L-R: Executive Chairman, LIRS: Mr Ayodele Subair, Chairman, Code of Conduct Bureau: Professor Muhammed Isah, Chairman of INEC: Professor Mahmood Yakubu, Executive Chairman FIRS: Mr Muhammed Nami and Executive Chairman KADIRS: Dr Zaid Abubakar during a collaborative meeting for Effective Tax Compliance of Political Office Holders held at INEC Head Office in Abuja.
‘Unity Bank Yanga Product Positioned to Empower Underbanked Women Entrepreneurs’ – Olufunwa Akinmade
Olufunwa Akinmade
Divisional Head, Retail, SME Banking and E-Business
Unity Bank Plc
Divisional Head, Retail, SME Banking and E-Business, Unity Bank Plc, Mr. Olufunwa Akinmade has explained that the “raison d’etre for launching the Bank’s latest retail product called Yanga is to create a unique product proposition aimed at empowering the underbanked women entrepreneurs in Nigeria.”
Akinmade, who stated this during a chat with the media, citing a recent EFInA report, said that “there are 51 million Nigerian women above 18 years of age, with over 41% of the unbanked. Out of these figures, it is estimated that there are 14-18 million female entrepreneurs – mainly in the micro-SME category”.
Recall that Unity Bank launched the women-focused Yanga account in November 2021 to promote financial inclusion and cater to unbanked women entrepreneurs across Nigeria in the MSME space.
Therefore, the new retail product is designed to deepen its beneficial impact on Micro Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs operated by women in the mass-market retail space.
According to Akinmade, “Recent research has shown that Nigeria has the highest number of women entrepreneurs in the world, with an estimated 40 million SMEs, of whom women constitute approximately 42%.
“These women have proved beyond reasonable doubt that they have the capacity to create wealth and contribute productively to the economy. However, a lot more needs to be done and it starts with empowering them with the right tools to harness this entrepreneurship potential.
“Currently, they face many institutional and cultural hurdles while starting or running their businesses. For instance, a recent report shows that only 22% of female entrepreneurs have access to finance against 34% of males.
“This is part of why we have introduced Yanga to bridge this gap while also narrowing the population of underbanked women entrepreneurs”.
Akinmade further explained that the Unity Yanga product will play a critical role in boosting financial inclusion and narrowing the underbanked women population as the account comes with a unique product proposition that includes an easy to operate and free to open a Savings account, with no identification required, customized debit card, dedicated sales officers.
He identified other unique features including special banking agents in each market location and quarterly Seminars at main market locations anchored by Unity Bank and its alliance partners.
“By rolling out this scheme across all geopolitical regions, Unity bank’s objective is to work assiduously towards reducing the huge numbers of underbanked women in the country,” he added.
A key part of the Yanga Product experience is (1) micro-loans and (2) HMO-offering
The micro-loan would be availed with time-tested Credit Policies, backed with technology-based credit scoring. These would help detect frivolous applications as well as reduce NPLs.
Yanga is available to all women entrepreneurs nationwide. The Bank is currently conducting market activations in strategic locations across the country with its brand ambassador, popular Nollywood actor, Sola Sobowale. So far, the Yanga activation train has been to Gombe, Akwa Ibom, and Ibadan and is currently in Lagos and en-route Port Harcourt.
Insecurity: US Warns Citizens Against Travel to Nigeria
The US State Department has issued a Travel Advisory warning Americans to reconsider travel to Nigeria as a result of multiple security risks in the country.
The travel advisory on the website of the US Embassy:
Reconsider travel to Nigeria due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, and maritime crime. Some areas have increased risk. Read the entire Travel Advisory.
Do Not Travel to:
- Borno, Yobe, and northern Adamawa states due to terrorismand kidnapping
- Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, and Zamfara states due to kidnapping
- Coastal areas of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, and Rivers states (with the exception of Port Harcourt) due to crime, kidnapping, and maritime crime
Country Summary: Violent crime – such as armed robbery, assault, carjacking, kidnapping, hostage taking, banditry, and rape – is common throughout the country. Kidnappings for ransom occur frequently, often targeting dual national citizens who have returned to Nigeria for a visit, as well as U.S. citizens with perceived wealth. Kidnapping gangs have also stopped victims on interstate roads.
