Nigeria is not short of reforms. It is not short of investment forums either. The real question is more uncomfortable: why does all this activity so rarely convert into bankable, financed, and delivered investment? Over time, Nigeria has refined its reform narratives and multiplied its engagement platforms. Yet the outcome has changed far less than the language. Policy signalling has become more sophisticated, but execution has not kept pace. The result is a persistent gap between what is announced and what is actually financed and built. This is not an investor sentiment problem. It is a conversion problem. Nigeria continues…
Author: Editor
Annually, every first Tuesday in May, the world pauses to confront a disease that too often hides in plain sight. World Asthma Day 2026, marked under the theme “Access to anti-inflammatory inhalers for everyone with asthma, still an urgent need,” is not merely a symbolic observance. It is a global call to action. At its core is a simple but urgent truth championed by the Global Initiative for Asthma. People are still dying from asthma not because we lack the knowledge to treat it, but because millions cannot access the medicines that prevent those deaths. Asthma is one of the…
Nigeria’s banking sector is reaping the gains of a high-interest rate environment, posting its biggest interest income and gross earnings growth despite loan provision, which impacted earnings in 2025. According to the 2025 audited financial statements for Zenith Bank, First HoldCo, GTCO, Access Holdings Plc, UBA, FCMB Group, Stanbic IBTC, Wema Bank, Sterling Holdco, and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, the industry is thriving on elevated yields rather than broad-based credit growth. The financial data indicate that 70.7 percent of gross revenue came from interest income, underscoring how profitability is now tightly linked to monetary conditions. 29 percent was generated from non-interest…
Across Africa today, a silent workforce crisis is unfolding beneath the surface of rising unemployment statistics and corporate recruitment struggles. On the one hand, organisations continue to complain about the shortage of competent professionals. On the other side, millions of educated young Africans insist there are simply no jobs available. At first glance, the contradiction appears illogical. How can unemployment remain high while employers simultaneously struggle to recruit qualified people? Yet this paradox is now becoming one of the biggest threats to Africa’s economic competitiveness, private sector growth and future industrial transformation. Recent debates triggered by comments from the CEO…
Sadly for me, my fifty years of studying political science have not helped me much in understanding Nigerian electoral politics. After 27 years of electoral democracy in the Fourth Republic and seven governments, the political process has been completely transformed, to be clearer, largely destroyed. Opposition party leaders are regularly expelled from their parties, and the expulsion is made legal by a corrupt judiciary that has no respect for laws but has lots of obedience to governments in power. Anti-corruption agencies are given lists of “troublesome” opposition leaders and instructed to persecute rather than prosecute them for their sins against…
South Africa has once again found itself at the center of growing continental concern following the renewed tensions between citizens and African migrants across parts of the country. Reports of harassment, violent attacks, destruction of businesses, forced displacement, and rising anti-migrant rhetoric have triggered fresh debates around migration governance, economic inclusion, unemployment and the future of African integration. While the issue is often discussed as a domestic security or immigration problem, the broader implications extend far beyond South Africa itself. Increasingly, the situation is emerging as a strategic African governance, investment and regional integration challenge with implications for trade, diplomacy,…
Leading financial media firm, Nairametrics, has issued a public disclaimer distancing its Founder and Chief Analyst, Ugo Obi-Chukwu, from a series of fraudulent AI-generated videos circulating online that falsely depict him promoting stock investment groups. The company said the videos, widely shared across social media platforms, are fabricated and designed by fraudsters to lure unsuspecting investors into dubious schemes. According to Nairametrics, the manipulated clips deploy artificial intelligence to mimic Obi-Chukwu’s voice and likeness, urging viewers to join private groups where they are promised guidance on stock investments. The firm categorically stated that neither its founder nor any of its…
Nigeria’s largest banks delivered a mixed but ultimately reassuring set of financial results in 2025, with balance sheet expansion and revenue growth offset by a sharp, policy-driven hit to profitability. According to the 2025 audited financial statement for the period ended December 31st, tier one lenders’ gross earnings rose broadly, with the total amount collectively rising by 7.69 percent to N18.2 trillion from N16.9 trillion in the same period of 2024. This growth was led by Access Holdings to N5.52 trillion in 2025 from N4.87 trillion reported in 2024, followed by Zenith Bank rising to N4.07 trillion from N3.82 trillion,…
At least 17 members of the House of Representatives have defected from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), in a major shift on the floor of the lower chamber. The defections were formally announced during plenary on Tuesday, signalling a fresh wave of political realignments. Also announced was the defection of Leke Abejide, who moved from the ADC to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Those who joined the NDC include Yusuf Datti, Uchenna Okonkwo, Adamu Wakili, Thaddeus Attah, George Ozodinobi, Lilian Orogbu, Oluwaseyi Sowunmi, Peter Aniekwe, Mukhtar Zakari, George Oluwande and Munachim Umezuruike. Others are…
Impairment charges across Nigeria’s 10 banks surged to N3.2 trillion in their 2025 audited financial statements, as the end of regulatory forbearance triggered the sharp recognition of credit losses that had been deferred in earlier periods. The increase represents a 39 percent jump from N2.3 trillion recorded in 2024, according to data compiled by BusinessDay. The surge follows the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) decision to unwind Covid-era forbearance measures, which had allowed banks to restructure loans and delay classifying troubled exposures. In practical terms, loans previously tagged as “performing” under forbearance have begun to migrate into Stage 3 (credit-impaired),…