An economic expert has recommended further tightening of the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) raised by 50 basis points to 8.5 per cent even as the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria meets this week to review economic conditions and decide whether to further tighten money supply.

Shareholders have applauded Oando Plc’s recent diversified earnings following its integrated model approach adopted by its Board of Directors.

First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Plc has released its financial performance for the first half of the year ended June 30, 2011 with the bank group recording significant improvements across major lines of the income statement and stronger growth in the overall financial position.

To increase its market share, Dansa Foods Limited, a subsidiary of the Dangote Group, makers of Dansa fruit juice, in partnership with Tetra Pak Nigeria, said it’s deploying an avalanche of direct marketing personnel to entrench its presence in the market, via its Project Hydra initiative.

Why must a banking system with Islamic background be forced on the throat of a country that is plural in religion? It should not be accepted or else Nigeria is heading towards disintegration.” Reverend Peter Akinola, immediate past Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) in Vanguard, Monday July 11, 2011, p 8.

In the last two years, the focus of the Central Bank of Nigeria has been on banking supervision, risk management in banks and other non-core functions such as the plan to set up a poultry farm, construction of a modern conference centre.

Media reports last week confirmed that the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) shared over N1.3 trillion to the three tiers of government for the month of June 2011. The reports rightly recognized the amount disbursed as the highest in recent times.

Government securities last week recorded oversubscription of 152 per cent, reflecting surplus of money in the interbank money market.

African Reinsurance Plc (Africa Re) final accounts for the year ended 31 December, 2010 has revealed an income of US$627.53 million compared to US$ 536.38 million in 2009.

The marketing communications industry is becoming more engaging. Proponents of the Below-The- Line (BTL) machinery have seen the future in the BTL tool and are capitalising on it, says Segun Aluko, Managing Director of BTL Solutions, a direct, digital and experiential marketing firm based in Lagos in this interview with Princewill Ekwujuru.