Inflationary pressures intensified in September, adding to the challenges faced by Nigerian companies as the third quarter drew to a close.

Although new orders increased for a second month running, the rate of growth remained muted and insufficient to prevent a further reduction in business activity. Likewise, the rate of job creation was only marginal and eased to a three-month low.

The headline figure derived from the survey is the Stanbic IBTC Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). Readings above 50.0 signal an improvement in business conditions in the previous month, while readings below 50.0 show a deterioration.

Muyiwa Oni, Head of Equity Research West Africa at Stanbic IBTC Bank commented: “Nigeria’s PMI remained below the 50-point mark for the third consecutive month, settling at 49.8 points in September from 49.9 points in August. This points to a further fractional deterioration in business conditions, the third in as many months, largely due to challenging demand conditions amid the inflationary environment. Still, the pace of deterioration remained marginal as some firms were able to secure greater new business during the month. Output increased in agriculture and manufacturing, but fell in wholesale & retail and services. Meanwhile, companies remained reluctant to hold inventories in September, cutting stocks of purchases for the second month running and to the largest extent since May 2020.

Inventories were reduced in line with falling output and muted customer demand. Elsewhere, input costs increased to their third steepest on record while output prices quickened to their fastest level in six months. Business activity was underwhelming in Q3:24 relative to Q2:24, implying that the non-oil sector may grow slowly in Q3:24 amid the triple whammy of high inflation rate, elevated interest rates, and currency volatility all of which continue to undermine domestic demand and business investments. However, because of higher crude oil production relative to the same period last year, the oil sector is likely to compensate for a lackluster non-oil sector’s performance, thereby pushing real GDP growth to 3.10% y/y in Q3:24, based on our estimates.”

The headline PMI was little changed in September, posting 49.8 following a reading of 49.9 in August. As such, the index pointed to a further fractional deterioration in business conditions, the third in as many months. Companies continued to report challenging demand conditions, in large part due to the inflation environment.

Infact, September saw an intensification of inflationary pressures, with both input costs and output prices increasing at the sharpest rates in six months. Purchase prices rose rapidly amid currency weakness and higher costs for fuel, logistics, materials, and transportation.

Some firms made efforts to help their workers with higher living costs, but the rate of wage inflation eased to an 18-month low. Higher costs were then passed through to customers, with close to 49 percent of respondents raising selling prices in September.

Although sharp price increases acted to limit customer demand, new orders rose for the second month running in September, and to a slightly greater extent than in August. However, the rate of expansion remained modest.

Business activity continued to fall marginally as the tentative improvement in new orders was insufficient to support an expansion of output. Activity was down for the third month running. Output rose in agriculture and manufacturing, but fell in wholesale & retail and services.

Employment increased for the fifth month running, but only marginally as some firms limited hiring in an effort to reduce costs. Companies also maintained a cautious approach to inventory levels, lowering stocks of inputs for the second month running, and to the largest extent since May 2020.

Firms were also reportedly keen to eliminate backlogs of work wherever possible given the cost of holding goods. The fall in inventories was recorded despite a renewed increase in purchasing activity, the first in three months.

Meanwhile, suppliers’ delivery times continued to shorten solidly. Business confidence fell in September and was the second-lowest on record, only just above the series nadir posted in July.

Those respondents who were optimistic regarding the year ahead outlook linked this to hopes that business conditions will improve, alongside business expansion plans.

Clara Wanjiku Odero, a Kenyan tech founder and CEO of Softbank-backed Credrails, has lost her appeal against Pan African fintech Flutterwave.

Odero, a former employee of Flutterwave, had initially sought $900,000 in damages, claiming emotional distress and reputational damage after the fintech company failed to remove her contact details from its M-Pesa Paybill account following her departure in 2018.

As a result, customers continued to contact her regarding company-related issues long after she had left her role as Head of Implementation for Rest of Africa at Flutterwave.

The Court of Appeal, however, upheld the lower court’s decision, awarding Odero only Ksh. 100,000 for emotional distress and Ksh. 150,000 as aggravated damages— a total of Ksh. 250,000 (approximately $2,500), far from the $900,000 she had requested.

“The award in damages was capped at Ksh. 250,000 by the Magistrate. I do not find reason to disturb his finding considering that there was no proof of loss of reputation. The sum was reasonable.” Noted Justice Alexander Muasya in his ruling on Friday 27th September 2024.

Odero’s initial suit arose from Flutterwave’s alleged negligence in failing to remove her name from the company’s pay bill contact list after her resignation. This led to a series of inquiries from the fintech’s customers which she claimed caused her public embarrassment, emotional distress, and reputational damage.

