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Tag: Managing Director

  • Ecobank to focus on women entrepreneurs

    The Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwuntan, has said female entrepreneurs with focus to build shopping empires will be considered for credit facilities in the bank.

    Akinwuntan spoke during the unveiling of a new initiative tagged: “Ecobank Female Entrepreneurs Initiative” which recently held in Lagos.

    Some of the benefits include access to credit facilities with little or no collateral, network opportunities across Africa, financial advisory services, wealth management resources and loyalty schemes.

    The initiative was designed to provide women with the necessary support to help them excel in their endeavours, promote and grow their businesses and generally position them for increased participation in the economy of the nation.

    It was also part of activities of the commercial bank to mark this year’s International Women’s Day and also  recognise women as special and unique customers who require tailor-made service offerings.

    He said: “Increasingly, we are seeing the change in the attitudes of women, and their economic viability as individuals and leaders in their fields. Their banking and financial services as a whole therefore present vast opportunities, if properly understood and managed.”

    According to Akinwuntan, the launch is a charge to the society in line with the theme of the International Women’s Day 2019, to challenge the status quo and strive for a balance by empowering females in their immediate environments and subsequently, on a macro level.

    In his words: “Our female customers will become our flagship ambassadors and we have created this platform for them in line with the sustainability requirements of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). These women will be provided with free health checks, training and empowerment sessions and other support tools from Ecobank. The Ecobank Female Entrepreneurs Initiative aims at empowering women by helping them build capacity to grow their businesses.”

    The  Executive Director, Commercial Banking, Mrs. Carol Oyedeji, stated that Ecobank was proud to join the rest of the world to commemorate the Day with the special theme #BalanceforBetter.

    She remarked: “This year’s theme leaves no one in doubt as to the dire need to raise more awareness that gender balance is not a women’s issue but a human issue that must be tackled for us to have a better society and that it should not be mistaken for a battle between the sexes.”

    She called on corporate bodies to ensure women attain their full potential in all areas of society, including the workplace, which she said is vital to the communities and economies to thrive. “A balanced world is a better world. We must help forge a more gender-balanced world by celebrating and recognising women’s achievements, raising awareness against bias and taking action for equality,” she added.

     

     

  • Akingbola’s lawyer to court: EFCC’s witness lied

    Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), counsel for defunct Intercontinental Bank Managing Director Dr Erastus Akingbola, yesterday accused a prosecution witness, Abdulraheem Jimoh, of “deceiving the court”.

    He said the witness claimed to have obtained a Master’s Degree when he did not.

    Jimoh was testifying in Akingbola’s trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of the Federal High Court in Lagos.

    He had on Tuesday testified that Akingbola repaid his companies’ debt using the bank’s N10billion.

    Led in evidence by the prosecuting counsel Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), Jimoh, who was Intercontinental Bank’s Chief Inspector, said yesterday: “These payments were used to settle the indebtedness of the companies in which Dr Akingbola and his wife had majority shareholding.”

    He said there were no loans granted to the companies.

    “I carried out the investigation in my capacity as chief inspector of the bank. I submitted my report to the management, which was forwarded to the EFCC.

    “In all the transactions, they involved companies which Dr Akingbola and his wife were beneficial owners,” he said.

    Under cross-examination, Olanipekun asked Jimoh about his academic qualifications.

    The witness said he obtained his first degree from the Ahmadu Bello University in 1982.

    He said he obtained additional qualifications, but did not mention a Master’s Degree.

    Olanipekun alleged that Jimoh had earlier claimed before an Ikeja High Court (where Akingbola was first tried) that he had a Master’s degree.

    “We will expose you for who you are. You told another court that you had a Master’s Degree when you do not. You are here to mislead this court as you did previously in Ikeja,” Olanipekun said.

    The witness said he enrolled for the Master’s programme, but could not conclude it because he did not complete the projects.

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    Olanipekun said: “Your course became abridged because of examination malpractices for which you were involved.”

    The witness said: “No sir”, adding that he stated he had a Master’s degree because he had “a statement of attendance”.

    Before the trial commenced yesterday, EFCC re-arraigned Akingbola on an amended charge, which was reduced from 26 to 22 counts. He pleaded not guilty.

    Jacobs said the counts “were reduced for easy understanding,” but Olanipekun countered him by saying that “a lot of things were brought into” the amended charge.

    The case was first handled by Justice Charles Archibong, who struck out the charge for lack of diligent prosecution. EFCC appealed.

    Last May, the Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeal’s decision overruling Justice Archibong and directing Akingbola to face trial in the 10-year-old case.

