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Access Bank, Barclays, others launch Global Principles for Responsible Banking

Nigeria’s sustainability champion, Access Bank Plc., today launched the Global Principles for Responsible Banking as one of the Founding Signatories alongside other global banks. This is a further commitment to strategically align its business with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

By signing the Principles, Access Bank is demonstrating its commitment towards using its products and services to support and accelerate positive changes in both local and international economies as well as promote lifestyles necessary to achieve shared prosperity for both current and future generations.

Herbert Wigwe, the Group Managing Director of Access Bank Plc., stressed the need for continued collaboration and long-term approach to sustainability, recognising the benefits of sustainable banking and the positive effect it has on the Bank and society.

“There is a greater need now, more than ever, to promote sustainability in the global financial sector. This is therefore the right time to launch the Global Principles for Responsible Banking. At Access Bank, we are committed to setting standards and engendering innovative solutions that address social, economic and environmental challenges. We believe that the Sustainable Development Goals will be better achieved if we can work together, using these Principles as a guide,” he said.

As expressed in the Global Principles for Responsible Banking, Access Bank is convinced that humans and businesses can only thrive in an inclusive society founded on human dignity, equality and the sustainable use of natural resources.

The official launch of the principles which marked the beginning of the most significant partnership to date between the global banking industry and the UN held at the start of the United Nations General Assembly.

“The UN Principles for Responsible Banking are a guide for the global banking industry to respond to, drive and benefit from a sustainable development economy. The Principles create the accountability that can realize responsibility, and the ambition that can drive action,” said UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres.

With increasing concerns about climate change leading to a shift in the perception of climate risk among financial institutions and investors, Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP) urged financial institutions to adopt adequate risk management planning, saying:

“A banking industry that plans for the risks associated with climate change and other environmental challenges can not only drive the transition to low-carbon and climate-resilient economies, it can benefit from it. When the financial system shifts its capital away from resource-hungry, brown investments to those that back nature as solution, everybody wins in the long-term.”

The Principles for Responsible Banking will provide Access Bank with an effective framework to systematically identify and seize new business opportunities created by the emerging sustainable development economy, while at the same time enabling the Bank to effectively identify and address related risks.

Rider lottery launches Daily million, Lucky lady and Food basket into Nigerias lotto market.

Rider lottery, an online lottery enterprise Powered by ridder software Nigeria Limited. Is out with three exciting lotto products
Geared towards giving Nigerians opportunity to become millionaire through lottery .

In its latest press Release, the management of Rider lottery stated that rider lottery has entered the Nigerian lottery market with the UK model of National lottery In which several people have benefited through lottery to improve their income and impart on their lifestyle thereby improving on their revenue

The lottery which is basically for adults from 18 years and above as done globally is now in Nigeria..

The three brand new products played with 6 numbers in a set played within numbers one to forty nine in 3 straight lines is generated by a power ball machine in a very transparent and open method gives Nigerians the opportunity of becoming a millionaire dail Prospective player’s are advised to visit ..www.ridderlottery.com and play now

The maiden draw and lunch will take effect on 28th September 2019 and will be streamed live on all the social media handles. There’s a special bonus number for prospective players on the first draw. According to the chairman of (Ridder Sports Software Nig Limited) Mr Ola Omotoso “i’m excited to alleviate poverty in
Nigerians through rider lottery..”he stated

The chances of becoming millionaire through
Daily millions _which plays daily

Lucky Lady_ Plays every Wednesdays

Food basket_ Plays every Saturdays

With a twice daily draw, begins from Now. Players are advice to start playing now to increase their chances of winning daily millions.

Reps ask CBN to suspend cashless policy implementation

The house of representatives has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to hit the brakes on the implementation of the cashless policy it recently re-introduced.

At the plenary session on Thursday, the lower legislative chamber said the policy will lead to a significant decrease in credit extension by Nigerian money deposit banks.

The lawmakers also said the policy will have negative impacts on small and medium enterprises “which are clearly the engine room for growth of the economy”.

In a circular released on Tuesday, the CBN had directed all deposit money banks in the country to charge 3% processing fees for withdrawals and 2% for deposits of amounts above N500,000 for individual accounts.

Corporate account holders will be charged 5% processing fees for withdrawals and 3% for deposits of amounts above N3 million.

The directive was, however, criticised by some Nigerians for various reasons.

