E-Financial
Experts @ Polaris Bank Webinar Outline Strategies for Women to Build Wealth
Three accomplished Nigerians and leading authorities in government and finance sectors; Yewande Sadiku, Osayi Alile and Teju Abisoye have jointly enjoined Nigerian women to explore multiple investment opportunities available to build a sustainable wealth that would last generations.
The trio gave the advice at a webinar organised by Polaris Bank on Tuesday in Lagos as part of activities lined up to celebrate the Women’s Month in line with the International Women’s Day celebration with the theme #choosetochallenge.
The webinar which held under the aegis of the Bank’s gender-based product, Polaris Pearl, focused on understanding the role of investment in wealth creation and the importance of taking financial responsibility.
According to Ms. Sadiku, executive secretary of Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), “For women to attain financial fitness, they have to build passive income and focus on multiple investment streams to realise the future of their dreams”.
Drawing a metaphor, the NIPC Boss and erstwhile senior Investment Banker explained that “In building passive income, you shouldn’t eat your seed, rather, plant it and let it grow to a tree, so you can have many more to eat, plant and grow”.
Using personal examples to illustrate how she built her wealth starting out as a young Banker at age 20, Ms. Sadiku explained that she seized the moment and had a vision of the life she wanted to live and started building passive income through multiple investment windows; setting aside a chunk of her earnings in buying stocks, investing in mutual funds as well as putting away her bonuses and salary increments in fixed deposits, which she later invested in landed properties and real estate.
On her own part, Ms. Alile, who runs Aspire Coronation Trust Foundation, tasked Nigerian women to start saving from the moment they become conscious of the need to attain financial fitness. She urged them not to be in unnecessary competition that brings little or no value in the long run.
“Follow your lane and build a solid foundation that will stand the test of time especially when challenges come”, Ms. Alile advised.
She further reinforced the advantage of starting out children on a solid financial foundation with gifts – in form of stocks and mutual funds – just like she had while growing up, which helped set her up on the right path.
She encouraged participants to start their financial fitness journey now and get help where needed.
In her own presentation, Mrs. Abisoye, the CEO of Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, said that at LSTEF, they observed that women-run businesses have a larger impact on the community and society; adding that it is possible for women businesses to drive impact, making a case for empowering women for greater and more widespread economic impact.
She advised young ladies – either in paid or self-employment to start with the end in mind, stating that: “Once you begin with the end in mind, you are bound to succeed ultimately, even as she disclosed that there are multiple sources to fund a Start-Up as a budding entrepreneur.”
“You can grow wealth irrespective of employment status. You can start out with your personal savings and seed money from family and friends. She enjoined participants to start and grow their businesses before exploring the debt financing option. She further encouraged start-ups to use the acronym: S-service, I-impact, S-sales and I-investment as a mantra to ensure success as the eventual outcome.
Earlier in his welcome address, Mr. Innocent C. Ike, acting managing director/CEO of Polaris Bank, explained that that the webinar was put together to address pertinent issues that border on ‘Women and Growing Wealth’.
Mr. Ike noted that women empowerment and development is core to our sustainability goals and a key focus area of “our social investments and business objective as a Bank. We have had some interventions in this area for impact”.
“Our partnership with the International Women’s Society, Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Societal Healthcare Organisation, and a host of others, are all efforts geared towards empowerment of women,” he added.
The webinar which had over 1,000 participants following across multiple social platforms, was moderated by Mrs. Adebimpe Ihekuna, group head, Products and Market Development, Polaris Bank.
According to 2018 Credit Suisse Research Institute Global Wealth Report, women hold 40% of global wealth. The report stated that women’s share in wealth rose considerably over the 20th century.
Polaris Pearl is the Bank’s flagship gender-based product designed to cater to the banking needs of the everyday woman, with special focus on Professionals, Entrepreneurs and Homemakers.
The account is available in three (3) variants; Polaris Pearl Instant Account, Polaris Pearl Instant Plus Account and Polaris Pearl Account – Savings.
Polaris Bank is a future-determining Bank committed to delivering industry-defining products and services across all sectors of the Nigerian economy.
Fidelity Bank Plc, one of Nigeria’s leading Tier-1 financial institutions, has announced a remarkable financial performance for the first quarter of 2025, recording a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N105.8 billion, representing an impressive growth of 167.8% compared to N39.5 billion in Q1 2024.
Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, MD/CEO, Fidelity Bank Plc
The bank’s unaudited financial statements, released on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on April 30, 2025, highlight a substantial increase in Gross Earnings, which rose to N315.4 billion, marking a year-on-year growth of 64.2% from N192.1 billion in the same period last year.
