Business News

Virtus secures N446 million from Sterling Bank

Virtus (@rensourceenergy) secures N446 million from Sterling Bank

Published

1 year ago

July 23, 2019

virtus, Sterling Bank announces an appointment

Virtus, a decentralised energy consortium, has secured a five-year credit facility worth N446 million from Sterling Bank Plc. The financial support is in line with the Federal Government’s Energizing Economies Initiative which is supported by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Sterling Bank provided the fund to Virtus for the deployment of distributed energy solutions across selected economic clusters like the market places, shopping centres, industrial facilities in Nigeria.

Stable and constant electricity supply has been a major issue for companies in Nigeria, with Nigerian businesses estimated to have spent N5 trillion yearly on generators, maintenance, and fuel in order to keep business afloat, according to the Director-General of the National Association of Commerce Industry Mines and Agriculture, Ayoola Olukanni.

Virtus’ operation is sponsored by Solad and Rensource Distributed Energy Limited, an energy company that provides off-grid energy. Rensource delivers power through Microutilities, which is a type of energy service provider that builds a localized decentralized power grid for provision of energy and other value-added services, a statement on by the company disclosed.

Virtus Reaches Financial Close on Loan Facility from Sterling Bank to Power Markets. Virtus is a highly experienced decentralised energy consortium, sponsored by Rensource and Solad. #EEIPoweringMarkets #EnergizingEconomiesInitiative #REA #PoweredbyRensource #renewableenergy pic.twitter.com/QvK4BENgHc

— Rensource (@rensourceenergy) July 22, 2019

PRESS RELEASE: Decentralized Energy Developer – Virtus Reaches Financial Close on Loan Facility From Sterling Bank To Power Markets Under The FGNs Energizing Economies Initiative.
#EEIPoweringMarkets #EnergizingEconomiesInitiative #REA #PoweredbyRensource #renewableenergy pic.twitter.com/qcLLfFTbOm

— Rensource (@rensourceenergy) July 22, 2019

Reacting to the fund secured by Virtus, the Managing Director of Rensource, Ademola Adesina said;

“This is indeed a significant achievement for Virtus that will further facilitate development financing in the renewable energy sector. It was only possible because government and the private sector collaborated to address financing challenges for off grid projects.”

Virtus secures N446 million from Sterling Bank, Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, Rensource Distributed Energy Limited, Virtus Rensource, Virtus Energy Solutions Limited

Solar plant

Also, the Managing Director of Sterling Bank, Abubakar Suleiman, said the bank’s quest to lead the commercialization of renewable energy aided the investment in Virtus.

“At Sterling we believe that the answer to power generation is a multiplicity of options and we want to be at the forefront of the commercialization of renewable energy. Our involvement in the Virtus transaction which provides N446 million in development financing demonstrates our commitment to improving the capacity of off grid private sector developers for power generation. We hope that this paves the way for more financing to the sector.”

About Virtus: Virtus Energy Solutions Limited is an Asset Holding Company sponsored by Rensource Distributed Energy Limited and Solad Holdings Limited. The company is implementing the Decentralized Energy Programme using high capacity stand-alone solar technology. Rensource has successfully implemented the first phase of Sabon Gari Market, while construction is ongoing in 6 other markets – Iponri – Lagos, Edaiken – Edo, NEPA 1, NEPA 2, Isikan – Ondo, and Ita Osun – Ogun.

Additionally, planning is well underway to power – Kantin Kwari – Kano, Gbagi – Oyo and Eriwe Fish farm – Ogun.

Fakoyejo Olalekan

Olalekan is a certified media practitioner from the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ). In the era of media convergence, Olalekan is a valuable asset, with ability to curate and broadcast news. His zeal to write was developed out of passion to shape people’s thought and opinion; serving as a guideline for their daily lives. Contact for tips: [email protected]

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ENDSARS

#EndSARS: Protests may return if panels do not address all issues in 2 weeks – Former Nigerian Minister

Akinyemi says the #EndSARS protesters would return to the streets if their demands are not addressed in two weeks.

Published

35 mins ago

October 28, 2020

Omokolade Ajayi

Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, former Nigerian Minister of External Affairs, has disclosed that the judicial panels for inquiries have just two weeks to address all the issues raised by the #EndSARS protesters, as failure to do so may drag youths back to the streets.

This was disclosed by Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, during a news interview with ARISE TV this afternoon, as he called on the FG to urgently address the issues raised by the protesters, as these issues extend beyond police brutality and the immediate reform of the Nigeria Police force.

He explained during the interview that the current demands of the youths extend beyond basic needs, which remain the core mandate of the present administration.

He likened the #EndSARS protest to the #BlackLivesMatter demonstration and reiterated that demands of the youth extend beyond stomach infrastructure, as it is more of a call for good governance in a bid to address the concrete issues that the country faces.

He called for strategic actions towards combatting the evils of unemployment in Nigeria; called on the military to employ more military men to soak up the unemployment, and also provide security for the country.

On the issue of restructuring, Professor Akinyemi said restructuring is also key to solving the many problems facing the country.

