The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Access Bank

  • Access Bank’s Womenpreneur backs SMEs

    Access Bank’s Womenpreneur Business Workshop has provided skills support to 2,200 women in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).

    The Womenpreneur Business Workshop is a flagship training of the W Academy under the Access Bank’s W Initiative. This is coming on the heels of Season 2 of the transformational workshop which held recently in Abuja and Port Harcourt for 350 female entrepreneurs.

    Since its introduction, more than 2,200 business women across six states of the country have benefitted from the workshop with testimonials around increase in their business networks and improved business models in spite of the economic constraints. The women have also enjoyed hand holding opportunities and access to markets provided by the bank.

    Speaking on the purpose of the Womenpreneur Business Workshop, the Group Head, Product Sales of Access Bank Plc, Mrs. Ope Wemi-Jones said Access Bank has continued to drive women’s economic empowerment in Nigeria.

    “Since 2006, the Bank has continued in its commitment to help women overcome the cultural and financial barriers toward harnessing their potentials both as women and business owners one woman at a time,” she added.

    According to Wemi-Jones, the Womenpreneur Business Workshop is intended to educate and enlighten Nigerian women on the fundamentals in business which would eventually help them attain their full potentials.

    The Womenpreneur business workshop was designed to address the lack of access to entrepreneurial skills, finance, networking and management skills which are the key barriers to women’s economic inclusion. The objective is to provide a discounted and practical capacity building program that would expose female business owners to the nation’s economic reality as well as help them simplify processes and sharpen the requisite skills needed to grow their businesses.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Lagos Polo: Lagos Fifth Chukker/Access Bank win Majekodunmi Cup

    Lagos Polo: Lagos Fifth Chukker/Access Bank win Majekodunmi Cup

    The 2018 Lagos Polo International Tournament came to an exciting end Sunday with Lagos Fifth Chukker/ Access Bank clinching the prestigious Majekodunmi Cup by beating Kaduna Keffi Pony’s 9 – 6.

    The home teams had a great day as Lagos A Plus/DDSS also emerged champions of the Low Cup by edging Kano Hamdan 6 – 5 1/2 goals.

    An extravagant conclusion to a memorable 11days of high-class polo action, which has GTBank as main sponsor, was highlighted by the arrival by helicopter of the newly-refurbished Majek Cup from the England just before the final match galloped off.

    The visiting team went into the six-chukker tie two goals up and it increased to three when team patron, Hon Ahmed Wadada tapped in a shot from about 20 yards early in the first chukker.

    The Ponys’ which also has Idris Badamasi (+3), Patricio Cieza (+6) and Juan Cruz (+7) were seekig to avoid another loss having fell in their earlier clash on Thursday but Julio Estrada kept Fifth Chukker in touch scoring a diagonal shot to end the opening chukka 3-1.

    Argentine seven-goaler, Estrada scored again at the start of second chukka to close the gap and the home team, which also has Babangida Hassan-Katsina (+3), team patron Adamu Attah (+3) and Augustine Canale (+6), drew level in the second chukka through Canale. However, Ponys kept their heads and scored two more goals in the early stage of the third chukka but Fifth Chukker won’t let go as team patron, Attah and Estrada scored to level scores 5-5 heading to the fourth chukker which eventually ended 6-5 with the Kaduna team in the lead as Cieza scored again.

    The final two chukkas, as expected, was fierce, and in the end, it was the higher handicap team that triumphed scoring three more goals, in order, by Eatrada, Attah and Canale for a 9 – 6 final scoreline.

    In the earlier match played three-goaler, Kwame Issa and Abdulrahman Mohammed (+2) starred as A plus, complete by Habu Jigunu (+1) and team patron, Luqman Adebayo (+1) puts behind them the disappointment of their Open Cup final loss a week earlier to end their campaign on a memorable note by winning the Arbico-sponsored medium-goal event.

  • UBA, Access Bank join NSE’s premium board

    UBA, Access Bank join NSE’s premium board

    Authorities at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) have approved the migration of leading commercial banks-United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc and Access Bank Plc to the Exchange’s premium board. The migration of the two banks will increase the number of companies on the top-rated board to six.

