Ecobank Nigeria has emerged the winner of “Agric Lender of the Year” award at the prestigious Business Day’s Bank and other Financial Institutions Awards (BAFI). The bank was winner among other strong contenders to clinch the coveted award over the weekend.  According to Publisher of Business Day Newspapers, organisers of the event, Frank Aigbogun, Ecobank emerged winner from more than six strong nominees that were vetted, from which three were selected for the judges’ final choice. He stated that Business Day analysts spent over four weeks assessing the performance of Ecobank and its peers to arrive at  its decision.  He lauded Ecobank’s support for financing rural farmers for food sufficiency, providing employment, creating awareness to showcase the potentials in the sector and partnering government agencies, local and international development partners to develop the agric sector.

Receiving the award, Segment Head, Public Sector/AgriBusiness, Mojisola Oguntoyinbo said the award was well deserved, stating that Ecobank has been at the forefront of financing the entire value chain of agriculture thereby supporting the emergence of new entrepreneurs in the sector.  According to her, “As a bank, we are glad that our efforts at developing the agriculture sector of our country are being recognised. This is an encouragement that we should step up our support for the national economy.”

According to her, “Earlier in the year, we announced Agriculture Businesses Finance Scheme which will see us commence the disbursement of agriculture loans to practitioners in different value chains in the sector within the next two years. We have Agric Schemes to support over 70,000 farmers with special loans to increase their capacity and yields in support of the CBN 2020 wet season programme with the Maize Growers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (MAGPAMAN).  We are also in partnership with the Nigeria Incentive-based Risk-Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) and other developmental partners to double the amount of credit provided to the agricultural sector over the next two or three years.”

Ecobank has been actively leveraging entrepreneurship as a strategy to tackle poverty and growing unemployment in Nigeria through the creation of relevant platforms. One of such platforms is the Ecobank Xpress Point, the bank’s Agency Banking proposition which enables Agents carry out financial transactions on behalf of Ecobank and earn commission on transactions processed. Ecobank popularly referred to as the digital bank is also using its various  platforms including PoS, Omnilite, Omni, ATM, Mobile banking, Ecobank Mobile app, EcobankPay and Ecobank Online, among others to facilitate ease of transactions for customers.

The BAFI Awards is adjudged the most rigorous, prestigious and transparent awards programme in the Nigerian financial industry. Since its inception, Business Day has implemented an audit based approach in the evaluation process, meticulously reviewing shortlisted company’s financial reports, commissioned customer perception surveys, and analysts’ opinions to determine winners in the different award categories.

In recognition of its innovation and Excellence in financial technology, Union Systems Limited received the Trade Finance Software Solution Provider of the Year Award at the BusinessDay Bank’s and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI)  Awards 2020 held in Lagos over the weekend. The award recognizes Union Systems’ leadership in developing innovative trade finance software solutions.

While receiving the award on behalf of the company, Seun Adeleye, Union Systems’ Head of Projects said, “We are honoured to receive this award on behalf of everyone at Union Systems who work tirelessly to ensure that trade finance processing in Nigeria is fully automated and seamless. We are grateful to our clients and partners who believe in our products and trust us to help them meet their current and evolving needs in trade operations.”

Union Systems commenced the development of indigenous trade finance software solutions because of the challenges banks were facing trying to adapt generic international software to solve peculiar Nigerian trade processes. The company launched Trade-X in 2017 which automated the unique Nigerian trade processes missing in international trade systems. Earlier in the year, Union Systems launched Optimus Trade Portal, Nigeria’s first multibank corporate trade portal to empower corporates to initiate, process and manage all their trade transactions across all their banks on a single portal from anywhere in the world.

Last week, the company’s CEO, Chuks Onyebuchi was conferred with the Professional Fellowship of the Nigeria Computer Society at the National Information Technology Merit Awards 2020 (NITMA) for his contribution to the growth of the IT profession in Nigeria.

The BusinessDay Bank’s and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards is the most prestigious event to recognize and celebrate outstanding performance in Nigeria’s financial services industry. The Awards is organized by BusinessDay, one of West Africa’s most authoritative media organizations.

About Union Systems

Union Systems Limited (USL) is an Information Technology Company that provides financial software solutions and professional services to banks in Africa. The company provides software solutions to financial institutions to enhance their software capabilities, effectively scale processes, improve compliance, and drive operational efficiencies. With headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria, the company has a deep understanding of the African market and has a team of highly qualified consultants that have real-world experience in the delivery of complex software solutions.  Top banks in Africa rely on Union Systems to deliver growth, profitability, and regulatory compliance in financial software applications. Learn more www.unionsystems.com

Mikano International Limited, exclusive Partner of Geely Automotive in Nigeria, is once again, presenting to Nigeria the BOLD, GRACEFUL & HIGHTECH Geely Emgrand X7 Sport! Coming this December with great features that will interest the Nigerian consumers, amongst which are:

GREAT DESIGN:

Emgrand X7 Sport is designed by masters. The design of the car was completed by an international design team led by internationally renowned design master Peter Horbury. Peter Horbury is currently the Senior Vice President for Design of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. He has over 20 years of experience in designing luxury cars. From 1991 to 2002, he served as Volvo Cars’ Design Director, overseeing the carmaker’s design studios in Sweden, Spain, and California. Mr. Horbury was responsible for creating new design language and applied it to Volvo cars, including the new XC90 SUV and the award-winning Volvo safety concept car. As the highest recognition of his more than 40 years of experience in the field of automotive design and multiple outstanding design cases, in July 2020, Autocar, one of the world’s largest automotive magazines, awarded Peter Holbury the Lifetime Achievement Award in the Autocar Awards 2020.

EXCELLENT POWER & HANDLING:

Emgrand X7 Sport is an SUV with excellent power and handling performance. Its length, width and height are 4519×1831×1694mm, and the wheelbase reaches 2670mm. In terms of power, it is equipped with a 2.4L naturally aspirated engine and Australian DSI 6-speed automatic manual transmission. This combination of power is used in many Geely best-selling models, its power and reliability have been fully tested by the market. At the same time, the car also provides a four-wheel drive version, equipped with BorgWarner’s NexTrac intelligent timely four-wheel drive system, and Bosch 9.1 upgraded electronic stability program and many other advanced electronic systems provided by internationally renowned suppliers. All of these greatly improves the safety, handling and off-road performance of the vehicle.

RELIABLE:

Emgrand X7 Sport is a reliable SUV. In the positive research and development process for more than three years before the launch, 180 units of test vehicles have undergone a total of more than 2 million kilometers of inspections, and have undergone a series of “high temperature, high cold, and high altitude” tests, durability tests, etc. Strict testing and inspection ensure stable and reliable product quality. In the C-NCAP (China-New Car Assessment Program) test conducted, Emgrand X7 Sport achieved a five-star rating with a score of 58.2, and set a record for the highest score of SUV models after the release of the 2015 version C-NCAP rules . This achievement has also surpassed many German and Japanese SUV models.

HIGH TECH:

As one of the refined SUV model built by Geely Automobile taking three and a half years, Emgrand X7 Sport shows the solid R&D strength in the technical field. It has set a new global benchmark for Chinese SUV models in terms of dynamic styling, precise control, reliable quality, and intelligent safety.

Emgrand X7 Sport will surely redefine driving experience for Nigerian customers.

Visit www.geely.ng for more information