Nigeria’s sustainability champion, Access Bank Plc., yesterday launched the Global Principles for Responsible Banking as one of the Founding Signatories alongside other global banks. This is a further commitment to strategically align its business with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. By signing the Principles, Access Bank is demonstrating its commitment towards using its products and services to support and accelerate positive changes in both local and international economies as well as promote lifestyles necessary to achieve shared prosperity for both current and future generations. Mr Herbert Wigwe, Group Managing Director of Access Bank Plc.,…

Banking was re-defined some 29 years ago in Nigeria when some young Nigerian bankers, Mr. Jim Ovia, and the duo of Mr. Fola Adeola and Mr. Tayo Aderinokun, and much recently, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede and Herbert Wigwe, took the Nigerian banking industry by storm to create banks today regarded as ‘new generation banks’. Zenith, GTBank and Access are indigenous banks that emerged to lock horns with the likes of First Bank, Union Bank and UBA Plc, otherwise referred to as the ‘old generation banks’. These three banks and others licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the same period…

Power Generation Companies of Nigeria (GenCos), at the weekend, vowed to declare force majeure on their operations if the Federal Government’s 0.75 per cent administrative charge is implemented. Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET), is a public liability company created by Federal Government to incentivise private investment in power and act as the buffer to the GenCos. But it was, however, discovered that the thermal GenCos are not making pro-rata payments of 15 per cent of the gas invoice to gas suppliers and transporters and so decided to take over the payment through the compulsory 0.75 per cent per cent charge.…

Veteran British tour operator Thomas Cook collapsed after failing to secure rescue funding, and travel bookings for its more than 600,000 global vacationers were canceled early Monday. The British government said the return of the firm’s 150,000 British customers now abroad would be the largest repatriation in its peacetime history. The process is set to begin later Monday. The Civil Aviation Authority said Thomas Cook has ceased trading, its four airlines will be grounded, and its 21,000 employees in 16 countries, including 9,000 in the UK, will lose their jobs. The company had several months ago blamed a slowdown in…