Terrorists continue plotting and carrying out attacks in Nigeria, especially in the Northeast. Terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting shopping centers, malls, markets, hotels, places of worship, restaurants, bars, schools, government installations, transportation hubs, and other places where crowds gather. Terrorists are known to work with local gangs to expand their reach.
There is civil unrest and low-level armed militancy in parts of Southern Nigeria, especially in the Niger Delta region. Armed criminality, including kidnapping and maritime crime, is also pervasive in this region.
Violence can flare up between communities of farmers and herders in rural areas.
There is frequent maritime crime in the Gulf of Guinea.
The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in many areas of Nigeria due to security conditions.
Anchor Insurance Business Training Program
L-R: Nigeria’s foremost music export, Patoranking (real name: Patrick Nnaemeka), Mr. Ebose Augustine Osegha, MD/CEO and Mr. Adebisi Ikuomola, Executive Director, Technical, both of Anchor Insurance Company Limited during a Staff training session themed: Designing Your Future, by the music personality at the Company’s Victoria Island Head Office in Lagos.
Xend Finance Opens Transactions in Ghana Cedis, Kenyan Shilling on Mobile App
The first international Global Crypto bank, Xend Finance, just made another great stride in providing users in developing countries the opportunity to live above inflation. It announced the addition of the Kenyan shilling and Ghanaian Cedi to the list of currencies for transactions on its mobile app.
This addition advances its mission of helping people live above inflation, despite the constant devaluation of their local currency. Previously, Xend Finance has taken Nigeria by storm, becoming one of the top downloaded crypto apps in the country before expanding to Ghana and Kenya.
Developing economies are no strangers to the plague called inflation.
For instance, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) recently revealed that Ghana experienced a 23.6% inflation surge in April 2022, the highest since 2009.
With inflation affecting the lives of countless citizens in Ghana, the addition of Cedis to the Xend Finance app ushers in a feeling of relief, especially with the realization that their funds can be unaffected by the devaluation of their fiat currency and the resulting inflation surge.
Thanks to this update, Kenyans and Ghanaians can easily convert their fiat currency into stable cryptocurrencies like BUSD. Furthermore, it allows citizens in those countries to save in stable cryptocurrencies and earn up to 15% annual interest, compounded daily.
The mobile app, which was released in December 2021, serves as a mobile wallet for carrying out daily transactions. With the support of activities like payment for deliveries, sending money to loved ones, and many more, users can carry out seamless transactions for even the most basic aspects of their lives.
The addition of these currencies to the mobile app was done alongside the company’s expansion into Ghana and Kenya. In an interview at Joy 99.7 FM, a radio station in Ghana, Mercy Emmanuel, Head of Growth Xend Finance, stated that the company seeks to help Ghanaians and Africans in Africa, “save value by saving your money in stable cryptocurrencies.” She further explained that saving value means saving the value of your funds such that they do not depreciate over time. And that is only possible when savings are made in stable currencies.
“As a global crypto bank, we are leveraging decentralized finance and blockchain technology to combat the menace of inflation in Africa. Inflation is a wealth killer in Africa but with the Xend Finance platform, we are able to help people hedge against inflation and moreso, make it work in your favour,” Chima Abafor, Chief Technology Officer, Xend Finance.
He goes on to say. “The addition of Cedis and Shillings to the app follows our commitment to solve the problems facing everyday Africans, living and earning in Africa.”
Xend Finance’s goal is to provide blockchain solutions to everyday financial problems. This move is just one of many strategies the company has put in place to achieve this goal. Many more products will be announced before the end of 2022.
Sterling Bank, Optometrists Sign MoU on Funding, Capacity Building
Sterling Bank Plc has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nigerian Optometrist Association (NOA) to automate operations, enhance capacity and provide funding at competitive interest rates for members of the Association.
Speaking at the signing ceremony of the MoU in Lagos recently, Mrs. Ibironke Akinmade, Group Head, Health Finance of Sterling Bank, said the initiative is part of the bank’s vision to be the leading bank for businesses in the health sector.
