The Federal Government said on Wednesday that it had secured a fresh funding of about N100bn for developmental projects over the next five years from the European Development Fund. The immediate past Supervising Minister for National Planning, who is now the Minister of State for Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, disclosed this in Abuja during his handing over to the newly appointed Minister of National Planning, Dr. Abubakar Sulaiman.
Updated 5 Years ago

Union Bank of Nigeria Plc has recovered N3.5 billion loans in the first half of 2014, showing a significant improvement compared to the N1.5 billion recovered in the corresponding period of 2013. The Chief Financial Officer of Union Bank, Oyinkan Adewale said that the improvement resulted from bank’s aggressively focused on recoveries. She disclosed that as a bank that is also focused on driving business in key sectors of the economy, Union Bank grew its loan book by 55 per cent in the first half of year, to N239 billion.
Updated 5 Years ago

Standard Chartered Bank has said it has increased its commitment to the ‘Power Africa’ initiative by raising its pledge from $2 billion to $5 billion, after reaching its initial commitment in 12 months. The bank had during President Obama’s launch of Power Africa in July last year initially committed $2 billion.
Updated 5 Years ago

In 2009, I decided to attend the National Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Conference to understand how the government could partner with businesses and support innovative ideas and technologies. I was frustrated with the lack of capital available for small businesses. Most of the funds being promoted in the finance community were either debt financing requiring the repayment of a loan or equity financing requiring the business to give up a percentage of the profit in exchange for the necessary funding.
Updated 5 Years ago

According to researchers at Duke University, habits account for about 40 percent of our behaviors on any given day. Understanding how to build new habits (and how your current ones work) is essential for making progress in your health, your happiness, and your life in general. But there can be a lot of information out there and most of it isn’t very simple to digest. To solve this problem and break things down in a very simple manner, I have created this strategy guide for building new habits that actually stick.
Updated 5 Years ago

Union Bank of Nigeria has reported a 33 percent drop in profit after tax for the half year ended June 30, 2014, but has maintained “strong underlying performance and sustainable profitability.” The bank recorded a profit after tax of N9.4 billion ($58.1 million) in the second quarter of 2013, but dropped to N6.3 billion ($39 million) in 2014.
Updated 5 Years ago

American financial and investment company, Intangis Holdings has claimed that it holds evidence confirming that the liquidation of Afribank and subsequent transfer of its assets and liabilities to Mainstreet Bank by the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) in August 2011 is illegal. The investment firm, which was the majority shareholder in Afribank, also alleges that AMCON, as it plans divesting from Mainstreet Bank, is omitting to make provision for certain liabilities of the bank which Intangis Holdings estimated at $1.4 billion.
Updated 5 Years ago

Johannesburg and New York listed gold miner, Sibanye Gold, on Thursday posted what it described as a robust performance in the six months to June this year. “Production increased by 8 percent year-on-year and costs declined in real terms,” CEO Neal Froneman said as the company released interim results in Johannesburg.
Updated 5 Years ago

OPEC’s oil production rose in July from June, a Reuters survey found on Wednesday, as a fragile recovery in Libyan supply outweighed fighting in Iraq and reduced output from Angola. Despite the increase, unrest in Africa and the Middle East is still weighing on supply. That could hinder OPEC’s ability to boost output later in the year, when the International Energy Agency expects demand for OPEC crude to rise.
Updated 5 Years ago

Dubai luxury property developer DAMAC is offering investors the option of converting its Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs), listed on the London bourse, into ordinary shares that would be listed on Dubai’s main stock market. Investors would get around 23.08 shares per GDR. They have until September 2 to decide on the offer, the developer said in a statement to the London bourse on Wednesday.
Updated 5 Years ago