Chinedu Eze

Nigerian airlines may cut down on their flight operations, servicing only profitable routes as the price of aviation fuel in Nigeria, known as Jet A1, has consistently remained high since February this year.

Aside high cost of aviation fuel, the operators are also complaining about the failure of oil marketing companies to get the product to many airports, including the major airports, hence its scarcity at these airports.

As a way out, some airlines leave the luggage of passengers behind in other to carry more fuel to some airports where they cannot refuel.

So, they are mandated to carry fuel for return flight in addition to endurance fuel in case of emergency.

Some airlines that spoke to 糖心视频 said they were incurring losses adding that the inadequate supply of the product is contributing to flight delays.

At the peak of Middle East crisis, the price of aviation fuel peaked at N3, 500, from N900 per litre sold before the US-Israel attacks on Iran at the end of February, but it came down to N2, 500, according to the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) and has remained around that price ever since.

The airlines have said variously that fuel now accounts for 45 per cent to 50 per cent of total operating expenses for local carriers. Airline Chief executives, including Air Peace founder, Dr. Allen Onyema, disclosed that a single flight that previously required N3 million worth of fuel now demands between N12 million and N13 million.

The high cost has forced airlines into a tight cash-flow position. Some have accumulated substantial debts with fuel vendors. Consequently, marketers are increasingly refusing to extend fuel on credit, triggering sudden groundings. 

The airlines said to keep planes in the air, they are borrowing billions of naira at steep commercial bank interest rates ranging from 29 per cent to 33 per cent, further destroying profitability.

Despite the fact that Dangote Refinery is refining and supplying Jet A1, which has successfully eradicated physical product scarcity, the pricing remains unsustainably high. Airlines have voiced frustration over pricing transparency, alleging that middle-tier marketers sell the product at significant markups compared to primary refinery rates, but the marketers claim that they are still competing among themselves. So, anyone that over prices his product will lose the market.

Spokesman of Air Peace, Efeoghene Osifo-Whiskey, told 糖心视频 that the prevailing Jet A1 aviation fuel supply challenge had become a significant operational pressure point for Air Peace, disrupting the delicate sequencing on which an extensive domestic, regional and international network depends.

鈥淔uel unavailability at a departure station does not simply delay an isolated flight; it can unsettle aircraft rotations, crew schedules and subsequent services across several destinations, progressively weakening on-time performance and creating passenger build-up at terminals. The impact becomes particularly acute on routes serving sunset airports, where a fuel-induced delay earlier in the day can erode the limited operating window available at the destination.

鈥淎 flight that is operationally ready to depart may consequently become untenable once daylight or prevailing airport operating restrictions intervene, leaving cancellation as the only responsible course of action. Recent disruptions in Abuja illustrated this compounding effect, with fuel constraints delaying operations and the resulting loss of the available operating window subsequently affecting the Maiduguri service,鈥� he said.

The Managing Director and CEO of Aero Contractors, Captain Ado Sanusi, confirmed that airlines may stop operating to some routes that are not profitable or cannot even offset the cost of operation.

鈥淎irlines can cut down operations to certain destinations that are not viable. It is a global practice. When the price of Jet A1 went up some international airlines automatically stopped operating to some destinations. They cannot go to non-profitable routes or where they will spend more money,鈥� he said.

Sanusi said that the major problem with aviation fuel was the high price and that could be attributed to the war in the Middle East, adding that the product is not scarce because Dangote Refinery is refining the product.

He added that Aero Contractors had maintained stable operation because it has sustained buy and pay procedure with oil marketers, noting, however, it does not operate to many destinations, but has upheld its schedule despite operating challenges being encountered by airlines.

He noted that what could explain the scarcity of the product at some airports was because of the challenges moving the product, noting that there are security and bad road challenges, especially during the rains.

The Chairman of Ndano Energy, an aviation oil marketing company, Chris Ndulue, told 糖心视频 that Jet A1 was not scarce in Nigeria but the prices remained high.

