Business News
Top 10 CEOs and how they spent 10 days in lockdown
The Federal Government of Nigeria to enforce a 14-day lockdown, this is how top Chief Executives have spent their period in the lockdown
The decision of the Federal Government of Nigeria to enforce a 14-day lockdown in the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos state and Ogun state, did not have the warmest of receptions. In fact, many Nigerians took to Twitter to complain about how this could be equivalent to putting the economy on a lock-down as well, particularly since the affected states are critical economic locations in the country.
Ten days into the lockdown, Nairametrics looks at how top Chief Executive Officers have spent their time in this period. We have considered this list in no particular order.
Herbert Wigwe
This CEO of Access Bank Nigeria Plc has definitely made great use of the lockdown. As a member of the Private sector Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID), Wigwe has used his social media handles to push the StaySafe and WorkFromHome campaign.
From his Twitter handle @HerbertOWigwe, he has continued to advocate social distancing, washing of hands and working from home.
(READ MORE: Covid-19: World Bank discloses when Sub-Saharan africa will fall into recession)
In these unprecedented times, these things are critical: Work from home; wash your hands thoroughly; practice physical distancing and call you aging loved ones (daily). pic.twitter.com/ZWT4cTM7Wg
— Herbert Wigwe, FCA (@HerbertOWigwe) April 1, 2020
Most recently, he joined the CACOVID #stayingalivechallenge, and had to share with Nigerians how he was keeping busy while staying at home. While nominating 5 others on Twitter to take up the challenge.
Members of @cacovidng nominated me for this #stayingalivechallenge. I’m currently reading a book on African art.
What are you doing to stay alive? I nominate @jidesanwoolu @realFemiOtedola @Uzoma_Sparkle @Ebuka & @iamdbanj to share what they’re up to.
Join us & tag 5 friends. pic.twitter.com/89G4AjRP3e
— Herbert Wigwe, FCA (@HerbertOWigwe) April 5, 2020
Adesola Adeduntan
Group Managing Director and CEO of First Bank Nigeria Plc, Adesola Adeduntan has equally been busy while complying with the lockdown directives.
Adeduntan has, over the past 10 days, advocated alternate banking channels for customers in line with the sit-at-home directive of the federal government, in addition to promoting the e-learning platform launched for students, amid the coronavirus outbreak.
(READ MORE: Report identifies banks expected to raise equity after COVID-19 flattens)
In the bid to lighten the mood during the lockdown, he also participated in the #StayingAliveChallenge from the Private sector coalition against COVID-19.
Through his Instagram handle, adeduntansola, he shared how he was spending quality time with his children, and in the spirit of the game, he passed on the challenge to 5 nominees.
Who would have thought that the 51 year old Chief Executive could be so playful?
(READ MORE: 7 startups empowered to fight COVID-19 in Nigeria)
Kennedy Uzoka
Uzoka became Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of United Bank for Africa Plc in 2016, after serving as an Executive Director for six years.
He won the “BusinessDay’s Bank CEO” award for year 2019, in recognition of his achievements for the last three years in the bank, particularly in turning the fortunes of the bank around within the first year of becoming CEO.
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, UBA presented N1 billion to Lagos state government to support the fight against the virus, and also donated N500 million to the FCT through the UBA foundation.
Uzoka has himself not said much about the pandemic or the lockdown.
He appears to be engrossed in his job, governing the corporate empire whose rise or fall rests on his shoulders.
(READ MORE: NDIC donates N1 billion for COVID-19 relief fund)
Abubakar Suleiman
Fondly called Abu, the inspirational Chief Executive of Sterling Bank has not been left behind. Though he does not say much about staying at home, or otherwise, Suleiman has used his free time to push the recently launched 1billion naira health workers’ fund.
In series of tweets on his handle @suleimana, he has continued to encourage Nigerians to support the healthcare workers and ensure that they do not suffer needless losses as a result of the pandemic.
Please support our health workers directly involved in containing the Covid19 pandemic. The fund will pay hazard allowances to this category of people who are now at risk of being infected.
Sterling seeded the fund with N25m
Please share & donate.https://t.co/SBV6umYpw6
— Abubakar Suleiman (@suleimana) April 2, 2020
Sterling Bank Plc launched the N1 billion Health Workers’ Fund to support healthcare professionals who put themselves at risk.