However, the judge ruled that she was unable to provide medical or independent evidence supporting her claims. In response, the court determined that there was no causal link between Flutterwave’s negligence and any reputational harm.

Flutterwave, considered Africa’s most valuable fintech with a valuation exceeding $3 billion, had expressed regret over the delay in updating Odero’s contact details and had offered to settle the matter amicably.

The company denied Odero’s accusations, including claims of bullying by CEO, Olugbenga Agboola, stating:

“As an organisation that continuously strives to create an environment where employees feel secure and safe, we take the recent allegations of bullying from a former employee very seriously. We categorically state that there is no place for bullying or harassment of any kind in our workplace.”

Ultimately, the appellate court found no grounds to overturn the lower court’s ruling, stating that the damages awarded were sufficient for the emotional distress caused by the mix-up. The court dismissed Odero’s appeal and awarded Flutterwave the costs of the appeal.

Case Reference: Clara Wanjiku Odero -Vs- Flutterwave Payments Technologies Limited, Civil Appeal No. HCCA E197 of 2020.

From left: Mrs. Patricia Ahunanya, Chief Compliance Officer, Unity Bank Plc; Nkechinyere Ojiego, General Manager of Simba Group; Mrs. Adenike Abimbola, Divisional Head, Retail and SME Banking, Unity Bank Plc; Angela Ajala, Coordinator, ANWBN and Lady Isioma Fidel-Ewerem, from Women in Renewable Energy at the capacity-building workshop for women entrepreneurs held recently at Unity Bank HQ in Lagos.

Unity Bank Plc has hosted a capacity-building workshop to support the Association of Nigerian Women in Business Network (ANWBN) in a move aimed at empowering women entrepreneurs with the necessary skills required to thrive in today’s digital economy.

The initiative for the workshop stems from the growing advancement in technology and its impact on business hence the theme: “Empowering Women Entrepreneurs: AI and Digital Marketing Strategies,” which sought to equip women with practical knowledge on how to harness the power and take advantage of emerging technology.

As a platform that drew the participation of businesses from diverse sectors, attendees were provided with tools for leveraging digital platforms for expanding market reach, building efficiency in business operations, engaging customers, and increasing brand visibility.

Renowned industry experts and speakers such as Dr. Opeyemi Ojesina, the Chief Executive Officer of Jesshill Consulting, Nkechinyere Ojiego, General Manager, of Simba Group, and Mrs. Adenike Abimbola, Divisional Head, of Retail and SME Banking, Unity Bank Plc, led impactful sessions at the workshop designed to help participants grow their businesses by leveraging cutting-edge technologies and customer-centric marketing strategies

Addressing the media after the event, Mrs. Adenike Abimbola said the capacity-building initiative was inspired by the need to empower women entrepreneurs to take advantage of the growing opportunities presented by the evolving digital marketing landscape.

She said: “The growing digital landscape presents a unique opportunity for women to scale their businesses. There are over 70 percent of women entrepreneurs in Nigeria who desire this kind of capacity-building programme to improve their businesses, helping them learn how to transition from traditional business methods to one powered by technology, as this will become a differentiator”

While commending the partnership with ANWBN and emphasising the importance of digital technologies, Mrs. Abimbola pledged Unity Bank’s commitment to supporting SMEs, adding that the Bank will often pay priority attention to female-led ventures to improve relationships and collaboration with women businesses in Nigeria.

She added: “We are proud of our partnership with ANWBN and the success of this workshop. Empowering women entrepreneurs is key to driving economic growth and ensuring sustainable development. We look forward to more initiatives that support and uplift women in business.”

One of the participants, Mrs. Yetunde Adeniran, a fashion designer, shared her learning experience explaining that with the insights gained here, she has now found more ways of integrating digital technology into many facets of her business.

She also highlighted the advantages of Unity Bank’s Yanga Account, which she noted as a crucial tool for small business owners, providing financial support tailored to their specific needs.

In 2022, Unity Bank launched Yanga Account to facilitate financial inclusion for Women. The success of the workshop underscores Unity Bank’s ongoing commitment to supporting female entrepreneurs in Nigeria as the Bank seeks to empower women in business by providing access to valuable resources, financial tools, and educational opportunities that will help them thrive in an increasingly competitive market.

Africa’s Global Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has released its audited financial results for the half year ended June 30, 2024, showing impressive performance across some key financial indicators.

The audited financials released to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), showed that the bank recorded double-digit growth in its gross earnings and operating incomes.

