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Winners emerge in Heritage Bank’s ‘YNSPYRE’, Cream Platform Promo

Winners have emerged at the Heritage Bank Plc, ‘YNSPYRE’ Cream Platform Promo held in Abuja.

CREAM Platform, Nigeria’s premiere creative reward platform officially kicked off its partnership with Heritage Bank’s YNSPYRE Initiative with the commencement of the CREAM Monthly draws on Friday – March 26th 2021, rewarding subscribers who dialed the *745*463# code, with lots of cash and other prizes.

The CREAM YNSPYRE Draw proper started off on a great note with random picking of numbers electronically and with some never-to-be-forgotten moments producing 5 winners who went home with the sum of N200, 000 each as well as a pledge by D’Banj to fully support their businesses and passion in a call session from D’banj to the lucky winners.

Recently, Heritage Bank doled out the sum of N1million to Damilola Adeyemi, a winner of an online giveaway competition to celebrate the bank’s product, Ynspyre ambassador, D’banj, which heralds launching of the Ynspyre Account set aside for talented young Nigerians in the different spectrum of the creative and entertainment industry.

At the draw held on Friday in Abuja, five winners were chosen from a pool of Heritage Bank’s customers that are currently on the Cream Platform and subscribers who dialed the *745*463# code for transactions.

The Cream Platform is chaired by popular Nigerian musician D-Banj (real name Oladapo Oyebanjo).

The event was attended by the Heritage Bank Regional Executive, Abuja and North, Mr George Okoh-Oboh; popular Nollywood Actress Tonto Dikeh; popular musician Mr Easi (real name Isaiah Ediae) and other top officials of the bank.

Speaking at the event, Okoh-Oboh described the partnership between Heritage Bank and Cream Platform as a game changer for the creative industry in Nigeria.

He said, “It’s been a smooth journey and the Bank has also set aside certain funds for the creative industry because we believe that is needed to support our youths.

“And so what we have done is to be able to put this out there so that we can select very talented youths working with D-Banj and once they meet certain criteria, we will be able to lend across to them as a bank.

“So the funds have already been set out and waiting this launch which we are having today. So it’s quite an interesting story for the bank and it’s a great day for us today.

In his comments at the draw, D-Banj who was physically present at the event, said that the Cream Platform has built a strong reputation for producing some of the brightest talents in the country over the last couple of years.

He said the purpose of the platform was to have a creative hub for Africa where people can upload their contents, be discovered and get funding support from Heritage Bank.

He said the platform would enable Nigerians discover their talents in areas such as entertainment, entrepreneurship, music, arts and other areas in the creative industry value chain.

He expressed optimism that the creative industry, if properly harnessed, has the potentials to reduce the level of unemployment in the country, boost wealth creation for the people and help the country generate the much needed foreign exchange.

He noted that with the creative industry accounting for one of the highest exports from Nigeria, time has come for operators in the sector to be supported with the finances.

He said, “This year will make it five years that the platform was launched and our main aim is to create a gateway to the creative hub of Africa. With so much talent in the country and the hub in the continent, we saw it as a platform for people to have that access to become whatsoever you desire.

“And it’s no news that Heritage Bank is our partner to provide the access and financial help that you will need.

The creative industry is one of the biggest exports in the last three years now whether you are looking at music, fashion, movies. But we need that financial help, that financial backing.

“So for a long time, we have been discussing with Heritage Bank to see how we can get the funds and get that help to the people.

“And today is going to be the first time that we are actually rewarding the customers. Heritage Bank went further to help us create the ‘YNSPYRE’ Product.

“This product is for the youths and the creative industry to help ease access to funding contents uploaded on the Cream Platform.”

In her comments, Dikeh urged D-Banj and the Bank to create more awareness about the product to enable many people to take advantage of the initiative.

She said as an advocate of youth empowerment, the initiative would help to harness the potentials if the youths and stimulate the much needed development of the creative industry.

Some of those that won at the digital draw such as Blessing (An Entreprenuer), Justice Isaac Precious (A footballer and musician) and John (A Caterer) expressed joy for emerging winners.

They also commended the bank and D-Banj for the coming up with the initiative.