    The prosecution alleged that Akingbola, between November 2007 and July 2008, approved a credit facility of N8billion each to Soo-Kok Holding Limited, Tofa General Enterprises, Cinca Nigeria Limited;l, Harmony Trust and Investment Limited and Stanzus Investment Limited.

    EFCC said the illegal transactions were carried out in contravention of “accepted practice or Intercontinental Bank Plc’s regulations.”

    It said Akingbola violated Section 15(1)(a)(i) of the Failed Banks (Recovery of Debts) and Financial Malpractices in Banks Act, Cap F2, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and was liable to be punished under Section 16(1)(a) of the same Act.

    The prosecution alleged that under Akingbola’s watch, Intercontinental Bank had N87.6billion non-performing credit burden.

    It said Akingbola failed to take all reasonable steps to ensure compliance with the requirement to maintain, at all times, the minimum capital adequacy ratio specified by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in compliance with Section 13(1) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, Cap B3 Laws of the Federation 2004.

    Trial continues today.

  • FAAN sets up committee to boost non- aeronautical revenue sources

    The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has set up a committee to map out plans to boost revenue generation for the agency from non-aeronautical sources.
    This is as the agency said that it is going through some processes that would eventually lead to the approval of its Aviation Security (AVSEC) to bear arms in 2019.
    Its Managing Director, Saleh Dunoma disclosed these to aviation journalists yesterday in an interview at the agency’s headquarters at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos.
    Dunoma said that it was high time airport authorities on the continent diversified their revenue generations away from aeronautic to non-aeronautic, stressing that other airport managers across the world had already keyed into this.
    He insisted that the committee, which he chaired, consisted of relevant directorates and departments responsible for revenue generation for FAAN and would come out with a roadmap to enhance revenues for the agency.
    He declared that FAAN as an agency could not be left behind in development of its airport infrastructure, stressing that the only way to achieve this was for it to diversify its revenue generation and tap into the myriad of opportunities in the system.
    He explained further that apart from Nigeria, other airport authorities across the continent were also deliberating on how to increase their non-aeronautical revenue services, which he said formed the theme of this year’s Airports Council International (ACI) held in Egypt.
    He said: “What we intend to do is to diversify our revenue sources. In Africa, we have not tapped into non-aeronautical sources and we are encouraging African airports to look at non-aeronautical revenue sources of revenue because aeronautical sources of revenues have limitations; they are highly dependent on flight operations.
    “The non-aeronautical revenues are being developed so much that they can be in pari-passu with the aeronautical sources of revenues. This is what we want African airports to develop. Some papers were presented to guide African airports to develop that area.
    “As a matter of fact, I just finished a meeting with my team. I set up a team on revenue generation and this team is chaired by me. It is very sensitive to the survival of African airports especially FAAN. We started the meeting today (yesterday) and we will continue to meet every week until we get to where we want to be.
    “We have not come up with a target yet, but the committee will come up with that. There are lots of departments involved, including engineering and commercial. By the time we develop some projects, we will have revenue targets that we want to achieved. This will be done by the committee.”
    He explained further that before the end of the year, AVSEC personnel would have been approved to bear arms in order to increase their surveillance of the sector.
    He, however, said that before this could be achieved, the department required some trainings and approvals especially from the National Security Adviser (NSA), stressing that background checks would also be carried out on some of the personnel before the approval.
    He said: “There are certain projects that we need to implement before we can start carrying arms. Number one, we have to get the arms. Number two, we have to store the ammunitions somewhere. We need to embark on projects that will enable us to have storage somewhere at the airport. Number three, we need to profile and train.
    “It is not everybody that will bear arms. This, we must apply. We cannot train ourselves. We have to be trained by those that have been long in the system; the State Security Service and the Nigeria police. Also, we want to make sure that we get certification from the office of the National Security Adviser. We have to go through these processes. As soon as we are through with all these, they can then be allowed to carry arms. We intend to do this before the end of the year.”
    On continuation of certifications of international airports by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dunoma assured that other airports would be certified very soon by the regulatory agency, emphasising that the exercise was at different stages of completion.
    He disclosed that Kano, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Kaduna airports were going through the certification processes.
    On the second runway project for Abuja Airport, Dunoma disclosed that the project was part of the 2019 budget, hoping that it would scale through the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).
    “That has gone far. This is a big document here. The document contains the design and everything about the second runway. It’s in our 2019 budget. Actually, the consultancy is being processed. As soon as we get our clearance from the BPP, we will commence work on it. In fact, we have gone far on this,” he said.

  • ECS: NSITF defers employers’ sanction for non-compliance

    The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) did not sanction employers for non-compliance with the Employees Compensation Scheme (ECS) to allow them more time to understand its implementation processes,  its Managing Director, Mr. Adebayo Somefun has said.

