Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Connect with us

E-Financial

BOI’s Disbursement to SMEs, Large Enterprises Hits Over N1trn in 6 Years

Published

on

Kindly share this post

The Bank of Industry (BoI) has revealed that its disbursement to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises has reached over N1trillion in six years.

According to the Development Finance Institution (DFI), the feat was achievable through strong strategic partnerships with various institutions in the state, federal government agencies and private sector organisations.

Oluwakayode Pitan, the Managing Director, Bank of Industry (BOI),  disclosed this while speaking at the 37th Omolayole Management Lecture series themed, “African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)- Prospects for African Youth Leadership,” organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).

He said the BOI is at the forefront of industrialising the Nigerian economy and would continue to take deliberate steps towards addressing issues related to financing gaps across all business segments.

According to him, in the last three years, over $3 billion has been raised through the international financial market in its objective to continuously improve its capacity to bridge the huge financing gap that exist in Nigeria’s industrial sector.

He added that there is a growing number of start-up businesses in Africa at present, as young people are embracing their entrepreneurial mind-set and technological skills, resulting in the rapid digital transformation of the continent.

He advised that to address this risk and realise the gains expected for a free trade area, there is a need for increased infrastructure investment in Nigeria, saying that one way to achieve this is through public-private partnerships (PPPs), which should be significantly leveraged towards building sustainable infrastructural facilities across the country, while the Government provides an enabling governance framework.

“The newly established Infrastructure Company (InfraCo) will play a lead role in its implementation,” he added.

He added that despite making up a significant percentage of the continent’s population, the participation of young people in cross-border trade and trade governance matters is still very limited.

He said improving transparency and ease of doing business in Nigeria has a larger implication now that the AfCFTA has taken off, saying that this would enable foreign investors make informed decisions on where to site their manufacturing hubs within African nations that will provide them with more benefits.

“Because there are no restrictions on moving goods across borders, the need to establish a business in a country where it is easier to operate will now be a more desirable factor than the existence of market prospects,” he said.

Earlier, the president, LCCI, Toki Mabogunje, expressed concerns over the high level of youth unemployment pegged at over 33 per cent as at Q4 2020

She stated the urgent need for programmes and projects that engage the nation’s innovative, dynamic, youth to unleash their latent potentials for the benefits of the country.

She added that the AfCFTA provides an opportunity for our young entrepreneurs and startups to explore a continent-wide market if well launched, structured and implemented.

She stated that the agreement became operational on January 1, 2021 and marks the biggest free trade area globally in terms of the number of participating countries since the formation of the World Trade Organisation in 1995.

She added that while the take-off of AfCFTA should be lauded, much work remains to be done as critical parts of the agreement are yet to be finalised, stressing that several key issues including schedules of tariff concessions, schedules of service commitment, rules of origin, investment, competition policy and intellectual property rights have not been concluded.

The LCCI boss said AfCFTA has the potential to accelerate socioeconomic development of the African continent, saying that if well-implemented, it would stimulate economic growth, generate job opportunities, and helps to facilitate the economic diversification of African economies while ensuring people, products and services move freely across the continent.

She said according to estimations by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), AfCFTA has the capacity to expand Africa’s manufacturing output to $930 billion by 2025, from $500 billion in 2016.

“The Brookings Institution also sees Africa’s economic size rising to $6.7 trillion by 2030 from $3.4 billion in 2019 on the back of a well-implemented AfCFTA.

A successful AfCFTA requires the active participation of Africa’s Young leaders in the implementation process, which is the rationale for selecting this edition’s topic which seeks to prepare, equip and put in place machinery that will help young leaders improve their management dexterity and hone their administrative expertise,” she added.

She stated that there is still a lack of clarity about the type of value addition that must occur within an AfCFTA State party for a product to benefit from tariff reduction, adding that there are pending negotiations at continental level delaying the implementation of the trade agreement.

“A great deal of sensitisation and enlightenment still need to be done on the implementation modalities,” she advised.

She also noted that there are concerns about the adherence of participating countries to the protocols within the AfCFTA framework, saying that Africa’s trade narrative, has been challenged by trade malpractices such as smuggling, unilaterism and violation of trade protocols,” she added.

In his lecture, Dr. Michael Omolayole said the provisions of the treaty setting up AFCFTA are, if sincerely implemented by African countries, likely to propel them from the third world to the first world.

“Believe me, | am not exaggerating. On our part as Nigerians, | think we were over cautious in being reluctant to ratify the treaty until the last moment. We could have avoided the hesitation, if we had set up a think-tank of brilliant and knowledgeable Nigerians in the matter of economics and free trade, right from the beginning of the African Union (AU) deliberating on the matter,” he said.

In his words: “Although | have not seen the treaty, | believe as an international instrument, provisions would have been made for countries especially the large ones like Nigeria, to protect themselves against breach of the treaty and against acts of sabotage.

It is better late than never, but thinktanks can still be set up and our brilliant young people with requisite knowledge should be encouraged to dissect and digest the treaty and to set up study groups to master the treaty inside out.”


