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Checkers Custard Unveils Toyin Abraham-Ajeyemi As New Brand Ambassador

 

Nigeria’s number custard brand, Checkers Custard, has unveiled popular Nollywood actress and producer, Toyin Abraham-Ajeyemi, as its new brand ambassador.
The unveiling was held at Checkers Custard headquarters in the Mushin area of Lagos State.

Presenting Toyin to newsmen at her unveiling last Friday, Karan Checker, the Managing Director of Checkers Africa Limited, described the event as a dream come true for the organisation.

He stated that the versatile actress has had an illustrious and blossom career that has spanned more than a decade, with unmistaken passion and excellent delivery in every of her appearance.

On the shared valued of Toyin Abraham and Nigerians favourite Checkers Custard, Mr Checkers described the brand as a pace setter with the best quality, adding that the Nollywood actress possesses similar attributes.

He pointed out that Checkers various flavours of vanilla, banana and milk 3-in-1 is also similar to Toyin Abraham’s all round excellent and ambitious acting talent.

Toyin Abraham-Ajeyemi posing with Checkers Custard 3-in-1 and Vanila flavours.

Karan Checker said: “Checkers Custard started small and has grown to be Nigeria’s brand of choice and so as Toyin on our screen, tablets, billboards – everywhere media, word of mouth and eyes can reach.

“We share these things in common and we, the management of Checkers Africa Limited, said it is time we take the bull by the horn to formalise our relationship with Toyin, who has been a long standing lover of Checkers Custard.”

Also speaking at her unveiling, the popular Nollywood actress, who was at the event with her husband and team, expressed happiness joining a brand that is already a household name.

While saying she was happy they decided to work with her brand, Toyin Abraham described Checkers Custard as the best family food in Nigeria.

“I am not exaggerating, my husband takes custard every morning. My family likes all the flavours of Checkers Custard,” she said.

Toyin Abraham promised the management of Checkers Custard to always give her best as a brand ambassador and as family, stressing that she is proud because it is a good product which will be very easy to promote.

She however urged Checkers Custard management to take the complains and suggestions of consumers very seriously, insisting that “customers are always right“.

 

Ecobank Nigeria Wins “Consumer Finance Product Of The Year”

Ecobank Nigeria Wins “Consumer Finance Product Of The Year”

Ecobank Nigeria has emerged the winner of “Consumer Finance product of the year” award at the Middle East & Africa (MEA) Retail Banking Innovation Awards organized by Digital Bankers. The MEA Awards according to the Managing Director, Nirav Patel exists to recognise and celebrate the world’s outstanding Financial Services Organisations that are pioneering unrivalled standards and capabilities in their respective fields across the Middle East and Africa.

He added that the awards recognizes ‘those that are transforming the industry by setting new milestones in service delivery, digital innovation, product development, payments, technology, customer experience and more.’ The award committee observed the disruption of the global financial system with the advent of Covid 19 pandemic and how the bank deployed its digital offerings to serve its customers.

The Managing Director, Regional Executive, Ecobank Nigeria, Mr Patrick Akinwuntan, while commenting on the award, stated that it is a worthy recognition of the bank’s digital transformation landmark initiatives, stating that the bank’s digital payment and collections platforms have brought convenience to the daily running of customers’ businesses. He noted that with  its digital offerings, the bank was able to serve its customers without interruption during Covid 19 nationwide shutdown. He listed some of the digital platforms as Ecobank Mobile App and USSD *326#, Ecobank Online, Ecobank OmniPlus, Ecobank Omnilite, EcobankPay, Ecobank RapidTransfer, ATMs, POSs, as well as an extensive distribution network of over 250 branches and about 40,000 agency banking locations.

“As a fast-paced bank, we are constantly innovating our processes to ensure customers’ ever-changing needs are met as well as achieve our corporate objectives. Some of the key mandates we will be fulfilling in the nearest future include having a fully digitized loan platform to ease accessibility and use of our products. We will also be enlarging our agency banking network to reach the unbanked and underbanked in Nigeria. We are delighted to receive this prestigious award. It is a testimonial to the hard work we have done in line with our digital transformation and innovative products and service.” Akinwuntan stated.

Ecobank Nigeria Limited is a subsidiary of the Ecobank Group, the leading pan-African banking group with operations in 33 African countries and an international presence in four locations (London, Paris, Beijing, and Dubai). The lender is a full-service bank providing wholesale, retail, investment and transaction banking services and products to governments, financial institutions, multinationals, international organizations, medium, small, and micro businesses, and individuals.