At the end of the first two quarters of the year, and despite the tough global macroeconomic climate in Nigeria as well as the geo-political environment challenges across major countries in Africa where the bank has subsidiaries, UBA recorded a 39.6 per cent increase in its gross earnings, which rose from N981.77 billion in 2023 to N1.371 trillion in June 2024.

Interest income also increased by 134.3 per cent to N1.003 trillion up from N428.2 billion recorded in June last year, while total assets went up by 37.2 per cent from N20.6 trillion in December 2023 to close at N28.3 trillion. Customer deposits, also leapt by 33.7 per cent in the same period to close at N23.2 trillion up from N17.3 trillion recorded at the end of 2023.

The results filed showed that profit before tax (PBT) which stood at N403 billion in June 2023, closed the half year at N402 billion, while profit after tax (PAT)dropped slightly from N378 billion to N316 billion in the year under consideration. However, the banks’ shareholders’ funds increased by 47 per cent from N2.03 trillion in December 2023, to N2.99 trillion.

In line with the bank’s culture of paying both interim and final cash dividend, the Board of Directors of UBA Plc has declared an interim dividend of N2.00 per share for every ordinary share of N0.50 each held by its shareholders, representing 300% increase compared to the N0.50 declared in the similar period of 2023.

UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Oliver Alawuba, while commenting on the results underscored the bank’s commitment to consistently deliver value to its shareholders. He said, “UBA Group has continued to deliver strong double-digit growth in high quality and sustainable banking revenue streams, driven by a focused growth in balance sheet, transaction and digital banking businesses across geographies in line with our strategic goals.”

Continuing, the GMD said: “The Group’s performance has been buoyed by consistent strong growth in all core and sustainable banking income lines. Our intermediation business showed strong growth with net interest income expanding by 143% YoY to N675billion.”

On the plans for the rest of the year, Alawuba said, “As the Group intensifies its customer acquisition drive, we are making significant investments in technology, data analytics, product research and innovation to enhance our value proposition and customer experience.”

The Executive Director Finance & Risk, Ugo Nwaghodoh, expressed delight at the milestone achieved by the bank in driving operational efficiency, as reflected in cost-to-income ratio normalizing around the 50% range.

“Our cost optimisation provides scope for further moderation, as we explore options towards a drastic reduction of our foreign currency denominated cost components, robotizing and automation of processes and application of artificial intelligence to our operations,” he stated.

He disclosed that the Group will focus on effectively managing the heightened credit, operational, cyber and information security risks, as it continues to conduct its business within the tenets of our moderate risk appetite in alignment with our sustainability goals.

“The Group has made significant progress and is on course to shore up its share capital to support its medium to long term aspirations, whilst aligning with the recent regulatory requirement in Nigeria and other jurisdictions. that we operate in,” Nwaghodoh further explained.

United Bank for Africa Plc is a leading Pan-African financial institution, offering banking services to more than thirty-five million customers, across 1,000 business offices and customer touch points in 20 African countries.

With presence in New York, London, Paris and Dubai, UBA is connecting people and businesses across Africa through retail, commercial and corporate banking, innovative cross-border payments and remittances, trade finance and ancillary banking services.

L-R:  Abubakar Sani Sambo, Chairman Board of Trustees, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Association Alliance (REEEA-A); Gregory Jobome, Executive Director, Risk Management, Access Bank; and Afam Victor Ogene, Chairman Renewable Energy Committee, House of Reps during the 2024 REEEA-A International conference, theme “Road to Net Zero Actionable Initiatives for Success” held in Abuja recently.

Stakeholders, including government officials, experts, and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), have called for enhanced strategies to address climate change and air pollution while creating a more affordable and resilient energy system aimed at improving the economy and the quality of life.

They made this call at a two-day conference of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Association (Alliance) REEEA-A themed themed “Road to Net Zero: Actionable Initiatives for Success.” held recently in Abuja.

Speaking at the conference, the President of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Association (Alliance) REEEA-A, Magnus Onuoha, highlighted the achievements and vision of the Alliance over the past five years.

He emphasised that, in collaboration with seven associated organisations, the Alliance has actively worked towards improving energy access and security in Nigeria and beyond.

He stated that through its mission, the Alliance has enhanced the quality and standards of renewable energy technologies, research, and policy by fostering knowledge generation and dissemination for sustainable development.

Onuoha highlighted key milestones of the Alliance, including the standardization and validation of energy efficiency measures and the harmonisation of renewable energy policies between 2020 and 2021.

He further stated that the Alliance has also provided regulatory support to both public and private sector clients, focusing on network and information exchange, youth and gender empowerment, and research support services.