She said, “We have adopted a community approach in engagement with stakeholders in this sector. This will not only give us leverage to develop tailor-made propositions for the community, but it also creates an inroad for engagement of their members through a cluster approach.”
Akinmade said the bank recently engaged the NOA in a bid to scale on its offerings to the health sector, which include access to finance (template credit), access to digitalisation (payment platforms and Electronic Medical Records) as well as advisory services, among others.
The Head of Health Finance said the rationale behind the partnership with NOA is to further position Sterling Bank as the bank of choice for businesses in the health sector, adding that this means more business collaboration and partnership with stakeholders in the health space.
She said the bank has earmarked N10 billion for the entire health care sector in the country and would accommodate any level of funding that members of the NOA may require. Under the MoU, members of the association will be able to borrow from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervention for the health sector at five percent as well as obtain template credit from the bank within 48 hours at competitive interest rate of 20 percent, which is below the prevailing rate in the banking industry, she said.
Since 2018, Sterling Bank has concentrated investment in five sectors of the economy under its HEART’s strategy in a bid to make impact in the country’s economic development. The five sectors in the HEART’s strategy include health, education, agriculture, renewable energy and transportation.
Also speaking, Dr. Obinna Awiaka, President of NOA, said the association wants a bank that would help its members to grow and discovered that Sterling is the only bank that has passion for the healthcare sector.
He said the relationship between members of his association and the bank will build the economy because once the healthcare industry is built the economy will also be built.
Dr. Awiaka said the NOA is satisfied with the relationship with Sterling Bank because in no distant time the bank, in conjunction with healthcare professionals, will help to develop the sector, which will translate to a better future for the country.
He said the development will make Nigerian professionals that are leaving the country in droves to return to the country to practice and this will reduce medical tourism among the country’s leaders.
He thanked Sterling Bank for coming on board and taking the bull by the horn to support the healthcare industry.
The NOA was established in 1968 and is the prime umbrella association representing over 5,000 doctors of optometry across the 36 states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, as well as all other optometric interest groups in Nigeria.
African Development Bank Annual Meetings Set for May 23 at Accra
The 57th Annual Meetings of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank and the 48th Meetings of the Board of Governors of the African Development Fund, the concessional arm of the Bank Group, will take place in Accra, Ghana from 23 to 27 May 2022.
This year’s meetings, which will be in a hybrid format, mark a return to in-person sessions following virtual meetings over the past two years. The physical sessions, including statutory meetings of Governors of the Bank and knowledge events, will take place at the Accra International Conference Centre.
The theme of the 2022 Annual Meetings is “Achieving Climate Resilience and a Just Energy Transition for Africa”. During the event, leaders of the Bank Group’s regional member countries will discuss the nature of the support they need from global development partners, as well as the estimated cost of building resilience and a just energy transition for their economies.
The theme of the 2022 Annual Meetings aligns with the 27th session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) slated for Egypt in November this year.
Africa is the continent most vulnerable to climate change, despite its negligible contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. The surface temperature of the continent has already risen faster than the world average. Similarly, over 600 million Africans, the most of whom live in rural regions, lack access to electricity, and 900 million do not have access to clean cooking facilities. Apart from deforestation, four out of every five Africans cook with solid biomass, resulting in an estimated 600,000 fatalities per year due to indoor air pollution.
The Annual Meetings are the Bank Group’s most important event, attracting around 3,000 delegates and attendees yearly. The meetings allow the organization to take stock of progress with its shareholders. They also provide a unique forum for representatives of governments, businesses, civil society, think tanks, academia, and the media, to discuss key issues concerning Africa’s development.
AfDB Approves $1.5bn Fund to Avert Food Crisis in Africa
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved the sum of $1.5 billion to support African countries to avert an impending food crisis on the continent as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group said: “Food aid cannot feed Africa. Africa does not need bowls in hand. Africa needs seeds in the ground, and mechanical harvesters to harvest bountiful food produced locally. Africa will feed itself with pride for there is no dignity in begging for food…”
According to the Bank, the $1.5 billion strategy will lead to the production of 11 million tons of wheat; 18 million tons of maize; 6 million tons of rice; and 2.5 million tons of soybeans.
