News
VFD Group Seeks Commercial Banking Licence
The VFD Group Plc has stated that it will intensify its quest to obtain a commercial banking licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) before the end of 2023.
In addition, it said it is on the verge of establishing a global remittance business that would allow it expand its offering within the foreign exchange and currency exchange business.
It also stated that it would refocus its VFD Microfinance Bank to a full digital banking entity that would offer diverse innovative financial solutions to its esteemed customers.
These were disclosed yesterday by the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the VFD Group, Mr. Nonso Okpala, during the group’s fifth Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos.
Okpala said: “While we are yet to conclude our plans of acquiring a commercial bank license and an insurance company, we are well placed to achieve these way ahead of the timeframe of 2023.
“Our application for a commercial banking license remains in the works and at an advanced stage. We are in constant engagement with the regulatory authorities, and we would provide update to all stakeholders as we make progress.
“Learning from the past 12 months, it is instructive that we refocus our customer facing businesses to become dynamic, leveraging technology to create omni-channel experience that will meet our customers’ needs while allowing us to be lean and efficient.
“Hence, our micro-finance bank will begin the transition to a full digital entity offering diverse innovative financial solutions to our esteemed customers.”
He said the group’s “conversations with a UK-based remittance company are at an advanced stage and we hope to conclude this in the second quarter of 2021.”
The group managing director said the group delivered on all key financial indicators in 2020 to validate its strategic direction.
Okpala said the major factors that contributed to the performance were the group’s investment income from its Eurobond portfolio, interest income from lending activities, earnings from other subsidiaries and foreign exchange valuation gain.
He said: “We did quite well this year largely from our treasury activities as well as income from subsidiary companies. The dividend was our way of expressing appreciation to our shareholders for their support.”
The Chairman of the VFD Group Plc, Mr. Olatunde Busari (SAN) declared that the group has set aside dividend of N1.014 billion to reward its shareholders with the payment of a dividend of N8.51k per share for 2020 financial year that ended on December 31, 2020, compared to N3.30 it paid in 2019.
Busari said gross earnings grew by 97 per cent to N6.7 billion in 2020, as against the N3.4 billion earned in 2019, while the group’s profit before tax grew year-on-year by 173 per cent to close at N4.1 billion in 2020 compared to N1.5 billion it recorded in 2019.
He also said the group’s total asset grew by 85 per cent to close at N81.7 billion within the year under review, as against the N44.2 billion recorded in the preceding year.
Busari, however, summed up the group’s business experience in 2020 as, “Navigating a very uncertain world,” saying that the group’s vision in 2021 was to become a commercially viable proprietary investment company with global influence by focusing on building positive and socially conscious ecosystem.
Busari said: “We have delivered yet again other record levels of revenue and profit. Year 2020 has been a tough year but fortunately we are able to wade through the tide as you know that we have multiple investments in the Nigerian financial sector and were able to declare dividend of N8.51 per share. The shareholders are happy that the company did very well and I commend the management of my company.”
The VFD’s Group Financial Controller, Mr. Folajimi Adeleye, attributed the success the group recorded in 2020 to activities that fetched it interest revenues. “But we also did a lot of treasury activities. We maintain a positive outlook for 2021 even though we expect it to be tough and we are going to focus more on risk management.”
A shareholder, Ms. Karem Abah, said that she was amazed that the group could pay us N8.51 dividend per share considering the challenges businesses faced in 2020, adding: “I am really happy and impressed with the result.”
Nigeria has launched an emergency response centre after recording 190 deaths from Lassa fever, a viral hemorrhagic illness, according to Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC).
The disease, mainly transmitted to humans via contact with food or household items contaminated with rodent urine or excrement, has infected 1,154 people in six Nigerian states.
Jide Idris, head, Nigerian Center for Disease Control, said the agency’s risk assessment has categorized it as high, prompting the activation of the emergency Operations Centre to manage the outbreak.
“While the disease occurs throughout the year, peak transmission typically happens between October and May, coinciding with the dry season when human exposure to rodents increases,” he said at a press briefing in Abuja.
The centre will ensure seamless coordination of the control and management of the outbreak.
Symptoms of the virus – which can also be passed between people through bodily fluids of those infected – include fever, headaches and, in the most severe cases, death.
The World Health Organization classifies Lassa fever as a priority disease due to its epidemic potential and lack of approved vaccines.
Federal government has proposed to spend N1.5bn for internet services for passengers at five international airports in the country.
The project, “Provision/Upgrade of WiFi Services for Passengers in Five International Airports and some Domestic Airports” was listed as a new project in the 2025 appropriation.
In some parts of the world, access to the internet via Wi-Fi at airports is regarded to be a basic human right.
Such amenities are lacking in Nigeria.
But the 2025 budget presented to the National Assembly last week by President Bola Tinubu saw the sum of N105.953,496,365 being allocated to the Ministry of Aviation.
Apart from internet access at the airports, some other capital allocations were reinstated for the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).
In previous budgets, three agencies of the ministry including the apex regulatory agency, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA); the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and NAMA were exempted from the annual budgetary allocation.
In addition, the federal government deducts 50 per cent of the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), which is against the standard and recommended practices of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which recommends that the funds generated by the agencies should be reinvested into improving infrastructure and boosting aviation safety.
Fidelis Egueke, former bank manager, , has been convicted and sentenced to six months in prison by an Asaba, Delta State Chief Magistrate’s Court for defrauding a victim of $46,900.
Chief Magistrate Callistus Isioma Moeteke found Egueke guilty of a single charge brought against him by the police under case number CMA/295c/2024.
Raphael Eze, prosecutor, of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Asaba, said Egueke, a former Asaba branch manager of a tier-one bank, fraudulently obtained $46,900 by using two Certificates of Occupancy (CofOs) as collateral.
One of the land titles, however, was not his, and the other was fake.
After receiving the money, Egueke used it for personal expenses and failed to repay the victim as promised.
The prosecution argued that Egueke’s actions violated Section 419 of the Criminal Code Law, Cap C21, Vol.1 Laws of Delta State, Nigeria, 2006.
Despite denying the offence, Egueke failed to present evidence of repayment during the trial.
Chief Magistrate Moeteke determined that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Egueke was convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment.
However, the court also gave him the option to pay a fine of N350,000 in lieu of serving the prison term.
The court ordered Egueke to pay N30 million in restitution to the victim within six months of his conviction.
The charge against Egueke stated that, in 2016, he fraudulently obtained a credit facility worth $46,900 (approximately N60 million) from Chief Jude Ndudi by presenting false documents, including land titles that did not belong to him, in violation of Section 419 of the Criminal Code Law.
Egueke is also facing trial before a Lagos Federal High Court on charges related to a separate fraud case involving N179.498 million.
He is being prosecuted by the Force Criminal Investigation Department (ForceCID), Annex Alagbon-Ikoyi, Lagos.
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