鈥淚 am not aware that the product is scarce. But it is very expensive; so, it could substantially be equated to scarcity. But in practical terms the product is not scarce. 90 per cent of the product comes from Dangote Refinery. They are producing and I don鈥檛 think there is scarcity. But because of the high price, it becomes scarce in a way,鈥� Ndulue said.

He dismissed the allegation that the product price is high because of monopoly, saying that there is benchmark to its pricing because it cannot rise beyond international pricing of the product.

Ndulue noted that even if there is any monopoly, it could be addressed by having more refineries instead of importation.

鈥淚f there are more refineries there will be fair competition, which will address the issue of pricing; there will also be better service. There are a lot of benefits refining the product locally. The closure of Straight of Homuz will not affect the supply or the price of the product; no shipping delays, no demurrage and labour is also cheaper,鈥� he said.

Ndulue, however, expressed the hope that in the coming weeks the price of the product would come down in Nigeria; although currently there is similarity in the pricing of the product in Nigeria with that of the international market.

He also acknowledged that some marketers may not be supplying airlines protractedly indebted to them with the product because they cannot allow the debts to continue to pile up.

Sunday Ehigiator

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has congratulated the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) on its 72nd anniversary, describing the association as a key player in Nigeria鈥檚 maritime logistics chain and international trade facilitation.

The NPA Managing Director, Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, conveyed the goodwill message on behalf of the management and staff of the authority in a letter to the ANLCA National Secretariat in Lagos.

Dantsoho said ANLCA鈥檚 72 years of continuous service since its establishment in 1954 was a testament to the association鈥檚 鈥渞esilience, professionalism, and enduring relevance鈥� in facilitating international trade and contributing to national economic growth.

According to him, 鈥淪ince your establishment in 1954, ANLCA has remained a cornerstone of Nigeria鈥檚 maritime logistics chain. Reaching over seven decades of continuous service is a testament to the resilience, professionalism, and enduring relevance of your association in facilitating international trade and driving national economic growth.鈥�

The NPA boss noted that licensed customs agents remained 鈥渒ey trade facilitators and indispensable partners鈥� at the nation鈥檚 port corridors, stressing their role in maintaining cargo fluidity, improving port operational efficiency and sustaining supply chains.

According to him, 鈥淭he NPA deeply values the strategic relationship, constructive engagement, and mutual cooperation our organisations have cultivated over the years.鈥�

Dantsoho further reaffirmed the authority鈥檚 commitment to strengthening the operating environment for customs brokers and freight logistics providers.

He said the NPA would continue to focus on modernising port infrastructure, enhancing digital port operations and maintaining an enabling business environment to support the growth of businesses operating within the maritime sector.

鈥淎s you commemorate 72 years of excellence, leadership, and service to the nation, we reaffirm our commitment to modernising port infrastructure, enhancing digital port operations, and maintaining an enabling business environment that empowers customs brokers and freight logistics providers to thrive,鈥� he said.

Dantsoho wished the association a memorable anniversary celebration and expressed hope for continued growth, impactful leadership and stronger collaboration between ANLCA and the NPA. He added that the authority looked forward to, 鈥渕any more years of impactful leadership, growth, and fruitful partnership in building a world-class maritime industry.鈥�

Chinedu Eze

Stringent visa policy and restrictions placed between Nigeria and South Africa, negatively affected passenger movement between both countries, a development that led to the reduction in the number of Nigerians that travel to the southern African country.

It affected South Africa Airways (SAA) operations in Nigeria, as the airline recorded significant drop in passenger traffic, just as it forced the Nigerian carrier, Air Peace to suspend flight service to the Rainbow Nation.

The two countries had maintained robust relationship in the past with tour operators taking tourists to South Africa regularly and Nigerian corporates moving conferences to South Africa, but suddenly South Africa introduced constricting visa rules and even became highhanded and conceited in the way embassy officials in Nigeria were treating Nigerians who applied for visa.