(READ MORE: COVID-19: AfDB unveils $10 billion facility for Nigeria, others)
The fund is being coordinated by the Sterling One foundation, and Sterling Bank Plc already donated N25 million to kick-start donations.
Uzoma Dozie
Uzoma Dozie followed in his father’s footsteps when he decided to set up Sparkle after overseeing a smooth merger between Diamond Bank and Access Bank Plc. Sparkle is a mobile-first platform which allows retailers to set and achieve daily objectives and scale their businesses. It provides lifestyle services including inventory management, invoice statements, FOREX services, etc.
Uzoma Dozie is CEO and founder of Sparkle, and son of Octogenarian billionaire and founder of Diamond bank Plc, Pascal Dozie.
Dozie wasted no time in replying the #StayingAliveChallenge thrown to him by Herbert Wigwe.
He shared on his twitter [email protected]_Sparkle, his experiences learning how to fish and climb using virtual reality, and as usual, passed on the baton.
(READ MORE: COVID-19: Short-term reforms needed to reduce impacts on the Nigerian economy -NESG)
I am using virtual reality to learn how to fish , climb and so much more … nominating @ChrisUbosi @yorwerth @iChexo @Jacky_Dana @onwuanibe1 pic.twitter.com/FYOT4Xzt9x
— Uzoma Dozie (@Uzoma_Sparkle) April 6, 2020
Segun Agbaje
Agbaje became MD/ CEO of GTBank when Tayo Aderinokun passed on in June 2011. He has held the position since then, winning several awards for the bank including Best Bank in Nigeria by Euromoney, and African Bank of the Year by African Banker Award.
In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent spread, Segun Agbaje has demonstrated lots of patriotism to Nigeria and Lagos state, where the bank’s headquarters is located.
Agbaje is a key part of the CACOVID, and also advocates strict adherence to the social distancing and hand washing directives given by the government to check the spread of the virus.
(READ MORE: WATCH: TechRoundUp Episode 13 examines technology’s role in fight against Covid-19)
He made a personal donation of N1 billion under the auspices of the CACOVID relief fund, while the bank donated a 100-bed intensive care facility to the Lagos state government, to compensate for the huge gap in required number of facilities for treatment, isolation and testing.
Agbaje is, undoubtedly, eager for the COVID-19 pandemic to come to an end so that he can fully return to his business of making more money for stakeholders and keeping customers satisfied.
Jubril Adewale Tinubu
Jubril Adewale Tinubu is the CEO of Oando Plc. He has used the lockdown period to share messages of hope via his social media handles, encouraging Nigerians to see themselves as being safe at home, rather than stuck at home.
Team open and positive mindset always!
What side are you on? https://t.co/R9cvzcEY6v
— Wale Tinubu (@AdewaleTinubu) April 1, 2020
He has also shared and retweeted several videos in recent tweets, targeted at educating and enlightening nigerians on the pandemic and how to stay safe.
It is important that in our fight against the #COVID19 pandemic,we leave no one behind/uninformed about the virus and how to contain it. With this in mind,we decided to create a series of videos to ensure we play our part in educating every Nigerian in a language they understand. pic.twitter.com/5AwCP3Qv7j
— Oando PLC (@Oando_PLC) April 6, 2020
Tinubu is no doubt, taking a COVID-19 enlightenment challenge, all by himself.
(READ MORE: COVID-19: What businesses must do to mitigate crisis)
Ebenezer Onyeagwu
Ebenezer Onyeagwu became Group Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank in 2019 after more than three decades of banking.
Recently, Zenith Bank was recognized as the Most Valuable Banking Brand in Nigeria, the third year in a row, in the Banker Magazine “Top 500 Banking Brands 2020” and as the Bank of the Decade (People’s Choice) at ThisDay Awards 2020.
These awards, no doubt, testified to Onyeagwu’s managerial expertise and experience, even in the face of the peculiar Nigerian environment.
Besides speaking at the launch of the automated voice banking service this week, Onyeagwu has been quite silent since the lockdown.
Zenith bank however, donated N1 billion naira to the CACOVID relief fund as part of its corporate responsibilities and to support government efforts. The bank also donated N100 million to provide relief for the victims of the Abule-ado explosion in Lagos state, recently.
