Business News

Monday, 31 May 2021 05:24

Accidental billionaires: How 7 academics who didn’t want to make a cent are now worth billions

Inside a 13th-floor boardroom in downtown San Francisco, the atmosphere was tense. It was November 2015, and Databricks, a two-year-old software company started by a group of seven Berkeley researchers, was long on buzz but short on revenue. The directors awkwardly broached subjects that had been rehashed time and again. The startup had been trying to raise funds for five months, but venture capitalists were keeping it at arm’s length, wary of its paltry sales. Seeing no other option, NEA partner Pete Sonsini, an existing investor, raised his hand to save the company with an emergency $30 million injection. The…

Saturday, 29 May 2021 05:49

BDC operators make more than N100 profit from each dollar bought from CBN - Report

Bureau De Change operators got the United States dollar from the Central Bank of Nigeria at N393 but sold it for N494 on Friday, an investigation by our correspondent has revealed. Sources from some commercial banks told our correspondent that the banks were asked to fund the BDCs at the rate of N393/$ as of Friday. A bank official, who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said, “We are still giving them $10,000 per BDC twice in a week. As at today, we are giving them at the rate of N393/$. “CBN funds the BDCs through the commercial…

Friday, 28 May 2021 05:45

Naira sinks further at parallel market

Naira weakened further against the U.S. dollar at the parallel market on Thursday, extending a three-day fall triggered by the devaluation of the currency Monday. Data on abokiFX.com, a website that collates parallel market rates, showed the local currency closed at N495.00 at the black market, a 0.41 per cent decline from N493.00 it traded on Wednesday. The last time the currency closed at N495.00 was on December 1, 2020. However, the naira gained for the second consecutive day against the U.S. dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window on Thursday, as foreign exchange supply skyrocketed by 168.70 per…

Friday, 28 May 2021 05:44

Nigerians to pay more for bread, biscuits

Economic hardship in the country has taken a new dimension as Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria (AMBCN) has directed its members to increase prices of bread, biscuits and other baked items by 30 percent due to the rising cost of production. Bread and biscuits are common consumable items in many Nigerian households and before the association gave this directive, many had lamented the sharp increase in cost of items across the country. At the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the association held in Abuja recently, members lamented the cost of production and reached the resolution of…

Thursday, 27 May 2021 05:50

Naira falls to one-year low after CBN devaluation

Naira fell to a year-low against the U.S. dollar at the parallel market Wednesday, days after Central Bank of Nigeria adopted the Nafex exchange rate. The local unit closed at N493.00 at the black market, a 1.23 per cent decline from N487.00 it traded on Tuesday, data posted on abokiFX.com, a website that collates parallel market rates in Lagos showed. The last time the currency touched and closed at N493 at the parallel market was on May 4, 2020. However, the naira gained marginally against the U.S dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window also known as the official…

Thursday, 27 May 2021 05:37

Nigeria has the most startups in Africa but falls short on other critical metrics

Tolu Olasoji While it can boast of the largest number of startups in the Africa tech ecosystem, Nigeria lags in other important metrics, a new report ranking the continent’s major tech sectorsasserts. The report, compiled by fDi Intelligence, a specialist division of the Financial Times, in collaboration with research company Briter Bridges, aims to “map the continent’s nascent tech ecosystems and explore their potential moving forward.” Investment in the continent’s start-up space is tiny in comparison to the global north. For example, US startups raised $156.2 billion in venture capital last year, per Pitchbook. By comparison, African startups have raised…

Thursday, 27 May 2021 05:34

6 tips for shorter meetings and more powerful leadership

It was post-covid. In your business: fewer meetings and more connections. We are all happy to return, little by little, to â€œnormalityâ€: to the distant world in which we all lived in 2019, which now appears in the collective subconscious as ancient history. Just as 9/11 changed the world in many ways, the global Covid-19 crisis transformed the way we relate to each other. The plain and simple reality is that we will never return to "normal". Rather, we will enter a new era where the parameters of relationship, the form of communication and the hierarchies of social value are…

