Business

Naira falls to N490 on black market after CBN widens official window

The pressure on foreign exchange intensified on Wednesday as Nigeria’s currency has weakened to N490 per dollar on the black market. The naira depreciation followed the adoption of N410.25k as official rate by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The new official rate shows a 8.24-percent devaluation from N379/$ previously.…

Business / News / Oil & Gas

N320 billion earned by NNPC in Bonga PSC deal

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Bonga Production Sharing Contract (PSC) partners, have signed watershed agreements to unlock $700m (about N320bn) revenue to the federation.

The revenue is expected to be generated by way of gas revenue and lease renewal fees, adding that the pact would also unlock about two billion barrels of oil for Nigeria under the Oil Mining Lease 118.

Under the arrangement, the NNPC and Bonga PSC partners will be executing five agreements that will deliver about $700m of immediate benefit to Nigeria.

The five agreements signed include, dispute settlement agreement, settlement agreement, historical gas agreement, escrow agreement and renewed psc agreement.

It will also help to ensure $6bn savings of arbitral liability on the Federal Government and unlock 10 000 direct and indirect employment opportunities to Nigeria

This new agreement will also help to re-balance fiscal terms and address global competition in prioritization of investments by key players.

The OML 118 with its straddle fields, boast of the presence of the five Major Players in the deep water space not only in Nigeria but also globally.…

Business / News

Nigeria’s External Loans have caused CBN to adopts market-led FX rate

The burden of external debts on the country could worsen, as the Federal Government would need more amount of Naira than previously required for servicing or liquidating existing loans and others being processed.

The increase is occasioned by the adoption of the market-led Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange (NAFEX) window as the country’s official exchange rate by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The apex bank, yesterday, replaced the official exchange rate with the NAFEX, otherwise known as the Investors’ and Exporters’ (I & E) window. The action came over a week after the monetary authority yanked off the CBN rate from its home page, a decision interpreted as an indication of the adoption of NAFEX rate.

 

Yesterday, Vice Chairman of Highcap Securities Limited, David Adonri, insisted the most expedient option is a full liberalisation of the market, a policy stance that would allow a natural market clearance as obtained in other comparative African economies such as South Africa.

concern about rising external loans came a day after the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) disclosed the search for private sector funds for the financing of infrastructure.

…
Business / Stories

Work and Anxiety Attack

Story by Susan, The Work Place

Susan was the face of the company where she worked at a time.
She welcomes everyone with a brilliant smile as she attends to customers as a matter of fact Susan was the best customer service personal at De-Hasstrup communication. The marketers love her because of her positive and quick response time to their calls and complains which makes her extension phone rings non stop.
DCL Good morning / Afternoon, her voice echoes each time she picks her call.
But what a lot of people didn’t realize was Susan was dealing with Work Anxiety attack. Each morning she wakes up with fear and afraid to face the day. She always have the fear of losing her job..
Sometimes she would cry and cry and her husband would console her. She would come up with many excuses on why she shouldn’t go to work, she would cry and say “Mr. PAT hates me and wants me out of the company Juwon my colleague is too hostile, I can’t even approach her when I need help with my work. She is more experienced but yet she won’t help or direct me. She will wait for me to make mistakes and then she would broadcast it to everyone. Please my husband let me resign and stay home to take care of our children she would plead every morning”.
But, her husband would not listen to her pleading rather he would allay her fears and encourage her to go back to work. “You can’t become a career woman that you have always wanted to be if you keep quitting your job because your supervisor doesn’t like you. I will help with the childre , I will leave work early to pick them up from school and I will make your favorite Egusi soup don’t worry I got you baby”. With all that Susan would get up and leave for work. As soon as she walks into the office, She puts on that smile and wait for Mr. PATs …