The numbers of Nigerians who travel to South Africa began to ebb and Nigerian carrier experiencing continued reduction in passenger traffic due to the failure of many Nigerians to secure South Africa visa, stopped flights to Johannesburg.

In fact, international aviation industry analysis said the difficulty South Africa built around its visa for Nigerians was a way of forcing Nigerian carriers out of its market, as South Africans living in Nigeria constituted good load factor for the airline.

Ten years ago, precisely in 2016, more Nigerians travelled to South Africa and more South Africans travelled to Nigeria than in 2026.

The travel volumes between the two countries have drastically declined over the past decade due to strict visa bottlenecks, severe diplomatic tensions, and mass voluntary repatriation programmes triggered by renewed anti-immigrant protests in South Africa. 

In 2016 South Africa was a booming destination for Nigerian travellers. According to South African Tourism (SAT) 65,599 Nigerians officially arrived in South Africa in 2016.

But in sharp contrast in 2026, monthly arrivals dropped significantly. For instance, data from Statistics South Africa, indicated that Nigeria only sent 1,459 tourists to South Africa in June 2026.

Instead of an influx of new travellers, 2026 has been defined by the Nigerian government evacuating and repatriating over 1, 500 citizens from South Africa due to safety deadlines imposed by anti-immigrant groups.

Also, in 2016, general inbound migration from South Africa processed by the Nigeria Immigration Service was over 612,000 foreign arrivals into Nigeria. South African business executives, telecom workers, and tourists made up a highly robust portion of these numbers during this economic peak.

But in 2026, diplomatic standoffs, retaliatory travel policies, and severe visa delays have severely restricted South African movement into Nigeria. Bilateral negotiations for visa-free agreements remain stalled, causing a drastic overall drop in corporate and leisure travel between the two regional giants. 

The prolonged diplomatic impasse has led to reduced passenger demand, lower flight frequencies, and diminished load factors for airlines operating the Nigeria-South Africa route.

South African Airways (SAA) cut its flight frequency on the lucrative Lagos-Johannesburg route down to three or four times a week instead of operating profitable daily services.

Passenger loads on the route dropped significantly, often falling below 60 per cent capacity during peak periods of visa backlogs and restrictions. 

Industry stakeholders noted that visa bottlenecks disproportionately hurt Nigerian carriers (such as Air Peace), which faced low passenger numbers because travelers could not secure timely entry visas, forcing adjustments or suspensions on the route.

Frustrated by visa delays and denials, many Nigerian business and leisure travelers redirected their trips to more accessible African destinations like Rwanda and Kenya. 

In 2025, Nigeria and South Africa agreed to resolve their visa issues. During high-level political consultations held in Abuja on October 21, 2025, the two African economic powerhouses formally reached an accord to dismantle long-standing visa bottlenecks.

The meeting was co-chaired by the then Nigeria鈥檚 Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, and South Africa鈥檚 Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Thandi Moraka. The key highlights of the diplomatic breakthrough include simplified Visa Application Processes, that both nations committed to streamlined application frameworks to erase historical frictions, such as delayed passport returns and extensive waiting periods. 

They agreed on five-year multiple-entry visas, as South Africa operationalised a framework offering five-year multiple-entry visas tailored specifically for qualified Nigerian business professionals and tourists.

In a major policy shift following foundations laid at the late 2024 Bi-National Commission, South Africa finalised mechanisms allowing Nigerian tourists to apply for visas digitally without needing to physically surrender their passports during the initial evaluation process.

They also agreed on the establishment of a Joint Implementation Committee to guarantee that these visa reforms move past rhetoric, both delegations set up a quarterly monitoring committee to oversee compliance and continuously improve economic and people-to-people integration.