FIRSTBANK CONVENES THE FOURTH EDITION OF ITS ANNUAL FIRSTGEM EVENT

…REINFORCES ITS LEADING ROLE IN PROMOTING WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s premier and leading financial inclusion services provider has announced the fourth edition of its annual FirstGem Conference, tagged FirstGem 4.0. The 2021 event is themed ‘The Art of Negotiation’ and convened to provide women with insights on the secrets of wealth management, investment and savings. It is scheduled to hold on Wednesday, 31 March 2021. Participants are required to register via the link http://bit.ly/firstbankwebinar

The product, FirstGem, is an account designed specifically to meet the needs of women, aged 18 years and above. The product is targeted at a broad spectrum of women, working professionals, entrepreneurs or market women to promote their business through an array of benefits, from free business advisory services on business funding, specialized training on Business Development initiatives (online and physical), regular information or insights on business opportunities or openings in various sectors and industries. FirstGem account owners have access to mouth-watering discounts at merchant outlets (spas, salons, grocery stores) that offer lifestyle products and services.

The Guest Speakers at the event are Mrs. Ibukun Awosika – Chairman, Board of Directors, First Bank of Nigeria Limited; Prof Pedro Videla – Prof. of Economics at IESE Business School and Prof Mehta Kandarp, Senior Lecturer, IESE Business School. They would respectively speak on the topics; the theme of the International Women’s Day “Choose to Challenge”, the current state of the Global Economy and how it Impacts Business Decisions and Negotiation as a Tool for Winning in Business & Career.

During the event, FirstBank SME customers would be given the opportunity to pitch their business idea and stand a chance to get N1,000,000 seed fund to kick-start their business. The business ideas would be judged by the following criteria; Originality, Feasibility, Good presentation skills and Sustainability.

Speaking on the event, Mr. Francis Shobo, Deputy Managing Director, Firstbank said “The FirstGem 4.0 is the icing on the cake in the streams of initiatives and activities we have organised and participated in March as we join the world to celebrate women for the indelible roles they play in our society. Through these activities, we spearhead the call on the need to promote women inclusiveness in the country as the role they play towards the continued socio-economic growth and development of any given society cannot be overemphasized.”

Shedding light on the impact of the FirstGem account, he said “our FirstGem account is specifically designed to meet the financial needs of women as it offers unrivalled services that empower women to do more and achieve more. It seeks to drive financial development and the empowerment of women through gender engineered programmes. At FirstBank, we recognize that promoting female entrepreneurship and empowerment is crucial to a better society, “he concluded.

Since the product launch in October 2016, the Bank has implemented various activities targeted at promoting female empowerment, impact and influence in the economy. Through its online portal – designed to provide a virtual online community with over 61,293 members where like-minded women irrespective of where they are in Nigeria and abroad, gather to connect, grow and share knowledge on everything about lifestyle, motherhood, career development, entrepreneurship, health, work and family. We encourage all women to join the community by signing up via this link https://firstgem.com.ng/community to enjoy this experience.

FirstGem has successfully empowered women in states across the geo-political zones in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

NIGERIA’S TOPMOST REALTOR, MOROLA BABALOLA LAUNCH AFFORDABLE HOUSING SCHEME, CELEBRATES BIRTHDAY WITH A BANG.

Undoubtedly, Morola Babalola is one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing Realtors and Properties Manages with the genuine good of the masses at heart, driven by the passion to see low-income earners become proud homeowners and hand them the opportunity to live among the high mighty of the society.

Little wonder why friends, families, and well-wishers on Monday, despite the day being the first day of the week, gathered to raise a glass in honour of this rare gem and philanthropist at heart, as she marked her 2021 birthday and the birth of her ‘newborn baby’: Affordable Housing Cooperative Society which is set to further put joy deep into the grassroots with affordable housing scheme.

Having worked so tirelessly to ensure the project see the light of the day, the CEO of Townsend Property Investment Company finally unveiled the scheme which is a major departure from the norm, targeted at slums to palaces and the homeless into landowners.

With this gesture, Morola has definitely shattered the Chinese wall between many Lagosians and owning properties in the State.

With this development, the mother of three made it clearly bent on seeing the somewhat neglected set of people in the society when it comes to homeownership: the okada riders, the petty traders, the slum residents, even students, boast of their own houses in Lagos.

