Fidelity Bank is on the verge of sourcing new capital allowing for the issuance of over three (3) billion shares, the tier 1-aspiring lender said Wednesday, a move that could further expansion plans and shoot its outstanding shares above 32 billion units. It will take the route of private placement whereby a limited number of individuals, usually high-net-worth, and institutional investors are allotted all the shares and the transaction itself is conducted away from the open market. To hit the starting point, the capital raising requires the sanction of shareholders, including their need to “waive their pre-emptive rights in respect of…
Author: Elvis Eromosele
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced the commencement of recruitment for ad hoc staff for the upcoming general elections. The announcement was made by INEC on Wednesday on its official Facebook page. INEC revealed that the portal will be opened on September 14 by 8:00 am and scheduled to close on November 30, by 8:00 am. What INEC is saying INEC called on eligible and interested persons to visit the portal and apply. The statement partly reads “The Commission has approved the re-activation of INECPRES both the Mobile App for Android phones only and the web portal (laptops only).…
Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch in British history and an icon instantly recognizable to billions of people around the world has died aged 96, according to Buckingham Palace. This is coming a few hours after the palace said in a statement that doctors placed her on medical supervision due to concerns over her health. The death was announced via a statement released by Buckingham Palace. The statement reads: “The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.” Her eldest son, Prince Charles,…
OHORE EMMANUEL U. PGDE students at the National Open University in Abuja According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), a total of 1,440 students have been abducted and 25 school attacks have taken place in Nigeria in 2021. Since the 2014 adoption of the 276 Chibok girls from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State, by Boko Haram, education in Nigeria has consistently been under threat. Children have been abducted in schools for years with no lasting solution proposed by the government. A report by France24 shows that more than 1,000 students have been kidnapped from schools…
The US has approved nearly $2.7bn (£2.3bn) in new aid for Ukraine including $675m in arms supplies as the country battles Russia’s invasion. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the package at a meeting with dozens of fellow ministers at the US air base in Ramstein, Germany. Military aid includes howitzers, munitions, Humvee vehicles, armoured ambulances and anti-tank systems. The US has already pledged at least $13bn in military aid for Ukraine. The new funding includes $2bn in long-term assistance. Mr Austin said Ukraine’s allies must commit to supporting the country for as long as necessary and be prepared to adapt…
The nation’s banking sector received a total of $15.83 billion in foreign capital between 2017 to December 2021, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed. The data showed that capital flow to the banking sector increased by 23 per cent of the total capital importation into the country in the five-year period. The NBS data showed that the country pooled $69.39 billion in both foreign portfolios and foreign direct investments (FDIs) during the period. After investment in equity, banking was the most favoured sector by foreign investors, having secured almost one-fourth of the country’s foreign capital inflow.…
The recently passed Nigeria Startup Bill by National Assembly will help institutionalize legal frameworks to enhance the growth of startups and strengthen Nigeria’s digital economy. According to the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, a defined legal framework for the ecosystem will further help Nigeria to harness the potential of its digital economy through co-created regulations as well as provide enabling environment for attraction and protection of investment in the sector. Abdullahi stated this while delivering a keynote address at the Google Black Founders Fund in Africa 2022 launch event in Abuja this week. He…
MTN Nigeria, leading communications services provider, has announced plans to raise N23 billion in Commercial Paper (CP), in a bid to diversify its funding sources. In a regulatory filing with the Nigerian Exchange Limited, the telecom firm said the debt issuance is part of its N150 billion commercial paper programme. The communication signed by the company secretary stated that detail of the issuance will be communicated to the stakeholders as transactions occur. “The issuance is part of the company’s strategy to diversify its financing options, with the funds deployed towards working capital and general corporate purposes. “Further details on the…
In the absence of an 11th-hour miracle, when an assessment of the performance of the Executive arm of government will be carried out on May 29 next year, using the economy, security and corruption as an index, President Muhammadu Buhari may likely go down as a failed President. If this happened, the Legislative organ of government should largely be blamed. Firstly, for failing to invoke the doctrine of checks and balances to ensure the President discharges his statutory obligations in line with national interest and aspirations. Secondly, for failing to halt the breach of federal character principle by the President.…
Barely 24 hours after a seven-storey building collapsed and killed six people in Lekki, the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development in the State, Idris Salako, has resigned. The state commissioner for information and strategy Gbenga Omotoso announced this in a statement posted on Twitter on Monday. “The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, has accepted the resignation of the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako. This is a prelude to the restructuring of the Ministry and its agencies. Governor @jidesanwoolu thanks the Commissioner for his services to the State and…