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Tag: Waheed Olagunju

  • Buhari greets Olagunju at 60

    President Muhammadu Buhari has sent warm greetings to Mr Waheed Olagunju, former Acting Managing Director of Bank of Industry Limited and Executive Director of Small and Medium Enterprises on his 60th birthday, April 7th, 2019.

    The President, in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and publicity, Femi Adesina, celebrated with all family members, friends and associates of Olagunju.

    Read Also: Buhari vindicated by Onnoghen’s resignation —APC  

    Buhari congratulated him for always making himself available for service to the nation and humanity, which is centrally motivated by his fear of God and sense of patriotism.

    President Buhari commended the former Acting Managing Director of Bank of Industry for playing a significant role in supporting the vision of diversifying the Nigerian economy through innovative and actionable ideas that translated into growth of more Small and Medium Enterprises across the country.

    As Olagunju turns 60, the President prayed that the almighty God will grant him long life, good health and strength to continue serving the country.

     

  • BoI disburses N20.5bn to 346 female entrepreneurs

    BoI disburses N20.5bn to 346 female entrepreneurs

    The Bank of Industry ( BoI ) said on Thursday that it disbursed over N20.5 billion  in 2017 to 346 enterprises owned by women.

    The Managing Director of BoI, Mr Kayode Pitan, made the disclosure at the bank’s celebration of the 2018 International Women’s Day in Lagos.

    The International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8 annually to recognise the roles of women and seek gender equality and women empowerment.

    The theme of the 2018 celebration is: “Press for Progress”.

    Pitan was represented by Dr Waheed Olagunju, BoI’s Head of SMEs.

    He said that the bank recognised the role, achievements and contributions of women entrepreneurs to the development of the nation’s economy.

    The managing director said that the disbursement impacted positively on livelihood, job creation and GDP growth.

    Pitan said that the bank had earmarked N22 billion for 2018 to support women businesses and build on past successes to drive economic growth and recovery.

    He reiterated BoI’s commitment to supporting women entrepreneurs through the bank’s Gender Business Group promoting women enterprises through innovative, financial and business support services.

    He said that the bank would continue to equip women with requisite skills and knowledge aimed at driving entrepreneurship growth.

    According to him, supporting women can unleash a strong force for innovation, productivity, wealth creation and economic growth.

    Earlier, Hajiya Aisha Abubakar, Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, said that the Federal Government would continue to support female entrepreneurs to boost inclusive and virile economic growth.

    The minister was represented by Mrs Temitope Gbamgboye, a Director in the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

    Abubakar said that the government would not hesitate to expand its programmes to encourage more women to embrace entrepreneurship.

    NAN

  • Areximbank named African Banker of the Year

    Areximbank named African Banker of the Year

     Dr Benedict Oramah, the President of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), has been named African Banker of the Year at the African Banker Awards 2017 ceremony in India.

    A statement by Afreximbank in Lagos on Wednesday said that the award was presented on Tuesday at a ceremony on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of African Development Bank.

    The bank said that the award was given to a banker who, through leadership and vision, had overseen strong financial performance within his or her organisation.

    “Such a banker would also have successfully guided that institution to new heights in the industry”.

    In his acceptance speech, Oramah, a Nigerian, said that he was able to win the award as a result of the dedicated work of the staff of Afreximbank.

    He said the staff had put in sustained efforts and made sacrifices to enable the bank continue performing in order to meet the challenges confronting Africa in the area of trade.

    Other nominees for the award included Segun Agbaje of GTB in Nigeria, Jeremy Awori of Barclays Bank in Kenya, Dr Charles Kimei of CRDB Bank in Tanzania, James Mwangi of Equity Bank in Kenya and Joshua Nyamweya Olgara of KCB in Kenya.

    Also at the ceremony, Guaranty Trust Bank of Nigeria was named African Bank of the Year, Rameswurlall Basant Roi, Governor of Central Bank of Mauritius, was named Central Bank Governor of the Year, while Rand Merchant Bank in South Africa was named Investment Bank of the Year.

    Other winners included Equity Bank of Kenya as the Best Retail Bank, MasterCard and Ecobank were named for Innovation in Banking.

    Waheed Olagunju of Bank of Industry in Nigeria was named African Banker Icon, while Amadou Ba, Minister of Finance of Senegal was named the Finance Minister of the Year.

    According to Afreximbank, the African Banker Awards were introduced to recognise reforms, rapid modernisation and expansion of banking and finance in Africa.

    “The awards reward the outstanding achievements of companies and individuals that have changed the perception of Africa’s potentials in domestic and international markets”.

     

  • Nigeria, Israel set to expand bilateral trade

    Mr Guy Feldman, the Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, says Israel has evolved new measures to boost its trade with Nigeria.

    Feldman said this when he visited the Bank of Industry (BoI) in Lagos on Tuesday evening.

    The ambassador promised that Israel would assist Nigeria in the areas of agriculture, technology, renewable energy, communication, intelligence, security and water management.

    According to him, it is time Israel raised the volume of trade between both countries that is currently low.

    Feldman said that Nigeria, as the largest economy in Africa, had the potential that could be tapped to the advantage of the two countries.

