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Tag: advantage

  • Ecobank unveils Advantage Banking lounges

    Ecobank unveils Advantage Banking lounges

    Ecobank Nigeria has commissioned three additional banking lounges for its Advantage customers in Uyo, Port Harcourt and Abuja.

    The Advantage segment offers its customers dedicated banking servicesm, targets the upwardly mobile and generally, professionals in various fields.

    The services include a bouquet of lifestyle enriching products, to address their day-to-day banking needs with dedicated relationship managers, whose main function is to give specialized services and on board the customers to all our service points.

    Speaking at the opening of the Lounge in Abuja, Group Head, Personal Banking, Mrs. Olukorede Demola -Adeniyi, said that the decision to establish lounges in various parts of the country was conceived to promote excellent banking services to its customers, noting that customers in the Advantage Banking segment would have opportunity for personalized services in the various lounges.

    She said the lounge, which is fully kitted with state of the art digital touch screen computers, will further create a conducive and comfortable ambience for Advantage customers to do their transactions with ease.  She said, “It is our effort to raise the bar in service delivery for our customers. As a Bank, we cherish and hold our customers in high esteem and would want to hear them speak to us while we listen and make deliberate efforts to provide the best service delivery channels and outlets available to them. Our plan is to open more of such outlets in most parts of the country.”

    These customers have access to a dedicated relationship manager to attend to their day-to-day banking needs; 24/7 access to reliable and accessible self-service channels and remittance products; asset protection and trust products.

    In addition, the Gold debit and credit mastercard is available to these customers in local and foreign currencies. These cards also enable customer’s access loyalty benefits/discounts from our partners which include hotels, boutiques, and fragrance shops amongst others. The customers also benefits from concierge and financial planning services.

    Commissioning the Abuja Lounge, Managing Director, Tom Hawksworth Ltd,  Adekola Isaiah Ogundayo commended Ecobank for promoting the interest of its customers. He was optimistic that the lounges would attract more customers to the bank.

  • ‘How firms can take advantage of economic downturn’

    Price Waterhouse Coopers (pwC) Nigeria has listed steps businesses can take to minimise the effects of economic downturn and position their organisations to emerge stronger.

    The professional services firm enumerated these at a breakfast meeting held in Lagos for business leaders and executives. Its theme was “Preserving Value in Challenging Times.”

    According to PwC, the Nigerian economy is facing several challenges largely due to declining global oil prices, which resulted in a scaling back of public spending, uncertainties around the exchange rate, double digit inflation and a reduction in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also slashed its growth forecast for Nigeria, stressing that a combination of plunging oil revenues and weakened investor confidence will push the economy into recession. According to the IMF, Africa’s largest economy is expected to contract by 1.8 per cent this year. This situation has negatively impacted the financial performance of most businesses as many struggle to remain afloat.

    However, PwC believes that there is an opportunity for companies to turn their challenges into opportunities. They noted that the most successful businesses during challenging times are those that react the quickest, take tough decisions early and lead rather than follow.

    Kwabena Asante-Poku, a partner in PwC Nigeria’s Advisory Deals practice, said: “Effective managers must consider the effects of the downturn and what it means for their business and its survival. Then, they should address the key questions – what do we need to do differently, what do we need to do better? Often the secret of survival will be getting the simple things right rather than embarking on wholesale radical change in every aspect of their operation.”

    The firm advised that businesses must first understand the true impact of the downturn on their operations and subject their assessment to stress testing and scenario planning. This knowledge is critical to coming up with a new strategy.

    Asante-Poku further said they should identify unprofitable products and customers and determine effective future working capital for the business. Also, businesses, he said, need to implement cost reduction strategies especially by targeting discretionary expenditure, separating the essential from the desirable while limiting outgoings.

    Seyi Akinwale, an Associate Director in PwC Nigeria’s Advisory Deals practice, said: “Strategic interventions that can help companies preserve value include Strategic Alternatives and Business Planning, Operational Improvements, Review of Contractual Obligations, Liquidity and Cash Management, Refinancing and Recapitalisation, Turnaround Management, Carve-Outs and Exit Management.”

    In addition, PwC advocates that corporates and their bankers explore the use of informal restructuring workouts to preserve shareholder value and reduce the required specific provisions for non-performing loans. These informal restructuring arrangements between creditors and debtors will prevent greater loss and through this, the banks can work with the distressed debtors to resolve financial difficulties that would otherwise likely lead to liquidation.

    Akinwale also said: “Informal arrangements include any out of court restructuring arrangements and these are critical given the absence of adequate insolvency laws with provisions to govern business restructuring in Nigeria. These informal workouts serve as a timely alternative to recovering funds loaned to borrowers and ensuring the survival of businesses.”

    He also stated that avoiding bankruptcy of potentially viable businesses helps to prevent job losses and can be a driver of economic recovery.  “Formal insolvency proceedings in court often delay the turnaround process, can be expensive or can end up being more complex due to the adversarial nature of the judicial process. It is therefore, in the interest of both the borrower and its bankers to utilise and adopt informal out-of-court restructuring solutions,” he said.

    Other strategies, which the firm outlined, include maintaining an experienced and well-resourced finance team, proper and careful tax planning and ensuring effective performance management and forecasting. It also said companies should ensure appropriate and sustainable financing arrangements and communicate constantly with stakeholders.

