Category: Business

Leading financial institution, Fidelity Bank Plc, recently commissioned the newly renovated Madrasatul Anwarul Islam school in Zaria, Kaduna State as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives targeted across Nigeria. Established over five decades ago by the emir’s father, late Maga in garin Zazzau, Alhaji Nuhu Bamalli, Madrasatul Anwarul Islam is the alma mater of the current Emir of Zazzau and has produced several notable personalities in the country. The bank also inaugurated a state-of-the-art Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) gallery to drive financial inclusion within the community. Speaking at…

What is the Nexus Project? The Nexus is a virtual platform that de-isolates young entrepreneurs and connects them to an ecosystem of knowledge intervention and technical support services. It is designed to improve the chances of building sustainable businesses, thereby improving the conversion rate of job seekers into job creators and reducing the failure rate of start-ups in the context. The Nexus platform will have the following features: 1. The Investment Readiness Map (IRM) – a personalized mapping of enrolled entrepreneurs’ learner journey. It is a market-driven narrative articulating the…

In furtherance of the need to empower female business owners across the country, The ELOY Foundation, in partnership with FirstBank presents the ELOY Foundation Business Shower, created to support female entrepreneurs on their journey to building sustainable businesses. The support from FirstBank will be carried out through the FirstGem loan scheme designed for female-owned or partnered MSMEs and its SMEConnect initiative. The partnership focuses on key sectors of the economy and designed to have female entrepreneurs exposed to essential business skills like training, networking and the ELOY Foundation Business Toolkit,…

One of Nigeria’s biggest financial institutions, Access Bank Plc has entered into an agreement to acquire the entire 83.4 per cent equity stake held by Centum Investment Plc, a Kenyan-based investment company, in Sidian Bank Ltd, for the sum of about N15 billion ($37 million). Access Bank disclosed the acquisition in a statement sent to the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX on Wednesday noting that the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals in Kenya and Nigeria. Access Bank said the purchase consideration includes the price to “book multiple of 1.1 times”…

Fidelity Bank Plc, one of the Nigeria’s foremost financial institutions, has added yet another accolade to its burgeoning collection of awards. This time, the Bank has been recognized as the ‘Best SME Bank in Nigeria’ by the Global Finance Banking & Finance Awards 2022. According to the organizers, Global Banking and Finance review, the bank was presented the award after a comprehensive review and assessment of its intervention and provision of long-term financing support for small businesses across Nigeria. Dedicating the award to customers and staff of the bank, Managing…

When it comes to internet penetration and adoption of mobile payments, most African countries are still very much below the global average. Even where the internet penetration is improving, the mobile payments adoption rate is still low, meaning an overall lag. For instance, in Kenya where mobile payment adoption is most on the continent, only about 23.1% of the internet users actually use mobile payment methods. So, even though the internet infrastructure allows business owners access a wide market, mostly outside their location, sending and receiving payments with ease still…