Dr. Beth Dunford, the African Development Bank’s Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development, said: “The Africa Emergency Food Production Facility builds on lessons learned from the African Development Bank’s Feed Africa Response to Covid-19 program. That program has provided a strategic roadmap to support Africa’s agriculture sector and safeguard food security against the pandemic’s impact.”
‘Akili and Me’ New Season Debuts on AIT, Focuses on Words, Sounds
Ubongo, Africa’s leading edutainment production enterprise, has announced the airing of a new season of its hugely popular children’s entertainment and educational program, ‘Akili and Me’.
The show which has been aired in Nigeria since 2018 targets 3–6-year-old and teaches numeracy, pre-literacy, and English as a second language as well as provides a foundation for social-emotional skills like empathy and conflict resolution.
The theme of the latest season is Words and Sounds with ‘Akili and Me’ and it is currently airing on AIT.
Tayo Olaniyan, Country Representative, Ubongo Nigeria, noted that the peculiar thing about this season is the focus on words and sounds and literacy in a very unique manner.
According to him, “We’re teaching phonological awareness which means children get to learn to recognise alphabets and sounds to rhyming and syllables. This is important because it’s been proven that children who learn to recognise their letters and sounds earlier are more likely to catch on to reading skills faster. Words and Sounds are the very foundational blocks of literacy and we are excited to bring it to Nigeria.”
On what makes this season show special, he revealed that the current episodes include revolutionary caregiver content. This refers to content that allows parents to be a part of their kids’ learning process, particularly their reading process.
He explained that this is also research-backed because research has found that kids who relate and engage with their parents when learning also have better learning outcomes. “So, we are teaching the basics of literacy and also encouraging the parents to be a part of the process because we’ve found that it impacts positively on the outcome” he said.
He stated that Ubongo is focused on the 3-5 age group as research has shown that 90 per cent of human brain development happens before the age of 5. Olaniyan stated that Words and Sounds with Akili and Me is designed to engage children at that age and to get their parents and caregivers involved.
He noted, “We’ve created a package that ensures that they have the best chance to quickly get that foundational building block that sets them up for success in life.”
The Country Representative remarked that Ubongo employs universal learning design and human-centred design in its process. This essentially means that Ubongo co-creates these shows with kids. So, from the get-go even when thinking of stories, we are constantly co-creating with kids. And throughout the process of creating and animating the story, we are constantly testing with kids and ensuring that the shows follow the learning objectives.
On how viewers of the program are performing, he reiterated that research indicates that in some of the markets children who watched the shows performed 24 per cent better in numeracy and 15 per cent better in literacy and are 12 per cent better than children who do not engage the Ubongo content in terms of school readiness.
The new season of ‘Akili and Me’ is currently airing exclusively on AIT and it airs every Monday, Tuesday and Friday at 4:30 PM. Feedback reveals that a lot of parents are already engaging content. This is also a lot of positive feedback about its attention-grabbing and delivery of brand promise on literacy journey.
In addition to ‘Akili and Me’, the edutainment firm also has the Ubongo Kids show that targets kids from ages 7-to 14 and teaches life skills, it is fun and animated. Filled with science, fun, engineering, and mathematics among other STEM subjects.
The two shows air on terrestrial television with adaptations on the radio. They are also available as apps and on the website.
Previous seasons of ‘Akili and Me’, which are equally impactful are currently running on other stations like NTA Network, Arewa24, BCOS, OGTV, as well as local NTA stations across the country.
“One thing that makes Ubongo so unique is that our content is localized for Africa and is relevant and relatable. Our stories are localised and relatable. All our characters, situations and scenarios are African”, Olaniyan asserted.
Absa Commends SEC for Proactive Regulation of Digital Assets
Absa Nigeria, a leading pan-African bank with a strong footprint across the African continent, has commended the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for proactively providing a regulatory framework for investing and trading digital assets, including cryptocurrencies.