    A regulatory report at the weekend indicated that the NSE had approved the migration of UBA and Access Bank from the main board to the premium board, which was designed as a market for the most capitalised stocks with the best corporate governance and liquidity. The premium board was meant to showcase Nigeria’s best stocks to the global market.

    The Nation had earlier reported the approval for the migration of Lafarge Africa Plc to the premium board. There are currently three companies listed on the NSE’s premium board including Dangote Cement, FBN Holdings and Zenith Bank International.

    The Exchange had indicated that the premium board is aimed at providing a platform for greater global visibility for eligible Nigerian entities, which will make it easier for them to attract global capital flows and reduce the cost of borrowing.

  • Access Bank wins Euromoney’s award

    Access Bank wins Euromoney’s award

    Access Bank Plc has emerged winner of the best ‘Commercial Banking Capabilities’ award by Euromoney, a leading global financial publication.

    The award was presented to the Bank’s Group Managing Director/CEO, Herbert Wigwe at the Euromoney Private Banking Awards 2018, which held at the Landmark in Marylebone, London yesterday.

    The Awards are the most prestigious in the growing area of wealth management and cover over 60 countries each year, as well as global and regional awards.

    Euromoney in its recently released results of the annual Private Banking and Wealth Management Survey noted that Access Bank’s Commercial Banking Capabilities showed significant improvement within the past year. The Award is given to honour firms that have proven to be leading providers of exceptional commercial banking services and have also shown outstanding contribution to the banking sector.

    The annual Private Banking and Wealth Management Survey is the industry’s leading barometer of the world’s best service and product providers to the world’s wealthy.

     

  • Access Bank partners Taraba on housing

    The Managing Director of Access Bank, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, has said the bank will collaborate with the Taraba State government in the provision of housing, infrastructure and poverty alleviation.

    Wigwe made this known during his visit earlier in the week to Governor Darius Ishaku in Jalingo, the state capital. He said that in a couple of months, the bank will build between 200 and 500 housing units for the state’s civil servants in a couple of months.

    “The houses will be cheap, with low interest rate, and affordable. It is necessary that civil servants should be able able to peacefully plan their retirement,” the bank chieftain noted.

    He also stated that Access Bank will also invest in infrastructural development in Taraba, with focus on road construction.

    “We shall work with the Taraba State government in providing the appropriate structures, for contractors to do the work.

    “The third area is to provide general welfare for the civil servants, by providing them loans to be able to pay their children’s school fees, buy cars and improve their living condition.

    “By doing that, we shall be investing in the educational sector of the state too. Already, we are working with the World Bank on that.”

    Governor Ishaku said with the visit of one of the five top commercial banks in the country, something good was about to happen to the state.

    “With the coming of Access Bank, Taraba has begun to rise; it is good news to us.

    “With the support of Access Bank, we are going to tear all the roads in the state and make them admirable by all.

    “We shall also make housing available and affordable to all our civil servants, to avoid them the temptation of graft in office, so that they will enjoy their homes during retirement,” Ishaku said.

  • Access Bank: inflation to dip to 15.06%

    Access Bank: inflation to dip to 15.06%

    January inflation rate (year-on-year) will dip lower to 15.05per cent, compared to the 15.37 per cent recorded in December last year,  the Economic Intelligence Group of Access Bank  has said

    This would mark the 12th consecutive month of moderation from a peak of 18.72 per cent attained in January 2017, the bank stated in a report released yesterday.

    “Our methodology adopts an autoregressive analysis of past prices, while it recognises all the assumptions used by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its computation of monthly composite consumer price index (CCPI),” the group said.

    On inflation forecast drivers, the lender said looking in more detail at the drivers, its analysis indicates that the downward trend in inflation rate in January reflected drop in food prices and stability in the currency.