Kindly share this post

Dear Reader, Your support matters. But we believe that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. That is why, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and finance and how they affect lives. Our incisive and analytical view of how technology news affects the daily life help individuals and organizations make up their minds. Quality journalism costs money. Today, we're asking that you support us to do more. Kindly support our effort to deliver technology and finance journalism to everyone in the world. Donate as little as N1,000. Bank transfers can be made to: UBA Plc 1017156876 Communication Week Media Ltd

E-Financial

GTCO to Become First Nigerian Bank to List on London Stock Exchange

Published

on

Kindly share this post

By 8 am on July 9, GTCO Holdings is set to commence trading on the London Stock Exchange.

GTCO to Become First Nigerian Bank to List on London Stock Exchange

As the group is set to list all its shares on the London Stock Exchange, becoming the first Nigerian banking entity to do so.

This is as the group launches a public offer of new ordinary shares to raise approximately $100 million on the London Stock Exchange.

The equity offering, which is an accelerated bookbuild and managed by Citigroup, began on July 2 and is to last until July 31.

On July 31, the group announced that it would cancel the listing of its Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) on the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Official List.

It will also cancel their admission to trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE)’s main market.

In place of the GDRs, the group will list all its ordinary shares directly.

aims to admit all its shares to the equity shares category for international commercial companies under a secondary listing on the FCA’s Official List.

The shares will also begin trading on the LSE’s main market for listed securities.

According to a regulatory filing on the London Stock Exchange, the net proceeds from the offering will be used to recapitalize GTBank Nigeria.

Based on the prevailing exchange rate of N1,540 to the US dollar, the targeted $100 million equates to approximately N154 billion.

This capital raise is expected to position the Group to fully meet the N500 billion minimum paid-up share capital required by regulators for banks with international licenses.

As of now, both Zenith Bank and Access Holdings have already met—and exceeded—this threshold.

 


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

E-Financial

NAICOM Issues New Licenses to SanlamAllianz Life, General Insurance

Published

on

Kindly share this post

The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has handed over new licenses to SanlamAllianz Life and General Insurance Nigeria Ltd at brief ceremony held in Abuja.

Olusegun Omosehin, commissioner for Insurance emphasized the Commission’s commitment to supporting the growth of insurance entities in the country, while ensuring strict compliance with regulatory requirements. He urged the companies to prioritize good corporate governance, stability, and timely claims settlement processes.

The Commissioner reiterated NAICOM’s dedication to removing unnecessary bottlenecks and improving the insurance industry’s overall performance. He expressed confidence that the merger would enhance the companies’ capabilities and contribute to the industry’s growth.

SanlamAllianz recently launched its operations in Nigeria, marking a significant step in the company’s Pan-African expansion.

The launch follows the merger of Sanlam and Allianz’s Nigerian operations, creating a new entity named SanlamAllianz Nigeria.

This joint venture aims to transform the Nigerian insurance landscape by offering enhanced customer experiences, innovative solutions, and improved financial inclusion.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

E-Financial

World Bank Approves Extra $65m for Nigeria’s SPESSE

Published

on

Kindly share this post

World Bank has approved an additional $65 million loan for Nigeria to support the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental, and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) project, increasing the total financing for the initiative to $145 million.

World Bank Approves Extra $65m for Nigeria’s SPESSE

The approval was granted on June 24, 2025, according to details posted on the World Bank’s website, which also indicates that the project’s status has moved to “active” following the approval.

The SPESSE project, initially launched with an $80 million loan approved in February 2020, aims to strengthen institutional capacity for managing procurement, environmental, and social standards in both the public and private sectors across Nigeria.

The World Bank described the project’s development objective as the establishment of sustainable capacity in these areas.

This latest approval is part of a broader wave of financing expected from the World Bank to Nigeria in 2025.

The bank is scheduled to approve loans totalling $1.61 billion over the coming months, supporting various development initiatives.

Among these is a $300 million loan for the ‘Solutions for the Internally Displaced and Host Communities Project,’ expected to be finalised by the end of July.

This project aims to improve access to basic services and economic opportunities for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities in selected local government areas in northern Nigeria.

In September, the World Bank plans to approve four additional loans: a $10.5 million facility to support technical assistance for the Central Bank of Nigeria, a $300 million Health Security Program targeting Western and Central Africa (Nigeria – Phase IV), a $500 million project for building resilient digital infrastructure (BRIDGE), and a $500 million loan under the Nigeria Sustainable Agricultural Value-Chains for Growth project aimed at promoting sustainable growth and job creation within key agricultural sectors.

Earlier in March 2025, the bank approved three financing requests amounting to $1.13 billion.

These funds are directed towards projects focused on enhancing quality education, boosting household and community resilience, and improving nutrition.

Among the approved loans were $80 million for the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria 2.0 project, $552 million for the HOPE for Quality Basic Education for All programme, and $500 million for the Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus Programme.

In February, the Nigerian government announced expectations of new World Bank loans totalling $2.2 billion for six different projects in 2025. This follows a $1.5 billion loan disbursed in 2024 aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s economic stability and resource mobilisation efforts.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

Trending