Sadiq Abu, CEO of Absa Nigeria, gave this commendation while speaking during the “Power Lunch Show” on CNBC Africa on Monday. He also lauded the commission for recognising digital assets as securities.
SEC, the regulator of the Nigerian capital market, had over the weekend published a new guideline on Issuance, Offering Platforms and Custody of Digital Assets, fulfilling the promise it made last year to examine the digital currency to gain a better understanding and develop regulations to protect investors.
He said: “SEC decided to be proactive around cryptocurrency and digital assets. The SEC has realised that these are rightly called securities and further created a framework to bring them within the broader securities’ regulatory framework in Nigeria.”
According to him, the SEC has also created a framework for protecting investors by requiring investments to be held by digital assets custodians and acknowledged that exchanges or platforms for trading digital assets needed to be regulated.
“There is also an overarching framework for regulating all participants that play in the digital assets space through a specialised license called Virtual Assets Services provider.”
He pointed out that a new rule stipulating tenure and other qualifications of the Chief Executive Officer and Principal Officers of Digital Assets Offering Platforms was similar to the regulations of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
According to him, this is a clear indication that the SEC and CBN worked together to develop the new framework for the operation of digital assets.
He stated, “There is clear evidence that the SEC is working hands in glove with the CBN to create a regulatory framework for the operation of digital assets and the regulation of CEOs and Principal Officers fall under the broader approved persons regime of the SEC”
Absa, offers investment banking and market products through its various Nigerian registered subsidiaries, namely Absa Representative Office Nigeria Limited, Absa Capital Markets Nigeria Limited, and Absa Securities Nigeria Limited.
Access Holdings to Acquire Majority Equity in First Guarantee Pension
Dr. Herbert Wigwe
Group Chief Executive Officer
Access Corporation
Access Holdings Plc- trading as Access Corporation today announces that it has entered into a definitive agreement with First Guarantee Pension Limited regarding the potential acquisition of majority equity stake in the Company.
The Transaction is a consequential step in the Corporation’s evolution from a narrow banking business into a financial service holding company positioned to gain relevant scale across Africa, global monetary centres, and beyond-banking verticals.
Speaking on this landmark transaction, Dr. Herbert Wigwe, Group Chief Executive Officer, Access Corporation, said:
‘This transaction is a natural evolution for us. Over the last 20 years, we set our sights on and delivered ambitious plans to transform the African financial services landscape focusing on banking and have created the African leading Bank and largest bank by customer base.
This large customer base both on the wholesale and retail segments makes the pension business a natural fit for the Corporation given its objective of ecosystem optimisation. We will leverage our well-established culture of strong corporate governance, risk Management, cutting-edge technology, and digital capabilities to deliver high standards of professionalism in the management of pension assets to the benefit of our stakeholders.’
The National Pension Commission and the Central Bank of Nigeria have given their “no objection” to the Transaction, the completion of which is subject to the receipt of all required regulatory approvals.
The Corporation will update the market as appropriate and in accordance with its disclosure obligations.
NGX Regulation CEO Tasks Corporates on Sound Sustainability Reporting
Ms. Tinuade Awe, the Chief Executive Officer, NGX Regulation Limited (NGX RegCo), has harped on the need for corporate bodies to adopt sound procedures in their reporting on their environmental and social impact.
She noted this during a webinar hosted by Corporate Secretaries International Association (CSIA) to explore how businesses and organisations can carry a full 360 approach to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), from integrating into business strategies, complying with regulations and standards, themed, “Unlocking ESG for Boards from Strategy to Disclosure” on Tuesday, May 17, 2022.
Speaking on the importance of measuring and reporting sustainability performance for companies, Awe said, “Our world today is facing major sustainability challenges including inequality, overpopulation, climate change, and several environmental risks. By recognizing that capital allocation makes a real impact on the environment and society at large, investors can reap sustainable long-term investment decisions through investments in ESG-themed investments.
Furthermore, adopting an ESG-lens in our approach to investment is critical for investors to identify businesses that implement a forward-looking approach to managing long-term risks as and leveraging opportunities that ensure long-term ensure economic, environmental, and social responsibility.
