Business

Tony Elumelu Foundation Announces Three Senior Executive Appointments

Published

2 years ago

February 1, 2021

NewTimes

Tony Elumelu Foundation To Announce 2021 TEF Entrepreneurship Programme Beneficiaries on November 12

The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), the leading philanthropy empowering African entrepreneurs, has announced three senior executive appointments, effective February 1, 2021. This follows the launch of the 2021 TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, on www.TEFConnect.com, which this year prioritises the economic recovery of small and medium scale enterprises and young African entrepreneurs, following the disruptive effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation, which marked ten years of impact in 2020, has trained, has mentored and funded over 9,000 young African entrepreneurs from 54 African countries, through the US$100m TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, and provides capacity-building support, advisory and market linkages to over 1 million Africans through its digital networking platform, TEFConnect.

Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, CEO of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, stated “We are extremely pleased with these appointments. Somachi Chris-Asoluka becomes Director, Partnerships and Communications, from her prior role as Head of Policy and Partnerships. Titilope Akinola, who is now Director of Operations, served as head of our platform, TEFConnect, Africa’s leading digital hub for entrepreneurs; and Nkem Onwudiwe, who newly joins our Marketing and Corporate Communications team, brings formidable corporate experience, across digital marketing, content creation, PR and strategy.”

“It is particularly encouraging to see women at the forefront, demonstrating expertise in their fields and highlighting impeccable drive to succeed not just for their benefit but for ours, collectively, as Africans. With their proven track record, and enormous passion, I have no doubt that they will greatly impact the work that we do towards the development of Africa”.

Since 2010, the Tony Elumelu Foundation has addressed key challenges faced by entrepreneurs in Africa, including lack of access to funding, mentoring, training and creating valuable networking opportunities on a global scale. The foundation is increasingly sharing its unique ability to identify, train, mentor and fund young entrepreneurs across Africa, through partnerships with institutions such as the European Union, the United Nations Development Programme, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other global development agencies. Beneficiaries receive $5,000 non-refundable seed capital and skilled support as they grow, expand their businesses, and contribute to the creation of more jobs in Africa.

TEF’s work is inspired by our founder’s economic philosophy of Africapitalism, which positions the private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the social and economic development of the African continent. To address the unique challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, lift people out of poverty and create sustainable employment across the continent, the foundation will empower over 3,000 young African entrepreneurs in 2021. Prospective applicants should apply on the digital networking hub for African entrepreneurs, www.tefconnect.com.

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Arts & Culture

BREAKING: After Subsidy Removal, NNPC Increases Petrol Price To Over N500

Published

16 hours ago

May 31, 2023

NewTimes

Senator Withdraws Support For Tinubu Over Choice Of Muslim Running Mate

President Tinubu

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) on Wednesday adjusted the pump price of petrol by over 100% to between N488 and N557.

The development followed the announcement by President Bola Tinubu during his inaugural address on Monday that fuel subsidy was ‘gone’.

However, it was learnt that the president will meet with organised labour from 2pm Thursday (today) afternoon.

The prices have now been adjusted upward from between N189 to N194 to N537 per litre in Abuja and other North-central States.

For Lagos and other South-west states, a litre of fuel now sells for between N488 and N500 per litre.

In the South-east, the price will range from N515 to N520, while in the North-west, the price of the product was raised to N540. In the North-east, it moved from N199 to N557 per litre.

For the South-south, it is now from N511 to N525 per litre. Nigeria’s subsidy budget of N3.6 trillion for this year, expires in June, 2023.

Business

BREAKING: FCMB Founder Olasubomi Balogun Dies

Published

2 weeks ago

May 19, 2023

NewTimes

Olasubomi Balogun

Theo Founderf First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Otunba Michael Olasubomi Balogun, is dead.

According to reports, family sources revealed that Balogun died in London Friday morning at the age of 89.

He was Otunba Tunwase of Ijebuland before his death.

As a ranking Ijebu Chief, his death will, however, only be officially announced in line with tradition.

Business

BVN Valid For Life, Has No Expiry Date- CBN

Published

3 weeks ago

May 11, 2023

NewTimes

CBN Appoints Officials, Confirms Nwanisobi As Communications Director

CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that the Bank Verification Number (BVN) has no expiry date.

According to the CBN, once a customer’s biometrics have been captured and enrolled in the database of NIBSS, the BVN remains for life.

The regulatory Framework for BVN issued by the CBN in 2021 stipulates that customers can only change their records due to certain conditions.

The CBN therefore urged Nigerians to disregard news on the expiration date for the BVN.

The bank stated that the BVN remains for life, as it has no expiry date.

This was disclosed in a statement by the Acting-Director, Corporate Communications, Alhaji Isa Abdulmumin, reacting to claims of expiration by a national newspaper.

Alhaji Isa Abdulmumin said the Bank Verification Number (BVN) issued in Nigeria remains for life and has no expiry date, citing that the claim was completely false, and urged advised bank customers to ignore it, he added:

“The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria has been drawn to reports suggesting that the Bank Verification Number issued by the Bank in collaboration with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) expires after a ten-year period.

“Contrary to these claims, we wish to clarify that the BVN issued in Nigeria has no expiry date.

“Once a customer’s biometrics have been captured and enrolled in the database of NIBSS, the BVN remains for life”.

He added that the Regulatory Framework for BVN issued by the CBN in 2021 stipulates that customers can only change their records due to certain conditions spelt out in the document and after being cleared by relevant authorities.

“Therefore, we urge bank customers in the country, especially those whose biometrics have been captured by the system, to continue using their unique identifiers as they last their entire lifetime.”

The number of bank account owners in Nigeria with Bank Verification Number (BVN) increased to 57 million as of April 9, 2023.

This was revealed in the latest BVN registration data released by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS).

However, the data showed that registration for the BVN has slowed since the beginning of this year despite the recent moves by the Central Bank of Nigeria to close all bank accounts not linked.

At the end of 2022, the BVN database stood at 56.5 million. This shows that banks had recorded only about 500,000 new BVN registrations in the first three months of this year plus nine days in April. This is far lower than the average of 400,000 registrations per month recorded last year.