consumers can identify with Oyetunde’s plight. Subconsciously, consumers make themselves vulnerable by patronising loose rice sold in open basins in neighbourhood stores and open markets.

The danger is that the loose and unpackaged rice sold to consumers in basins are exposed to stones, rodents, insects and importantly easily contaminated by other food items as well as unfavourable sanitary conditions.

Moses Abiodun, a farmer, who has benefited from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) funding for rice farming in various states, said the solution to this was to buy packaged rice.

He said over N620 billion had been released for the ABP in over six years of implementation with consumers demanding packaged rice.

Packaged rice, Abiodun said, had undergone cleaning processes like sortexing and processed in the best hygienic condition that eliminates  human handling and exposure to contamination.

“Loose rice exposes consumers to cross contaminated rice which can happen through the transfer of bacteria or other microorganisms from other substances to rice. There are three main types of cross contamination: food-to-food, equipment-to-food, and people-to-food.

“For instance, putting contaminated foods and non-contaminated foods under the same roof can result in food-to-food cross contamination. This allows harmful bacteria and fungi to spread and populate. Secondly, it is a known fact that bacteria can survive for long periods on surfaces like storage container and basins, when they are not washed properly or unknowingly contaminated with bacteria resulting in equipment to food contamination,” Abiodun explained.

Furthermore, Adigun said people could easily transfer harmful bacteria from their bodies or clothes to loose and exposed rice in basins. For example, a person may cough into their hand or touch other food items in the store and continue to sell loose rice without washing their hands in between. This also occurs when several consumers sample the rice by handling it before purchase.

“Cross contamination can have serious consequences as it can compromise consumer health and safety. Proper food safety practices like rice packaging can significantly reduce risk of cross contamination,” he stated.

Another farmer and Managing Director, CountryMade Farms Limited, Timothy Nnodim, said some rice manufacturers  complied with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control’s (NAFDAC’s) regulations and international food safety standards to protect the integrity of their brands and ensure quality and wholesome rice, but some rice traders in the open market continue to undermine these efforts with loose rice.

He said: “What then is the way forward? The answer lies in making informed decisions to purchase only quality, packaged and hygienic rice like Big Bull rice. Big Bull Rice is an indigenous, premium quality parboiled rice. It is sortex-cleaned, stone-free and has a high-swelling index. It is produced in a state of the art automated rice milling factory, which has eliminated handling to the barest minimum hence giving you rice produced in the highest hygienic condition.

“With Big Bull Rice, you are assured of good quality, safety and the great taste of homegrown ingenuity. It is  available in open markets, neighbourhood stores, supermart, Modern Trade, among others. in varying SKUs (50kg, 25kg, 10kg, 5kg, 2.25kg and 750g) to fit consumers’ preference.”

Nigeria’s theatre production company, Duke of Shomolu (DOS) Productions will host entertainment and corporate Nigeria at Southern Sun Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos.

FirstBank’s Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Mrs. Folake Ani-Mumuney is scheduled to deliver the keynote paper at the event, which holds today.

She will look at the theatre space, highlighting its role in youth empowerment, job creation and infrastructure development. The need to critically examine the value of increased funding, driven by the collaborative efforts of government-private sector initiatives and sponsorships will also be deliberated.

Mrs Ani-Mumuney will share ideas on the impact of FirstBank’s First@arts initiative on the entertainment industry. First@arts is created to consolidate all the bank’s efforts in the arts, supporting the entire value chain of the creative arts, thereby providing the much-needed financing and advisory support, showcasing and facilitating the successes of the industry, and enabling industry players and the public to explore and access the wealth of opportunities the creative industry has to offer.

The event will also be filled with appreciation for everyone who has played a role in the growth and vibrancy of theatre productions in Nigeria as eight theatre offerings by DOS will be unveiled.

The directors who would execute the respective projects will also be revealed to the excitement of the guests at the event.

Also speaking at the session is Prof. Sunday Ododo the Group Managing Director/CEO of the National Theatre and Ahmed Ahmed the Artistic Director of National Troupe.

