Author: Ogochukwu Ndubuisi

Access Holdings Profit Falls by 23% to N215.916bn in H1-2025 Access Holdings Plc, a diversified financial services group headquartered in Lagos, saw its profit after tax decline by over 23% year-on-year to N215 billion in the first half of the 2025 financial year, according to audited financial statements. The group’s underwhelming financial performance plunged its return on average equity down by 11% year on year to 11.4%, while return on average assets fell to 1% from 2% in the equivalent period. Access Holdings bottom line was significantly impacted by a steep surge in impairment charges on bad loans and sharp…

Naira Appreciates to N1457.96 as Dollar Supply Remains Healthy Trading strong week on week, the naira climbed to N1457 at the official currency market as sufficient US dollar volume suppressed demand pressure. According to updated daily FX data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the naira appreciated by 0.17% to close at ₦1,457.96/$. The spot rate touched intraday high of N1463, from N1464 the previous day. This mild gain of N1 for intraday high transactions suggests that in spite of high dollar demand, the supply side was more than enough to supress pressure. The spot rate appreciated from…

Oramah Grows Afreximbank’s Assets to $40 billion – Elombi Dr George Elombi, Executive Vice-President (EVP) of Afreximbank, has highlighted the blueprint behind Prof. Benedict Oramah’s decade-long success, which saw the bank’s assets multiply from a mere US$6 billion in 2015 to over US$40 billion. Speaking at a Farewell Conference in honour of departing President Oramah on Friday in Cairo, Elombi attributed this monumental growth to Oramah’s “Portfolio Approach” and a unique blend of foresight and action. He cited a previous observation from the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria that Oramah was one of the few global leaders who…

Alleged Fraud: EFCC Witness Fails to Link Emefiele to Zenith Bank Account An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) witness on Friday failed to link Godwin Emefiele to accounts in Zenith Bank in the alleged property fraud case. Emefiele, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is charged with property fraud among others. The property is located at Plot 109, Cadastral Zone C09, Lokogoma District, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, measures 150,462.86 SQM and comprises 753 housing units. Emefiele and Eric Ocheme, at large, are also charged with unlawfully keeping in their possession billions of naira in…

Tinubu Sacks Service Chiefs, Appoints Oluyede as New CDS President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved major changes in the leadership of the Armed Forces, appointing new Service Chiefs in a decisive move aimed at strengthening national security architecture. According to a statement on Friday by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication, Chief Sunday Dare, the President named former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Olufemi Oluyede as the new Chief of Defence Staff, replacing General Christopher Musa. Major-General W. Shaibu has been appointed Chief of Army Staff, Air Vice Marshal S.K. Aneke takes over as Chief of Air…

Facebook, Instagram, TikTok Violate EU Rules – European Commission Preliminary findings by the European Commission on Friday shows that Facebook, Instagram and TikTok violate European Union rules, which could lead to hefty fines Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and TikTok now have the possibility to defend themselves against the allegations or make adjustments to their platforms in order to avoid financial penalties. According to the commission, the three platforms do not provide researchers with sufficient insight into their data as required under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). Such publicly accessible data sets should enable scientists to…

US Inflation Lands As Shutdown Starves Fed Jobs Data For Rate Cuts The long-awaited US inflation report landed today, showing price pressures continuing to cool, but it’s the jobs data that will really move the needle for the Federal Reserve. But with the government shutdown ongoing, there are growing questions over whether the central bank will even have access to that critical information before its next policy meeting, warns Nigel Green, CEO of global financial advisory giant deVere Group. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed that headline inflation rose 3.0% year-on-year in September, slightly lower than expected, while core inflation…

Africa, China Reaffirm Commitment to 2035 Vision Africa and China have reaffirmed commitment to accelerating the implementation of the China-Africa Cooperation 2035 Vision. The initiative is aimed at building a community with a shared future anchored on peace, sustainable growth and people-centred development. The commitment was made on Thursday during the 6th Abuja Forum. The forum had as theme: “Deepening the Implementation of the China-Africa Cooperation 2035 Vision: Forging a Closer China-Africa Community with a Shared Future (Putting Theory into Practice).” The annual forum, jointly hosted by the Gusau Institute (GI) and the Institute of African Studies at Zhejiang Normal…

Africa Can’t Talk Devt When Leadership Is Transactional – Wike The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, says. Africa cannot achieve development under a system of “transactional leadership”. Wike said this while delivering a keynote address titled “Reimagining Africa’s Leadership and Investment” at the 2025 Innovate Africa Conference, on Thursday in Abuja. He explained that the continent’s persistent under development, in spite of its vast resources, was a direct consequence of poor governance and self-serving politics. He lamented that Africa’s leadership trajectory—both in military and civilian dispensations has for decades been shaped by “self-serving conspiracies that bear…

Zenith Bank Reaffirms Support For Africa Climate Change Summit Zenith Bank Plc has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the Africa Business Ventures and Investment Group (ABVIG) to ensure the success of the Africa Climate Change and Green Investment Summit (AICIS-2026). Dame Adaora Umeoji, Group Managing Director/CEO of Zenith Bank, made this known in a statement following a courtesy visit by Moses Owharo, Chairman of the AICIS-2026 Planning and Organising Committee, in Lagos on Thursday. She said the bank would support the global summit scheduled for Nov. 25 to 28, 2026, aiming to promote sustainable infrastructure, climate resilience, and inclusive economic…