FG to regulate Netflix, other streaming services: Lai Mohammed

 

The federal government says it is planning regulations for streaming and content providers such as Netflix, worried that they can be used to “cause chaos” and undermine Nigeria’s democratic processes.

At a two-day conference, the government and industry stakeholders discussed “the implication of Nigeria censorship laws and regulatory framework for Over-The-Top (OTT) streaming services and content providers in Nigeria.”

Speaking, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said the popularity and demand of streaming services in Nigeria increased with the COVID-19 pandemic, “hence its regulation.”

Represented by Comfort Ajiboye, Director, Information and Technology in the ministry, Mr Mohammed reiterated his age-long bias that social media and streaming services can be used “to cause chaos and undermine democratic processes.”

The conference was organised by the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) on Wednesday in Lagos, along with practitioners and stakeholders in the entertainment and creative industry.

In his opening address, Adedayo Thomas, Executive Director and CEO of the NFVCB, said the conference was to brainstorm on creating policies to regulate streamers and content providers in Nigeria.

“With over 50 per cent internet penetration, it has become imperative to convene this conference to bring together stakeholders and legislators in a conversation so as to come up with crystal policies on the regulation of streamers and content providers,” Mr Thomas said.

Mr Thomas said streaming service providers were unable to self-regulate, reason why their operations were now being discussed at the conference with the theme, “Nigeria Digital Content Regulation”.

The NFVCB boss, however, promised that, “the goal of regulation is not to stifle creativity but to create sanity and encourage healthy competition for socio-economic gains.”

At the conference as a panelist was Netflix Director of Public Policy, Sub-Saharan Africa, Shola Sanni.

Participants include members of the various Guilds in Nollywood which included Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) and Directors Guild of Nigeria (DGN).

Others are the Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Theatre and Movie Practitioners Association of Nigeria (TAMPAN), among others.

Also were representatives of local and international streaming services, Free To Air (FTA), Pay TV operators and other content creators.

(NAN)

 

FirstBank: All Our Branches In South East Are Working

In a Public Announcement coming from the corporate communications department of FirstBank, Nigeria’s leading bank, the rumor that the bank offices in the South-Eastern part of the country has been shut was refuted. Below is the statement made available to us;

Public Announcement 

This is to inform the public that our South East branches are fully open for business. Please disregard any news making the rounds that is contrary to this.

Thank you.

About FirstBank

 

First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank) is the premier Bank in West Africa and the leading financial inclusion services provider in Nigeria for over 127 years.

With over 750 business locations and over 100,000 Banking Agents spread across 99% of the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria, FirstBank provides a comprehensive range of retail and corporate financial services to serve its over 30 million customers. The Bank has international presence through its subsidiaries, FBN Bank (UK) Limited in London and Paris, FBNBank in the Republic of Congo, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra-Leone and Senegal, as well as a Representative Office in Beijing.

The Bank has been handy at promoting digital payment in the country and has issued over 10million cards, the first bank to achieve such a milestone in the country. FirstBank’s cashless transaction drive extends to having more than 10million people on its USSD Quick Banking service through the nationally renowned *894# Banking code and over 4.5 million people on FirstMobile platform.

Since its establishment in 1894, FirstBank has consistently built relationships with customers focusing on the fundamentals of good corporate governance, strong liquidity, optimised risk management and leadership. Over the years, the Bank has led the financing of private investment in infrastructure development in the Nigerian economy by playing key roles in the Federal Government’s privatisation and commercialisation schemes. With its global reach, FirstBank provides prospective investors wishing to explore the vast business opportunities that are available in Nigeria, an internationally competitive world-class brand and a credible financial partner.

FirstBank has been named “Most Valuable Bank Brand in Nigeria” six times in a row (2011 – 2016) by the globally renowned “The Banker Magazine” of the Financial Times Group; “Best Retail Bank in Nigeria” for seven consecutive years (2011 – 2017) by the Asian Banker International Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards and “Best Bank in Nigeria” by Global Finance for 15 years. Our brand purpose is always to put customers, partners and stakeholders at the heart of our business, even as we standardise customer experience and excellence in financial solutions across sub-Saharan Africa, in consonance with our brand vision “To be the partner of the first choice in building your future”.

Our brand promise is always to deliver the ultimate “gold standard” of value and excellence. This commitment is anchored on our inherent values of passion, partnership and people, to position You First in every respect.