“Coming from the back of a very successful 2021 which witnessed the historic double-decker Productions – Awo and Aremu that attracted the attendance of the former Nigerian President and elder statesman, President Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR; Vice President of Nigeria, Prof Yemi Osinbajo; the Hon Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila and His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu; we are poised to push the boundary with some of the most intricately woven Productions ever,” said Joseph Edgar, the Executive Chairman of Duke of Shomolu (DOS) Productions as he expressed his appreciation of the strong viewership and support DOS has received.

“Already, our showing of Sarduana and Babakekere come October this year has received full funding status and its upcoming colourful showing in Warri – Ogiame Erejuwa11 is receiving very strong attention”, he concluded.

Parading a stellar cast of Directors led by the influential Prof Ahmed Yerima with inspirational Makinde Adeniran, William Benson and Segun Adefila, The Duke of Shomolu Productions is poised to rewrite theatrical history.

DOS Productions is a positively disruptive force designed to aggressively push the agenda of ‘telling our stories through performances’.

In the last three years, the platform has engineered and fostered some of the most eponymous works on Nigerian Theatre audiences. Its Isale Eko was nominated by the Dancers Guild and has also received a slew of recognitions by critical audiences and experts.

Various stage plays from the stables of DOS Productions include Emotan, Aremu – The Play, 3 Some, Isale Eko, Oba Esugbaye and many others.

The Royal Obi Malize (TROM) Foundation has announced commencement of the TROM University Scholarship starting this year.

The Director of Programmes, TROM Foundation, Ms Vanessa Malize, announced the commencement of the TROM University Scholarship starting in 2022.

She donated the sum of $1,000 as seed money towards the University scholarship for students of Ukpor for the year 2022. “It is our hope that the work of the TROM Foundation would contribute to the goodness of humanity and spur many others to do more and make the world a better place,” she said.

Ms Malize, highlighted the other initiatives by the Foundation designed for immediate roll out. The GirlsInSTEM programme, a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics initiative for girls, designed to inspire middle school female students’ interest in STEM fields thereby accelerating growth and development in the community; and the TROM Educational Scholarship, a scholarship fund aimed at supporting the educational training of indigent beneficiaries through university education, equipping them for tomorrow’s greatness and future leadership.

The foundation recently launched one of its maiden innovative initiatives, The Science Teachers Award & Recognition (STAR Awards) initiative aimed at rewarding exceptional science teachers in secondary schools in Ukpor, Nnewi South LGA. The award presentation event was preceded by the official launch of the foundation, and inaugural lecture with the theme “Accelerating Growth and Development: The Role of Education” held recently in Ukpor, Anambra State. The event was fully covered by the Anambra Broadcasting Services including Television/Radio and Social media Broadcasts.

In his opening remarks, the Founder/Chairman, TROM Foundation, Prince CY Malize noted that the initiative hinged on the fact that great teachers are the backbone of every progressive society and provides a unique platform to appreciate their onerous tasks would help orchestrate the nexus of academic excellence. “The award aims to recognize, encourage, inspire, and reward these exceptional teachers who have gone beyond the ordinary and worked excellently with their students, by imparting them with knowledge, inspiring and nurturing them to learn, to dream, and to achieve” Prince Malize noted.

In his welcome address the Executive Secretary of TROM Foundation, Prince Greg Malize II noted that the vision of the STAR Awards initiative is to impact the future of the Ukpor community through the promotion of scientific innovation and promotion of academic excellence. “This initiative is driven by the belief that teachers play a unique role in the development of the children of the Ukpor community, as they devote their time to helping children achieve their highest level of competence, moulding them to become future leaders in the national and global stages. By fostering and celebrating the works of our dedicated teachers, we inspire other teachers to follow in their exemplary footsteps, and to continuously build on their excellent foundation” Greg stated.

The Royal Obi Malize (TROM) Foundation is a private foundation founded by the Obi Malize family of Umungwu, Ukpor, Nnewi South Local Government area of Anambra State with the primary goals of enhancing educational opportunities for young people, creating, and supporting the access to science and technology as part of its contributions to the larger Ukpor community. The Foundation is founded upon the family’s value for education, passion for philanthropy and commitment to community development.