    Asante-Poku concluded saying that “in a downturn, numerous difficulties present themselves, all important and urgent. A natural response may be to batten down the hatches and focus solely on the immediate problems of the day.

    “Prudent management is of course necessary but it is also important to recognize the opportunities presented, to challenge old ways of doing things, to take advantage of weaker competitors and plan for the changed market place that will emerge. Effective management and taking the right decisions will help business emerge through the bad times re-energised and fit for the future.”

  • Youths urged to take advantage of programmes

    Unemployed youths in Delta State, south-south Nigeria, have been called upon to take advantage of the State Government’s empowerment programmes.

    The Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Delta State Governor, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, made the call while addressing newly recruited but disengaged protesters from the State Civil Service by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s administration.

    Some persons were recruited into the state civil service in April 2014 by the former Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan.

    The CPS said the Okowa’s administration meant well for the people of Delta and for those disengaged, adding that the state government’s decision to disengage those recruited one month before his inauguration was in good faith.

  • ‘Project management build’s competitive advantage’

    The value of project management can never be overemphasised especially as it relates to the burning issues of maximising profits and budget optimisation by organisations in the face of cut-throat global competition.

    For the purpose of this article, we will define organisation in a broader sense and it includes both public and private sectors of the economy. This evolution, our definition of organisation is contrived to focus on project execution and national development as both private and public organisations collaborate together to execute grandstanding projects in the form of joint ventures and public private partnership. However, this collaboration will not achieve any meaningful impact without the overriding influence of project objective as the dominant motivator.

    For the benefits of readers who are new to the field, project management is defined as the application of skills, tools and techniques to achieve project objectives. The size, business needs and complexity of the project determine how much skills, tools and techniques are deployed to deliver on project objectives.

    The values of project management cover many important aspects of project delivery that meet customers’ expectations and project objectives. These important aspects include risk, communication and time management, just to mention a few.

    Risk management involves risk identification and control systems; and the value of proper risk management lies in exploitation of risks identified (positive risks) or elimination of unwanted risks, thereby contributing to the project being delivered on time, on budget and within scope. This is possible with the deployment of project management skills that are proportionate to the size, complexity and the needs of the project.

    The role of project management to competitive advantage is inherent in the number of projects completed on time, on budget and within scope while meeting the project objectives.  When projects deliver on objectives at no extra material and human cost; no additional capital and labour intensity, organisations operating this tight control deliver superior performance compared to their contemporaries who do not have any control on budget, time, scope and even quality.

    Successful completion of projects improves operating effectiveness and competitive advantage by fostering confidence in strategic business execution. The effects are innumerable, especially as globalisation has become a business denominator across the globe, breaking international barriers and business monopoly.

    The study is clearly indicative of the pivotal role project management plays in helping high performing organisations achieve their strategic objectives through a combination of key fundamentals which are instrumental in establishing project management practice in organisations. These basic fundamentals, according to the study conducted by Project Management Institute, are listed below:

    Culture:

    High-performing organisations fully understand the value of project management and are creating a project management mindset across their respective organisations. It is a cult-like culture where adherence to project management is obvious even in the process of project selection. This project management culture or mindset is supported and lived by the management of any given organisation. So it is quite easy for employees to adapt the culture; and the mindset becomes the mantra of such an organisation.

    Talent:

    High-performing organisations are significantly more likely to focus on talent management, establishing ongoing training, formal, and effective knowledge transfer. This is especially important in project management where technical skills are enhanced by the leadership, strategic and business management capabilities that are nurtured through experience.

    Again, high performing organisations also realise that employee turn-over erodes operating effectiveness in the interim and competitive advantage in the long haul. Therefore, the nature of the project content and design provides satisfying motivation if they are properly crafted. Process:

    High-performing organisations support project, programme, and portfolio management through standardised practices by aligning projects and programmes to the organisation’s strategy. Any organisation’s initiative depends on its strategic objectives; moreover, such initiatives are implemented in the service of the strategic objectives.

    Finally, high-performing organisations continue to buttress the well known facts: adhering to proven global project management standards without elimination of native knowledge and local relevance reduce risks, optimise cost and improve success rate of projects. This success is evident in both shareholders satisfaction and employees’ motivation leading to improved instrumentality or line of sight.

    – Oluwatosin is Managing Partner, Checkmate Business Communication

  • ‘Take advantage of group life insurance’

    ‘Take advantage of group life insurance’

    Life assurance companies have been advised to take advantage of the Group Life Insurance Scheme in the Pension Reform Act 2004.

    The President, Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance, Mrs Laide Osijo, gave the advice when the management of Crystalife Assurance Plc, led by the Managing Director, Mrs. ‘Seyi Ifaturoti, visited the NCRIB House in Lagos.

    Osijo said the 27 life companies in the country should evolve insurance policies that would meet the needs of the teeming population as is obtained in the developed countries.

    The NCRIB chief noted that under the Act, every employer of labour is obliged to arrange for a life insurance cover for employees, and make it workable.

    Disclosing that the public sector was complying with the Act, Osijo said there are avenues for ingenious life firms to prospect the numerous private sector workers and take advantage of the Act to grow the industry.

    She said the world over, life specialist firms play major roles in economic development, adding that they possess the required professional competence to conceive life policies or welfare schemes that would, ultimately, benefit employers and employees.

    Osijo commended the on-going synergy between the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and the Pension Commission (PENCOM) on group life insurance and annuity, noting that it would boost the industry and improve the welfare of Nigerians.