Businessmen and traders of member states of the Economic Community of West Africa States worried by lack of sanctity of contract and respect for the protocol of the community are seeking legal option to settle trade and related dispute among members. They are in agreement that an ECOWAS Court of Justice is a potential forum for the adjudication of trade related regional instruments and are of the view that there is need for advocacy towards the expansion of the jurisdiction of the ECOWAS Court of Justice hitherto limited to human rights to cover trade related issues as part of economic rights.

In a bid to give its employee a voice in the regulatory body and a sense of belonging, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) assembled all cadres of its staff to chat ways of improving efficiency, increase revenues and reduce expenses in the coming year. The Commission last weekend gathered its entire rank and file staff from across the nation to Abuja for a two-day retreat in order to put the ideas from the cadres of staff into use ahead of 2016 operation.

Friends of Special People (FOSP) also known as Friends of the Disabled (FOTD), Vocational Centre, weekend, send forth about 11 youths with disabilities who have made up their minds to survive by accepting and learning skills that includes them into the main stream of the Society. Some of the graduates acquired various skills from vocations in shoe and leather works, Tailoring, Fish farming and Help services.

Ecobank Nigeria has unveiled an online marketplace, www.mymall.com.ng targeted at driving the growth of the small and medium enterprises sector in Nigeria. Speaking to journalists at the sideline of the unveiling in Lagos, Head, SME Business for Ecobank Nigeria, Sunkanmi Olowo, said: “Mymall Nigeria is an online platform where our customers can open a shop online. We have developed a site where they can rent a shop and then be able to sell to the whole world.

Premium Pension Limited, a Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) in the country has been certified with the Information Security Management System certification, (ISO-27001:2013.), a first in the pension industry. The certificate was officially presented to the company by the British High Commissioner at its corporate head office in Abuja last week.

DUE to the highly complex nature of legal framework in real estate in Nigeria, it is very difficult to buy property without a horde of “experts” attempting to sway you with their advice. In Lagos state, in particular, the steps taken when purchasing property depends on whether you are buying empty land, an uncompleted building or a completed building, according to RE/MAX, a leading global real estate franchise company. The firm here offers some advice on legal matters to consider when buying property in the country.

Alcatel OneTouch is unexpected, down to earth, irreverent and colourful. We believe that what makes technology smart is what you can do with it rather than what it can do. Alcatel Onetouch is a global brand which has redefined the mobile mass market by making the latest mobile technologies accessible to everyone. It is the first to recognize the mass market’s needs and has since brought choice, variety and flexibility to customers – from operators to consumers.

Although Nigeria is the largest producer of shea nuts in Africa, accounting for about 40 per cent of the 600,000 MT of shea nut in West Africa annually, accounting for almost 60 per cent of world’s supply of shea butter and allied derivatives valued at about $3.8 billion every year according to Global Shea Alliance, yet, the country is not benefiting from the huge shea market because of low quality of the butter and nuts.

In the European parliament for instance almost 2/3 of them are male, although this has increased 16% to 24% from 1997 to 2009, but nevertheless the female demographic is still notably under represented. In national governments, the situation is improving steadily with the share of women senior ministers in EU governments at 27%. The European Commission counts nine women Commissioners (33%) and eighteen men (67%), the best gender balance yet – up from 5.6% in 1994/1995.

Nigerian Shippers’ Council, NSC has faulted mounting opposition against the International cargo tracking note CTN, accusing the Shipping Association of Nigeria (SAN), the umbrella body for almost all shipping lines operating in Nigeria, of distorting facts regarding the International Cargo Tracking Note.

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has disclosed that the draft guideline on the 2014 Pension Reform Act for withdrawals from Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) is meant to prevent the fund from being used to finance terrorism and money laundering. PenCom which cleared the air on the misconstruing of the RSAs by the Rivers State Council of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) in a statement, said that the voluntary contributions into RSAs are meant to boost contributors’ final pension and not a savings account that could be drawn at will.

Despite seeming iron clad position of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, backed by both the presidency and the newly inaugurated minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, the short and medium term outlook of the foreign exchange, forex, market points to significant decline in the value of Naira.

The launching of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers Programme in far away Kebbi state last week represents the latest effort to tackle one of the greatest challenges to Nigeria’s foreign reserves and the value of the naira, which is the huge amount of foreign exchange spent on food importation.

Investing in ethical stocks is more attractive as they deliver more returns to investors compared to other asset classes. This was the position of asset managers at Capita Assets Limited, in a data provided by the company that tracked percentage returns of various investment options available in the Nigerian capital market.

Fidelity Bank Plc has given out a whooping sum of N7 million, a duplex in Abuja and other consolation prizes to winners that emerged in the second draw of its on-going Save4 Shelter promo.