Distinguished attendees at the event were drawn from the State leaders, professionals, policy makers, educational leaders/promoters, philanthropists, religious leaders, traditional leaders, and other influential stakeholders from the community, and Anambra state at large. Dignitaries at the event included Dim Nna O. Nnakife, Chairman of the event and Chairman Board of Trustees Ukpor Improvement Union; Professor Angela Nwammuo, event Keynote Speaker; Professor Chris Anyamene, STAR Awards Advisory Board Chairman; Professor Ada Anyamene, STAR Jury Board Chairman; Chief Ignatius Nwawulu, President General Ukpor Improvement Union; Hon. John Bosco Akaegbobi, Honourable member Anambra State House of Assembly Nnewi South; Mr. Emma Nwachukwu, Member, Advisory Board; Prince Johnchris, Speaker; Princess Vanessa Malize, Senior Project Manager, Amur, Chicago USA; Princess Natasha Malize, Senior Associate, PwC, Atlanta USA; Mrs. Leticia Warren, Ascension Health Morton Grove, Illinois USA, Member Advisory Board; Barrister Mrs Bridget Onwude, Retired Permanent Secretary, Enugu State Government; and other notable personalities from Ukpor and Anambra State.

Speaking further, Prince Malize noted that the STAR Award event is designed to provide a platform where experts, thought leaders, and other critical stakeholders within the education system and beyond converge to discuss contemporary issues that advance community development through education, and also reward exceptional science teachers in Mathematics, Physics, Technology, Chemistry & Biology who have consistently made extraordinary impacts in the lives of their students within a specified period of academic circle.

The innovative and impactful TROM STAR awards initiative had 5 main award categories including the Best Teacher in Mathematics, Best in Physics, Best in Technology, Best in Chemistry and Best in Biology categories. All eight competing schools in Ukpor LGA, were represented at the event by the school principals and academic board members, the science teachers, and students. The schools were Ebe Unity College, St. Mary’s Assumpta School, Community Secondary School, St. Mary Comprehensive Secondary School, Holy Innocent Secondary School, St. Paul Seminary School, Ukpor High School and Bishop Okoye Memorial Girls Secondary School all in Ukpor.

There were 3 stages in the STAR Awards competition: the notification & call for entries stage, the nomination stage and the essay writing and panel defence stages by a total of fifteen teachers who emerged as finalists from the process.

The Founder/Chairman, TROM Foundation, Prince CY. C supported by the Past President General, UIU and Group Executive Director, Berkeley Group Plc, Mr. Emma Nwachukwu, led the STAR Award presentation ceremony to the top 5 Science teachers. The awards included a plaque and cash gifts per teacher for the top 5 finalists in the five categories.

KPMG has adjudged Stanbic IBTC Bank as the top-rated bank in the retail and SME segments in its 2021 Nigeria Banking Industry Customer Experience Survey.

Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Wole Adeniyi expressed delight with the emergence of the financial institution as the highest-ranked bank in customer experience. He said the bank’s core objective is geared towards building long term relationships with clients by providing timely, innovative, and relevant solutions to the benefit of its clients.

Wole said: “We are pleased with these accomplishments. It is particularly satisfying to note that this exercise emanated from a survey of customers. This speaks to our relentless commitment to delivering innovative customer experiences. The bank’s core goal is to become a customer-obsessed financial services provider. The desire to give our customers the best banking experience across our touchpoints, including our traditional and digital channels, remains at the heart of our business. We continue to innovate to ensure we achieve this.”

Stanbic IBTC’s overall customer experience performance improved significantly as the Bank moved from nineth in the last survey to the top position in 2021, scoring 74.5 percent and 74.7 percent in the retail and SME segments.

“Stanbic IBTC Bank was ranked the top-rated bank in the retail segment and was the biggest mover this year – moving up eight places to the top spot. Stanbic IBTC Bank also held the top position in the SME segment and recorded the greatest improvement in the segment,” the KPMG report stated. Security of transactions, reliability of payments and, ATM experience were some key criteria highlighted in the report.