Folake Ani-Mumuney

Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications

www.firstbanknigeria.com

JCI Ikeja Sensitisises Entrepreneurs on Business Innovation, Creativity

Junior Chamber International, JCI, Ikeja has recently organised its annual forum which was focused on reaching out and sensitising Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) on how to scale up innovation and creativity in the various sectors of the economy.

 

JCI revealed that in order for entrepreneurs to be successful at sustaining and developing their businesses it is essential to have a mindset that begins with acquiring and investing majorly in the knowledge and information of the sort of business they are operating.

The leadership organisation during the JCI forum which was themed, Innovative Enterprise Seminar (IES) stated that it saw the crucial need to contribute its own quota towards supporting entrepreneurs with the necessary information, skills and tools they need to sustain and upscale their business operations due to the negative impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on small and large scale businesses.

Speaking at the event, President, Junior Chamber International, JCI Ikeja, Tricia Inalu said that when an entrepreneur develops a positive mindset it would become possible to tackle the challenges in a particular industry, thereby innovating economical problems solutions within the  ecosystem of the entrepreneur.

“A knowledgeable and empowered mindset would result in the empowerment of the workforce of any organisation.  So, it is important that business owners invest not only on improving their technical know-how and capacity but also on the employees in order to attain maximum performance and results within the enterprise.”

“As part of efforts to develop our minds, as a country, it is crucial for the educational sector to be rehabilitated in order to enhance innovations and creativity of our children, youth and adults who are aspiring to join the labour market or become entrepreneurs.

“We have gathered that the education sector remains a crucial factor for the progress of citizens and how businesses are established and operated.”

Meanwhile commenting on the challenges startups face regarding manpower, JCI President Inalu explained that business owners who make up the entire workforce of the organisation as they do not have staff to carry out various functions for the business need to understand what becomes essential to delegate and outsource to other experts at a low scale, thereby creating more time for the entrepreneur to think creatively and innovate ideas for the sustainability and growth of the enterprise. “It is necessary for entrepreneurs to outsource in order to attain maximum results for the business as this generates more innovation and creative ideas for the business.”

“In addition, as prioritisation is essential, leveraging on the resources and skills available to the workforce is crucial towards the success of such a business.”

Also speaking at the JCI Ikeja event, Founder, Accounting Experts for SMEs, Ogochuckwu Lawson said a major factor that hinders innovations and creativity of businesses is the lack of structure, lack of following due process, and absence of bookkeeping. “Majority of entrepreneurs are still struggling towards understanding the vital role keeping records play towards the sustainability and development of a business.

“Also, it is important to set up the business’s bookkeeping with efficient software that would keep the records of the business throughout the existence of the business.

“In addition, an entrepreneur should be able to forecast monthly or yearly the number of sales and revenue that is to be generated by the organisation, whilst also projecting what it would cost to attain the forecasted results.”

Ecobank Partners Vanguard|Economic Forum Series, Convenes MSME Finance Summit On Lending To Small Businesses

Ecobank Nigeria and Vanguard Economic Forum Series have announced that they are convening an MSME virtual summit to promote and encourage lending  support for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the face of changing operating environment in the country. 

 

 

 

The virtual summit with the theme: Unlocking Credit Growth in a Changing MSME Lending Landscape, will be broadcast and streamed live via zoom platform scheduled for May 21st by 11am.

Click here to Register:👉 cutt.ly/ecobankmsme or

 

 

The conference in strategic partnership with Nigerian Association of Small & Medium Enterprises (NASME) and Small & Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) will convene keynote speakers and panelist from regulatory agencies of government, policy decision makers, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), business and industry thought leaders. The speakers and panelists carefully drawn from the banking, trade associations and other key sectors of the economy are subject matter experts in MSMEs and lending.

 

Confirmed speakers include Mr Olukayode Pitan, Managing Director/Chief Executive, Bank of Industry (BoI); Dr. Dikko Rada, Director General, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (SMEDAN); Adenike Adeyemi, Executive Director, Fate Foundation; Eke Ubiji, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Association of Small & Medium Enterprises (NASME) and a representative of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), amongst others. The Guest Of Honour will be the Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business, Jumoke Oduwole, while Patrick Akinwuntan, Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria will be the Chief Host.

 

Announcing the conference in Lagos, Emeka Agada, Country Head, SME Ecobank Nigeria Limited said the Summit as a thought leadership content platform would deeply dialogue on the critical role of MSMEs as the economic engine room of any prosperous nation and the need to support the sub sector with capital, including examination of key issues and ways of achieving the objective through digital financial inclusion for the MSMEs. He disclosed that there will be audience engagement of members of various trade groups such as NASME (Nigerian Association of Small & Medium Enterprises) and SMEDAN (Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency ) with a view to detailing various lending options. He further  reiterated that the ‘Ecobank Digital Series’ is in line with the Bank’s vision to consolidate a modern pan-African market, contribute to the economic development and financial integration of the continent.