    In January, prices of food and non -alcoholic beverages, the largest component in the CPI basket (with a weight of 51.8 per cent) nudged lower supported by ample agricultural supply. According to the survey, prices for staple food commodities notably fish, grains, garri, tomatoes, and tubers ticked downwards in January.

    The stabilisation of the naira (on both the official and the parallel rates) amid consistent CBN USD supply in its auctions kept the core index subdued in January. The local unit remained largely flat in the month, averaging N363.68/$ in January at the parallel market relative to N363. 83/$ in December.

    “We expect to see continued moderation of fixed income and treasury yields as the inflation rate trends lower. Average 90-day Treasury Bills yields ticked lower to 13.83 per cent in January 2018, compared to 14.86per cent in December 2017. Equities market will continue to benefit in a regime of sustained falling yields on money market investments,” the report said.

    Although the naira has stabilised on the parallel exchange rate in recent months, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will likely remain wary of cutting rates prematurely for fear of triggering any weakness in the local currency.

    With no change in the benchmark rate anticipated, we expect the CBN to continue issuance of Open Market Operation (OMO) and stabilisation securities with focus on curbing naira liquidity to reduce speculative USD demand.

  • NSE loses N370bn on Tuesday

    NSE loses N370bn on Tuesday

    The Nigerian Stock Exchange ( NSE ) on Tuesday sustained seven-day falling streak with the market capitalisation shedding N370 billion in one day.

    The market capitalisation lost N370 billion or 2.41 per cent to close at N14.967 trillion against N15.337 trillion achieved on Monday.

    Similarly, the All-Share Index which opened at 42,737.89 lost 1,029.74 points or 2.41 per cent to close at 41,708.15 following huge losses by some highly capitalised stocks.

    Some financial experts in an interview with our reporter attributed the persistent loss to decline in global stock markets, especially in the U.S. and Europe, contributed to the bearish trend in the market.

    Dr Uche Uwaleke, the Head of Banking and Finance Department, Nasarawa State University Keffi, said investors reactions to the global stock market trend led to sell pressure on the exchange.

    Uwaleke said drop in crude oil price following increased supply and profit taking by investors in respect of over-priced stocks, particularly those of tier 11 banks contributed to the development.

    He said relative uptick in returns from money market securities led to movement of funds from capital market to the money market securities.

    Prof. Sheriffdeen Tella, Professor of Economics, Olabisi Onabanjo University Ago-Iwoye, Ogun said the bearish trend was expected because the stock market usually reacted to economic conditions.

    “This is New Year and the budget is yet to be passed, so money is not yet being released and people need to buy lots of things.

    “Fortunately, the market was bullish recently such that the values of shares went up making it possible for profit taking,” he said.

    Tella said the bearish trend would bring new opportunities for new investors as well as old ones who would want to adjust their financial portfolio.

    He said that these investors would go the market shortly to take advantage of the lower prices of shares.

    “We will start seeing bullish activities in the market again.

    “It is the nature of the market to facilitate between bullish and bearish swings as dictated by market forces,” he said.

    An analysis of the price movement showed that Nestle recorded the highest loss depreciating by N40 to close at N1, 320 per share.

    Dangote Cement trailed with a loss of N13.30 to close at N258.70, while Nigerian Breweries dipped N5.20 to close at N127.80 per share.

    Guinness was down by N5 to close at N105, while International Breweries depreciated by N2.50 to close at N57.50 per share.

    On the other hand, Lafarge Afeica led the gainers’ table growing by N1 to close at N51 per share.

    Zenith International Bank followed with a gain of 60k to close at N30, while Berger Paint gained 45k to close at N9.45 per share.

    Access Bank increased by 45k to close at N12, while Dangote Sugar Refinery advanced by 30k to close at N21 per share.

    The banking sub-sector was the toast of investors with Diamond Bank emerging the most traded, trading 67.69 million shares worth N181.14 million.

    FCMB Group followed with an account of 49.22 million shares valued at N126.18 million, while Fidelity Bank sold 42.78 million shares worth N129.55 million.

    United Bank for Africa traded 39.16 million shares valued at N437.59 million, while FBN Holdings exchanged 32.59 million shares worth N358.64 million.