The Professor of Political Science noted that the way forward for Nigeria will be for the government to utilize the Justice Mohammed Uwais report on electoral reforms and the 2014 National Conference report, which he believes addresses the issues confronting Nigerians.

What they are saying

During the interview, Professor Akinyemi said, “I will say and let me believe I am wrong, the judicial panels have just two weeks to address all these issues before the youths come back to the streets. The government should at least give the youths the impression that you have not set up all these panels to buy time, but that you are genuinely and seriously interested in addressing their issues.”

He reiterated the need for the employment of more police officers,

“We told the government, because I was part of that conference, that the United Nations said Nigeria needs 1.5 million policemen. We have only about 350,000 and we were recommending that the Nigerian government should employ 750,000 more policemen.”

“What we’ve seen in the past two weeks is that we don’t have enough men in uniform to guarantee security in this country if every part of the country decides to blow up. So you serve two purposes – employment and security, and those are things you can do immediately.

“We have just seen how every Governor was scrambling around in the past two weeks; if you allow each state to have its own state police, you wouldn’t have that experience. I have heard of a situation where the streets took over even governance in almost every state. So, restructuring is that you allow things to be done at the local level.”

Coronavirus

COVID-19: Jason Njoku and wife test positive

iROKOtv CEO and wife have contracted the novel coronavirus.

Published

3 hours ago

October 28, 2020

Ugonnia Ozibo

Jason Njoku and Wife testes positive to Covid-19

Jason Chukwuma Njoku, the co-founder and CEO of iROKOtv and his wife has tested positive for COVID-19. However, Mrs. Mary Njoku is feeling well.

Jason, disclosed this via his Twitter handle stating that “My enemies are hard at work in 2020. Mrs. Njoku and I tested positive for Covid-19. I’m not feeling great, but Mary is well. Literally no idea how I caught it. But we shall see this pass too.”

The media mogul did not reveal if his children caught the virus too.

My enemies are hard at work in 2020. Mrs Njoku and I tested positive for Covid19 😩. I'm not feeling great but Mary is well. 😷🤢. Literally no idea how I caught it. 🤷🏾‍♂️. But we shall see this pass too🙏🏾. pic.twitter.com/tnsP1BCPBB

— JasonNjoku (@JasonNjoku) October 28, 2020

Business

UK High Commission reopens visa application centres in Nigeria

Days after it was shut down, United Kingdom High Commission in Nigeria has announced the reopening of its visa application centres.

Published

3 hours ago

October 28, 2020

Chike Olisah

#EndSARS: We are monitoring developments in Nigeria closely - UK, UK High Commission in Nigeria to replace expired visa for free, as it restarts operations

The United Kingdom High Commission in Nigeria has announced the reopening of its visa application centres in the country.

This comes some days after the high commission had shut down its visa application centres in Victoria Island, Lagos and Abuja over the outbreak of violence arising from hijacked #EndSARS protests against police brutality and extra-judicial killings, which led to the loss of lives, vandalization, and looting of public and private assets across the country.

READ: Reps, NIDO, Ghana government respond to attack on Nigerian residential building

The disclosure was made by the High Commission in a statement through a tweet post on its official Twitter handle.

The High Commission, however, noted in its statement, titled, “Update on UK visa application centres in Nigeria” that its centres would not open on Thursday due to the public holiday in Nigeria, in honour of the Eid-El Malaud celebration.

The statement from the UK high commission, partly reads, “Our TLS contact visa application centres are now open in Nigeria. Following the recent closures, we are working hard to process all outstanding applications.’’

READ: NCC sets up committee to review licensing framework of Infrastructure Companies

“We thank you for your continued patience and understanding. Please note Thursday, October 29, is a public holiday in Nigeria and our Visa application centres will be closed.”

The reopening of the visa applications centres after they were shut about a week ago is due to the gradual return of peace and order to some of those trouble spots, following the intervention of security agents.

The UK High Commission had been very critical of the outbreak of violence in the country, especially the shooting of unarmed protesters at Lekki Tollgate by alleged military personnel, and asked the government to thoroughly investigate the incident and ensure justice is done.

READ: Buhari gives reason for silence on Lekki Tollgate shooting

In its statement, the High Commission said, “We remain concerned by acts of looting and violence in Nigeria and urge security services use restraint as the order is restored. Working with all stakeholders, judicial panels of inquiry must investigate all incidents, including Lekki and ensure accountability for crimes.”

What you should know

The Judicial Panel of Inquiry set up by the Lagos state government to handle all cases of police brutality in the state have also been mandated to conduct an inquiry into the shooting of unarmed protesters last week.

Amnesty International earlier said that 12 people were allegedly shot dead by the police and army at two locations during the hijacked protests.

Explore Data on the Nairametrics Research Website

Please see below 👇🏼 for an update on UK Visa Application Centres in Victoria Island, Abuja & Lagos.

➡️ For queries on individual applications, please visit: https://t.co/Z6U3959iB1 pic.twitter.com/kSlk5OBLtC

— UK in Nigeria🇬🇧 (@UKinNigeria) October 26, 2020