    Mr Waheed Olagunju, the Acting Managing-Director of  BoI, said that improved business relations between the countries would broaden markets and enhance competitiveness.

    Olagunju said Nigeria would key into Israel’s agro processing expertise to increase food production and reduce post-harvest losses.

    According to him, Israeli investors will benefit from Nigeria’s huge market, geographical location and high youth population for a win-win situation for both countries.

    Olagunju said the relationship would also enhance the Federal Government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) aimed at promoting inclusive growth and building a globally competitive economy.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the envoy had earlier visited Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode and the state House of Assembly.

    The bilateral relationship between both countries started in 1960.

     

  • Auditors advised to check cyber security 

    Auditors advised to check cyber security 

    For Internal Auditors to maintain relevance in business operation and management, they have to align their functions with the vision of  management to achieve set goals, the Acting Managing Director, Bank of Industry (Bol), Waheed Olagunju, has said.

    He said the role of auditing may fade away if auditors do not shift focus from highlighting faults to charting ways and means of undertaking business proposals without violating regulatory rules, or incurring losses.

    Chief Risk Officer, BoI, Oseni Ezekiel, who represented the BoI chief at the 34th Annual General Meeting (AGM), of Chief Executives of Banks in Nigeria (ACAEBIN), said auditors must not compromise their roles in the bid to support organization’s business transactions.

    He said Internal Audit today is poised to be more proactive than reactive as auditors now serve as Operational Consultants for businesses, financial managers and provide independent assurance to effective operate risk-free management.

    “For any function to be relevant, they have to support the management. The internal audit function cannot be the one that detects fraud alone; they must help the management to achieve their purpose.

  • Enterpreneurship will solve economic problems, says BoI

    Enterpreneurship will solve economic problems, says BoI

    The Bank of Industry (BoI) has identified entrepreneurship as one of the ways to take the economy out of the woods.
    Its Acting Managing Director, Waheed Olagunju in a presentation at the second day of the first National Forum on the Economy organised by Vintage Press Limited, titled National Economy: The Way Forward, said the time has come for action having been speaking about challenges and pains.
    Represented by the GM, Joseph Babatunde, Olagunju said if the SMEs are encouraged, more jobs will be created.
    He said research by SMEDAN had shown that there are 37m SMEs in the country, adding that if they are encouraged and each of them employs one person, its multiplier effect would be tremendous.
    He said Nigeria is number 3 next to US and India in the movie industry, adding that if the strength of the country is explored in the area of the production of goods and services for which the country has comparative advantage, the economy would prosper.
    He said BoI is working with the CBN and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to develop credit bureau and collateral registry to ease access to funds to SMEs.

    According to him, the bank is also working towards the building of industrial parks, adding that the bank also has cottage agrofund, fashion fund, Nolly fund and the N5m microfinance fund.
    He urged governments at all levels to address the issue of multiple taxation.

  • NIPR honours BoI’s SMEs chief

    NIPR honours BoI’s SMEs chief

    The Bank of Industry’s (BoI’s) Executive Director Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Waheed Olagunju, has been conferred with special recognition award of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR).

    During the conferment, which took place at a ceremony tagged Celebrating our stars in Abuja, NIPR described the award as one that recognises efforts and contributions of certain individuals to the society.

    In selecting Olagunju for the award, the NIPR said as the professional body that is statutorily mandated to regulate corporate communications, reputation management and public affairs practice it cannot but celebrate Olagunju’s expertise, commitment, patriotism and wealth of experience garnered over the past 33 years during which he made outstanding contributions that impacted positively on Nigeria’s reputation as well as the country’s economic and social development.

    The institute added that it was not only imperative for Nigerians to know and appreciate Olagunju’s hard work, it is also necessary for his untiring efforts to be put in public domain and documented for the records and posterity.

     

    the bank’s successive Managements and Boards of Directors.

    BOI’s first Chairman, Ambassador Zakari Ibrahim, under whose leadership the restructuring of NIDB into BOI was accomplished between 2002 and 2005, attested to Mr Waheed Olagunju’s outstanding contributions to the Bank of Industry during the send forth ceremony in honour of the pioneer Board of BOI eight years ago (precisely in 2006) when he said: “I do not intend to bore you with details of your individual contributions to my success in the bank, because as I said earlier you have all contributed immensely. If you permit me however, I would particularly single out for mention the Secretary to the Board, Mr Waheed Olagunju for the selfless service he rendered throughout the period of our stewardship. Your contributions are highly appreciated.”

    Olagunju’s selfless and dedicated service to the Bank of Industry since its inception has been crucial to the bank’s ability to make significant contributions to Nigeria’s industrial development. These have also included mobilizing financial resources and prospective investors from within and outside Nigeria as well as the generation of healthy deal flows.

    Olagunju who bagged his first and masters degrees from the University of Lagos in 1981 and 1984 respectively as well a professional certificate in Investment Appraisal and Risk Analysis from the Queens University, Canada also had a distinguished broadcast career at the News Directorate of the Nigerian Television Authority between July 1981 and July 1990. As a highly resourceful professional, Mr Olagunju rose to the position of Controller of News and Head of the Economy Desk at NTA News before he joined the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank in August 1990.