Some of these agreements may have been implemented as the South Africa Airways Country Manager, Mrs. Kemi Leke Bamtefa, who spoke to 糖心视频 confirmed. Bamtefa said obtaining South Africa visa was no more difficult and also confirmed that Nigerians were now getting long-term visas from two to five years.

She also said that South Africa Airways is doing well, having increased its frequency from three times weekly to four times weekly.

Bamtefa noted that South Africa Airways does not operate point to point; rather, from its hub in Johannesburg it connects to many Southern African and East African destinations. It also operates long-haul flights to Perth, Australia, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

So, from the O R Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, SAA operates to Kinshasa, Lubumbashi in Democratic Republic of Congo, Lusaka, Zambia, Mauritius, Windhoek, Namibia, Harare, Zimbabwe and Gaborone, Botswana in addition to other destinations in West Africa.

Also, the Trade Relations Manager, Nigeria and Ghana, South Africa Tourism, Mohammed Tanko, told 糖心视频 that Nigerians were now getting visas; that visa operations were very positive and now applicants have two choices of submitting through VSF or submit online and this has improved the number of people that travel with SAA.

鈥淭o apply for the visa, you don鈥檛 have to submit your passport, in case you need your passport for other travels. After the adjudication and if they acquiesce to your request, they will call you to bring your passport,鈥� he explained.

But nevertheless, reports indicate that xenophobia severely impacted the passenger traffic and operations of South African Airways on its core West African routes, particularly on its highly lucrative paths connecting Johannesburg with Lagos, Nigeria, and Accra, Ghana. Recurring waves of anti-immigrant sentiment and violence in South Africa鈥攎ost notably a severe escalation in mid-2026鈥攕hattered consumer confidence and decimated leisure and business travel demand from West Africa. 

Reports also noted that amid heightened safety concerns, passenger numbers on West African routes plunged significantly. Prior to major operational disruptions and the pandemic, SAA operated daily flights (up to seven times a week) to Lagos. Post-pandemic recovery efforts to rebuild this momentum were halted by renewed xenophobic tension, forcing SAA to scale back its operations to just three weekly flights, with aircraft frequently departing half-empty. 

But with the improvement in visa process and the removal of diplomatic bottlenecks, there is hope that South Africa Airways will move from the current four flights a week to daily flights.

Stories by Chinedu Eze

Convener of Prosperous Naija I See, Abiodun Oshinibosi, has called for a new mindset of constructive patriotism in Nigeria, urging citizens to acknowledge measurable national progress while remaining committed to addressing the country鈥檚 economic and social challenges.

Oshinibosi made the call on Wednesday at the Prosperous Naija I See Independence Countdown Finale, held on the eve of Nigeria鈥檚 66th Independence Anniversary.

Speaking to business leaders, professionals, entrepreneurs, young Nigerians, media executives and other stakeholders, the convener said Nigeria鈥檚 development should be viewed as a house still under construction鈥攐ne requiring continuous investment, maintenance, innovation and collective responsibility.

According to him, the central message of the initiative is that 鈥渨hat we consistently see influences what we eventually become,鈥� but optimism must be matched by responsibility and action.

He said the initiative鈥檚 鈥淧rosperous House鈥� metaphor was deliberately used throughout the Independence countdown to demonstrate the different elements required to build a prosperous nation鈥攆rom laying the foundation and raising the pillars to identifying leakages, installing systems, furnishing the structure and ultimately ensuring sustainability.

 鈥淭he house itself is not prosperity. The people inside it are,鈥� Oshinibosi said, stressing that the sustainability of any nation ultimately depends on the capacity and conduct of its citizens. The macros must become the micros鈥�

Oshinibosi acknowledged recent economic reforms and improvements in selected macroeconomic indicators, while stressing that such progress must ultimately translate into tangible improvements in the lives of Nigerians.

