The bank started as a community bank in 1994, and in 2007 was transformed to microfinance bank. One cannot really put the figures together, but I know every year we disbursed more than N250 million to the grassroots (micro, small, and medium enterprises). The area the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is looking at the moment is mostly women, how to empower women because they believed that women pay more. That is where we are now, to see how we can assemble economically active poor, especially market women, and empower them.
Updated 6 Years ago

Lafarge Cement WAPCO, one of the leading cement manufacturers in Nigeria, has trained no fewer than 4,100 block makers under the auspices of National Association of Blocks Moulders of Nigeria on the intricacies and specifications of standard block moulding and concrete mixing as part of efforts targeted at preventing of incessant building collapse in the country. Lafarge Cement WAPCO signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on human capacity development with the National Association of Blocks Moulders of Nigeria in conjunction with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria on standardisation of blocks moulding and concrete mixing, having observed the agonies of building collapse on Nigerians and nation’s economy.
Updated 6 Years ago

One in 10 Africans are logging on to Facebook every month, the world’s number one online social network said this week, presenting a new target audience for advertisers. Of those 100 million people, 80 percent are accessing the platform via mobiles on a continent with very low internet penetration and smartphone ownership, it said. Facebook’s global mobile advertising revenue jumped more than 150 percent in the second quarter, accounting for about 62 percent of overall ad revenue.
Updated 6 Years ago

Dubai is building a minority stake in Nigeria’s largest cement manufacturer as the Gulf state deploys its finances to develop its role as an investment gateway into sub-Saharan Africa. The emirate’s state holding company is diversifying its portfolio by investing $300 million into the West African market through a minority stake in Dangote Cement, which has a market capitalisation of about $23 billion.
Updated 6 Years ago

The residents of Isoko in Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State are at loggerheads with the federal government over what they consider injustice in the award of an oil surveillance contract and oil drilling in their community, writes Victor Efeizemor Few years ago, Nigeria was a hotbed of violence militancy. Campaigning for an equal share in the resources of their homeland, organized youths from the Niger-Delta region fanned out and inflicted diverse atrocities: breaking pipelines, stealing crude oil, kidnapping oil workers and even launching attacks on oil companies’ facilities. Their reasons were simple: ‘this is our land, and if anyone is taking oil from it, it has to be on our own terms’.
Updated 6 Years ago

The Bauchi State Government through its youth-centred programme, Youth Upliftment and Gender Development Agenda recently provided employment to 4,000 unemployed youths and women to check poverty and anti-social vices in the state. Segun Awofadeji writes The emergence of Mallam Isa Yuguda as the governor of Bauchi State following the outcome of the 2007 election in the state was a milestone in the history of the state. It could as well be described as a revolution. This revolution however, created its own problem based on the high expectation of the people who voted him as their governor. As much as the government is determined to deliver the dividends of democracy, the issues of unemployment and poverty occasioned by lack of skills among the youth in the state continue to be a challenge.
Updated 6 Years ago

Former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, yesterday said the insurgency in the North-eastern part of the country is aimed at stopping President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting for 2015 presidential election. Kalu, who lauded the president for stabilising the polity since his assumption of office, wondered why some people were bent on sponsoring the activities of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.
Updated 6 Years ago

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State has said it would not apply zoning in choosing its candidates for elective positions in the 2015 elections. The position of the party was made known to journalists yesterday by the state Chairman of the PDP, Chief Felix Obuah, while presenting a six-point communique issued at the end of a meeting of the state executive council meeting of the party. The communique said: “For the purpose of the 2015 elections, the party is poised to reclaim all its lost offices in the state. Consequently, the party shall ensure internal democracy and provide a level playing field for every member seeking to contest any elective position.
Updated 6 Years ago

The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the just concluded by-election in Niger State, David Umar, has accused both the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of stealing his mandate, adding that they have not been able to celebrate because they are ashamed. “Why are they not celebrating if truly they (PDP) won? They cannot celebrate because the mandate is not theirs.” According to Umar, who spoke to journalists in Minna, during a press briefing yesterday, said the election was fraught with fraudulent activities perpetrated by the PDP in collaboration with INEC officials.
Updated 6 Years ago

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has suspended the distribution of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) in Madagali, Michika, Maiha, Mubi North and Mubi South Local Government Areas of Adamawa State for security reasons. The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Kasim Gaidam, stated this shortly after a meeting with security agencies, National Orientation Agency (NOA) and political parties’ executives in Yola in preparations for the coming October 11 by-election in state.
Updated 6 Years ago