Growth in interest income was primarily led by 38.6% yoy (7.4% ytd) expansion in earning assets base, while the increase in non -interest revenue came from FX-related income, trade and commission on banking services, etc., supported by increased customer transactions.
Commenting on the bank’s performance, Dr. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe,OON, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank Plc, stated, “We started the year with triple-digit growth in profit and sustained the momentum in our earning assets growth.
This performance shows the resilience of our business model and reinforces our confidence in delivering a better result in the 2025 financial year.”
Other areas of the unaudited financial statements, equally show a marked improvement with Total Deposits growing by 11.1% ytd to N6.6tn from N5.9tn in December 2024, driven by 10.6% ytd growth in low-cost deposits to N6.1tn, which represents 92.2% of total customer deposits. Local currency deposits increased by 2.0% ytd while foreign currency deposits increased by 21.4% from $1.9bn in December 2024 to $2.3bn.
Net Loans and Advances increased by 5.0% ytd to N4.6tn. The growth in the bank’s Loan Book was skewed to LCY Loans as cost of risk declined to 0.6% from 1.5% in 2024FY.
“Beginning the year with such positive momentum reinforces our commitment to supporting the growth of individuals and businesses, while enhancing our financial sustainability. As we go into the rest of the year, we remain focused on building a resilient banking franchise with a diversified earnings base,” Onyeali-Ikpe added.
Ranked among the best banks in Nigeria, Fidelity Bank Plc is a full-fledged Commercial Deposit Money Bank serving over 9.1 million customers through digital banking channels, its 255 business offices in Nigeria and United Kingdom subsidiary, FidBank UK Limited.
The Bank is the recipient of multiple local and international Awards, including the 2024 Excellence in Digital Transformation & MSME Banking Award by BusinessDay Banks and Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards; the 2024 Most Innovative Mobile Banking Application award for its Fidelity Mobile App by Global Business Outlook, and the 2024 Most Innovative Investment Banking Service Provider award by Global Brands Magazine.
Additionally, the Bank was recognized as the Best Bank for SMEs in Nigeria by the Euromoney Awards for Excellence and as the Export Financing Bank of the Year by the BusinessDay Banks and Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has unveiled a technology adoption assessment survey for registered capital market operators as part of efforts to deepen innovation and efficiency in the Nigerian capital market.
In a circular, the SEC stated that the exercise was designed to evaluate the level of adoption of advanced technologies among CMOs operating within the Nigerian capital market.
According to the notice, “The following technology adoption survey is designed by the Commission to assess the adoption of advanced technologies among registered Capital Market Operators.”
The SEC directed all registered operators to log into the e-portal at using their current access credentials to complete the survey. The exercise will run for two weeks, from 5 to 20 May 2025.
Speaking recently on the role of innovation in the capital market, Emomotimi Agama, director-general of the SEC, urged stakeholders to embrace technology as a catalyst for growth, improved transparency, operational efficiency, and market resilience.
He noted that the SEC recognises the emergence of new financial products and services driven by technological advancements, and remains committed to adapting its regulatory framework to meet the evolving needs of the market.
According to him, the commission’s approach to innovation is anchored on three pillars: investor safety, market deepening, and problem-solving aimed at building a robust and efficient capital market ecosystem.
Agama also highlighted the commission’s Regulatory Incubation Programme, which allows fintech startups to operate within a controlled environment for one year while appropriate rules are developed to govern their activities.
He said the programme is part of the SEC’s broader strategy to support innovation while safeguarding market integrity and investor interests.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) ,has confirmed that Nigeria has fully repaid about US$3.4 billion loan it got in April 2020 under the Rapid Financing Instrument to help alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sharp fall in oil prices.
IMF said the loan has been repaid as of April 30, 2025 in a statement issued in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital on Thursday.
However, IMF said Nigeria is still expected to honour some additional payments in forms of Special Drawing Rights charges hat will amount to US$30 million annually.
“In line with the IMF’s Articles of Agreements, these charges, levied at the SDR interest rate, which is updated at the beginning of each week, apply to the difference between Nigeria’s SDR holdings (SDR 3,164 million) (US$4.3 billion) and its cumulative SDR allocation (SDR 4,027 million) (US$5.5 billion)
“The net payment of the charges stops when Nigeria’s SDR holdings reach the cumulative allocation amount,” IMF said in the statement. Online fitness
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