 

Also speaking, Jude Ndu, Director, Vanguard Conferences and The Economic Forum Series says: “As a follow up to the hugely successful Ecobank Digital Financial Inclusion virtual summit, we are indeed pleased and delighted with the ongoing high-level strategic partnership with Ecobank Nigeria in the area of concept development, synthesis, design and execution of high profile thematic bespoke events. The upcoming conference speaks to the strong sense of confidence the bank has in us to help curate thought leadership content and context for the brand in line with its marketing objectives.

 

He noted that the MSME conference would help Ecobank communicate and connect with Nigeria’s largely MSMEs on its lending options and support, adding that the bank will also showcase its strength in the digital banking space such as its  innovative digital payment channels like the  OmniPlus, Omnilite and digital sales collections channels like Ecobankpay NQR amongst other financial service offerings to close the large financial Inclusion gap and a direct response to mitigating the economic challenge post-COVID-19.

 

The Ecobank Digital Series is a virtual programme organised by Ecobank to educate and enlighten the public on crucial issues of public interest, especially as it relates to their financial empowerment.

Justice Ministry Seeks AIG Akinmoyede’s Co Operation On Gender-Based Violence

The Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 5 Police Command, Benin, AIG Isaac Akinmoyede, on Tuesday, May 4, 2021, received, in audience, officials of the Citizens Rights Centre, Ministry of Justice, Edo State.

 

 

 

According to a statement signed by DSP Tijani Momoh, Zonal Police Public Relations Officer, Zone 5 Command, Benin, and made available to the National Association of Online Security Reporters, NAOSRE, the delegation from the Justice Ministry was led by Mrs C. A. Ebosele.

 

 

The statement disclosed that Ebosele thanked the AIG for the warm reception accorded her and her team.

 

 

She brought to the attention of the AIG the mandate, vision and mission of the Citizens Rights Centre which include Protecting the rights of the citizens of Edo State, Investigations of sexual and gender-based violence, and close watch of correctional centers.

She requested for collaboration with the office of the AIG in the discharge of the core functions of her department for mutual benefits of both parties.
The Director also requested that an officer be appointed to serve as liaison between her Ministry and the Zone 5 Police Command, Benin.

Responding, the AIG welcomed the Director and her team and assured her of maximum cooperation, necessary support and collaboration to make her job easy.

The AIG promised to appoint a Desk Officer to liaise between the two offices as requested by the Director.

The AIG finally urged the Director to be free to call on his office whenever assistance is required by her department.

Ecobank Nigeria Launches Super Rewards Scheme; 50 Customers to Get N25k Weekly

  •  4 Customers To Get One Million Naira Each at the end of campaign

Ecobank Nigeria has launched the Super Rewards Scheme, which gives 200 of its customers an opportunity to earn different cash gifts monthly, with four of them becoming millionaires at the end of the four months campaign. Korede Demola-Adeniyi, Head, Consumer Banking, Ecobank Nigeria, who announced the commencement of the campaign in Lagos , said the scheme is designed by Ecobank to reward customers’ loyalty, explaining that 50 customers with the highest deposit will be rewarded with cash prizes worth N25,000 weekly. The campaign runs between March and July 2021. 

 

Demola-Adeniyi stated that participation is open to both new and existing individual customers of the Bank, adding that, this is the perfect time to open an Ecobank account or reactivate and fund  a dormant account to qualify for the reward and enjoy a first-rate banking experience. “Fifty (50) customers with the highest deposit will be rewarded with N25,000 every week.  And four customers with the highest deposit and transaction value within the campaign duration will be rewarded with N1 million naira each.”

 

Speaking on the dynamics of the scheme, Daberechi Effiong, Head, Consumer Products, Ecobank Nigeria, said the conditions to qualify for the scheme are simple  and easy to ensure both new and existing customers participate and get rewarded.  According to her, new customers are expected to open an account with a minimum of N5,000 and maintain the deposit for a 30-day period; same she noted applies to existing customers, who only need to fund their active account with a minimum of N5,000 or reactivate their dormant account with a minimum of N5,000 and maintain the deposit for a 30 day period. Other conditions she noted are listed on Ecobank’s website, she also explained that customers can withdraw funds from their account during the campaign period but will  only be qualified for the reward when they maintain at least a balance of N5,000 in their account.

