Category: Banking/Finance

Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) and Chairman, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Heirs Holdings opened the “Ambition Africa” conference organised by the France Invest Africa Club in Paris, France.

As Elumelu delivered the opening address, he urged French investors to look to Africa for long term investment opportunities.

The French Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, as he introduced Tony Elumelu to the audience stated that France could position itself and direct investment towards Africa to end the cycle of poverty and to accelerate development globally. He commended Elumelu’s stance on strengthening the SMEs in Africa to catalyse development. “We share the same ambition in Supporting African SMEs and entrepreneurs as this is essential for the economic development of Africa,” he said, referring to Elumelu’s passion to create wealth on the African continent.

Reiterating the stance to partner with Africa on long-term investments, Mr. Le Maire said “We will ensure that investments in Africa are sustainable, exemplary and environmentally friendly. We want to go fast, go quickly in the race against poverty and renunciation, throughout the continent”.

Tony Elumelu on his part stated “We need to do much better and be much smarter in channelling funds to emerging markets. These markets present huge opportunities – as well as risks for investors, but investors need to fulfil a critical need to catalyse and improve the economy. We salute companies like Total, Bouygues, Accor, Orange, and Bolloré as well as others who have accepted this challenge, but there is room for many more” he said.

Elumelu stressed the importance of private equity inflow into Africa, with a focus on investing in small and medium scale businesses, the lifeblood of the African economy. He stated that Africa has the youngest workforce in the world, with over 60% of its population below the age of 25. This he said was a potential demographic doom that could be turned around to become the continent’s greatest asset if the youths have jobs and economic opportunities.

According to him: “Africans do not need aid. Rather, our young people need investments’.

“Private equity is a force for positive development in Africa. We have a large youth population, who are eager and innovative. They are looking at solutions to problems in their communities but are hampered by the access to capital and investment, mentoring and training. When done right, this kind of investment can bring not just capital but can also strengthen job creation, corporate governance and help improve sustainable business practices”.

He cited the impact and growth rate of the beneficiaries of the Tony Elumelu Foundation as evidence of the potential of SMEs in Africa today. His Foundation has endowed $100 million dollars of his family wealth, to fund over 10000 African entrepreneurs in ten years.

Mr. Elumelu commended The French President, Emmanuel Macron’s initiatives for strengthening the relationship between France and Africa and concluded by inviting investors to consider investing in Africa for the long term.

“The key phrase here is long term investment – no one should come to Africa for short term gain. The time is now to invest in Africa. Private equity has to be part of it. We need it for all,” he concluded.

The Group Board Chairman of FBN Holdings Plc, Dr. Oba Otudeko CFR and Directors of FBN Holdings, FirstBank of Nigeria Limited and FBNBank Ghana Limited have paid a courtesy call on the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa-Akufo-Addo in Accra.

The visit was to show appreciation to the President and thank him for participating in First Bank of Nigeria Limited’s 125^th anniversary activities held earlier this year and update the President of some recent investment activities of the Group.

Dr. Otudeko assured President Akufo-Addo that FBNHoldings believes in the Ghanaian economy and indicated that it was evidenced by the recapitalization of FBNBank Ghana by its parent bank, First Bank of Nigeria Limited. He pointed out that the Group’s investment of US$100 million was well above the new minimum capital requirement set by the Bank of Ghana into its Ghana operation.

The FBNHoldings Group Board Chairman added that the bank’s confidence in the Ghanaian economy and the talent of Ghanaians had resulted in the appointment of Victor Yaw Asante as the first Ghanaian Managing Director of FBNBank Ghana Limited.

Dr. Otudeko lauded the President of Ghana for giving the youth opportunities to serve in his government, saying it will prepare them to take over the leadership of Ghana in the near future. He congratulated the President on the choice of Ghana as host of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement, saying that it must have taken significant effort to bring this to Ghana.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo thanked Dr. Otudeko for his kind words and recounted the crucial bilateral and economic ties as well as historic bond, pre and post-independence, that exist between Ghana and Nigeria.

While stating that it is important for the economies of both Ghana and Nigeria to do well for ECOWAS to succeed, the President thanked FBN Holdings Plc for investing in Ghana and gave the assurance that government will provide the necessary support to FBNBank Ghana Limited and the entire business community.

The President also touched on the banking sector reforms and observed that Nigeria also had to embark on a similar exercise in the recent past. He said it was a painful but necessary exercise to strengthen the financial services industry and position it to support business and the economy.

President Akufo-Addo emphasized the importance of providing opportunities to the youth to enable them support the nation’s growth and development agenda and the need for all citizens of the two countries to find avenues to give back to their nations.

Members of the delegation pledged, on behalf of FBN Holdings Plc and FBNBank Ghana, their commitment to helping build a stronger Ghanaian economy, as well as forging stronger economic ties between citizens and businesses of Ghana and Nigeria.

The FBNHoldings Group Board Chairman, Dr. Oba Otudeko, CFR, was accompanied by Mrs. Ibukun Awosika, Chairman, Board of Directors, First Bank of Nigeria Limited; Mr. U. K. Eke, MFR, Group Managing Director, FBN Holdings Plc.; Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, Chief Executive Officer, First Bank of Nigeria Limited; Otunba (Mrs.) Debola Osibogun, Non-Executive Director, FBNHoldings; Dr. Hamza Wuro Bokki, Non-Executive Director, FBN Holdings, and Mr. Victor Yaw Asante, Managing Director, FBNBank Ghana Limited.

