The Nation Newspaper

Tag: announces

  • AFRIMA 2014 announces 2face, Madinga as hosts

    AFRIMA 2014 announces 2face, Madinga as hosts

    Perhaps for the second time in his career, Nigerian music star, 2face Idibia, will be mounting the entertainment stage for an assignment other than singing.

    The singer, who has just been announced as co-host of the much anticipated All African Music Award (AFRIMA), it will be recalled, surprised fans as one of the industry stakeholders who presented papers at the last edition of the annual Nigerian Entertainment Conference.

    The award-winning singer, it is said, will be joined by Democratic Republic of Congo’s French-speaking female broadcaster and music presenter, Madinga Sona Maria as emcees of the maiden edition of the show, taking place on December 27, at the grand ballroom of Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    Executive Producer of AFRIMA, Mike Dada, described both artistes as “two accomplished creative Africans,” who will “hold sway and guide our distinguished guests and nominees through the programme. We promise to bring to Africa electrifying performances from our nominees and invited guest performers. Then add this to the famous faces and glamour of the African icons on the first- of- its-kind red carpet activity…It is going to be a spectacular show,” he assured.

    With a towering height of 1.78m, Mandinga who looks every inch a model is a beauty to behold. She has been described as the hottest female broadcaster in Kinshasa’s Democratic Republic of Congo. Her musical show, Cite de Star is the biggest music show in DRC Congo. A combination of beauty and brain, Mandinga presents her musical show on Digital Congo Television and Radio.

    2face on the other hand is one of the most decorated and successful Afro pop artistes in Africa. The singer has received several awards among which are MTV Europe Music Award, World Music Award, Headies Awards, Channel O Music Video Awards and BET Award, MTV Africa Music Awards, MOBO Awards and KORA Awards and numerous nominations for his musical works.

    2Baba, as he is fondly called, started his musical career with the Plantashun Boyz and together the group recorded two successful albums, Body and Soul and Sold Out. After disengaging with the group in 2004, he came out with his first solo album titled Face to Face. His latest album, The Ascension, was released this year. It features artistes across African continent.

    “I am happy to be part of this history making event. I am delighted to host Africa, Africa is the future. I welcome Africa and the world to AFRIMA here in the beautiful city of Lagos, Nigeria. Let’s celebrate Africa together,” said 2face.

    AFRIMA which according to organisers is being partner the African Union Commission, promises a festival-styled open concert of non-stop music, fanfare and fashion exhibition from countries across Africa, as well as performances by notable African artistes.

    Sponsored by Kenya Airways, Procter and Gamble, Peugeot, Diamond Bank and Uber, the show is supported by ONE, Africa 2.0, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation and PRMAFRICA.

  • Centre announces Wole Soyinka arts exhibition panel

    Centre announces Wole Soyinka arts exhibition panel

    •Steve Ayorinde is panel chair

    The Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies (CIAPS) has nominated Nigerian journalist and arts critic, Steve Ayorinde, to chair this year’s CIAPS Arts Festival.

    The CIAPS 2014 Arts Festival is an arts exhibition dedicated to the life and works of Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka.

    The event, dubbed: WS in Arts, will hold in the last week of September at CIAPS. It will feature artists and students of Arts from Nigeria other African and European countries.

    Ayorinde will chair an international panel comprising of arts critics, academics, artists, art dealers and art lovers who will evaluate and award prizes to the works of exhibiting artists.

    Interested artists have till 30 August to submit their works.

    The event will showcase paintings, drawings, sculptures, photography, among others, on themes from books, poems, plays and essays of Prof Wole Soyinka.

    Other members of the panel are: Prof. Roberto Francavilla (Italy), Prof. Inocência Mata (Portugal), Dr Katarina Kort (Germany), Dr Sandra Rowe (USA), Clearance Peters (Nigeria) and Frances Trought (UK). The exhibition is managed by scholars and students of CIAPS as part of their professional training.

    In a statement by Olumuyiwa Ayoola and David Uduma (both students of Banking and Finance), the centre’s director Prof. Anthony Kila said: “The aims of the exhibition are to let literature meet visual arts for the benefit of the public and to let CIAPS graduates put into practice the skills and knowledge they have acquired in their professional programmes by working with top international professionals.”

    The exhibition is treated as a project and the newly nominated international panel will be working closely with a select team of students of Business Administration, led by Oludewa Jemide, Olajuwon Okunubi, Romanus Undie, Abbas Adesina, Christopher Orororo and David Obatusin.

    It is also an opportunity for talented emerging artists to showcase their works in an international context.

    CIAPS is the first paperless institution in Africa and it is running career-oriented programmes aimed at getting graduates into jobs in their chosen professions.

    The main areas of study are: Journalism, Business Administration, Banking and Finance, Office management, Education and Project Management.

    Talented artists and other art lovers who wish to participate in the project are to visit the centre website: www.ciaps.org

  • Fidelity Bank announces N9.4b half year profit

    Fidelity Bank announces N9.4b half year profit

    Fidelity Bank Plc’s Profit Before Tax (PBT) for the half year ended June 30, stood at N9.43 billion, its Chief Executive Officer, Nnamdi Okonkwo, has said.

    Okonkwo said the result is in line with the lender’s 2014 fiscal year and medium term Return on Equity (ROE) target, adding that the lender’s shareholders’ funds stood at N166.38 billion within the period.