    He said in Abuja that the Fund was more interested in the growth of the scheme and not prioritising punishment of defaulters.

    Somefun insisted that sanction would eventually be meted to defaulters, adding that the Fund is  adopting the carrot and stick approach.

    He said: “We are not relying on the legal aspect to get employers to comply with the ECS yet. We are at this moment concentrating on selling the inherent benefits of the scheme. Eventually, there will be sanction for defaulting. But we are not going into that right now because the scheme is still young. We need to keep talking, persuading and enlightening all our critical stakeholders.”

    He said employers not participating in the scheme were not only depriving their employees the benefits of compensation when injured, but are denying themselves the opportunity of getting paid for loss of productivity when their workers are injured, and in no position to execute their tasks optimally.

    His said: “All employers of labour in Nigeria who are not participating in the scheme are denying their employees as well as Nigerians of the benefits of the compensation that this scheme offers. There is no need to worry about occupational hazard because we know that accidents are not planned occurrences and can happen any time.

    “In such times, the employer is insulated from settling medical expenses. In fact, the NSITF pays employers whose staffers are involved in accidents and loss of productivity due to the inability of such workers to perform their duties.

    “Again, if an employee dies in the course of duty, 90 per cent of his total remuneration is paid to the spouse until the last child is 21 years old or graduates from the university.

    “For example, if a worker dies while his last child is six months old, for the next 21 years, that family will receive 90 per cent of the terminal income of the deceased. So, there is no need to run to any uncle or family members when a worker dies in the course of work.”

    Somefun said the scheme seeks to protect family integrity, boost education and insulate families against becoming destitute after the demise of their bread winner.

    He said: “With 90 per cent of remuneration of the deceased paid directly to his wife, the standard of the family will not drop drastically. The beauty of this scheme is that the money is paid directly to the spouse and not to any extended family. So, families cannot get their hands on it. It is not a next-of-kin matter at all. Other benefits like gratuities and group life assurance are paid to whoever is the next-of-kin.”

    He also hinted that the Fund would reinforce its safety activities in 2019. “We have placed about 1,000 of our staffers on safety management. This will empower us to descend into the work arena to exercise one of our major mandates, which is to enforce health and safety in the work environment,” he said, adding that the Fund pays death benefits to 332 families monthly.

  • ‘Micro pension will bridge financial inclusion gap’

    Micro pension has become an invaluable tool to bridge the terrible deficit in financial inclusion that exists in the larger number of the unstructured Nigerian population, the informal sector, the Managing Director, IEI-Anchor Pension Funds Glory Etaduovie, has said.

    He made this known in a statement made available to journalists in Lagos.

    Etaduovie expressed worry over heightening challenge of social security in the country.

    He pointed out that as people age, increasing fears and concerns of what the future offers come to the fore.

    He stated that for those in more structured environments, responsible employers think and put in place an internal plan to help ageing and retiring staff to settle down to a secure retirement.

    He observed that key government parastatals such as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), among others are enviable places to retire.

    He said other government organisations similarly enjoy some guarantees but not robust structures for retirement.

    He lauded PenCom’s role in facilitating this financial inclusion through the micro pension plans.

    He said: “Major and structured financial, oil and gas and some manufacturing and private sector organisations have done fairly well, too, in pension provision.However, the larger number of the unstructured Nigerian population remain not catered for. They are left to chance and limits of their knowledge and capacity to deal with the challenges and vagaries of getting old. Ironically, we are all affected, because they are our uncles and aunties; brothers and sisters; fathers and mothers who now lean on us for family pension plans (if any), or handouts of stipends that cater for only a few days, and back to square one. Ageing becomes undignified. Health and maintenance remain a critical issue of ageing. The current working population is thus under siege. There are endless requests for support here and there. Sadly, this has also promoted corruption – greed apart.

    “Financial inclusion is total. Total in the sense that this philosophy drags in the so-called underprivileged or low income segment into the opportunities and exposures that financial world offers. A lot of people are shut of a world of opportunities the financial sector offers to enhance their present and future lives. Though beyond pension only, this platform now sucks them in through their cluster bodies to expose them to the knowledge and benefits of not only pension plans, but puts them into a community of people who can tap into other benefits accrue-able to cluster bodies. This thus makes up for short falls of individual small businesses access to comprehensive financial services available to all. This of course leads to empowerment and economic growth and development.