He acknowledged the contributions of partners such as the Nigeria Energy Support Program (NESP), a joint initiative between the European Union, the German government, the Federal Ministry of Power, and GIZ. Access Bank was also recognised for its sponsorship, underscoring the significance of private-sector involvement in achieving net-zero targets.

Onuoha stated that the theme “Net Zero” centers around addressing climate change and air pollution while creating a more affordable and resilient energy system.

Achieving net-zero emissions offers a path to a more productive economy and improved quality of life, focusing on human progress and sustainability.

In his remarks, Executive Director, Risk Management, Access Bank, Dr. Gregory Jobome emphasised on the need for universal access to modern energy.

In his words; “as a bank, our mission has evolved beyond conventional banking to embrace sustainability as a core business principle. This journey is not just about us funding individuals or organizations, it’s about all of us working together, co-creating solutions, and scaling up sustainable initiatives across Nigeria and Africa. To further achieve this, we lunched the Sustainable Finance Accelerator Program, an initiative from the bank to Boost Eco-Friendly Initiatives in Nigeria. The Program is structured collaborate and nurture innovative ideas within the sustainable development sector by offering comprehensive training, mentorship, and essential resources. The program’s goal is to transform participants’ ideas into viable, impactful businesses that contribute to a more sustainable and resilient future. To be a part of this great adventure ,please register on https://sustainablefinanceaccelerator.accessbankplc.com/ ” Gregory concluded.

Earlier, the minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, who was represented by the deputy director of the Power and Energy Division, Owolabi Sunday, acknowledged the pressing challenges posed by climate change and the need for Nigeria to transition from traditional energy sources to cleaner alternatives.

He highlighted that Nigeria is blessed with abundant renewable resources such as sunlight, wind, and water, and therefore, transitioning to renewable energy is essential for the country’s sustainable future.

Polaris Bank, a leading retail commercial bank, has emerged as Nigeria’s Best Bank in Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) lending.

The lender was recognised over the weekend for its long-standing commitments to supporting MSMEs through several direct and indirect funding channels.

Expert judges at the inaugural MSME Finance Awards 2024, organised by Nairametrics and The Economic Forum, at the weekend in Lagos, said the choice of Polaris Bank as the ‘Best in MSME Lending’ (Banking Sector) was based on the bank’s provision of sustainable finance and funding to entrepreneurs in the MSMEs sector to grow their businesses.

MSMEs are the largest employers in the Nigerian economy, providing immense contributions in job creation and economic activities. Recent data showed that the contribution of the MSME sector to employment had increased by 3.5 per cent.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimated that MSMEs contribute around 48 per cent to GDP and around 80 per cent of total employment in Nigeria.

The award ceremony, held at the upscale Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, cemented Polaris Bank’s reputation as a pacesetter in industry standards for lending and impact-driven financing to critical sectors of the Nigerian economy.

Commenting on the award, Managing Director, Polaris Bank, Mr. Kayode Lawal, said: “We are honoured to receive this prestigious award, recognising our commitment to empowering Nigerian MSMEs. Micro, small, and medium businesses are pivotal to national economic growth; they are the backbone for large corporations and drive innovation and job creation.

“We are glad that our dedication to providing accessible financing and tailor-made innovative solutions has made a tangible impact on the growth and sustainability of these vital businesses.’’

He commended Nairametrics and The Economic Forum series for the award and assured of Polaris Bank’s continued commitment to MSMEs empowerment by delivering innovative and exceptional customer-centric services and solutions that propel Nigeria’s overall economic advancement.

“We are grateful to Nairametrics and The Economic Forum for this recognition, acknowledging our team’s relentless efforts to provide innovative and exceptional services to Nigeria’s MSME sector. This award is a motivation for us; our strategic focus on MSME lending, driving financial inclusion, and promoting Nigeria’s economic development remains something we are committed to,’’ he stated.

Nairametrics, Nigeria’s leading financial literacy news platform, explained that the nomination and subsequent award bestowed on Polaris Bank and other finalists were meant to honour financial services organizations—including banks, insurance companies, and fintech companies—that have made a real impact on MSMEs in Nigeria, ensuring sustainable growth for the sector.

Polaris Bank has built a strong footprint in financing MSME by committing billions of naira in loans to support MSME operations in Nigeria, with huge lending portfolio dedicated to empowering micro, small, and medium businesses meant to grow businesses, create jobs, and build wealth.

These initiatives have earned Polaris Bank multiple awards and recognitions, including the 2022 and 2023 MSME Bank of the Year award by BusinessDAY’s Banks and Other Financial Institutions Awards (BAFI).