In her presentation, Morola explained that this one of its kind society would partner with cooperatives from multinationals and small and medium enterprises.

After the official unveiling of AHCS, prayers, well wishes, and accolades were showered on the celebrant for her evident selfless gesture to the society. Friends and colleagues also told tales of Morola’s enchanting love and attitude.

Among the high profiled personalities who came to felicitate with Morola were, the Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Housing, Toke Benson-Awoyinka, Chairman, Star Petroleum, Otunba Babatunde Babalola, Honourable Gbenga Ashafa, Queen Ayo Balogun and many more.

Road Concession: FG to launch Procurement Portal to Ensure Competitiveness and Transparency

The Presidency has disclosed that the Highway Development Management Initiative, which is a scheme by the Federal Government to concession roads will launch a procurement portal on March 29th, 2021 to ensure competitiveness and to guarantee transparency.

The Presidency disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, stating that the HDMI would be live on hdmi.worksandhousing.gov.ng on March 29th.

HDMI is an effort of the FG to mobilize private capacity, resources, and entrepreneurship into the Nigerian highway sector; and convert roads from just social assets into assets of commercial opportunities.

“To ensure competitiveness and to guarantee transparency, a procurement portal has been developed to serve as the interface with the public and manage the HDMI from Procurement to Implementation

“All transactions will be done through this portal. No personal inquiry will be entertained by any official or staff of Federal Ministry of Works and Housing,” FG stated.

HDMI is made up of 2 categories namely the Value-added Concessions (VAC) and the Unbundled Assets Approvals (UAA), the UAA provides an opportunity for small businesses to take advantage of the commercial opportunities that are available along the Right-Of-Way. While under the VAC the road pavement and entire right of way is concessioned for development and management by the concessionaire.

The VAC will be rolled out in phases. The First Phase will involve twelve roads and cover the 6 geo-political zones. The Projected Capital Investment of N1,134,690,048,000.76 and employment potentials of over 50,000 direct jobs and 200,000 indirect jobs.

The FG also disclosed that 5.6% of the 35,000 km (1963.24 km) of the Federal road network, would be offered for concession.

The roads are BENIN – ASABA (125KM); ABUJA – LOKOJA (193KM); KANO – KATSINA (150KM); ONITSHA – OWERRI – ABA (161KM); SHAGAMU – BENIN (258KM); ABUJA – KEFFI – AKWANGA (122KM); KANO – MAIDUGURI (lot 1 Kano-Shuari 100KM; lot 2 Potiskum-Damaturu 96.24KM) LOKOJA – BENIN (270KM); ENUGU – PORT HARCOURT (200KM); ILORIN – JEBBA (129KM); LAGOS – OTA – ABEOKUTA (80KM); and LAGOS – BADAGRY (79KM).

It was reported earlier this year that the FG received the Outline Business Case Certificate of Compliance for 12 pilot federal highways billed for concession.

Following the receipt of the Outline Business Case Certificate of Compliance, the FG stated that private individuals will be allowed to build, operate and maintain assets on some federal highways that are available for concession.

N276.07bn Profit: Dangote Cement incur N97bn Tax in 2020

Dangote Cement, one of Nigeria’s largest indigenous companies and the largest by market capitalization incurred a company income tax of N97 billion for the financial year ended December 2020.

This s according to the information contained in its full-year audited financial statements for the period under review.

Dangote Cement has enjoyed Pioneer Status over the years and has often been criticized for not paying enough taxes despite its mega-profits.

The N97 billion incurred in 2020 is the highest company income tax reported by Dangote Cement since it became listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

It incurred N49 billion in taxes in 2019 and got a tax credit of N89.5 billion in 2018.

Despite incurring N97 billion in taxes during the year, Dangote Cement’s actual tax paid was just N20.9 billion in 2020 compared to N4.6 billion paid a year earlier.

Tax incurred in the profit and loss statement is an accounting provision and is not always the actual tax paid in cash.

Putting it into context, the dividend paid during the year is N272 billion and interest payments to its creditors totals N48.2 billion.