He cited Nigeria鈥檚 reported 4.43 per cent real GDP growth in the second quarter of 2026, compared with 3.89 per cent in the first quarter, as well as the moderation of headline inflation to 15.39 per cent in August, while noting that food inflation remained significantly higher.

Africa鈥檚 air cargo market recorded a three per cent year-on-year increase in demand in August 2026, but the growth was accompanied by a much sharper 14 per cent expansion in cargo capacity, according to the latest data released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The performance placed African airlines among the regions that recorded growth during the month, although Africa鈥檚 demand expansion remained below the global average of 4.4 per cent.

IATA鈥檚 August 2026 global air cargo market report showed that worldwide demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometres (CTK), increased by 4.4 per cent compared with August 2025, while international demand grew by 5.3 per cent.

Global capacity, measured in available cargo tonne-kilometres (ACTK), meanwhile, declined marginally by 0.1 per cent year-on-year, although international capacity increased by 0.1 per cent.

For Africa, the three per cent increase in demand came alongside a 14 per cent rise in capacity, the largest capacity expansion among all the regions tracked by IATA.

The sharp increase in available capacity was reflected in the continent鈥檚 cargo load factor, which fell by 3.9 percentage points to 36.5 per cent.

Africa also accounted for 2.1 per cent of global industry cargo tonne-kilometres in 2025, according to IATA.

The figures indicate that while African carriers succeeded in generating additional cargo traffic in August, capacity growth substantially outpaced demand, leaving a larger proportion of available cargo space unfilled.

The African market鈥檚 demand growth was below that recorded in North America, where carriers posted a 6.6 per cent increase, Latin America and the Caribbean, which recorded 5.1 per cent growth, Asia-Pacific at 4.3 per cent and Europe at 4.1 per cent.

Oluchi Chibuzor

DP World and Nigeria-based Tropical General Investments (TGI) Group, have joined forces to strengthen logistics capabilities in Nigeria, leveraging their combined expertise to support trade and unlock future growth across West Africa.

鈥淒P World’s Nigeria entity, DP World Logistics Limited, will continue to serve its customers and partners without interruption, maintaining existing services, operations and customer commitments as it builds additional capabilities. The company has a substantial footprint in Nigeria, particularly in market access across the healthcare and consumer sectors, alongside a growing logistics presence.

鈥淐ombining DP World鈥檚 global logistics and supply chain expertise with TGI Group’s strong market presence, extensive distribution network and operational experience, the business will be able to deliver a broader range of integrated supply chain solutions. While initially focused on Nigeria, the collaboration also creates a platform for expansion across West Africa,鈥� it said in a statement.

Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, DP World Africa, Mohammed Akoojee, said: 鈥淣igeria is one of Africa鈥檚 most important economies and a critical market for the future of trade on the continent. This partnership marks another important step in our journey and we look forward to welcoming TGI into the DP World family. As part of this agreement, and subject to the requisite regulatory approval, TGI will become a shareholder in our DP World Logistics business in Nigeria, with DP World remaining the majority shareholder.鈥�

Vice Chairman of TGI Group, Farouk Gumel, said: “This partnership reflects our shared ambition to reshape the future of trade and logistics in Africa. By combining DP World’s global expertise with TGI Group’s deep market knowledge and extensive distribution network, we are building resilient supply chains that will unlock growth, strengthen regional connectivity and support economic prosperity for generations to come.”

Kayode Tokede

Tizel Global, a Nigerian technology and cybersecurity company, has been honoured with the Government Cybersecurity Solutions Award at the Nigeria eGovernment Excellence Awards 2026, recognising the company鈥檚 contribution to advancing secure and technology-driven digital governance in Nigeria.

The award was presented at the Nigeria eGovernment Summit 2026, held recently in Lagos. The summit, themed 鈥淢ainstreaming Technologies in Nigeria Election Management,鈥� brought together government stakeholders, technology experts, industry leaders and other key players to examine how technology can strengthen Nigeria鈥檚 digital governance and election management ecosystem.