    In all, the volume of shares traded closed lower with an exchange of 470.52 million shares valued at N3.68 billion transacted in 6,309 deals.

    This was against the 517.44 million shares worth N5.19 billion traded in 5,852 deals on Monday.

    NAN

  • Access Bank gives prizes to marathon winners

    Access Bank last Saturday gave out $120,000 to three top winners in the 2018 Access Bank Lagos City Marathon.

    Kenyan athletes dominated the male category as Kiprotich Kiroi, Ronny Kiboss and Peter Benjamin emerged in first, second and third place winners, taking home $50,000, $40,000 and $30,000 respectively.

    Ethiopian athletes Ayelu Hordofa, Tigist Girma and Guta Herpha also swept the female category, emerging first, second and third respectively. With increase of N2 million in the 2018 edition, Iliya Pam and Deborah Pam were rewarded with N3 million each, as they emerged first place in the Nigerian male and female category respectively.

    A total of 165,000 athletes selected from across the continent battled for prizes at the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon. Over 40,000 participants took part in the 10 kilometre family race, as an impressive number of 125,000 athletes, including notable international marathoners, also contested for the $50,000 prize money in the 42km-long race. The marathon kicked off at the National Stadium, Surulere, while the 10km race started at the Lekki Roundabout, Ikoyi-Lekki Link Bridge.

    Speaking before the event, the Group Managing Director, Access Bank Plc, Dr. Herbert Wigwe, emphasized the bank’s immense pride as a title sponsor of the Lagos Marathon, stating that the event is an opportunity to highlight the importance of adopting a healthy lifestyle.

    “Our approach to advancing Nigeria’s blossoming drive for health and fitness, through the Access Bank Lagos City Marathon, also reflects our capacity to create value for stakeholders. We have made it our responsibility to encourage the general public in the adoption of lifestyles that promote good health and well-being,” he said.

    Speaking during the prize presentation, the Executive Governor of Lagos, Akinwunmi Ambode, reiterated the need to support Nigerian marathon runners, as he stated his intention to invest in training of the athletes in order to improve their performances for the 2020 edition of the marathon.

  • Kiprotich wins 2018 Lagos City Marathon

    Kiprotich wins 2018 Lagos City Marathon

    Abraham Kiprotich has won the 2018 Access Bank Lagos City Marathon 42km race.

    The Kenyan born Frenchman finished in a time of 2:15:04 and will take home the $50,000 prize money.

    Ilya Pam wins the indigenous race with 2hours 27minutes.

    Read Also: Okocha, Oyedeji participate in Access Bank Lagos City Marathon

    Speaking during the prize presentation, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State said, “We’re at the Bronze level of marathons, but we want to get it to the Gold level, in the next two years.

    “We’re tired of giving these trophies to the East Africans. We’ll be committing resources to training our Nigerian athletes so they can win the marathon”

     

  • Access Bank/Lagos City Marathon: Participants defy early morning downpour

    Access Bank/Lagos City Marathon: Participants defy early morning downpour

    Participants at the Access Bank/Lagos City Marathon Saturday defied an early morning rain to run in the 42km race which started at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the rain which started at about 5 a.m. did not hinder participants who turnout in their thousand to participate.

    Our reporter who was at the starting point reports that participants were seen walking to the National Stadium.

    Kareem Areola, 18, said the rain was not a hindrance to him.

    “As you can see, a lot of people are under the rain enjoying themselves and I am also doing the same,’’ he said.

    A student, Margaret Chime, 32, said that the rain was not heavy enough to dissuade participants.

    “The turnout is impressive in spite of the rain because a lot of people are determined to participate,’’ he said.

    Another student, Jimoh Ajibade, 14, said there was no way he could have missed the race because of the rain.

    “I was here last year and I enjoyed myself and there is no way I would have missed it this year, so that is why I am here,’’ he said.

    NAN reports that over 100,000 people participated in the IAAF Bronze Label Race which offers 208,000 dollars for grabs.