Union Bank interim Managing Director, Mrs Funke Osibodu had an interactive session with journalists at the Muson Centre three weeks ago. At the session, she spoke of the bank’s recapitalisation process, staff welfare and why the bank held two annual general meetings in one day in Maiduguri.

The naira appreciated significantly in the interbank market and was relatively stable in the official market courtesy of $546 million foreign exchange sold by oil firms, including the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) last week.

Is government borrowing blocking credit to private sector? The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says yes, Debt Management Office (DMO) says no. Babajide Komolafe, hereby presents the arguments of the two government agencies.

Entrepreneurialism is an important factor in the development of any nation. Entrepreneurs are responsible for taking calculated risks that open up doors to progressively higher levels of economic growth. If it weren’t for them, the world would never have knows such marvels as the wheel, electricity or the Internet, to name just a few.

As discussions on global economic recovery take centre stage at the annual Davos gathering of political and business leaders, ICC is driving home the message that international trade is crucial to restoring the health of the global economy.

Nigeria issued a $500 million debut Eurobond on Friday with a 7.0 per cent yield in a deal that was heavily oversubscribed, as appetite for high-yielding assets outweighed concern about its depleted oil savings.

The naira has been projected to further depreciate in the coming years and may exchange for N202.7 to a dollar by 2015 according to International Monetary Fund evaluation of Nigeria macro economic indices. Projection by the multilateral institution said that in 2009, the naira will exchange on the average for N148.7 to the dollar while in 2010, it will go for N149.9 to the dollar.

Primary Mortgage Institutions (PMIs), under the aegis of Mortgage Bankers Association of Nigeria (MBAN), are seeking involvement in the collection and management of contributions to the National Housing Fund (NHF) scheme.

Wema Bank Plc, weekend announced that its Board of Directors has finally endorsed plans to concentrate on regional banking, even as it recovered N30 billion from its debtors.

The boom on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) paused Wednesday, last week, as profit takers rally on blue chip shares dragged down the performance indices, market capitalisation and the All share by 1.2 per cent.