(READ MORE: Bill Gates Foundation, Mastercard, others fund research on hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine for COVID-19 cure)
Adetokunbo Mukhail Abiru
Adetokunbo Abiru, is known as the CEO who came into the limelight at the wrong time and for the wrong reasons – Skye bank’s financial crisis.
Abiru was able to prove his mettle when he moved the new Polaris Bank from the brink of total collapse – never mind that he watched it get there in the first place – to the path of total recovery.
Under his leadership, the bank recovered over N200 billion of outstanding bad loans within a short period, and restructured agreements with most of the chronic bad debtors. The bank also invested in technology within the period, diversifying its service models and widening the range of channels for customers.
Known for his no-nonsense approach, Abiru is one CEO that manages to keep off the public radar. Not much is known about how he has spent the last 10 days of the lockdown.
(READ MORE: Flour Mills donates big to COVID-19 relief fund)
Ade Ayeyemi
Ayeyemi assumed the office of CEO of Ecobank in 2015, after a successful banking career with Citigroup, as CEO of the Sub-Saharan division.
This is another Chief Executive who likes to keep his private life private, so he has not been in the public much since the lockdown, both online and offline.
He however, took up the washing hands challenge recently and posted a video on his twitter handle, @AAyeyemi, showing Nigerians how to wash their hands and keep safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
I just joined the #SafeHandsChallenge pic.twitter.com/NR1oaR96Qy
— Ade Ayeyemi (@AAyeyemi) March 19, 2020
He has also been promoting the StaySafeNigeria media campaign which Ecobank launched in March as part of its corporate actions to support government efforts to contain the pandemic.
(READ MORE: Ruffer ’50 cent’ makes $2.6 billion, as Coronavirus strikes financial market)
Nairametrics had reported recently that the bank failed to declare dividends or bonuses for shareholders for the fourth year in a row, so it is likely that the CEO is staying away from public glare, while trying to fix things, even as the bank scaled down operations in line with government directives.
Yinka Sanni
Yinka Sanni has about three decades of corporate experience in the banking sector, with a significant number of those years spent in the Stanbic IBTC Group.
The CEO of Stanbic IBTC bank likes to keep his personal life shrouded from the public glare.
What he has not kept secret is the fact that he is a strong advocate of social distancing and other directives of the government to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
(READ MORE: Bulls dominate Nigerian bourse, investors gain N162 billion)
In recent times, he has continued to retweet posts from the Atedo Nari Atowari Peterside (ANAP) foundation, especially those calling for public enlightenment on #StayAtHome.
Re COVID-19, in my opinion, this 5 minute video is the best I have seen in terms of the explaining the urgent need for Social Distancing and an early Lockdown. Share with friends and family. It will save lives. https://t.co/tKy4vYK8fT
— Atedo Peterside (@AtedoPeterside) March 25, 2020
Corporate Press Releases
Meristem features Nike Okundaye in Campaign titled “The Journey”, highlights the importance for partners
Meristem taps into Okundaye’s creative energy, highlighting the shared story of growth and collaboration.
It has been a long journey for financial services provider, Meristem Nigeria, having started out as a boutique stockbroking firm over 16 years ago and morphing into a capital market conglomerate offering an array of diversified service and product offerings. The tale is similar for the art and culture doyen, Nike Okundaye-Davies whose humble beginning in traditional weaving and dying practice annealed her to the art world and art lovers.
At a graceful age of 70, she has achieved over 102 solo art exhibitions, 36 group art exhibitions, a permanent display of two of her works in the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, a Harvard recognition and many other global acclaims. With four (4) art galleries spread across the country, and the Lagos center being the biggest art gallery in West Africa, she once told a Forbes journalist that her dreams are driven by careful financial planning as she reinvests at least two-thirds of her income in her business and art centers.
Meristem taps into her creative energy in this campaign, highlighting the shared story of growth and collaboration for both institutions, and the need to onboard the right partners to achieve long term financial goals and investment security.
Meristem, a capital market conglomerate and diversified financial services provider offering stockbroking, wealth management, asset management, trustee services and financial advisory. Over the past 16 years, Meristem has been consistent in value creation and innovation within the capital market space. The Nigerian stock exchange awarded Meristem as the best digital broker of the year. In 2018 also, Meristem became the first Nigerian asset management firm to attain compliance with the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) by the CFA Institute. In 2017, Meristem handled the single largest trade in the history of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Around the World
Shell considers relocating its headquarters to the UK
Royal Dutch Shell has consistently pushed for the Dutch Government to stop taxes on dividends.