Another important consideration in the survey was how well the surveyed companies were able to demonstrate mastery of “The Six Pillars of experience excellence,” which are: integrity, adroit resolution of issues, managing and exceeding customer expectations, empathy, reduction of customer effort, and creation of frictionless processes and personalisation.  According to the survey report, “Customers commended user-friendliness of Stanbic IBTC Bank’s digital platforms, fast response to complaints and good quality social media content, and importantly, acclaimed the experience at the ATMs and in the branches.”

The report also highlighted how Stanbic IBTC Bank “demonstrated a sustained commitment to its superior branch experience. Customers reported quick handling of transactions and relatively fewer queues at the branches. Given the continued importance of ATMs to the customer’s experience, the high performance recorded on the channel certainly bolstered Stanbic IBTC’s performance rankings this year.”

Remy Osuagwu, Executive Director, Business and Commercial Clients, Stanbic IBTC Bank, assured that the Bank would continue to finetune its systems and processes to ensure it delivers unmatched customer experiences while exceeding their expectations. Over the years, Stanbic IBTC has adopted an aggressive digital strategy to improve its services and processes and has developed some of the most innovative approaches to customer relations.

Some respondents from the KPMG report lauded Stanbic IBTC’s efforts in terms of consumer experience. One respondent said: “I suspended using my account with my former bank because of poor customer service. Stanbic IBTC Bank gave me a reason to start using a bank account again. Their customer service is good, and they don’t usually have network issues on their platforms. Their mobile banking platform is top-notch.”

Another respondent said: “It has been a wonderful experience with Stanbic IBTC Bank. Their courtesy makes me feel good. I got my ATM card quickly when I went to the branch, and using the card makes life easy.”

The latest survey is the 15th in the series by the consultancy firm. According to Ayodele Othihiwa, Partner and Head Financial Services Industry, KPMG Nigeria, the annual banking survey helps “to provide an independent platform for banks and other organisations to acquire this outside-in perspective and understand the voice and priorities of Nigerian customers.” He added that this year’s survey result reflected “a very competitive landscape in the race for the customer and at the same time, customer feedback that recognises the effort and innovation of Nigerian banks.”

Ten customers of Fidelity Bank Plc have become N1 million richer having received their cash prizes for emerging winners in the January draw of the bank’s Get Alert in Millions savings promo, season 5 (GAIM 5).

The prizes were presented to the winners at the  Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos branch of the bank and its several other branches across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria.

At the presentation, an elated Stanley Okpoto -one of the winners- said:  “I am more than happy to receive this cash prize from Fidelity Bank. Being a long-time customer and follower of the bank, I feel special and grateful that as little as N2,000 earned me so much money. I am looking forward to how this money will further transform my business. I encourage my friends and family to take advantage of this life-changing opportunity.”

Also, the promo Chairman and Executive Director in charge of the bank’s Lagos and Southwest Directorate, Ken Opara, said the ceremony marked a special celebration for the bank being the first prize presentation for the year and therefore set the tone for the remaining prize presentations to be held in the year.

“It gives me great pleasure to announce the presentation of the sum of N1 million to Ajoma Rachael Iyowo and Stanley Sunday Okpoto who emerged winners in the second GAIM 5 monthly draw held last week.

‘’Asides Stanley and Ajoma, eight other customers of Fidelity Bank will receive cash prizes at similar events holding simultaneously at some of our branches across Nigeria. These customers only had to maintain a minimum of N2,000 in their Fidelity Bank accounts to emerge winners. That is the beauty of the GAIM 5 savings promo.’’

“As a bank, we remain committed to empowering our customers with the resources, expertise and solutions they need to meet their strategic business goals. Whether it is the right loan product, appropriate payment channel or in this case, the benefits for saving their money with us, we are all about providing platforms and solutions to help our customers grow,” explained Dr. Ken Opara, who was represented by the bank’s Chief Digital Officer, Lanre Showunmi.

