First Bank

Thursday, July 28, 2022

5 reasons Addy Finance and Investment Ltd crashed


While 2021 served as a recovery year for many individuals and organisations that drowned in the loss caused by the Covid pandemic, the reverse was the case for some investors who lost a fortune to investment firms.

Like many investments platform that went down last year, Addy Finance and Investment Ltd, formally known as AddyFx, was one of such. Billions of naira of investors’ money was trapped as the company could no longer keep up with the payment promise.

AddyFx was founded by Adoms Uju Francis in November 2018 and operated as a Forex trader which provided double-digit monthly returns on investments either: monthly every 6 months or every 12 months with options to either terminate at the end of a pre-agreed cycle, or rollover to mark the beginning of a fresh cycle.


Monday, July 25, 2022

For The Thirteenth Consecutive Year, Zenith Bank Retains Position As Number One Bank In Nigeria By Tier-1 Capital In The 2022 Top 1000 World Banks Ranking


Zenith Bank Plc has been ranked as the Number One Bank in Nigeria by Tier-1 Capital in the 2022 Top 1000 World Banks Ranking published by The Banker Magazine. For the thirteenth consecutive year, the Bank retained its position as the number one Tier-1 bank in Nigeria with a Tier-1 Capital of $2.75 billion, emerging as the 460th Bank globally.

The ranking, which was published in the July 2022 edition of The Banker Magazine of the Financial Times Group, United Kingdom, was based on the 2021 year-end Tier-1 capital of banks globally. Zenith Bank's financial performance for the year was underpinned by double-digit growth of 10% in gross earnings, with an improved market share in both retail and corporate sectors despite a very challenging macroeconomic environment aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Thursday, July 21, 2022

ASUU, Peter Obi, Bianca Ojukwu, Putin, top Nigerians’ Google search in half-year 2022


The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the forthcoming 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has emerged as one of the top 3 most-searched people in Nigeria in the last 6 months. This is according to the latest Google trends report released today.

Other top trending people in Nigeria within the last 6 months are Bianca Ojukwu and the Russian President, Vladmir Putin.

Stakeholders Identify Non-Oil Exports As Panacea For Economic Rejuvenation At Zenith Bank International Trade Seminar


Stakeholders unanimously called for support of Nigeria’s Non-Oil Export Sector at the 7th Annual Edition of the Zenith Bank International Trade Seminar themed “Unlocking Opportunities in Nigeria’s Non-Oil Export Business”, which was held on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos and virtually.

 

In his Goodwill Message Presentation, the Founder and Chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, Mr. Jim Ovia, CON, called for a concerted effort towards diversifying Nigeria’s export base through the promotion of non-oil exports. Highlighting the importance of non-oil export to the nation’s economy, Ovia pointed out that Nigeria exported cocoa and several other non-oil products for years before oil was discovered. He cited the example of the 25-storey Cocoa House in Ibadan, which was built with proceeds from cocoa exports. He pointed out that many countries in the world, such as Japan and China been successful because they are doing a great deal of innovation, production and manufacturing of goods and services. According to him, we should also look at promoting the nation’s non-oil export sector through technology to create technological giants like Apple, Tesla, and Google. And we already have technology companies in this mould in Nigeria, such as Flutterwave, which has a valuation of $3 billion, making it more valuable than some banks in Nigeria. Speaking further on the enormous potential in Nigeria’s non-oil sector, Ovia highlighted the phenomenal growth of Nigeria’s emerging financial technology (Fintech) companies such as Flutherwave, OPay, Interswitch, Kuda and Paystack, with market valuations of $3 billion, $2 billion, $1 billion, $500 million, $200 million, respectively. According to him, this underscores the enormous opportunity in the Fintech space. He also noted that the most capitalized companies in the world, such as Apple, Microsoft,  Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Tesla, Visa, etc., are not oil companies but are in the technological innovation space.

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

All Set For Zenith Bank’s 7th Annual International Trade Seminar On Non-Oil Export


The 7th Annual Edition of the Zenith Bank International Trade Seminar will be held on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, and virtually by 9.00 am. The seminar, themed “Unlocking Opportunities in Nigeria’s Non-Oil Export Business”, is part of Zenith Bank's efforts to support the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) initiatives to grow the country's non-oil export sector.

The seminar will draw participation from trade practitioners, local and foreign exporters, manufacturers, financial institutions, and government agencies. This forum would provide an opportunity for all participants, including relevant government agencies, to explore ways to unlock the immense opportunities in Nigeria's Non-Oil Export Sector.

Sunday, July 17, 2022

Nigerian executives of US fintech firm jailed over $160 million sent to Nigeria

Ping Express, a Texas-based remittance company with ties to the United Kingdom (UK), has pleaded guilty in the United States (US) to money laundering after sending over $160 million to Nigeria in suspicious transactions over a period of three years.


According to a statement by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the fintech company admitted it failed to seek sufficient details about the sources or purposes of the funds involved in the transactions or the customers initiating the transmissions.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ping Express, Anslem Oshionebo, and the firm’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Opeyemi Odeyale, were both handed a 27-month prison sentence for their involvement, according to US legal filings.