    He said the result showed a gradual impact of some of the transformation it commenced at the beginning of the financial year, adding that the PBT rose by 12 per cent in the second quarter and net interest income improved by 32 per cent between June 2013 and June 2014.

    “We are confident that the profit and efficiency momentum will be sustained in the coming quarters as we implement our newly tested lending structures, to grow the loan book in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and retail segment while consolidating on our niche corporate banking play,” he said.

    He said the lender’s gross earnings grew by one per cent from N62.9 billion recorded in first half of the year 2013 to N63.3 billion in half year 2014.

    Its Net Interest Income grew by 32 per cent to N24.8 billion in half year 2014 compared to the N18.7 billion recorded in half year 2013. This was driven by a steady growth in the loan book and re-pricing of deposits and risk assets.

    Non-interest Income declined by 14 per cent to N13.0 billion from N15.1 billion recorded in half year 2013, basically driven by a reduction in foreign exchange earnings.

    Operating Expenses grew by 11 per cent to N26.3 billion in half year 2014 from N23.7 billion recorded in half year 2013.  This was driven by an increase in remuneration costs and regulatory related expenses while the growth in the other expense lines was significantly below the inflation rate.

    Profit Before Tax (PBT) was N9.4 billion for the Half year ended June 30, 2014, which represents a drop of 16% from N11.2 billion recorded in the Half Year ended June 30, 2013. However, second quarter PBT was N4.97billion which represents a growth of 12 per cent from N4.45 billion recorded in first quarter 2014.

    Total Customer Deposits declined by five per cent to N766 billion as at June 30, 2014 from N806 billion as at December 31, 2013 as we rebalance our deposit book on account of high Cash Reserve Requirement on public sector deposits and continuous re-pricing of the deposit book.

    “On a quarterly basis deposits recorded a marginal growth in second quarter 2014 while interest expense remained flat in a period of increased monetary tightening. Net Loans and Leases grew by three per cent to N438 billion as at June 30, 2014 from N426 billion as at December 31, 2013, loan growth was 19 per cent from June 2013 to June 2014,” it said.

  • Genevieve Nnaji announces top three acts in Act The Part contest

    Genevieve Nnaji announces top three acts in Act The Part contest

    Nollywood star Genevieve Nnaji has announced the top three acts in the Act The Part online contest for a chance to spend one exciting day with her, asvoting ended on Sunday midnight.

    The two-week long online competition had received thousands of entries from enthusiastic fans who tried to re-enact a role from any movie of their choice.

    However, after a gruelling selection process, three acts made it to the top three positions from which only one winner will emerge via popular votes and have the opportunity to hang out with the Amstel Malta brand ambassador. The winner will also win a fabulous makeover, courtesy Amstel Malta.

  • Mayweather announces rematch with Maidana

    Floyd Mayweather Jr will fight a rematch September 13 with Marcos Maidana, the Argentinian who gave him a tougher battle than expected when they met in May.

    Mayweather announced Thursday that Maidana would get a rematch in a pay-per-view fight from the MGM Grand hotel-casino. Mayweather won the first fight between the two by majority decision, but Maidana was given credit for taking the fight to the undefeated welterweight champion.

    Maidana said after the fight he thought he won, and that Mayweather never hurt him. “He wasn’t that tough,” Maidana said.

    Punch stats showed Mayweather landing 230 of 426 punches to 221 of 858 for Maidana. It was the most punches landed by any fighter against Mayweather in 38 fights where punch stats were compiled.

    Mayweather is 46-0 with 26 knockouts and Maidana is 35-4 with 31 knockouts. The fight will be promoted by Golden Boy Promotions.

     

  • Honda announces Nigeria’s plans

    Japanese car maker Honda Motors on Tuesday announced the set up and operation of a subsidiary in Nigeria, Honda Automobile Western Africa Limited (HAWA).

    HAWA intends to increase Honda’s market share in Nigeria, in conjunction with their long time exclusive representative THP Limited.

    THP Limited is an associate company of the diversified giant, Stallion Group, which also manages an array of multinational auto brands and has begun local assembly of vehicles.

    Announcing the establishment of the subsidiary, Mr. Manabu Nishimae, Chief Operating Officer for Regional Operations (Europe, the Middle & Near East and Africa) underlined the importance of the Nigerian market for Honda.

    He said Nigeria was critical to their regional strategy being the most populous market in the region. Honda has ambitious plans to sell 10,000 units in Nigeria by 2020.

    Several top officials and dignitaries from the Embassy of Japan, THP Limited and the automobile media attended the event.

    Thereafter, Mr. Takayuki Yamashita, Managing Director, Honda Automobile Western Africa Limited (HAWA), expressed confidence that the quality of customer satisfaction would improve substantially in the coming period through efforts collaborated between HAWA and THP. He was keen to expand the Honda business in Nigeria through using Honda’s wide international experience and expertise gained over 50 years.

    Mr. Yamashita said: “Together with our partner THP Limited, we will put customer’s “Joy of Buying” first, no matter what, and no matter when”. Honda was also serious about ensuring that the customer remains satisfied throughout his ownership tenure of the product. HAWA also would increase focus on market research to better understand customer needs and meet them proactively.

    HAWA also said THP’s plans to launch a new sales and service facility at a prime Lekki location, that is expected to improve penetration of sales and service activities in the area.

    Mr. Yamashita was upbeat on market prospects for the Honda brand, given wide range of offerings that include the Civic, City, Accord, CR-V, Pilot, Odyssey and Crosstour.