E-Financial
Path Solutions Selected as a 2017 Red Herring Top 100 Global Winner

Red Herring announced last week that it has named Path Solutions, the international specialist provider of Sharia-based financial software and services, to its Top 100 Global Winners list. This honor follows Path Solutions’ selection as a Red Herring’s Top 100 Asia Award Winner in 2017.
Red Herring’s Top 100 Global Winners list has become a mark of distinction for identifying promising companies across their respective industries. Red Herring was among the first to recognize that companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, Skype, Salesforce.com, YouTube, and eBay would change the way we live and work. Path Solutions’ inclusion in the Top 100 Global Winners of Red Herring secured its place as the first Arab IT company to appear on this prestigious list.
“The Islamic banking world has gone a long way in the past ten years, embracing technologies which add security, compliance and other features to its offering. The leading institution in that space, Path Solutions has managed to recruit high level talents from the best tech companies to serve the cause of one billion people customer base.
The results are so compelling that Red Herring included Path Solutions within the Red Herring Top 100 Global Winners and granted it the award. They will make the world a better place,” said Alex Vieux, Publisher and CEO of Red Herring.
iMAL, the advanced and functionally-rich core banking platform designed and developed by Path Solutions is based on Service Orientated Architecture (SOA), and supports open banking through open APIs and web services.
The platform can be deployed on a scalable, multi-server open architecture. It is a complete front-to-back single platform of services encompassing an omni-channel that supports electronic delivery channels such as mobile, internet, kiosk, and branchless banking right through to settlement, general ledger and other back-office services. This is delivered in a fully open but integrated, reliable and cost-effective environment.
Path Solutions’ total commitment to open standards enables its clients to benefit from the latest technology advances ensuring business agility, continuity, data integrity and availability, and low downtime delivering a significant and immediate ROI.
“Let me express how honored and appreciative we are at Path Solutions to be selected by Red Herring for this distinction”, commented Mohammed Kateeb, the company’s Group Chairman & CEO. “We could not have reached this monumental milestone without the support of all of our team members, and our incredible client partners. Thank you for being a part of our success, we couldn’t ask for a better community to work with”.
Red Herring’s independent panel of experts evaluated the companies on both quantitative and qualitative criteria, such as innovation capabilities, corporate strategy, and market penetration.
This assessment of potential is complemented by a review of their track record and positioning relative to their peers, allowing Red Herring to see past the “buzz” and make the list a valuable instrument of advocacy for the most promising business models from around the world.
The trophies were presented to global winners during a ceremony held in Pasadena, California, USA.
Path Solutions provides cutting-edge software solutions and services to the burgeoning Islamic economy, in addition to a wide range of IT consulting and advisory services to world-class financial institutions including financial regulatory authorities, central banks, investment banks, financing companies, asset managers and microfinance institutions.
Path Solutions engages with key industry stakeholders as well as regulatory authorities to help enhance the role of Islamic finance with the utilization of modern Sharia-compliant technologies, so that Islamic financial institutions could operate successfully in a dynamic environment while fully adhering to Islamic principles.
E-Financial
Fidelity Bank grows PBT by 167.8% to N105.8 billion in Q1 2025

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.
E-Financial
SEC Launches Capital Market Technology Survey

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.
E-Financial
IMF Confirms Nigeria’s Full Repayment of $3.4bn COVID-19 Loan

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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