Stock Watch

Zenith Bank announces retirement of two Executive Directors from its Board

Zenith Bank Plc has announced the retirement of two Executive Directors, Ummar Shuaib Ahmed and Dennis Olisa, from its board effective December 28th 2022.

This was contained in a corporate disclosure that was signed by Company Secretary Michael Otu.

Part of the disclosure said: “we write to notify Nigerian Exchange Limited and the investing public of the retirement of Umar Shuaib Ahmed and Dennis Olisa from the bank board with effect from December 28th 2022. This follows their tenure of office as executive Directors.” Umar Shuaib Ahmed served on the board of Zenith Bank Plc and Zenith Pensions Custodian Ltd. and Senior Member at The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, a Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management and a Member of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria.

Before he was appointed an Executive Director, he was General Manager in Abuja Zone.

Ahmed received an undergraduate degree from Ahmadu Bello University and a graduate degree from Bayero University Kano. Olisa also served on the board of Zenith Bank. Before his appointment, he was General Manager and Head of the Energy Oil & Gas Group at Zenith Bank Plc and served as its Deputy General Manager. He served as Head of the Internal Control & Audit Group at Zenith Bank Plc.

Dennis Olisa holds a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) and a Master’s Degree in Law (LL.M) from De Montfort University.

He has also attended Executive professional training programmes at Insead Business School, France; Columbia University Graduate School of Business, USA; London School of Economics, United Kingdom; University Of Chicago Booth School of Business and Harvard Business School, Boston, USA.

Revised master plan will reposition capital market -SEC

By Abubakar Yunus Abuja

The Revised Capital Market Master Plan 2015-2025 (RCMMP), developed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Nigeria in collaboration with stakeholders, has been described as capable of providing a blueprint to harness these opportunities to better position the capital market as the engine of our economic growth and development.

Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Lamido Yuguda who stated this recently, disclosed that the Master Plan captures the challenges of the capital market in actualizing its role to drive national economic growth and also proffers solutions to enable the capital market attain its full potentials.

Yuguda stated that Nigeria in the last decade has firmly emerged as one of the leading frontier markets in Africa with immense potential for significant growth as the aspiration of the Government to create opportunities for the private sector to be a major engine of growth that guarantees improvement in the welfare and standard of living of the citizens of our great country has been diligently articulated in Nigeria’s Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP) 2021-2025.

According to him, “The MTNDP emphasizes development of a deep, broadened and competitive financial system that is better positioned to support private sector growth and economic diversification. Capital Markets provide a useful means to mobilize capital and harness economic interests in an efficient manner to drive innovation and growth.

“The last decade has been characterized by significant volatility in the global financial system caused by various economic and health shocks. At the same time innovative technologies have significantly disrupted how markets operate.

The SEC Boss said the first five years of the original Capital Market Master Plan 2015-2025 (CMMP) implementation focused on market and governance reforms in the aftermath of the global financial crises of 2008 and the Nigerian market correction that continued into 2009, with significant success.

“During that period, stock certificates were dematerialized, dividend management was automated, corporate governance standards were improved, intermediaries were strengthened through revised capital requirements and risk based supervision, amongst several other initiatives implemented under the CMMP.

“Today, we face new challenges and opportunities. The pursuit of innovation and growth requires that we are open to opportunities and risks. Our choices are limited if we only seek opportunities within our traditional boundaries. Similarly, we inhibit our ability to grow if we do not curtail the threats of unregulated risk taking. Promoting entrepreneurial and innovative outcomes, therefore, requires balancing our openness and more appetite for risk-taking with the critical need to protect investors. It is important to contextualize our aspirations within the fundamental objectives of market integrity and investor protection while pursuing economic growth.

He said that the RCCMP has provided a framework and outlined strategic initiatives that will help embrace and unlock these opportunities in the capital market.

While commending the Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget & National Planning Mrs. Zainab Ahmed for her unflinching support, Yuguda assured that together with market stakeholders, the SEC intends to lead the implementation of the RCMMP over the next four years and in-line with the objectives of the MTNDP. This he said is a critical success factor in the quest to fulfil the dream of a prosperous and peaceful Nigeria for all citizens.

To position the Nigerian capital market as a key market in Africa, SEC Nigeria developed the 10-year CMMP in 2015. The CMMP is a blueprint for positioning the Nigerian capital market as an efficient and internationally competitive market that can support Nigeria’s emergence as a top 20 global economy in line with Vision 20:2020 The CMMP was developed to assist the government to achieve its strategic economic development program by facilitating an environment that attracts capital to priority economic sectors and ensures the sustained interest of foreign investors in Nigeria.

Officials and layers of Community Peace Observers in collaboration with Kaduna Youths for Good Governance during an organised novelty football march to promote the peaceful conduct of 2023 general election in Kaduna on Tuesday

685m people could be living in extreme poverty by end of 2022, says World Bank

By Abubakar Yunus Abuja

The World Bank says a total of 685 million people could be living in extreme poverty by the end of 2022.

The international financial organisation, in its report titled ‘2022 in nine charts’, said slowing economic growth contributed to a reversal of progress on the global poverty agenda and an increase in global debt.

The bank further projected that seven percent of the world’s population would be in extreme poverty in 2030.

“The COVID-19 pandemic dealt the largest setback to global poverty reduction efforts in decades, and the recovery has been highly uneven,” the report reads.

“By the end of 2022, as many as 685 million people could be living in extreme poverty — making 2022 the second-worst year for poverty reduction in the past two decades (after 2020).

“In addition to the lingering effects of the pandemic, rising food and energy prices—fueled by climate shocks and conflicts such as the war in Ukraine—have hindered a swift recovery.

“It is now projected that 7 percent of the world’s population — roughly 574 million people — will still struggle in extreme poverty in 2030 — far short of the global goal of 3 percent in 2030.”

The World Bank also said the past year saw the debt crisis facing developing countries intensify with some 60 percent of the world’s poorest countries either in debt distress or at risk of it.

“Over- encumbered with debt, the world’s poorest are not able to make critical investments in economic reform, health, climate action, or education — among other key development priorities,” the report added.

“Perhaps more significantly, the composition of debt has changed dramatically since 2010, with private creditors playing an increasingly larger role.”

According to the bank, the global economy is now in its steepest slowdown following a post-recession recovery since 1970 — with global consumer confidence already suffering a much sharper decline than during the run-up to previous global recessions.

It said the world’s three largest economies — the United States, China, and the Euro area — have been sharply slowing.

Under the circumstances, the bank explained, even a moderate hit to the global economy over the next year could tip it into recession.