Beyond the award recognition, Tizel Global made a substantive contribution to the summit through a paper presentation by its Chief Executive Officer, Happiness Obioha, titled 鈥淢ainstreaming Technologies in Nigeria Election Management: A Cybersecurity and Digital Resilience Blueprint for Modern Elections.鈥�

Oluchi Chibuzor

Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company Plc (InfraCredit), has announced the execution of a $50 million subordinated unsecured 10-year debt facility with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group and the world’s largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets.

The agreement provides for a total committed Facility of $50 million, to be disbursed in two separate tranches of $25 million each. 

The subordinated Facility strengthens InfraCredit’s capital structure, enhancing its capacity to support a growing pipeline of infrastructure transactions and mobilise long-term local currency financing across sectors including renewable energy, climate-smart agriculture, digital infrastructure and green growth, telecommunications, healthcare, transportation, and other productive sectors of the Nigerian economy.

Beyond its financial value, the transaction reflects the continued evolution of InfraCredit’s institutional model and the depth of development finance support underpinning its role in Nigeria’s infrastructure financing ecosystem. 

鈥淭his investment reflects IFC’s commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s infrastructure financing ecosystem and mobilising long-term private capital.鈥� said Aliou Maiga, IFC’s Financial Institutions Group (FIG) Director for Africa. 鈥淏y supporting InfraCredit’s institutional capacity, we are helping mobilize domestic resources for infrastructure investments that can drive economic growth, job creation and sustainable development across key sectors of the Nigerian economy. We are pleased to deepen our partnership with InfraCredit as it continues to play a catalytic role in developing Nigeria’s local capital markets.”

Commenting on the transaction, Chief Executive Officer of InfraCredit, Chinua Azubike, said: “Building additional institutional capacity has been an important priority for InfraCredit as our transaction pipeline grows and our financing solutions evolve. IFC鈥檚 investment reinforces that capacity and strengthens our ability to mobilise long-term domestic capital for infrastructure. Equally important, this investment demonstrates the continued confidence of the international development finance community in InfraCredit鈥檚 business model. Our institution is supported by a diverse ecosystem of leading DFIs and development partners across multiple layers of our capital and risk-sharing structures, including subordinated debt, portfolio risk-sharing, counter-guarantees, first-loss capital and specialised investment facilities. That breadth of support is a significant competitive advantage and reflects the maturity and resilience of our institution. We look forward to building on this partnership with IFC as we work together to expand the flow of long-term capital into Nigeria鈥檚 infrastructure market.”

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), is tightening access and documentation at the Pilgrims and Cargo Terminal of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The move is aimed at reducing congestion, curbing unauthorised access and improving safety and security at the terminal.

The Directorate of Cargo Development and Services, led by its Director, Mr. Lekan Thomas, recently engaged key government agencies operating at the terminal to sensitise them to the new access control measures.

The agencies include the Nigeria Customs Service, NDLEA, NAFDAC, Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service, Police EOD, DSS, Standards Organisation of Nigeria and Federal Produce Inspection Services.

Under the proposed system, only registered, verified and authorised persons, businesses and vehicles will be allowed into designated areas of the terminal.

FAAN鈥檚 Integrated Cargo Stakeholder Registry will serve as the main reference for verifying cargo operators, while biometric identification, facial recognition, fingerprint verification and electronic access records will be introduced.

Phase One will also deploy Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras and boom barriers on two of the four lanes at Gate One, while CCTV will support monitoring and investigation.

An X-ray scanner for baggage and parcels is also expected to strengthen security screening.

FAAN said the measures were not intended to restrict legitimate cargo operations, but to eliminate unauthorised access, improve accountability and reduce unnecessary human and vehicular movements.

The Corporate Affairs Managers Committee of  the Nigerian Insurers Association (CAMCONIA) has officially inaugurated a new Executive Committee to steer its affairs following recent elections held at the 

NIA House in Victoria Island, Lagos. 