The GAIM 5 is an eight-month long scheme launched in November 2021. So far, Fidelity Bank has enriched the lives of over 520 customers with cash prizes ranging from N10,000 to N1 million in weekly consolation draws and monthly draws.

Qualifying requirements for the scheme are maintaining an account balance of at least N2,000 in a Fidelity Bank savings account and activating a debit card. According to the bank, the promo employs a ticketing approach whereby each N2,000 in customers’ accounts represents a ticket in the draws.

In operation since 1988, Fidelity Bank is a full-fledged commercial bank with a growing customer base of over 6million customers across Nigeria. The bank is known for exceptional customer service and digital innovation.

TLcom, Africa-focused venture capital firm, has announced a first close of $70 million for its $150 million Africa focused tech fund, firmly positioning the investor to become the largest independent VC firm fully dedicated to the continent.

With a first close in line with the total size of its TIDE Africa Fund closed in 2020, TLcom’s second fund sees participation from Allianz, the world’s largest insurance company.

With its new fund, TLcom will expand its focus on fast-growth, tech-enabled African startups to Egypt, as well as strengthen its long-standing presence across East and West Africa. With ticket sizes ranging from $500,000 to $15 million, TLcom expects to add an additional 20 early-stage startups to its portfolio with an emphasis on seed and series A stages and will target entrepreneurs tackling some of the continent’s most complex challenges in sectors including fintech, mobility, agriculture, healthcare, education and ecommerce.

Founder and Managing Partner, TLcom, Maurizio Caio, said: “Since the closing of our previous fund, African tech has secured more high-value financing rounds, exits and M&As than ever before and this is only just the beginning. It is becoming increasingly evident that our sector has broken into a new era of maturity driven by very strong business fundamentals that African founders are demonstrating not only in the fintech space, but across a huge number of the continent’s largely underserved markets.”

“As we partner some of the world’s leading global investors for our new fund, this is not only an endorsement of the massive value generation upside on the continent, but also of our proven track record in identifying and supporting entrepreneurs successfully winning and redefining Africa’s key verticals. To contribute to unlocking the next phase of Africa’s huge economic upside, we’ll be mobilising our new fund to strengthen our partnership with African founders, with a special emphasis on female entrepreneurs, as well as our role as the leading local partner of choice for global VCs increasingly looking at Africa.”

Director and Head of Technology and Telecom, CDC, Abhinav Sinha, said: “We are excited to expand our partnership with TLcom. The fund’s focus on business fundamentals coupled with deep understanding of local context has been instrumental in identifying market shaping businesses and innovative entrepreneurs in Africa. We are confident that our continued relationship will further amplify TLcom’s ambitions to accelerate impact to consumers and businesses across Africa’s diverse markets.”

Lead Portfolio Manager Impact Investments, AfricaGrow/Allianz Global Investors, Martin Ewald, added: “One thing is clear to those who are close to the African VC market: it will grow. We at AfricaGrow believe much more is possible in terms of capital influx into the continent especially in the VC space. There is considerable upside for everyone if investment activities accelerate even more: African businesses can boost productivity, gain in terms of competitiveness and technological edge and tens of millions more Africans could gain stable employment while generating returns for investors.”

A survey among 52 Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of mission-driven banks has highlighted how digitalisation is helping financial institutions to deliver social and environmental impact.

According to the Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV) report, digital loans and digital investment apps are the main priorities for values-based banks in the next year. The banks from the Global Alliance for Banking on Values use technology to serve responsible and unbanked customers.

Value-based banks are independent financial organisations that use money to deliver positive social and environmental impact. They are private banks, credit cooperatives, microfinance institutions, credit unions, and community banks, serving more than 60 million customers in 44 countries and holding over $200 billion.

According to GABV, among its member banks’ CEOs, values-based banks are moving from basic digital services to more sophisticated digital offerings, in part due to the pandemic.

The main drivers for digitalisation are customer convenience, ability to scale up and operational efficiency. The survey was held in the last quarter of 2021 among the CEOs of the 66 member banks, with 52 CEOs responding.