The firm’s IT/Business Development Manager received a prison sentence of 42 months.

According to the DOJ statement, three individuals – including two of Ping Express’s top customers – previously pleaded guilty to transmitting illegally-derived funds through the company.

“Collins Orogun admitted last week that he accepted a fee in exchange for transferring money for ‘romance scam’ fraudsters and other criminals.

“In one instance, an Indiana woman sent $15,000 to ‘Carson Jacks’, a purported oil roughneck in the Gulf of Mexico she fell in love with online, after he told her he’d contracted malaria. In another, a second Indiana woman sent $6,300 to ‘Thomas Ken,” a purported Irish ship captain she fell in love with online, to fix his ship.

“In two years, Orogun received more than $1.3 million in cash, cashier’s checks, and wires into several US bank accounts he controlled and then quickly moved more than $1 million of the funds to Africa through Ping Express.

“He faces up to 20 years in federal prison and is set to be sentenced on Jan. 23, 2023,” the statement said.

Ping Express was licensed to transmit money but was not licensed to conduct currency exchange and charged US customers a fee to remit money to beneficiaries in Nigeria and other African nations.

Ping Express now faces five years of probation and a fine of up to $500,000.

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

South Africa police hunt five gunmen over Soweto bar shooting

South Police are hunting five gunmen who burst into a bar in Soweto and killed 15 customers in a hail of bullets, South Africa's Police Minister has said.

Behki Cele described the incident in the early hours of Sunday (July 10) morning as "such a brutality".

He said the high number of rounds forensics teams found at the scene meant the killers would have had to reload in the middle of the slaughter.

“There were about 130 empty cartridges of AK-47. Which means those people that were there really meant business of killing.”

Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Dangote customers to win N1billion in new Cement Promo


Consumers of Dangote Cement Plc, a leading cement brand in Nigeria, stand the chance of winning over N1 billion cash prizes in the Dangote Bag of Goodies Season 3 promo, tagged ‘Spell Dangote and become a multi-millionaire.’

 

The promo, which was launched in Lagos yesterday in the presence of regulators from the National Lottery Regulatory Commission and Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, is expected to offer life-changing prizes, which will have immense economic values to the loyal consumers.

 

According to the company, Dangote Cement Bag of Goodies Promo Season 3, which runs from July 5 to October 31, 2022, promises to be a blast as there are over 32.3 million mouth-watering prizes to be won, including television sets, refrigerators, rechargeable fans, 2KVA generators, and millions of airtime gifts of major networks in Nigeria.

 

Interestingly, every single bag of Dangote Cement to be produced daily through the promo period will contain scratch cards for various gifts to be won by consumers.

 

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, Group Managing Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Michel Puchercos stated that the Bag of Goodies Promo series is designed to continuously reward loyal Consumers who have stayed faithful and remained the backbone in the cement business. He said these consumers have contributed in no small measure to make Dangote range of cement products the first choice for construction purposes across the country.

 

Puchercos explained: “We are offering life-changing prizes, which have immense economic values as they can be used to kick-start small scale businesses. These prizes are targeted to help many families recover from the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic, which adversely affected their sources of livelihood.”

 

Giving details about the promo, National Sales Director, Dangote Cement, Funmi Sanni, described the promo as a huge investment aimed at rewarding new and existing consumers, “especially in these trying times of our nationhood with the much needed financial and material palliatives.”

 

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

For A Second Consecutive Year, Zenith Bank Maintains Position As Nigeria’s Best Commercial Bank, Also Named Best Corporate Governance Bank At World Finance 2022 Awards


Zenith Bank Plc has emerged as the Best Commercial Bank, Nigeria in the World Finance Banking Awards 2022, retaining the award for a second consecutive year. The bank was also named as the Best Corporate Governance Bank, Nigeria in the World Finance Corporate Governance Awards 2022.

 

The awards, which were presented to the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive of Zenith Bank Plc, Mr. Ebenener Onyeagwu at the London Stock Exchange yesterday, were in recognition of the bank’s ability to embrace digital transformation and best-in-class sustainability and corporate governance practices, leading to a stellar business performance in a difficult economic climate.

 

PSG name Galtier as new manager after parting ways with Pochettino


Paris St Germain announced Christophe Galtier as their new manager on Tuesday (July 5), shortly after the Ligue 1 champions parted ways with Mauricio Pochettino.

Galtier joins PSG on a two-year contract after leaving Nice last month, having guided them to a runners-up finish in the French Cup and fifth place in Ligue 1 last season.

The 55-year-old Frenchman joined Nice in 2021 after leading Lille to their first Ligue 1 title since 2011 in the previous campaign. Before joining Lille, Galtier spent eight seasons at Saint Etienne, where he won the French Cup in 2012-2013.

Friday, July 1, 2022

Senator Nwaoboshi jailed seven years over money laundering


The Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal today July 1, 2022, convicted and sentenced Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, senator representing Delta North Senatorial District at the National Assembly, to seven years imprisonment

The court ordered that his two companies, Golden Touch Construction Project Ltd and Suiming Electrical Ltd, be wound up in line with the provisions of Section 22 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2021.