Bankole Banjo, Marketing & Corporate Communications Manager at SanlamAllianz Nigeria, emerged as the elected Chairman, succeeding Segun Bankole, whose tenure spanned from December 2023 to September 2026. 

In his valedictory address, outgoing Chairman Segun Bankole reflected on the strides achieved during his tenure amidst a fast-evolving, digital first 

communications landscape. He charged the new executive committee to 

build on the collaborative ethos established over the years, reminding 

members that while they represent different companies, they must collectively tell one unified industry story of trust, innovation, and resilience. He also urged the incoming executive team to consider broadening CAMCONIA鈥檚membership to officially integrate sales professionals, reinforcing the symbiotic relationship between brand management and commercial growth. 

While flight delays and cancellations can be infuriating to an average passenger, air travellers in Nigeria seemed not to have been well-informed about many factors responsible for such incidents. Chinedu Eze writes that the regulatory authority and the airlines should embark on sensitisation

There are two things that are peculiarly Nigerian in air travel. Passengers often become restive and sometimes violent when airlines announce flight delay or cancellation. The second thing is that because of the fear of the first, airlines are reluctant to update their passengers about their flight service.

Whenever passengers attack airlines鈥� staff for flight delay or flight cancellation, it is a ventilation of frustration: appointments that would not be kept; a very important consignment that will not be delivered; a meeting that will be missed. Over the years, air travellers have become skeptical about Nigerian airlines. They do not believe airline personnel when they explain why flights are cancelled and they do not believe the extraneous factors that lead to flight delays even when they are explained to them.

This shows that there is growing disconnect between the airlines and the travelling public. But incidentally, if Nigerian passengers are waiting at Lome airport in Togo for a connecting flight and the flight is delayed, they do not attack the airline ground personnel or the airline`s equipment, as they do in Nigeria.

About two years ago, Nigerian passengers that were to connect flight to another African country from the Katoka International Airport, Accra, Ghana waited for over three hours, but there was no boarding call. One of the Nigerian passengers started complaining loudly and the airport manager came out and warned the Nigerian passengers and capped her warning with 鈥淭his is not Nigeria.鈥�

Such delays also occur on international travel where Nigerians in their numbers were travelling but they never protest when delays occur or even cancellation. In recent times international airlines like Della Air Lines, British Airways, Lufthansa have cancelled flights in Nigeria but the passengers were never reported to be violent.

In fact, industry observers have agreed that the attitude of fighting airline personnel and destroying airline equipment at the airport is usually targeted at Nigerian airlines; that such violent disruption rarely occur with foreign airlines.

Flight Delay and Violent Reaction

Reports indicate that air travellers in Nigeria sometimes resort to violence during flight delays due to a combination of poor communication from airlines, systemic infrastructure challenges, and weak institutional deterrence. The allegation is that airlines often fail to provide timely, transparent updates regarding the status of delayed or cancelled flights, leaving passengers feeling ignored or deceived.  Reports also indicated that there were frequent delays driven by congested aprons, bird strikes, sunset airport restrictions, and limited airline fleets stretch traveller patience to a breaking point.

Observers also believed that one of the problems that led to this is that many disputes are settled informally or handled with light administrative penalties rather than swift criminal prosecution, which fails to deter future aggressive behaviour and negate international standards practices. In fact, aviation security personnel often watch restive passengers destroy airline鈥檚 equipment without stopping them. There have been occasions they were allegedly egged on by airport officials.

Causes of Flight Delays

Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) issued a communique recently, which contained among other things the factors that cause flight delay and cancellation in Nigeria.

The operators noted that it never benefits them if there is flight delay or cancellation. in fact, when it happens, they lose revenue.

The operators identified causes of flight delay and cancellation to include, weather, which AON identified as the major cause of delays especially during the rainy seasons and the dust haze months of November to March.