In a motion introduced during the plenary session, Benjamin Kalu from Abia state and spokesman of the green chambers urged the lawmakers to call for the suspension of the policy pending further consultations on it.

He said while the policy is expected to reduce risk of cash-related crimes among other benefits, its implementation would have negative impacts on micro, small, and medium enterprises “thereby throwing many of them out of business and sending more Nigerians into poverty”.

Kalu said while Nigerians are still battling with the burden of the numerous bank charges introduced by commercial banks, the CBN deemed it necessary to “impose the implementation of cashless policy on deposits, without due consultations with all shades of stakeholder who will be impacted by the policy”.

“This overbearing burden is aimed at closing down majority of micro, mini, small and medium businesses in Nigeria while enriching Nigerian money deposit banks owned by a privileged few, without any known financial contribution to the consolidated revenue fund of the federation.”

The lower legislative chamber subsequently adopted the notion and urged the CBN to suspend the implementation of the policy “until the appropriate and extensive consultative process is concluded”.

It also directed its committee on banking and currency to meet with the apex bank to ascertain the relevance and need for such measure considering the prevailing economic situation of the country.

Osinbajo to NEC: Don’t ask Me for Anything on the New Economic Council ask Buhari

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says the national economic council will have to send a request through the president to get a briefing from the newly appointed economic advisory council (EAC).

Osinbajo made this statement on Thursday in response to a request for clarification by members of the national economic council regarding their relationship with the newly appointed council.

A statement by Laolu Akande, Osinbajo’s senior special assistant on media & publicity, quoted the vice president as saying both councils are for the benefit of the president.

“If NEC wants to be briefed regularly by the Economic Advisory Council, EAC, we will request the President to do that,” he said.

Clem Agba, the minister of state for budget and national planning, gave the balance of the federation accounts as at September 17 as:

Excess crude account: $274,583,856
Stabilization account: N23,796,349,487.76
Development natural resource account fund: N105,135,613,817

Agba also said state governments are expected to start servicing their budget support loans from September 2019 and the repayment will be done over 240 months.

“Council resolved that Governors should meet with the Ministry of Finance and Central Bank of Nigeria to sort out the details of repayment modalities and the Vice President will ensure same and ensure the meeting between the Governors, CBN and Finance Ministry in order to facilitate the speedy resolution of the matter,” the statement read.

The national economic council is made up of the 36 state governors and the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The NEC is empowered by section 18 of the 1999 constitution to advise the president on the necessary measures for coordinating the economic planning efforts and economic programmes of the various governments of the federation.

The president, on Monday, disbanded the economic management team headed by the vice president and appointed an economic advisory council in its stead.

Africa’s Global Bank, UBA is Now Available on Apple Business Chat

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, on Thursday, announced that the services of its Chatbot, Leo is now available for customers on Apple Business Chat, where its users can communicate directly with businesses using the Messages app on iPhone and iPad.

“As a brand focused on providing excellent customer experience, we are always looking for new ways to serve our customers easily and on time; we are therefore thrilled to support Apple Business Chat, which gives us a powerful and engaging connection with our customers,” said Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, Group Managing Director of UBA, who spoke at the launch of the service in the bank’s Head office on Thursday. “Most of our customers prefer iOS, and we always want to exceed their expectations when they experience UBA. Apple Business Chat makes communicating with us as easy as messaging a friend, so we expect it will quickly become our customers’ preferred customer service channel.”

He explained that UBA customers can now use the services of LEO, through the Apple Business Chat to open an account, buy airtime, check account balance, make account transfers and pay bills. With Business Chat, customers can always reach a live person and are always in control of whether they share any contact information with a business.

Uzoka said, “Today, we are covering a segment that has been missing for some time. It is our desire to ensure that we put Leo everywhere, and today it is now on the IOS platform as the users approached us that they needed to enjoy the service which Facebook and WhatsApp users had been enjoying from LEO. Consistently, we have been the first in the use of intelligence banking, this is the first time this is happening in Africa. LEO is live in English on the IOS platform, and by the end of October, it will be live in other languages. As you know, LEO is already on WhatsApp and Facebook in English, French, Portuguese and Swahili languages.”

To start Apple Business Chat, customers can click the ‘Chat with Messages’ button on UBA’s website or in mobile banking app, available in the App Store. A conversation with UBA’s agents will open instantly in the Messages app, and users can take their time responding when it’s convenient.

The Group Head, Online, Banking, Austin Abolusoro, who spoke at the event said the bank is always looking for ways to improve upon its services to its teeming customers.