Wednesday, 26 May 2021 05:54

Naira goes further down as CBN merges official, Nafex rates

Central Bank of Nigeria has adopted the Nafex rate as the government’s official exchange rate for the naira, effectively devaluing the currency by 7.6 per cent. The bank posted the I&E rate on Monday on its website two weeks after it deleted the previous official fixed rate of 379 naira. The currency exchanged 410.25 for a dollar on the relatively flexible Nafex or Investors and Exporters window. This is coming almost two weeks after CBN erased from its website the exchange rate that for about a year was seen as the government’s official rate. In March, CBN had denied devaluing…

Wednesday, 26 May 2021 05:53

‘MPC decided to hold all policy parameters constant’ - Emefiele

Monetary policy committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has voted to retain the monetary policy rate at 11.5 percent. The committee also retained the liquidity ratio at 30 percent and cash reserve ratio (CRR) at 27.5 percent. Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor, announced the committee’s decision on Tuesday at the end of a two-day meeting at the CBN headquarters, noted that the economic recovery is “still fragile”. “MPC made the decision to hold all policy parameters constant. Committee thus decided by a unanimous vote to retain monetary policy rate at 11.5%,” Emefiele said. “MPC voted to retain assymetric corridor…

Tuesday, 25 May 2021 05:37

CBN reviews capital requirements for payment solutions service providers, others

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday issued a new licence requirements for payment systems, increasing the minimum capital requirements for Payment Solutions Service Providers (PSSPs) to N250 million from N100 million. The new framework also reviewed downward, the capital requirements for licensing of Payment Solution Services (PSSs) to N100 million from N250 million. Capital requirement for the Switching and Processing licence remains unchanged at N2 billion, including Mobile Money Operator licence, which was retained at N2 billion. Others include the capital requirements for the Payment Terminal Service Provider (PTSP) licence, which remains at N100 million. The Super Agent licence was…

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Monday, 24 May 2021 05:37

How to spot a micromanager in a job interview

When you're a hiring a manager, these questions will help. Inc.com columnist Alison Green answers questions about workplace and management issues--everything from how to deal with a micromanaging boss to how to talk to someone on your team about body odor. A reader asks: I am part of the interview team in finding a replacement for our ex-manager. And our department would really like this person to not be another micromanager. Any ideas for questions I could ask? Or any red flags in the interviewee's answers/demeanor to watch out for? Green responds: Often when this topic comes up, people will…

Saturday, 22 May 2021 05:55

Stocks on NSE shed N604bn in 5 days

Nigerian stocks shed 0.01 per cent on Friday, taking this week’s retreat to N604 billion as construction giant Julius Berger and GTB, Nigeria’s most capitalised lender, set the loss in motion. Trade volume is yet to regain its pre-pandemic levels and has seen notable pressure also this week as investors take a risk-off approach to equity investment ahead of the central bank’s rate decision due on Tuesday. The oil and gas index fell most of the five sectorial performers tracked by the bourse as it slid 0.26 per cent to 306.58 basis points, aiding loss. Market breadth closed flat as…

Thursday, 20 May 2021 05:51

Stocks on NSE plunge N301bn on third day of loss

Nigerian stocks reported another loss on Wednesday as the benchmark index toppled 1.48 per cent, with bellwethers – Airtel and Zenith Bank – steering the move to the negative territory. It marked the third successive day of loss, with the size of trade contracting by as much as 25 per cent, raising fears that the current investor apathy in the market could worsen further. The banking index was down by 0.62 per cent, the biggest fall of the five sectorial indexes tracked by the bourse. Conversely, the oil and gas index advanced most, adding 7.12 per cent on the strength…

Thursday, 20 May 2021 05:27

3 ways leaders can get the best out of their employees in the hybrid work age

According to one study, 80% of organizations are planning a hybrid work environment for the long term. As we round the corner of the pandemic, some of the most influential companies across industries announced moves to a hybrid work model. For most companies, the hybrid model is an opportunity for employees to get the best of both worlds. This means a few days in the office per week, particularly for important meetings, and a few days remote. In PwC's latest US Remote Work Survey, PwC surveyed 133 US executives and 1,200 US office workers between November 24 and December 5,…

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