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E-Financial

Heritage Bank, LASG Shows Commitment to Sport Development

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L-R: Alanamu Mustapha. Bronze Medal winner of N25K prize; Osagiede Thomas, Bronze Medal N25K; Ozena Utulu, the Ag Group Head, Corporate Communications; Oshinowo Gbenga, Gold Medal N100K and Akintewe Tolulope, Silver Medal N70K, during the prize presentation of winners at the just concluded 2021 ValueJet Para Table Tennis Open, held in Lagos.
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Heritage Bank plc has reiterated its commitment to promoting sports in Nigeria, in partnership with Lagos State Government to back the 3rd Edition of the annual Lagos Value Jet Para Table Tennis championship.

L-R: Alanamu Mustapha. Bronze Medal winner of N25K prize; Osagiede Thomas, Bronze Medal N25K; Ozena Utulu, the Ag Group Head, Corporate Communications; Oshinowo Gbenga, Gold Medal N100K and Akintewe Tolulope, Silver Medal N70K, during the prize presentation of winners at the just concluded 2021 ValueJet Para Table Tennis Open, held in Lagos.

The three-day para table tennis championship hosted 45 table tennis games, which held in the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere Lagos.

Speaking to the media during the games, the MD/CEO of Heritage Bank stated that the bank’s commitment to sports and its partnership with Lagos ValueJet Para Table Tennis resonates from the institution’s brand passion to support sports, especially for the physically challenged that would help in wellbeing, health and by extension nation building.

According to him, Heritage Bank believes in development and having the tenacity to develop Nigerians both young and old, whilst encouraging the physically challenged especially the participants of the para table tennis that this game is capable of helping them to keep healthy and fit.

He commended the Para–division of the Nigeria Table Tennis Federation (NTTF), Sunday Odebode’s Para Table Tennis Foundation for organizing the competition as well as the Lagos State Government for playing a leading role in the development of sports in the country.

Sekibo who was represented by Ozena Utulu, the Ag Group Head, Corporate Communications also recalled the support it received from the Lagos State government when it organised the Skoolimpics, its signature sporting event with more than 6,000 students from over 600 public and private secondary schools from the six educational districts of Lagos Sate in attendance at the three-day sporting fiesta held in 2017.

According to him, Skoolimpics is an idea conceived to bring into being a national sports festival for young people in secondary schools aimed at helping the country discover young talents who will re-ignite the spirit of excellence in competitive and recreational sports.

“The idea was intended to be a holistic development of young people in order to foster their physical, social and emotional wellbeing. It is a well-known fact that physical education and sports help in character and community building, delinquency reduction, community safety, economic and social development,” Sekibo stated.

In similar manner, First Lady of Lagos State, Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu reiterated the government’s commitment to continually put measures in place to play-up the welfare, wellbeing and interests of the physically challenged.

Sanwo-Olu represented by Grace Igbokwe advised the participants to continue investing the right energy and zeal into training, whilst cautioning them to take their education even more seriously and equally draw inspiration from great Table Tennis players who are making waves nationally and internationally.

Coordinator of the tournament, Sunday Odebode, said fans would witness the emergence of new stars in the kind of Christian Ikpoyi, who is rated number 10 in the world, to replace the ageing Nigerian players.

 

 


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E-Financial

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

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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.


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E-Financial

Ecobank Taps Google Cloud to Deepen Financial Inclusion

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Ecobank, a pan-African financial services group, has partnered with Google Cloud in a deal to improve financial services with advanced analytics, AI and driving digital empowerment across Africa.

This collaboration will focus on leveraging Google Cloud’s advanced technologies and AI to enhance Ecobank’s digital offerings to accelerate the digital transformation of the Bank.

The partnership agreement is designed to empower individuals, support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region, and contribute to the overall economic development of Africa.

“Our collaboration with Google Cloud is a leap forward in Ecobank’s digital transformation journey. We look forward to leveraging Google Cloud’s world-class technology to unlock new possibilities for individuals and businesses to grow and scale across Africa,” said Jeremy Awori, group chief executive officer of Ecobank.

“This collaboration signifies our shared intent to explore building a more connected and financially inclusive future for the continent.”

Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud, stated that Google Cloud and Ecobank have a shared vision for using technology to help deliver financial empowerment to more people and businesses in Africa.

“We look forward to exploring the ways our cutting-edge AI, powerful data analytics, and scalable infrastructure can support Ecobank’s efforts to fuel the continent’s economic development and digital future.”

The collaboration aims to simplify and streamline money transfers, both domestically and across borders. By leveraging Google Cloud’s capabilities, including its powerful data analytics platform, BigQuery, for AI-driven insights, Ecobank will aim to develop solutions that improve access to finance for SMEs, simplify payment acceptance, and provide valuable data-driven insights to help businesses scale across more than 33 countries in Africa.


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E-Financial

Stanbic IBTC Holdings Rights Issue Oversubscribed by 21.9%

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Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc has announced the successful close of the N148.7 billion Rights Issue subscription exercise following the completion of the verification exercise by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and final clearance by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Stanbic IBTC Holdings said the Rights Issue was oversubscribed by 21.9 percent, adding that the holding company has injected N140 billion into Stanbic IBTC Bank.

Kunle Adedeji, acting Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc while commenting on the just concluded rights issue programme said that “The turnout and participation of existing shareholders taking up their rights was impressive such that the rights issue was oversubscribed by 21.9percent to the tune of N181.4 billion. Our shareholders’ interest shows the confidence they continue to have in the brand,” he said.

“We appreciate the support of the Central Bank of Nigeria, The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Lead Issuing house, Joint Issuing houses and other stakeholders in the successful completion of the recapitalisation exercise.

“We are optimistic about future opportunities, as the injection of new capital will position us to take advantage of them to enable us to deliver to our shareholders. To all shareholders, we are grateful for your unwavering belief and support for the Stanbic IBTC Brand and your willingness to continue this journey with us,” Adedeji said.

Having received an injection of N140 billion from the parent company, the Chief Executive of the Banking subsidiary, Wole Adeniyi, remarked that “the injection of the new capital into the banking subsidiary is a positive development. This will enable the Bank to seize additional opportunities within the industry and enhance our Single Obligor Limit (SOL).

“We deeply appreciate the dedication and hard work of our regulators, issuing houses, and all other stakeholders. We extend our sincere gratitude for your continued support.”


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