“We are leading financial industry AI in Africa. Our customers have been increasingly asking for mobile services that make their lives easier, and Leo has become a growing choice for his convenience and personal solutions, Over a million customers are already on the LEO platform. Before now, customers can only come to the bank, but today we are on social media as well as on the IOS platform, and the launch of LEO has helped customer to get their complaints resolved without physically visiting the bank. Leo makes use of available data to resolve complaints and where more information is needed, Leo will transfer the customer to human agents.”

“As we continue to advance our work on AI-driven developments, it is important that we listen to our users today and further enhance Leo to align to client feedback in order to better meet and anticipate needs and even continue to give them increased value,” Abolusoro added.

He added that Apple Business Chat is available in beta for users and businesses around the world, and is built into iOS 11.3 and higher. For more information, visit: apple.com/ios/business-chat.

United Bank for Africa, Africa’s global bank, was founded 70 years ago in Nigeria and today, operates in 20 African countries and in the United Kingdom, the USA and with presence in France. UBA serves over 17 million customers across the globe with more than 1000 branches and touch points. In 2018, the bank received the award of Africa’s Best Digital Bank by the Banker’s magazine.

l-r: Group Managing Director/CEO, United Bank for Africa(UBA) Plc, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka; Group Head, Marketing, UBA Plc, Mrs Dupe Olusola; Group Head, Online Banking, UBA, Mr Austine Abolusoro, during the launch of LEO, the Bank’s chatbot on banking, on Apple Business Chat –IPad and IPhone, held at UBA House, Marina, Lagos on Thursday

l-r: Group Head, Online Banking, United Bank for Africa(UBA) Plc, Mr Austine Abolusoro; Group Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka; Group Head, Marketing, UBA Plc, Mrs Dupe Olusola; Executive Director, UBA Plc, Mr. Nweke Chukwuma; Group Head, Human Capital Management; Mrs Patricia Aderibigbe; and Group Executive, Customer Fulfilment Centre(CFC), Mr Anant Rao, during the launch of LEO, the Bank’s chatbot on banking, on Apple Business Chat –IPad and IPhone, held at UBA House, Marina, Lagos on Thursday

The Next Titan Season-6: Heritage Bank continues to Boosts Entrepreneurship among Youths

Heritage Bank Plc, Nigeria’s most innovative banking service provider has again thrown its usual support behind the organizer of The Next Titan, so as to have a better and improved season six of the programme.

This year’s edition of the reality TV show is again headlined by Heritage Bank and is targeted at giving young entrepreneurs an opportunity to display their ingenuity and talents.

The programme, which also, focuses on ensuring that the entrepreneurial goals of the Nigerian youths are achieved, had its auditions in four of the six geopolitical zones of the country.

Speaking during the audition at the Sheba Event Centre in Lagos, the MD/CEO of the bank, Ifie Sekibo stated that the Heritage Bank has continued to make seamless efforts to demonstrate its commitment towards developing and positioning youths to become world-class citizens equipped and ready to be absorbed into an increasingly competitive workforce.

“One of the reasons why we chose, as an organization, to support the entrepreneurial growth and welfare of the youths is to see young men and women play vital roles in the socio-economic development of the country and help curb the high level of unemployment,” Sekibo said.

The MD, who was represented by the Head, Brand Management & Sustainability, Corporate Communications, Heritage Bank, Ozena Utulu, said Heritage Bank is positioned to lead the recovery of the economy through enhancing youth entrepreneurship development and engendering self-employment via its various initiatives and products.

According to Sekibo, the drive to support youths seeks to create, preserve and transfer wealth across generations. He explained that the entrepreneur schemes of the bank has always focused on dependable job-creating sectors, such as the agricultural value chain (fish farming, poultry, snail farming), cottage industry, mining, and solid minerals, creative industry (tourism, arts and crafts), and ICT.
Sekibo stated that the bank supported this initiative because of its belief in Nigerian youth, who make up about 80 percent of the country’s population. He further explained that Heritage Bank was impressed with the nature in which talents were sought out, the rigorous selection process and the integrity with which the overall scheme was delivered.

Sekibo expressed satisfaction in the long term sustainability of the initiative, stating, we will not support something that will not stand the test of time.