Despite the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Cement Giant reported full-year revenue of N1 trillion, the highest it has ever recorded since it was privatized almost 20 years ago. The company also reported a profit before tax of N373.3 billion only and a profit after tax of N276 billion, its highest since 2018.

Nigeria like most countries in the world has faced a challenging 2020 due to the impact of Covid-19 on the economy, especially the private sector. However, mega-corporations like Dangote Cement appear to have even performed better during the year. The cement industry in general also appears to have performed well during the year as the combined revenue of the top 3, Dangote Cement, Lafarge, and BUA rose to N1.47 trillion from N1.28 trillion.

The impressive result nonetheless, Dangote Cement’s margins remained strong during the year posting a gross profit margin of 57% in line with its 3-year averages. However, the higher taxes incurred in 2020 dropped profit margins to 26.7%. When compared to 2018 when it still enjoyed Pioneer status, the company posted profit margins of about 43%.

Tesla Boss, Elon Musk Lose $8bn just this Week

Tesla boss, Elon Musk, the second richest man on the planet lost $8bn from his net worth this week.

According to Forbes, Elon Musk is currently worth $162.4 billion and is still the richest man. Musk’s net worth is highly intertwined with his shares in his Tesla company.

This week the shares took a hit which led to the $8bn loss. We are going to briefly explain what led to this loss below.

This week German automobile giants, Volkswagen announced a detailed plan to get involved in the blossoming electric car market. According to the plan, they hope to become the leading electric car manufacturer in the world by 2025.

The announcement drove up Volkswagen company shares by 15%. Experts and analysts strongly believe Volkswagen would be a very competent competitor to Tesla. This led to a 6.9% drop in Tesla shares shaving $8bn from Musk’s net worth.

The automobile industry has been dominated by German companies for a very long time. German automobile companies have at many times in the past set high standards that US carmakers have struggled to compete with.

The entrance of an 84-year-old German automobile company into the electric car market seems to have set off the alarm bells in the US Market.

Elon Musk is still the second richest man in the world behind his American counterpart, Jeff Bezos.

CBN Naira4Dollar: Nigerians in Diaspora Made N200million from 1 Week Remittance

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Naira4Dollar scheme may have attracted about $40 million in foreign remittances in one week, according to a reliable source with knowledge of the scheme.

Sources informs that the scheme had performed a lot more than expected as remittances via commercial banks have picked up suggesting Nigerians in the diaspora have embraced it.

According to the source, the CBN received circa $40 million last week from remittances up from about $6 million before the policy was introduced. At $40 million a week the CBN could be attracting about $160 million a month or $1.9 billion per annum. This will be higher than the estimated $1.1 billion received in 2020 from diaspora remittances but much lower than the $3.2 billion received in 2019.

The central bank captures remittances in its Balance of Payment report and the Foreign Exchange Flows data. While the BOP includes non-cash items remitted into Nigeria, the Foreign Exchange Flows Data records cash items only.

It was reported recently that commercial banks in Nigeria are automatically opening domiciliary bank accounts for Beneficiaries of diaspora remittances in Nigeria under the CBN’s Naira4Dollar scheme. As the beneficiary receives the inflows, N5 for every dollar remitted is a credit to the naira account of the beneficiary.

The CBN Naira4Dollar scheme appears to be recording success since its introduction three weeks ago. A $40 million a week inflow suggests most of the dollars are either in domiciliar account of customers or withdrawn and exchanged at the black market.

The CBN believes remittances paid in dollars and sold on the streets will improve liquidity in the retail end, thus strengthening the exchange rate.

However, the latest information suggests the exchange rate between the naira and dollar is N486/$1 higher than the N480/$1 exchanged just before the new policy was introduced.

At $40 million the CBN would have incurred a cost of about N200 million.

Luckybet Launches Mobile App, Promises More Juicy Odds for Users

In a bid to provide the finest betting experience for millions of Nigerians, leading gaming and entertainment company, Luckybet, has launched a new mobile app.

Announcing the new app on Monday, Marketing Manager, Anthony Onyemauwa, disclosed that the app is designed to introduce users to the broadest range of offerings and opportunities in the sports betting market.

