Author: Ugochi Emmanuel

AfDB president Adesina advocates finance of large scale youth-led businesses

Ugochi Emmanuel
AfDB president Adesina

AfDB president Adesina advocates finance of large scale youth-led businesses   With Agency Report   The African Development Bank (AfDB) has called on governments and private sectors in Africa to grow, finance and support large scale youth-led businesses in the continent. President of the AfDB, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, said this at a virtual High-Level Roundtable on Scaling up Financing for Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Africa from Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire on Monday. The webinar was tagged the “Rationale for the Creation of Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Banks.” The AfDB had approved…

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Breaking: Headline inflation eases in April

Ugochi Emmanuel
Headline Inflation eases in April

Headline inflation eases in April The consumer price index (CPI) which measures inflation rate in Nigeria settled at 18.12 per cent year-on-year in April 2021. This is 0.05 per cent points lower than the rate recorded in March 2021 (18.17) per cent. Increases were recorded in all Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the Headline index, latest CPI report released today by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown. The bureau also said food inflation stood at 22.72per cent in April 2021 from 22.95 per…

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Liquidity squeeze persists as CBN auctions fresh N117.6bn TB instruments

Ugochi Emmanuel
Liquidity squeeze persists as CBN auctions fresh N117.6bn TB instruments

Liquidity squeeze persists as CBN auctions fresh N117.6bn TB instruments     The Treasury bills secondary market remained bearish this week, as the liquidity squeeze in the system drove sell-offs by market participants. As a result, the average yield across all instruments expanded by 14 basis points to 7.1 per cent. Across the market segments, the average yield increased by 23bps to 8.6 per cent at the OMO segment and by 21bps to 5.1 per cent at the NTB segment. At the NTB auction, the CBN offered instruments worth N117.56…

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CIBN plans legacy projects across six geo-political zones

Ugochi Emmanuel
CIBN plans legacy projects across six geo-political zones

CIBN plans legacy projects across six geo-political zones     The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) has approved plans to build a mini hall in selected linkage institutions across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. The bankers’ institute made this announcement at its 2021 Annual General Meeting (AGM) held virtually on Saturday in Lagos. Dr Bayo Olugbemi, President and Chairman of Council, CIBN, who made the statement at the institute’s AGM said the proposed hall of 200-seating capacity will be fully furnished with air conditioning and well equipped…

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WTO reports 15% decline in global trade costs

Ugochi Emmanuel
Global trade costs

WTO reports 15% decline in global trade costs     World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Friday said that the Global trade costs have dropped by 15 per cent between 2000 and 2018. The Trade costs for services are higher than trade costs for agricultural goods, Trade costs for manufactured goods are the lowest. This was disclosed by the Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala-led World Trade Organisation (WTO) via its Twitter handle. According to the report, the overall trade costs are higher for women, SMEs, and unskilled workers. High-income groups face higher trade costs,…

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NGX Group to re-energise Africans with ‘The Stock Africa Is Made Of’ campaign

Ugochi Emmanuel
NGX Group The Stock Africa Is Made Of

NGX Group to re-energise Africans with ‘The Stock Africa Is Made Of’ campaign     The Nigerian Exchange Group (Plc) formerly Nigerian Stock Exchange given a heads up about a new campaign it intends to re-energise Africans and validate the success stories of the continent. The campaign is titled ‘The Stock Africa Is Made Of’, according to a press released signed Olumide Orojimi, the corporate communications manager of the group. According to the Group, the campaign will showcase the resilience, ambition, result-oriented spirit that makes Africans different. It is also…

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Creative industry to lift Nigeria’s GDP by N5trn – Report

Ugochi Emmanuel

Creative industry to lift Nigeria’s GDP by N5trn – Report     Jobberman, a leading online career portal in Nigeria, in partnership with Mastercard Foundation, has released a report on Nigeria’s creative industry. According to the report, the creative industry is positioned as the country’s second-largest employer and has the potential to produce 2.7 million jobs by 2025. Additionally, it is set to contribute N5 trillion to the country’s GDP. The report said after agriculture, the creative sector was the second largest employer of labour in Nigeria. The sector currently…

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Jumia’s Q1 revenue down 6% to €27.4m despite growing customer base

Ugochi Emmanuel
Jumia’s Q1 revenue down 6% to €27.4m

Jumia’s Q1 revenue down 6% to €27.4m despite growing customer base     African e-commerce giant Jumia has shared its earnings for the first quarter of 2021 that ended in March.  While its customer count grew, a drop in the company’s revenues spoke to the fact that it is still reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most areas in Africa where Jumia operates have lifted their lockdown restrictions, but some countries like Morocco and Kenya still have curfews. Jumia said while these measures didn’t lead to meaningful changes in…

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Stanford University, Tony Elumelu Foundation jointly uncover priorities of female African entrepreneurs

Ugochi Emmanuel
Tony Elumelu Foundation, Stanford University jointly uncover priorities of female African entrepreneurs

Tony Elumelu Foundation, Stanford University jointly uncover priorities of female African entrepreneurs   A research study carried out by the Tony Elumelu Foundation in partnership with Stanford University found that female African entrepreneurs prioritised social impact over business profitability. The study carried out on a select pool from 140,000 entrepreneurs that applied to the TEF programme between 2015 and 2017 made a couple of discoveries. These findings were reportedly influenced by a host of factors including capital consideration, gender motivation and mindset. It found that women in Africa were overwhelmingly…

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Augusto predicts rebound in Nigeria’s diaspora remittances to hit $22bn

Ugochi Emmanuel
Augusto predicts rebound in Nigeria’s diaspora remittances to hit $22bn

Augusto predicts rebound in Nigeria’s diaspora remittances to hit $22bn     Nigeria’s diaspora remittances have been projected to recover by five per cent to $22 billion by the end of 2021. Agusto & Co. Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of a rating agency, Agusto Consulting Limited, disclosed this in its report titled ‘2021 Nigeria diaspora remittance report & survey’ for May 2021. The projected remittance is a $1 billion recovery from $21 billion dollars that was remitted in 2020 after a $2 billion decline from $23 billion in 2019…

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