The MTN saga shook the banking industry like a storm. In August 2018 the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, announced sanction of N5.87 billion on four banks namely Standard Chartered Bank Limited, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc  and Citi Bank Nigeria Limited. The banks were accused of authorising remittances of foreign exchange with irregular Certificates of Capital Importation, CCI, issued on behalf of some offshore investors of MTN Nigeria Communications Limited. The CBN, therefore, asked the managements of the banks and MTN Nigeria Communications Limited to immediately refund $8.1 billion illegally repatriated by the company to the coffers of the apex bank.

In this interview, Head, Agric & Micro Insurance at Leadway Assurance, Mr. Ayoola Fatona suggests ways to deepen micro insurance acceptance among SMEs.

AS the insurance year 2018 comes to an end today, industry operators have shared with Insurance Vanguard what they considered the main challenges of the sector during the year.

The National Chairman, Constance Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Shehu Mallam Mikail, in an interview with Financial Vanguard spoke on the merger between Cement Company of Northern Nigeria, CCNN Plc and BUA Cement, saying that shareholders will benefit more from the combined entity. He also said that the merger will also enhance the output of cement production in the country. Excerpts:

In this interview, Deputy Commissioner for Insurance,  Technical, at the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, Mr. Sunday Thomas, harps on the need for prompt payment of claims and other issues. Excerpt:

THE International Olympic   Committee (IOC) and Allianz, a global insurance group, have announced  that the insurer will join the “Worldwide Olympic Partner” (TOP) programme in 2021.

FOLLOWING the restoration of power to Ode Aye town in Okitipupa Local Government area of Ondo South, after a long while, the traditional ruler of Ode Aye, Ondo state, Oba William Akinmusayo Akinlade, the Halu of Ode-Aye kingdom has commended the staff and management of Benin Electricity Plc, BEDC, for the restoration of electricity to the town.

Adewale Adeyipo is the Executive Director of Sales and Marketing Development, CWG Plc. In this interview with SAMSON ECHENIM, he speaks on the company’s challenges and feats in 2018, as well as its forecast for 2019. Excerpts :

ANALYSTS in the capital market have said that the equities market will record bouts of gains this week after a mixed performance in the last week of December.

ONE of the fallout of the cashless policy and rapid deployment of electronic payment channels is online payment.

THERE are apprehensions in the insurance industry over allegations that some insurance operators have cleverly created means of giving out discounts on compulsory classes of insurance thereby bypassing the pricing policy by the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM.

 The Ogun Assembly on Thursday passed  the 2019 appropriation bill of N400billion, cutting off  N2.632 billion from the initial N402.63 billion proposed by Gov. Ibikunle Amosun.

The Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Dr. Isa Ibrahim Pantami, has said that the wisdom behind the NITDA ‘Start-Up Friday’  is to identify young innovators who have potentials and see how they can be supported to achieve their dreams. 

Lagos Film Academy (LFA) has selected three young aspiring entrepreneurial filmmakers, with $5,000 for making a short film directed at impacting social change with a storyline around the 2019 general elections in Nigeria.

Tayo Oviosu, CEO & Founder of  Paga, and Jay Alabraba, Co-Founder and Director of Business Development, have been selected as Endeavor Entrepreneurs. Endeavor now supports 1,793 entrepreneurs leading 1,124 companies in 33 markets around the world.