Oil and gas giant, the Royal Dutch Shell, is considering moving its corporate headquarters from The Netherlands to Britain. This could be a move against the implementation of dividend tax in The Netherlands.
The move was disclosed by the oil company’s Chief Executive Officer, Ben Van Beurden, during an interview with a Dutch newspaper on Saturday, July 4, 2020. According to him, the oil giant is not ruling out relocating its headquarters from the Netherlands to Britain. He said:
“You always need to keep thinking. Nothing is permanent and of course we will look at the business climate. But moving your headquarters is not a trivial measure. You cannot think too lightly about that.”
Further confirming the Chief Executive Officer’s comment, a Shell spokesman told Reuters that the oil giant is looking at ways to simplify its dual structure, as it had been doing for many years.
Royal Dutch Shell has consistently pushed for the Dutch Government to stop the tax on dividend paid to shareholders, as this makes financing dividend, share buy-backs and acquisition a lot more difficult.
An earlier attempt by the Dutch Government to stop the dividend tax as an incentive to convince Unilever to unify its dual structure in Rotterdam, was met with an outcry by the public, who see that as a gift to rich foreigners.
It can be recalled that Shell had announced a few days ago that it might likely write down between $15 billion-$22 billion in post impairment charges for the second quarter of 2020. The impairment, which is its largest since the merger with Shell Transport and Trading Company Ltd in 2005, shows the huge adverse impact that the coronavirus pandemic has had on the oil giant’s businesses.
Also, in a move that shocked investors, Shell for the first time since the Second World War, cut down the dividend that it paid to its shareholders by two-thirds due to the negative impact of the pandemic. The decision came as a surprise to many including shareholders of the oil company which is by far the biggest payer of dividend in the FTSE 100.
Coronavirus
Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi tests positive for COVID-19
Umahi has directed those who worked in the budget review for 2020 to immediately test for COVID-19.
The Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi has tested positive for COVID-19, reported on Saturday afternoon.
Umahi’s Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Francis Nwaze, confirmed the news and also revealed that some associates of the governor also tested positive.
He also said that the Governor is not showing any symptoms of the disease, though he has isolated himself in line with the NCDC protocols.
“The governor has directed his Deputy, Dr Kelechi, to coordinate the state’s fight against the disease and appealed to the citizens to take the NCDC protocols seriously.
READ MORE: Governors may push for 42% of federal allocation in new sharing formula
“He will currently be working from ‘home’ and will be conducting all meetings virtually,” Nwaze added.
David Umahi becomes the sixth Nigerian governor to test positive for the disease, Governors of Kaduna, El- Rufai, Bauchi, Bala Mohammed and Oyo, Seyi Makinde have fully recovered while the recent cases have been the Governors of Ondo, Rotimi Akeredolu and Delta, Ifeanyi Okowa.
On Thursday, Governor Umahi announced that the state’s Executive Council was finalizing the budget review required by World Bank and said “most us broke down and are being treated of malaria.”
Download the Nairametrics News App
He also directed those who worked in the budget review for 2020 to immediately test for COVID-19 and admitted he is expecting a second test result after he initially tested negative in March.
Meristem features Nike Okundaye in Campaign titled “The Journey”, highlights the importance for partners
Shell considers relocating its headquarters to the UK
Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi tests positive for COVID-19
Nigeria’s debt rises to $79.5 billion, as debt to revenue ratio worsens
Nigerian crude grades yet to rally because of U.S Shale
COVID-19 Update in Nigeria
Earning BTCs without Having To Pay Money
Top Nigerian FinTech Apps that are leading the competition
USDC Treasury Transfers 20,000,000 USDC to Unknown Wallet
Hushpuppi conspired to steal £100 million from English Premier League club
Anonymous
April 10, 2020 at 7:12 pm
Honestly I think the journalist has really done poor job here, I was expecting to see insights to how the CEOs were actually spending their compulsory Holliday, there was no content of this. ALSO You focused only on the Bank industry, I think the write up subject should be “profile list of top Nigerian bank ceos” .
I like nairameterics as I get a lot good news fromt the platform but this one is no filling