The Executive Producer, The Next Titan, and Managing Director, Bravopoints International Limited, Mide Kunle-Akinlaja explained, “the idea behind the next titans is to create a Nigeria of our dreams, the roll calls of entrepreneurs with businessmen and women who will boost the nation’s economy and become employers of labour. It is not just an ordinary show but a show that transforms lives.”

According to him, The Next Titan over the past five years has been the only major entrepreneurial reality show in Nigeria, which provides an opportunity for young aspiring entrepreneurs with good business ideas that can transform the economy to compete among themselves on television in order to win a grand cash prize and a brand new car to start their dreams.

He noted that it was a platform designed to ignite the entrepreneurial spirit of the generality of young Nigerians who may not have the opportunity to participate directly through its regional auditions, but who can watch the TV show, and who can, as a result, take a decision to ply the route of entrepreneurship as a viable career option.

L-R: Members of Heritage Bank’s Corporate Communications- John Adah, Processing Officer; Ozena Utulu, Head, Brand Management & Sustainability and Daberechi Ike-Obioha, Team Member, Designs & Creatives, during The Next Titan Season-six audition at the Sheba Event Centre in Lagos.

Revenue Generation: CBN imposes additional charges on transactions on individual bank accounts

Effective Wednesday, September 18, cash deposits and withdrawals from individual bank accounts are to attract addition charges, the Central Bank of Nigeria said on Tuesday.

In a circular to all deposit money bank (DMBs), the Director, Payments System Management Department at the CBN, Sam Okojere, said henceforth 3 percent processing fees would be paid for withdrawals and 2 percent for deposits of amounts above N500,000 for individual accounts.

Similarly, corporate accounts will attract 5 percent processing fees for withdrawals and 3 percent processing fee for lodgments of amounts above N3 million.

The CBN said the charges would be in addition to already existing charges on withdrawals, and will be aimed at encouraging it’s cashless policy.

The statement, however, said the charge on deposits shall apply in Lagos, Ogun, Kano, Abia, Anambra, and Rivers States as well as the Federal Capital Territory.

To further promote a cashless economy and enhance the collection of applicable government revenues, the CBN also announced a review of the process for merchant settlement by bank customers.

With the review, which takes effect from Tuesday September 17, the CBN said it gave approval for banks to unbundle merchant settlement amounts and charge applicable taxes and duties on individual transactions as stipulated by regulations.

The financial sector regulator announced a downward review of the Merchant Service Charge (MSC) from 0.75 percent capped at N1,200 to 0.50 percent capped at N1,000.

The nationwide implementation of cashless policy will take effect from March 31, 2020, it said.

In June, the CBN announced the takeoff of the third and final phase of the cashless policy in 30 states.

The apex bank said the decision followed the successful completion of Phases 1 and 2 in six pilot states and Abuja.

Phase 1 of the scheme took off in Lagos on January 1, 2012, while additional states, namely Abia, Anambra, Kano, Ogun and Rivers States, as well as Abuja, were involved in Phase 2, which commenced on October 1, 2013.

All Set as Lagos awaits Zenith Bank’s Aspire Music Festival

All is now set for the “Zenith Bank Aspire Music Festival” holding on Saturday, September 21, 2019 at the Harbour Point Event Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos by 5pm.

Dubbed as the most anticipated entertainment event of the year, the breathtaking festival promises to be a night to remember, as it will feature captivating and thrilling musical performances by some of Nigeria’s biggest artistes including Olamide, Flavour, Phyno, Niniola, Mayorkun and Rema.

Also on hand to anchor the event and trill the audience with rib-cracking jokes is Kenny Black, while celebrity hypeman, Do2dtun, will be revving up the crowd throughout the night.

The Festival, which is a must attend event for music lovers, tourists and fun seekers, is one of a series of events lined up by Zenith Bank to usher in “Style by Zenith 2.0”, the bank’s annual lifestyle fair which will take place towards the end of the year.

Attendance at the music festival is exclusively reserved for Zenith Bank customers. However, non-Zenith customers can still participate by simply opening a Zenith Bank account and registering to attend at www.zenithbank.com/style.

Zenith Bank Plc is recognized as one of the most innovative financial institutions in Nigeria and was voted the most customer-focused bank in Nigeria for the Retail and SME segments in the 2018 KPMG Annual Banking Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey (BICSS).

Nigeria’s domestic revenue among world’s lowest —Bill Gates

American billionaire and philanthropist, Bill Gates, has said that Nigeria has one of the lowest domestic revenues at just six per cent of GDP compared to 15 per cent in some other countries.