“From inception, our focus has been to creating new and richer experiences for our users by connecting them to a world of endless possibilities. Our new mobile app is not only a demonstration of this commitment, it is a call for users to take charge of their individual destiny by exploring the opportunities offered by our innovative technology,” Onyemauwa said.

“The app is safe, secure, easy to use and generally offers an incredible user experience. It also boasts of a great variety of bets and competitive odds from both the domestic and global betting markets. By downloading the app, users are ushered into a world where they can change their own lives forever.”

Onyemauwa explained that the mobile betting app, which is also available on the web platform, provides users tons of betting options, including the highest odds on virtual games and a mouth-watering 250% accumulated bonus.

Licensed by the Lagos Lotteries Board and widely acclaimed by punters as one of the most reliable online betting platforms in Nigeria, Luckybet is committed to empowering users to become luckier and live the life of their dreams.

Download the app here [https://bit.ly/2P1F92y].

Men are also being Harassed Sexually – US Envoy

Pics Source: Lakov Filimonov / shutterstock

The First Secretary of the United States of America Embassy in Nigeria, Madison Conoley, has said the male gender should also be considered as victims of sexual harassment while finding a solution to the scourge.

He stated this on Tuesday at Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State, during an interview with journalists on the sidelines of the 16th annual conference and celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Fulbright programme.

The envoy said, “We very much support the association’s (Fulbright Alumni Association of Nigeria) efforts to address the issues in a transparent way.

“We know from empirical studies that men are not only aggressors, they are also victims of sexual harassment. If we want to solve this problem, we need the full conversation from all segments of society and all genders.”

The Vice Chancellor of Bowen University, Prof. Joshua Ogunwole, said many rape cases were unconnected with substance abuse.

He said sexual harassment and substance abuse needed to be tackled squarely, adding that this would help the larger society.

The Deputy Commissioner (Legal), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Mr Adenekan Shogunle, identified concentration of power, especially in the hands of few individuals, as one of the factors responsible for cases of sexual harassment.

Shogunle said sexual harassment was not peculiar to educational institutions alone, adding that there were reports of such cases in the civil service, law enforcement agencies and judicial work force.

The immediately past Vice Chancellor, Federal University, Oye Ekiti, Prof. Kayode Soremekun, said if the issue of mal-governance was not addressed, there was little that could be achieved in curbing sexual harassment.

FG begins process for concession of 12 highways

The Federal Government on Tuesday issued a notice for the commencement of the procurement process for the 12 federal highways mapped for concession under the Highway Development Management Initiative.

Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, issued the notice in Abuja and unveiled the portal that was developed to ensure that the procurement process was seamless.

The 12 highways so far mapped out for concession by the Federal Government have a combined length of about 1,963km and represents less than 5.6 per cent of Nigeria’s 35,000km federal highway network.

The 12 routes for concession under the pilot phase include Benin-Asaba, Abuja-Lokoja, Kano-Katsina, Onitsha-Owerri, Shagamu-Benin and Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga.

Others include Kano-Shuari and Potiskum-Damaturu, Lokoja-Benin, Enugu-Port Harcourt, Ilorin-Jebba, Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta, and Lagos-Badagry-Seme border.

Fashola said, “These 12 roads were carefully chosen to ensure that each of the six geopolitical zones are covered.

“The initial capital investments that we foresee is something in the order of N1.13tn and the employment potentials are an estimated 50,000+ direct jobs and 200,000+ indirect jobs.”

On the procurement portal, the minister said it was developed to ensure competitiveness and guarantee transparency, adding that it would serve as the interface with the public and manage the HDMI from procurement to implementation.

He explained that the portal would give access to relevant documents, news updates, videos, ensure the management of the public private partnership procurement process and the process of approvals and permits, among others.

“Therefore, to those writing letters of inquiry, making offers of interest on the HDMI, offering to provide services like tolling, weigh bridge, rest houses, etc, we are sorry we cannot respond to those letters in order to maintain the integrity of this process and to keep the playing field level,” Fashola stated.

He further noted that currently, the government was executing over 700 different contracts for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of over 13,000km of roads and bridges across all the 36 states including the Federal Capital Territory.

He said the HDMI was an effort by government to mobilise private capacity, resources and entrepreneurship into the Nigerian highway sector.