 

Further, Mrs. Effiong noted that the beneficiaries of the reward will be announced every week  on different platforms, including the Bank’s  social media handles like Facebook – @EcobankNGR, Twitter and Instagram – @ecobank Nigeria and direct communication to customers. She stated that “the bank will also send congratulatory SMS/email to the beneficiaries of the reward. She further explained that a customer can be rewarded more than once. “However, they will be required to make additional deposits and fulfill the other conditions for eligibility.” She advised those seeking further enquiry to do so via the Bank’s social media platforms and contact centre.

NDLEA Recovers Rifles in Niger, Destroys Hectares of Cannabis farm in Ondo

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Niger State Command have recovered 27 new rifles from two suspects during a routine stop and search operation in Kontagora area of the state.

 

The suspects; Danjuma Auta, 35, and Daniel Danrangi, 25, both male and from Dirin Daji, Sakaba Local Government Area of Kebbi State were arrested along Kontagora – Zuru road, Niger state on Monday night.

 

According to the Niger state Commander of the Agency, Mr. Aloye Isaac Oludare, the duo were arrested with 12 locally fabricated AK 47 rifles and 15 locally fabricated pistols. The rifles were concealed in a white sack while on a motorcycle to an unknown place when they were arrested.

 

“Kontagora where the weapons were seized is about 107 kilometers from Kagara, a town in Niger State where there have been mass abductions of women, children and secondary school students in the last one month.

 

“Preliminary investigation shows that the fabricator of the weapons resides in Kamfaninwaya, not far away from Kontagora, while one of the pistols is fully loaded. The suspects and the weapons will be transferred to the Nigerian Police Headquarters, Minna for further investigation and prosecution of the suspects”, he stated.

 

In another operation, operatives of NDLEA, Ondo State Command have raided Ita-Ipele and Ipele forests, Owo LGA of Ondo State. “During the operation, Six suspects, namely; Stephen Ikechukwu, 38; Stephen Friday, 32; Austin Osadebe, 58; Friday Paul, 29; Adebayo Raphael, 25 and John Pius, 45, were arrested.

 

“A total of 41kgs of Cannabis Sativa and 6kgs of Cannabis Seeds were recovered during the operation, while a total of five hectares of Cannabis farm was located and destroyed”, the Ondo state Commander of the Agency, Mr. Haruna Gagara stated.

Ecobank Nigeria Targets MSMEs With Recent N50bn Subordinated Funding

The Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwuntan has said the bank’s newly sourced N50 billion credit will be deployed to support Micro, Small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) and small corporates in the country. He pointed out that the bank recognizes MSMEs as the drivers of post COVID-19 economic recovery for Nigeria, stressing that additional funding support from the bank would further generate and bolster activities in the sector thereby driving the much-needed growth in the country, provide jobs and support wealth creation.

According to Mr. Akinwuntan, “The proceeds of the financing will support MSMEs in the country and is particularly useful for this segment where access to bank loans is considered as the biggest impediment to growth. As MSMEs currently account for about half of the country’s gross domestic product and circa 96 per cent of the total number of businesses, this support will definitely make a positive impact.”

He noted that “As an MSME friendly bank, we have been helping them with capacity building; providing simple and easy access to loans in various sectors including manufacturing, agriculture, creative industry, healthcare, general commerce and services. Our robust digital platforms help facilitate transaction convenience for our clients particularly during this Covid pandemic and helped with the ease of doing business. Our award winning Omnilite digital banking platform helps businesses with a wide array of payment services electronically, while our POS machines and Ecobankpay solutions are widely deployed to assist with collections.”

Adding further, the Executive Director, Commercial Banking, Mrs Carol Oyedeji affirmed that Ecobank Nigeria has been in the forefront in supporting small businesses. She stated that “The bank has entered strategic partnerships with various development institutions to support both funding and risk sharing for MSME lending across various sectors of the economy. Small business owners can therefore avail themselves of this opportunity presented to grow and further expand. ”

Ecobank was recently named among the top 3 banks for SMEs in the Customer Experience Satisfaction survey conducted by a leading audit and professional services company, KPMG Nigeria. Prior to this the bank was given the BusinessDay award for Best Agric Bank in Nigeria.

The N50bn raised was a bilateral funding and provides stable medium-term liquidity to the balance sheet of Ecobank Nigeria. It has positively improved its balance sheet ratios, especially the capital adequacy ratio and is for a tenor of 10 years

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