Tag: FirstBank

First Bank of Nigeria Limited has reiterated its commitment to promoting foreign direct investment flow to Africa.

The bank recently sponsored the Africa International Trade Exhibition (A.I.T.E 2023), held recently in  New York. The event was themed “the imperatives of global trade for African SMEs as a game changer for the continent’s future prosperity”.

Woven into the fabric of society, with the rich heritage of being the premier Bank in West Africa, FirstBank’s sponsorship of the event reiterated its commitment to being the bank of first choice and financial gateway in supporting businesses to boost the growth and socio-economic development of the continent in today’s fast-evolving business landscape.

 Visioner of the African International Trade Exhibition project, Tunde MacAlabi, said “The AITE project is conceived to assist African SMEs to gain greater penetration in the North American market that has huge potentials.

The African American population in the US is 30 million strong, spending close to 1.2 trillion dollars as consumers.

The popularity of our afrobeat music, the ground that it is gaining in North America and the globe is remarkable. With this idea, pushing authentic African made products into the market to rise on the wave of the popularity of our music can diversify the sources of foreign exchange income that we accurately need in Nigeria and Africa. 

Our effort is a complementary private sector driven initiative to help bridge the commercial gap to increase the commercial engagement between Nigeria, Africa and the USA.

Speaking at the event, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, CEO of FirstBank Group said: “I am particularly delighted that this year’s theme beams the spotlight on a sector that can be referred to as the bedrock of Africa’s economic prosperity. Africa’s SME sector is also a good representation of the unyielding and resilient spirit of the African people in the face of many daunting challenges.”

With a vision to become “Africa’s Bank of First Choice”, FirstBank’s commitment to the development and economic transformation of the African continent is unwavering and we will continue to make the required investments to actualize this goal. I make bold to say that, in FirstBank, Africa has a dependable ally.

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Indeed, it is the turn of Africa to rise, and FirstBank is strategically positioned to provide the required financial services support to the SME sector that will catalyze the next phase of Africa’s growth and development,” he concluded.

Representing Prof. Benedict Okey Oramah, President & Chairman, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Mrs Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) said “I am grateful to the African International Trade Exhibition (AITE) for the kind opportunity to participate in this event. I congratulate AITE for building this unique platform to rally global investments and policy support towards the attainment of the goals of the African Continental Free Trade Agreements. These activities of AITE are significant complements to Afreximbank’s trade facilitation agenda. We are therefore pleased to be associated with AITE and its activities.

We must continue to leverage the platforms created by the Bank and AITE to forge partnerships, share ideas and contribute to the growth and development of African SMEs to ensure that their potentials as the driving force for the transformation of the continent. As l like to say, the opportunity is now, and it has a shelf life.

Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development of Nigeria noted that “the importance of the aviation sector in Nigeria and any country cannot be overemphasised. The gains of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) cannot be realized without a robust Aviation policy in Africa that will enhance the movement of goods and personnel across Africa.

Encouraging Nigerians in the diaspora to drive foreign direct investment into the country, Dr Uzoka-Anite, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment spoke on behalf of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR), President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. She said “I enjoin Nigerians in the diaspora to invest in Nigeria. I know the spirit of being a Nigerian because I am one.

We are very prosperous, resilient, persistent, bold, audacious. We like to make decisions in our favour profitably. We are also very warm and welcoming. Galvanizing all these qualities and focus it back home will lead to us doing a whole lot.

The A.I.T.E 2023 Business, Trade, and Investment Summit convened business leaders, entrepreneurs and government functionaries from diverse sectors across Africa and the globe.

Held on the sidelines of the 78th Session of UN General Assembly (UNGA), the event promotes networking amongst think tanks whilst being a viable avenue for organisations to showcase cutting-edge products and services, thereby building valuable business relationships to drive economic advancement and cooperation beyond the African continent.

FirstBank of Nigeria has advised its corporate customers on ways to grow their businesses.

Speaking during the  bank’s Corporate Customer Engagement Forum in Lagos, FirstBank Group Chief Executive Officer, Adesola Adeduntan, said the event was to provide   provide vital updates on developments in the financial landscape, as a mark of its commitment to putting customers at the heart of the bank’s business. 

Adeduntan, who was represented at the event by FirstBank Group Executive, Technology, Digital Innovation  & Services, Callistus Obeta, said the event enabled the facilitators focus on topical issues and the economic outlook after 100 days of a change in government.

“As we dive into the business, I like to mention that for the second year in a row, FirstBank has been awarded the Best Corporate Bank in Western Africa 2023 by Global Banking and Finance Awards amongst other high-profile global recognitions. Our recently released H1 2023 financials also attest to the consistent upward leap that has become a second nature to us in FirstBank, accentuating our commitment to becoming Africa’s Bank of first choice,” he said. 

Adeduntan said the bank made an impressive, record-breaking Profit Before Tax of N188.8 billion, up 214.6 per cent y-o-y (June 2022: N60.0 billion) with Total Assets climaxing to N13.6 trillion, year to date and customers’ deposit growing to N8.8 trillion, up 26.9 per cent year to day , among several other remarkable indices.

On her part, Head of Treasury Sales and Derivatives Marketing at FirstBank, Mrs. Adeola Abioye, advised businesses to go for long term foreign currency loans, to give them enough time to payback when the ongoing market volatility and dollar crunch improve. 

“We also recommend that you close out existing positions that lead to losses. Those with foreign loans should seek extension of tenor and for new trades, should be long term of six months or one year.”

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“We have seen a surge in the non-oil export, but the concentration has been on the agriculture. I think that businesses should be more more deliberate and intentional about focusing more on non-oil export.

“The body language is that we are not going to seeing as much supplies from monetary authority as we were seeing in the past. The generation of forex supply will then lie in the market because we are not likely to be seeing the CBN playing the major role that they played in the past in providing forex.”

“Businesses now have to get their own source of forex, and one way to do that is to be more intentional and deliberate, focusing on export business. Not just for companies that are traditionally within the export business but even for companies that are import dependent to look at export as a way of diversifying our businesses,” she said.

Also speaking, Founder and Chief Consultant of B. Adedipe Associates Limited, ’Biodun Adedipe, said an organisation should have the ability to access quickly new funds, either to take advantage of an emerging opportunity in its market or to survive/stabilize during a crisis or major shock in its operating environment.

Adedipe, who spoke on ‘Policy Shifts and Disruptions- What, Why and Implications’  advised business owners to be nimble, agile and responsive to the changing business environment, including the challenge of naira depreciation, petrol subsidy removal, taxation, among others.