Business / Entertainment

Keystone Bank Signs Actress Funke Akindele As Brand Ambassador

Keystone Bank Limited, Africa’s best customer service provider, recently signed up popular Nollywood actress, writer and producer, Funke Akindele Bello, popularly known as Jenifa, as its official brand ambassador.
By virtue of this partnership, the multiple award-winning screen diva will prominently represent the Keystone Bank brand and feature heavily in the lender’s marketing campaigns and consumer-focused strategies, while leveraging her large followership and popularity that cuts across socio-economic classes and age groups to further deepen the brand’s growing impression in the market.
Speaking during the contract signing ceremony at the bank’s head office in Lagos on August 17, 2018, the Group Managing Director/CEO of Keystone Bank Limited, Dr. Obeahon Ohiwerei, said: “The bank will explore every good platform to deepen it’s strength in the retail and youth segment.
“The Nigerian entertainment industry is driven largely by SMEs and is growing exponentially, positioning the nation globally and positively impacting our GDP.
“We are extremely pleased to partner with a hardworking entrepreneur like Jenifa who is also a role model to a wide spectrum of youths and people from all walks of life.
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“This partnership aligns with our corporate objective of supporting SMEs and empowering enterprising women, through our PINK account and network.”
Commenting on the development, Akindele revealed her excitement at being the Bank’s choice, which, according to her, is a great institution that is fast making its mark in the sector.
She said: “I am delighted to be signed on as a brand ambassador for Keystone Bank. It is a privilege to be associated with one of the fastest growing financial institutions in the country today. We will certainly put the Bank on the world map together.”
Akindele plays the lead character in the ongoing hit TV show: “Jenifa’s Diary,” a spin-off from the movie titled: “Jenifa.”
Akindele has over 100 movies to her credit.
Since its recent acquisition by Sigma Golf-Riverbank consortium, Keystone Bank Limited, a technology and service-driven commercial bank, offering tailor-made convenient and reliable solutions to customer’s needs, has
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Business

Diamond Bank Records Three Million Digital Customers In Second Quarter Of 2018

Diamond Bank Plc has strengthened its retail business segment with digital customers of three million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2018.

Uzoma Dozie, the bank’s Chief Executive Officer, on Monday attributed the milestone to its digital penetration strategy with strong focus on the Nigerian market.
Uzoma said that the bank’s digital strategy was paying off as the institution recorded a milestone figure of three million digital customers and significant increase in its mobile platform transaction fees.
He said that the bank’s non-interest income during the period grew by 6.4 per cent to N18.8 billion during the period on higher fees from retail transactions on mobile platform.

 

Uzoma noted that customers’ loan volume decreased by 3.6 per cent to N728.7 billion as maturities exceeded new loans during the period.
He said that the nation’s economy continued to record improvements at a macro level because of stable, higher than anticipated oil prices.
He said: “We have witnessed 15 months of expansion reflected in monthly (Purchasing Managers Index data but investor sentiment has remained mixed caused in part by the election season factor.

Related Stories

Zenith Bank Started With 20 Million

“We have capitalised on the positive macro environment to sustain interest income in the short run with positive prospects for growth and have made progress in growing non-interest income.
“PMI is an indicator of economic health for manufacturing and service sectors.’’
He said that the bank would continue to build awareness in the wider financial ecosystem to develop new frontiers in retail banking.
Uzoma said that among this activity were the Beauty Souk and TechFest events, targeted at entrepreneurs and emerging businesses in the fashion and technology sectors respectively.
He said: “Our partnership with Lagos Business School’s Enterprise Development Centre to support young entrepreneurs continued with the seventh season of the Building Entrepreneurs Today programme.
“In addition to retail banking, we are investing more resources in our mid-market business banking services to seize the opportunities emerging in that segment.


“In the second half of 2018, these investments will lead …

Business

How We Started Zenith Bank With N20m — Ovia

The Chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, Jim Ovia, has advised budding entrepreneurs not to be dissuaded by whatever challenges they might be facing presently, just as he narrated how he founded a bank with N20 million in 1990, despite the uncertain business environment during the military era.
Speaking in an interview on Bloomberg TV at the weekend, about his new book: “Africa Rise And Shine: How a Nigerian Entrepreneur from Humble Beginnings Grew a Business to $16 billion,” Ovia urged entrepreneurs to be responsive to opportunities lurking around.
Specifically, Ovia advised foreign investors not to be deterred by negative news and commentaries about Africa.
He explained: “We started the business with N20 million at an exchange rate of N5 to a dollar. So, we actually started the business with $4 million in 1990, and it has now blossomed.
“We now have a total asset base of $16 billion. If you look at the arithmetic, there have been over 1000 per cent growth. You can’t get that anywhere. Even in the best economies in the world, you are not going to get that type of benefit.
“So, that is the kind of risk entrepreneurs, businesses or international investors must take in Nigeria or any other African country and reap tremendously in terms of quantum growth in their business.”
According to Ovia, just as he saw opportunities in the banking sector at the time Zenith Bank was set up, there were other opportunities that some other persons had in other industries.
“It was a matter of time and chance,” he insisted.
“Time and chance at that time because at that time, many people were scared to invest in Nigeria. We are talking about late 80s and to be precise, in 1990, many international investors were scared to invest, simply because we were under military rule.
“So, you could imagine the tremendous opportunities that existed in Nigeria and some other African countries, but because we were indigenous people, we knew that it meant nothing.
“We had lived through that and we knew it
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