    “PenCom has done well so far. It is a new learning needing to be domiciled. They have had to wade through un-structured parts to create in-routes for industry path and public assimilation and integration. Change pioneering and buy-ins are amongst most difficult things to achieve. This is through the micro pension plans. It is for individual professionals, artisans, retail or individual entrepreneurs, farmers, among others. It captures the unstructured working environment. It is not necessarily micro by way of income. Micro as a name might just be for want of a better name.”

    Speaking on IEI-ANCHOR Pensions preparedness on the micro plan, he said the company has put in place internal structures, adding that they also closely monitor the regulator’s ‘dance’ steps and domiciling same in our company.

    “Staffing and a robust ICT network is being enhanced. Remember that, those in the micro pension sector constitute no less than 60 per cent of the population. There is also a growing tilt towards increasing entrepreneurial drive, as the direct jobs are decreasing. It is thus a larger untapped market.

    “It is important to develop people-friendly products to both attract them and accommodate their sensitivities. We are working at that. Reaching out to them and educating them is of paramount importance. The mode of achieving this is very important as well. It has to be both creative and sensitive. We are noting all of these”, he noted.

  • Fed Govt kicks off egg production scheme in Abia

    Fed Govt kicks off egg production scheme in Abia

    The Managing Director, Bank of Agriculture, Kabir Muhammed Adamu has flagged off an egg production scheme in Abia State.

    Adamu, represented by the Executive Director, Partnership, Strategy and Corporate Services, Bank of Industry (BoI), Gabriel Okenwa, said one million jobs would be created in the scheme and that over 50 million eggs would be produced daily.

    Adamu said there is need for massive food production if the country must contain hunger, adding that the scheme will, among other things, boost the protein component of the school feeding programme, create sustainable poultry industry and increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.

    He said the scheme will empower farmers and make them employers of labour which can lead to 1.6 million profit cash at hand and massive wealth creation.

    He said that participants of the scheme are entitled to a loan of N4.3 million to be repaid in two and half years with a single-digit interest rate.

    On why Abia was chosen as one of the pilot states, Adamu stated that it was because of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s support for farmers to ensure food security and job creation, describing it as one of the greatest legacies he will bequeath to the next generation.

    Adamu further assured of the total support of the federal government to the project in the state, urging the governor to keep up his good work. This is even as he reemphasised that Bank of Agriculture will partner with the state to achieve this laudable project.

    In his response, Ikpeazu said Abia has decided to refocus and bring agriculture to the front burner as a way of coming out of recession.

    Ikpeazu explained that his government decided to make agriculture one of the first pillars of his administration because of his belief that it has the capacity to create more jobs and other incentives for the people to better their lives.

    He maintained that poultry farming in Abia must be taken seriously with clusters created to help farmers without adequate capacity with the requisite training.

    He said the state would key into “this federal government’s initiative anchored by the Bank of Agriculture. I call on them to do their best in catapulting agriculture to the place it must be in the scheme of things”.

    Deputy Governor of the state Rt. Hon. Ude Oko Chukwu, state commissioner for Agriculture Hon. Uzo Azubuike and other top government functionaries were present at the event.

  • Students’ parliament honours Ibom Power MD

    Students’ parliament honours Ibom Power MD

    The Managing Director of Ibom Power Company Limited (IPC), Mr. Meyen Etukudo, an Engineer, has been honoured with the Pan-African Distinguished Leadership Award as the icon of nation-building in Africa by the African Students’ Union Parliament (ASUP).

    Delegates of the students’ parliament that covers all the students within 54-member African countries presented the award to Engr. Etukudo in his Uyo office on Monday.

    The Deputy Speaker of the parliament, Herve Forku from the Université de Douala in Cameroun said the honour is in recognition of Engr. Etukudo’s contributions to the development of the society through quality power supply, administrative excellence, youth empowerment and service to God and humanity.

    He stated that the core objective of ASUP is to encourage co-operation and harmonious co-existence of students in universities across the African Continent.

    “The objective is achieved through exchange programmes, seminars and conferences held across member universities in Africa,” he added.

    Responding, Engr. Etukudo appreciated the students for the honour bestowed on him. He praised the initiative of students from different universities across Africa coming under one umbrella to drive youth development in the African Continent.

    Engr. Etukudo, who shared how his 32-year work experience has taken him across several countries, states and tribes in Nigeria said Africa has not developed beyond its present position due to bad leadership. He urged the students to grow beyond nationality and tribe to promote development in Africa.

     

  • Law Union & Rock targets 50% premium growth

    Law Union and Rock Insurance Plc is committed to growing its premium income by 50 percent at the end of the year, its Managing Director, Jide Orimolade, has said.

    At a briefing in Lagos, he said the company has achieved 17 percent growth in its half-year result, out of its  target for 2017.