Digitalisation allows them to be closer to their customers and meet their needs, one of the key principles of these types of banks.

There is a high penetration of basic digital products and services among values-based banks. Internet banking, credit or debit cards, and mobile wallets are the primary three services and solutions in play among the banks. A 50 per cent have implemented digital customer onboarding, and 33 per cent have implemented digital loan processing.

The main products and services they expect to focus on in the future are related to loans and investments: including digital loan applications, digital loan processing and approval, and digital investment apps.

Nevertheless, there are differences in the priorities between regions. For African members, for example, the priority in the coming months is electronic banking, while in the Asia-Pacific region, the focus is to implement digital onboarding of their clients. European and Latin American banks highlight the need to introduce digital loan applications and processing, while North American banks are focusing on data mining and digital loan processing.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Ecobank Nigeria Limited’s (ENG) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘B-’ with a Stable Outlook.

Fitch has  upgraded the bank’s National Short-Term Rating to ‘F2(nga)’ from ‘F3(nga)’.

According to Fitch, the IDRs of Ecobank are driven by its standalone creditworthiness, as expressed by its Viability Rating (VR) of ‘b-’, stating that the bank has a moderate market shares of the country’s banking-sector assets but its franchise benefits from being a subsidiary of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, a large pan-African banking group with operations spanning 33 countries across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

The rating agency reported that Ecobank’s loans have declined in recent years, stressing that it does not see a high risk of the largest Stage 2 loans, which are concentrated within the oil and gas sector, of becoming impaired. It  noted that its asset-quality assessment is positively influenced by a substantial amount of non-loan assets, largely comprising government securities and cash reserves at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Fitch expects profitability to improve moderately with receding asset-quality pressures and lower LICs.

Fitch observed that “ENG’s total capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 19.6 per cent at end the first quarter of 2021 maintains a comfortable buffer above the 10 per cent regulatory requirement for a bank with a national licence and the bank’s tangible leverage ratio of 10.7 per cent at the end of first quarter of 2021, which compares favourably with that of peers’’.

Impaired loans net of specific loan loss allowances represented a significant 46 per cent of Fitch Core Capital at end of first quarter of last year but risks to capital are mitigated by strong collateral coverage and recovery expectations of the two large upstream impaired loans.”

Interswitch, payment solutions and digital commerce company, has announced its support for the ongoing National Privacy Week  organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA),  which ends tomorrow.

While focus on its goal of building a prosperous Africa through the provision of digital payment solutions, Interswitch is also deliberate about prioritising data protection standards, and as such, has aligned itself with this programme to promote awareness on the importance of data security among Nigerians, taking into cognizance the dangers present in today’s digital world.

The theme for the week-long  is ‘Data economics in a digital economy: Charting Nigeria’s data strategy’.

This year’s event is the second major campaign following the issuance of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) in 2019, created to ensure Nigerian businesses are consistent with global standards on data protection and privacy.

Driven by the need to embed data protection standards that keep customers’ data safe, Interswitch’s operations are underpinned by world-class standards and certifications such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), Management System (ISO 27001), Management System (ISO 9001), among others.

Speaking on the company’s support of the National Privacy Week, Group Chief Risk Officer, Interswitch Group, Griffith Ehebha, said the firm remains committed to applying stringent measures that preserve the safety of customers’personal information.

He said: “There is no doubt about the existential threat of cyber-attacks across the world. Indeed, it is reported as one of the top five highest rated risks, as the attacks become more frequent, targeted, and complex. At Interswitch, data protection and regulatory compliance are critical to customer confidence and sustainable business growth.

“Our support of NITDA’s National Privacy Week stems from our commitment to raise awareness and promote privacy and data protection best practices,” he added.

The National Privacy Week also features activities including a health privacy workshop titled ‘COVID-19 and Privacy: Navigating data privacy rights in a pandemic’ and data privacy advocacy sessions at secondary schools. There will also be a quiz session to stimulate the minds of students on the importance of keeping information safe while surfing digital platforms.”