FBN Holdings Plc is the most diversified financial services group in Nigeria and includes FirstBank of Nigeria Ltd the mother company of FBNBank Ghana and other subsidiaries around the world.

Zenith Bank Plc has announced its unaudited results for the period ended 30 September, 2019, with numbers that clearly demonstrates its market dominance and leadership.

From the unaudited account which was presented to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), gross earnings increased by 4% percent from N474,607 billion recorded in Q3 2018 to N491,268 billion in Q3 2019. Profit Before Tax (PBT) grew by 5% from N167,307 billion in Q3 2018 to a record N176,183 billion in Q3 2019. Also, profit after tax rose by 5% from N144,179 billion in Q3 2018 to N150,723 billion in Q3 2019.

Despite a challenging macro-economic backdrop, the Group recorded a significant growth in Non-Interest Income, expanding by 22% from N128.7 billion in Q3 2018 to N156.8 billion for the current period. Our platforms and channels have been the enablers of this growth, with fees from electronic products doubling to N35.3 billion from N17.6 billion in Q3 2018.

Our cost optimization strategies and aggressive retail banking drive are yielding the desired effects as cost-to-income ratio declined from 51.2% in Q3 2018 to 50.1% in Q3 2019 with Earnings Per Share (EPS) growing by 5% from N4.58 in Q3 2018 to N4.80 in Q3 2019.

Our retail and corporate banking franchises continued its momentum with customers’ deposits growing by 7% to N3.95 trillion from N3.69 trillion recorded as at December 2018, a reflection of increasing share of the industry’s deposits and customers’ confidence in the Zenith brand. These deposit acquisitions have directly contributed to our cost of funds improving from 3.3% in Q3 2018 to 2.95% as at Q3 2019.

We have continued to deploy capital to creating viable risk assets with gross loans and advances growing by 9% from N2.02 trillion as at December 2018 to N2.2 trillion as at Q3 2019 across both the retail and corporate segments. Our focus remains the search for bankable lending opportunities to ensure the attainment of the minimum regulatory loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) of 65% by December 31, 2019 without compromising our prudence.

Our robust risk management framework has ensured that non-performing loans (NPL) ratio declined from 4.98% in December 2018 to 4.95% in the current period. Our commitment to maintaining a shock-proof balance sheet remains with liquidity and capital adequacy ratios at 63.8% and 23.8% respectively, both above regulatory thresholds.

In this final quarter of the year, we will sustain our competitiveness and share of market in the corporate segment and build upon our digital foundations to reinforce our retail banking initiatives.

As a testament to this superlative performance and in recognition of its track record of excellent performance, the bank was recently named as the Bank of the Year and the Best Bank in Retail Banking at the 2019 BusinessDay Banks’ and Other Financial Institutions Awards (BAFI Awards).

As part of drive to contribute to the growth of economic drive, Heritage Bank Plc has continued to support The Next Titan Season-six; in ensuring that the entrepreneurial targets of the Nigerian youths are attained.

The Next Titan entrepreneurial reality TV show sponsored annually by the Heritage Bank Plc has unveiled the top 16 contenders for the season-6 of the competition.

The 16 lucky candidates were selected from among 50 contestants who made it to the Bootcamp after the auditions that saw thousands of Nigerian young entrepreneurs jostle for selection at the audition centres in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Abuja.

The contest is out for the N7 million cash prize staked for grab by the chief sponsor, Heritage Bank, and a brand new Ford car donated by Coscharis Ford Motors.

The cash prize has been increased to N7million from N5million in the last five seasons.

Having emerged top 16 contenders, the entrepreneurs will proceed to the Next Titan House where they will be involved in a-10 week entrepreneurial and social service tasks including trainings and mentorship under the guidance and supervision of astute business leaders who serve as judges.

Speaking at the Premiere Night in Lagos on Sunday, where the top 16 were unveiled, the Regional Executive, Lagos and South West, Heritage Bank, Dimiri Dike, said the programme was one of the ways the bank drives social and economic change as a responsible corporate citizen.

Dike said: “On the economic level, you know that entrepreneurship drives employment, it drives social change, so we are really doing it for both social and economic change. And also, time it was in the past when a lot of people entered entrepreneurship without proper training. This platform, the Next Titan, offers you a very good beginning.

“Some of the advantages and benefits that entrepreneurs in the past never had are what these ones are enjoying. So this is an opportunity for them to be schooled and at least stand the fighting chance from the perspective of knowledge and experience of those that had gone before them to succeed”.

Advising the top 16 contenders, Dike said: “First, be yourself, you have to be humble. The fact that you made it to the top 16 doesn’t mean you are better than those who didn’t get here.  It could have been just one thing or another.  So, if you now go and be thinking that you have now arrived, that lack of humility could be your undoing.

“And more importantly, enjoy the experience because even after you have won; it is the memories of your journey to victory that will keep you going, long after you have become a successful entrepreneur”.

Giving insights into some changes in the programme, the Executive Producer, Next Titan, Mide-Kunle Akinlaja, said: “One, the prize has changed from N5million to N7million. Then two,  we are improving in all areas, content-wise, trying to make the show more entertaining and at the same time not allowing the entertainment to water down the essence of the show, which is entrepreneurship. So, generally, we keep improving”.

The winner of the show will be announced in December at the Grand Finale in Lagos.