    He said the company planned to leverag its relationship with brokers and agents, retail business and other channels of distributions to achieve its objective.

    He said: “Other plans for the year include to retain 90 per cent of our customers; growdirect and retail businesses; achieve an improved credit rating from A- to A+ by GCR and become the preferred first choice underwriter amongst the General Insurance business provider in the country.

    “We will also leverage  technology to increase our profitability in 2017. We are doing a lot of strategic alliances with various online platforms believing it will help us to grow our business and achieve our targets within the year.”

    Speaking on claims payment, he stressed that the company pays claims within 72 hours after all paper works had been done.

    “The company IT platform is effective and efficient to enable us  move ahead to cover areas where we don’t have offices. We are investing seriously to upgrade its technology platform to meet the customersdmand. Our customers through our IT platform can purchase insurance; report claims and monitor it to the point of payment without necessarily coming to the office,” he added.

  • UniAbuja to get FMBN 200 housing units in November   

    UniAbuja to get FMBN 200 housing units in November   

    The Managing Director, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Arch. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa has said staffs of the University of Abuja will benefit from 200 units of houses funded by the bank through the Federal Government Ministerial Pilot Housing Scheme.

    The Bank’s MD said the units of three, two and one bedroom apartments, constructed by Anthem Integrated Resources Limited would be delivered to the beneficiaries by November this year.      

    The beneficiaries are senior staff of the varsity under the aegis of Abuja Senior Staff Cooperative Society.

    In a statement signed by FMBN Unit Head, Public Affairs and Corporate Communications, Ahmed Kaoje, yesterday in Abuja, the inspection visit by the MD was part of efforts at completing all on-going housing projects funded by the Bank    

    It reads in part: “What is interesting about the project is that off-takers are on ground, who are staff members of University of Abuja under the cooperative society. He expressed satisfaction with the quality and level of work in the estate and directed the developer to complete the houses by November this year for subsequent mortgaging to the university community.”

    Dangiwa urged the public to take advantage of the National Housing Fund (NHF) scheme to own their houses. According to him, the scheme is open to all Nigerians and is the most affordable mortgage facility in the country.

    He reiterated the commitment of the Bank to deliver on its mandate of providing quality and affordable housing to low and medium income earners.

    In his remarks, FMBN Executive Director, Business Development and Treasury Services, Alhaji Umar Abdullah called on the developer to maintain high standard of work and deliver the houses on record time.

    The President of University of Abuja Senior Staff Cooperative Society represented by the Financial Secretary Mr. Samuel Osagie, expressed appreciation to the Bank for locating the project at Gwagwalada and for giving the staff of the university opportunity to own the houses.

    He confirmed that the cooperative has begun the profiling of interested members to enable them access the houses.

    The Project Consultant, Alhaji Mukhtar Abdullahi assured the Bank that the firm would keep to the completion time and maintained the project is of high quality standard.  

  • Herbal Pro partners Eric Favre to fight illnesses, diseases

    Herbal Pro partners Eric Favre to fight illnesses, diseases

    Herbal Pro Limited owners of Nigeria’s top herbal weight loss management capsules EZ Slim, has announced its partnership with world leading naturopathy and orthomolecular research and nutrition firm Eric Favre.

    It’s no news that the world is turning towards the use of herbal medicinal products and supplements in the fight against illnesses and diseases as well as increasing the quality of life.

    According to statics, the last three decades have seen about 80% increase in the use of herbal medicines and supplement with as high as 80% relying on them for some part of primary health care. With this in mind, Herbal Pro has signed a deal with Eric Favre with the aim of providing naturally effective remedies to prevent illnesses and improve overall well-being.

    According to the Managing Director, Kishore Uttamchandani, the use of herbal medicines and phytonutrients or nutraceuticals continues to gain more recognition across the world with more and more people resorting to natural based products for the treatment of various health challenges.

    Kishore said ‘We are excited that we will be adding more herbal products to their flagship product EZ Slim.

    Herbal Pro is focused on providing herbal remedies to combat illnesses and diseases and our partnership with Eric Favre who is known for his ability to develop effective natural remedies will bring us closer to our goal. Eric Favre is well known worldwide for their interest in providing a solution crafted to suit each individual with the aim of preserving his health no matter the age.

    Kishore also stated that some of the areas Herbal Pro will be focusing on include, herbal remedies for stamina, fatigue, breastfeeding and pregnant women as well as other remedies aimed at improving the general health of an individual.

    According to Herbal Pro Limited, Eric Favre and his team of experts will be in charge of developing formulas from natural ingredients while Herbal Pro will be the sole distributors of these remedies in Nigeria.