This, he said, is perhaps one of the reasons why the largest black nation has a problem with providing basic health infrastructure.

Gates said this via a teleconference with select journalists ahead of the release of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Goalkeepers report 2019.

Responding to a question on how Nigeria could address some of its challenges, he said, “One challenge that Nigeria has is that the amount of money that the government raises domestically is quite small compared to other countries.

“A lot of countries at that level will be raising closer to 15 per cent of GDP and Nigeria is one of the lowest in the world down at about six per cent. And so, it is a huge challenge that when you want to fund infrastructure, health, education, all those things, that over time the tax collection, the domestic resources are going to have to go up quite a bit.”

The Microsoft co-founder said the government also needed to do more to gain the confidence of the people because the citizens could be discouraged from paying taxes if they see that taxes are not being properly utilised.

He added, “That’s a long-term effort and I think partly by making sure the current resources are spent well like on primary health care, you gain the credibility that the citizens will say, okay, we want more of these things. If we don’t raise the quality, you can get into a trap where they don’t feel like paying the taxes actually has that much impact, and so they’re not supportive of that.”

Gates lamented that many countries that were not as wealthy as Nigeria had better health care systems.

“If I had one wish for Nigeria, it would be that the quality and funding of the primary health care system would achieve the level of some other countries that are lower income but have done a better job with the primary health care system. So, it definitely is doable,” he said.

The philanthropist said now that the country had virtually defeated polio, his foundation would look at strengthening health care centres.

He said his foundation had been collaborating with Aliko Dangote in helping Nigeria to address some of its challenges.

Gates said he holds video conferences with at least six northern governors regularly, adding that there were some things northern Nigeria could learn from the South.

Nigeria and other African nations had in 2001 signed the Abuja Declaration which seeks to allocate at least 15 per cent of their annual budget to improve the health sector and urged donor countries to scale up support.

Over 18 years later, Nigeria has failed to do so.

The country still has one of the world’s worst health indicators

The Federal Government had last week announced plans to increase Value Added tax from 5 per cent to 7.5 per cent, a move that has sparked outrage especially among the organised labour.

FG’s Livestock Plan, Fulani Herdsmen from Chad, Niger to benefit

Fulani herdsmen from Chad, Niger and other neighbouring countries will benefit from the National Livestock Transformation Plan, the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has said.

Mohammed, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, said since Fulani herdsmen are nomadic, it would be inappropriate to deprive them from benefitting from the livestock plan just because they are not from Nigeria.

The initiative will be 80 per cent funded by the Federal Government while the states would provide 20 per cent counterpart funding and the grazing land.

The governor, whose state is among those that will be part of the initiative, said Fulani exist in many countries across Africa and share a brotherhood which transcends boundaries.

When asked how the government would ensure that only Nigerians benefit from the livestock plan, Mohammed said, “I think there is a lot of mistrust and misconception as regards the Fulani man. The Fulani man is a global or African person. He moves from The Gambia to Senegal and his nationality is Fulani.

“As a person I may have my relations in Cameroon but they are also Fulani. I am a Fulani man from my maternal side, we will just have to take this as our own heritage, something that is African. So we cannot just close our borders and say the Fulani man is just a Nigerian.

“In most cases, the crisis is precipitated by those outside Nigeria. When there is a reprisal, it is not the Fulani man within Nigeria that causes it. It is that culture of getting revenge which is embedded in the traditional Fulani man that attracts reprisal.”

When asked if it was right to allow foreigners to benefit from Nigerian taxpayers’ money, the governor said it was proper.

He said Fulani don’t actually have one single nationality since they are nomadic in nature.

Mohammed said “We are already accommodating them. Do you delineate and really know who is not a Nigerian Fulani man?

“They are all Nigerians because their identity, their citizenship is Nigerian even though they have relatives from all over the world. So, presumably they are Nigerians because they move all over and have relations all over. That is why our population in Nigeria is fluid.”

When asked if there would be any form of documentation for the Fulani herdsmen coming into Nigeria from other countries, the governor said, “Yes. This will give Nigeria the opportunity of having proper documentation and knowing the demography because the Fulani man settles anywhere he can feed his cattle.”

The livestock plan which is being championed by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo seeks to put herdsmen and their livestock in designated colonies which will give them the opportunity of exploiting the livestock value chain.

While many northern states have embraced it, their southern counterparts have rejected it.