Awe encouraged companies to adopt best practices in their disclosure on ESG issues by ensuring that their sustainability reports capture relevant sustainability disclosures that are relevant to their stakeholders.
In recommending critical disclosures that should be included in a sustainability report, she said, “historically, sustainability reports cover the address a company’s approach to managing the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) of people, profit and planet.
However, disclosures in sustainability reports have evolved over the years to address the needs of a wide array of stakeholders. In publishing their sustainability reports, companies should consider a number of relevant disclosures including materiality, sustainability risks, and opportunities as well as a detailed explanation of how companies are addressing the risks and levering the opportunities.
In addition, a sustainability report should include disclosures on how sustainability is governed by the Board, Executive Management, and designated officers responsible for managing the organisation’s impact footprint.”
ALTON Chair, Gbenga Adebayo to Review ‘Sagacity of a Digital Revolution’
The Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) Engineer Gbenga Adebayo would be reviewing the latest book in the industry, entitled ‘Sagacity of a Digital Revolution’ authored by the award-winning journalist, Remmy Nweke.
Adebayo, according to Remmy Nweke, would on Thursday, June 9, 2022 would share his thoughts as the reviewer at the book public presentation and formal launch slated to hold at the prestigious Welcome Centre Hotels, International Airport Road, Lagos, as a sideline event of the 2022 Nigeria DigitalSENSE Forum on Internet Governance for Development with the theme: ‘5G: Enthroning Internet Governance for Digital Economy.’
A press statement endorsed by the author and Group Executive Editor, ITREALMS Media group, noted that the Executive Vice-Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta would give the keynote at NDSF 2022 on the theme.
Nweke gave some highlights on his latest book – SAGACITY OF A DIGITAL REVOLUTION; which is a collage of well-researched analytics on several subjects but not limited to diversification of Nigeria’s economy, managing oil spill without tears, 10 years after OBJ circular on local content; malady of inconclusive elections in Nigeria and role of ICTs, curtailing child malnutrition in Nigeria to name but a few.
In the words of the Prof. Charles Uwadia, who wrote the foreword, “This book is particularly suited and recommended for policy makers, infrastructure planners, Chief Executive Officers and government officials in Ministries, Departments, Agencies of Local, State and Federal Government of Nigeria; other nations that share similar political and socio-economic environments with Nigeria will also find lessons to learn from the book.”
Nweke who doubles as the Lead Consulting Strategist, DigitalSENSE Africa and Group Executive Editor, ITREALMS Media group, said that the “Sagacity of A Digital Revolution” is his third book since 2012.
Other books by Nweke include ‘A Decade of ICT Reportage (2012)’ the award-winning series launched at the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) under the chairmanship of the former Executive Vice Chairman and chairman of Open Media, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, as well as ‘The Roles of Nigeria in Peace Keeping in West Africa (2018).’
Nweke noted that the choice of ALTON chairman as the reviewer of his latest book, ‘Sagacity of A Digital Revolution’ is to bring to bear the dynamics of digital era as Engr. Adebayo is the author of ‘Telecom in Nigeria, A Role in The Call,’ a book on telecommunications development in Nigeria (2006).
Adebayo, he recalled is the chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of Communication Network Support Services Limited Group of Companies, whose operations cuts across telecommunication network maintenance, Call and Contact Centre Service, Media, Broadcasting, Agriculture, Hotels and Hospitality Services, Medical and Hospital Services.
He is the President and Founder of Royal FM 95.1Mhz. The first private FM Radio Station in Ilorin, North Central Nigeria. And is the chairman of African Broadband Limited, owners of Royal FM, Royal Television Service and Royal Times of Nigeria Newspapers.
Equally, Adebayo who presides over ALTON; an industry association for all telecommunications operators in Nigeria, with membership across all the major telecommunications licensees in Nigeria, particularly those providing voice and data telephony as well as those providing ancillary and other related value-added services.
He is the Chairman and Founder of Savannah Hotels and Resort Centre, Ilorin North Central Nigeria; the owner and chief farmer of Chesterfield Farms Limited and doubles as the Chancellor of Premier Vocational Training Institute Nigeria; a foremost vocational training centre for middle level manpower development across trades in Nigeria.
Engr Adebayo is proudly the founder of Heilung Kreuz Hospital, a top-class medical and health care hospital in Lagos, South West Nigeria; A founding partner of Acoometi Premier Services (UK) Limited, a consultancy and advisory services company registered in England and Wales.
A former General Manager of VGC Communications Limited Nigeria, a Private Telephone Operator and provider of digital fibre optic supported land line services, data communications and broadband internet services.
Stanbic IBTC Bank Nigeria PMI: Private Sector Growth Quickens in April
Marked and accelerated expansions in output and new orders helped drive a pick-up in growth in the Nigerian private sector during April.
However, private sector performance was once again impacted by elevated rates of inflation, uncertainty and unfavourable exchange rate movements. Nevertheless, strong demand encouraged firms to add to their inventories and raise their headcounts at an accelerated pace.
The headline figure derived from the survey is the Purchasing Managers’ Index. Readings above 50.0 signal an improvement in business conditions on the previous month, while readings below 50.0 show a deterioration.
According to Stanbic IBTC Bank, at 55.8 in April, up from 54.1 in March, the headline PMI signalled a sharp improvement in business conditions in Nigeria’s private sector. Growth has now been seen in each of the last 22 months with the latest uptick quicker than the long-run series average. Central to the improvement was an accelerated uptick in new orders.
The overall rate of expansion was marked and the third-quickest in the current 22-month sequence of growth.
Panellists indicated that stronger demand and greater client requirements had been behind the latest increase in new business, with growth signalled across each of the four broad sectors covered by the survey. Strong inflows of new work resulted in a further uplift in output.
The rate of growth was robust and quickened from that in March. Sub-sector data revealed expansions across the board, though agriculture recorded the quickest expansion. Wholesale & retail, manufacturing and services followed, respectively. With workloads increasing, and demand expanding over the last 22 months, firms sought to boost headcounts in a bid to ramp up activity.
Subsequently, backlogs fell at the quickest pace for four months. To cater for higher output volumes, firms increased their buying activity in April. Stocks of purchases also rose, and at a quicker pace than in March.
Turning to prices, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exacerbated costs for a wide range of raw materials as well as fuel. Firms also indicated higher transportation fees. The overall rate of input price inflation was substantial and the fourth-quickest in the survey’s eight-year history. Firms chose to pass on a large part of the burden to clients, with selling price inflation among the quickest in the series history.
Finally, firms were optimistic about growth in the year ahead, but sentiment dipped to a four-month low. Uncertainty surrounding the global environment and a lack of plans to expand operations led to the moderation in confidence.
Allianz, Sanlam Joint Venture Targets 29 Markets in Africa
Mr. Amine Benabbou
Head of Business Division, Africa and Middle East
Allianz SE
The recent joint venture between Allianz and Sanlam to create the single largest insurance entity in Africa plans to operate as a leading market player in 29 countries on the continent.
Mr. Amine Benabbou, Head of Business Division, Africa and Middle East at Allianz SE said the two iconic brands are poised to change the industry landscape in Africa going forward.
“Allianz and Sanlam’s respective footprints in Africa (excluding South Africa) currently overlap in 12 countries. In addition to these the joint venture will also be able to add a further 17 markets in which either Allianz or Sanlam operate. This will allow the JV, subject to regulatory approvals, to span across 29 markets on the continent, making it the largest insurance player in Africa.”
Benabbou said the core objective of the joint venture is to be the largest pan-African insurance player with a meaningful market positioning in the majority of the markets in which it will operate.
“Allianz sees a number of strategic benefits in this partnership, including the ability to combine Sanlam’s experience, knowhow, and footprint with Allianz’s broad expertise and global capabilities. The partnership will also enable the joint venture to further strengthen its position in key markets on the continent, by achieving scale as well as improved geographic and product diversification. Ultimately, we believe the joint venture will maximize value creation for both Allianz and Sanlam and their respective stakeholders, leveraging on best practice sharing and leaner operations.”