Another factor is inadequate aircraft parking space, due to congested aprons in both Lagos and Abuja airports.

There are also sunset airport restrictions, which refer to airports that do not have facilities for night landing or the airports which landing facilities are not activated.

Other Factors

AON also pointed out that VIP movement causes flight delays. This is when the aircraft of the president of the country and other high personalities are taking off or landing and the airspace is closed for them. Aircraft that are airborne and those on the ground about to take off will have to wait.

Another key factor that contributes significantly to flight delay and cancellation is the frequent bird strikes and Foreign Object Damage (FOD).

鈥淏ird strikes and foreign object damage frequently affect aircraft during, taxiing, take-off and landing. The massive delays occasioned by bird strikes are not caused by the airlines,鈥� AON said

AON said unavailability and ever-rising cost of aviation fuel, JetA1 contribute to flight delays. The prices keep rising and the latest price is put at above N2500 per litre by the operators 鈥渁nd that has continued to rise fast and steadily. On top of the continuous rise in the fuel price, fuel supply is at best epileptic at several secondary airports thereby causing delays.鈥� The operators said inefficient air traffic flow is another factor that delays flights. According to AON, sometimes airlines have to wait on the ground in a queue for extended periods before being given clearance for takeoff.

The operators lamented about inadequate airport infrastructure and said it hampered flight operations and leads to delays.

鈥淭his include but not limited to poor Check-in Facilities, lack of adequate Screening and Exit Points, Unserviceable Baggage Carousels, Inadequate and Unreliable Ground Services Equipment from the ground handling companies, all causing avoidable systemic delays,鈥� AON said.

However, AON did not include aircraft having technical problems which could lead to AOG (Aircraft on Ground) as major cause of flight delay and cancellation. Sometimes aircraft develops technical problems leading to delay and flight cancellation and this also happens regularly.

Poor Communication

Nigerian airlines are blamed for failure to keep passengers abreast of their latest development in flight operations. 糖心视频 findings showed that sometimes airline officials were unwilling to inform passengers about the situation because of fear of how they would react, but industry insiders said that while that could be a factor, the airline must have to change their attitude on that.

鈥淓ven if you have to walk to the passengers with a security official on your side, you must update them or you send the latest information to their devices, they must be updated at any point in time,鈥� one industry stakeholder told 糖心视频.

The stakeholders also observed that while the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has variously informed passengers of their rights and what their obligations to the airlines are, 鈥渢here is no sensitisation that airlines are not responsible to many factors that cause flight delays and cancellations鈥�.

Airlines Story

The Executive Secretary of Airline Operators of Nigeria (ART), Olu Fidel Ohunayo, told 糖心视频 that over time the Nigerian airlines have failed to tell their story; to let passengers know what causes flight delays so they won鈥檛 heap all the blames on them any time there is flight delay.

He referred to the recent flight delay statistics released by NCAA and noted it was devoid of airlines input.

鈥淪o, I expect that when you don’t tell your story, people will tell the story. Some other people will tell the story.

And when they tell your story, you are now left to defend or correct the story. That is why you must start, and you must tell your own story so others won’t say it on your behalf. This is the conundrum that the airlines have found themselves in with delays and cancellations that is going viral and they now have to push back,鈥� Ohunayo said.

He observed that before now some airlines used to publish their flight statistics but suddenly stopped, remarking that what happened was reawakening for the airlines.

 鈥淭he statistics will make everybody buckle up and it will also help us to know the causes of delay. Yes, the airlines alone cannot be responsible for the delay. There are all other factors which were mentioned by them in their recent meeting. But now they need to move, they need to step up. 

鈥淏ecause if the regulations are stacked against you, directing you to do some services, to pay for some services related to delays and cancellations, then you also need to say those causes of delays that are not within your control. And that is why the NCAA statistics should be expanded to tell us the time of delay, actual cause of delay. Because the idea of this stats is not to bring down the airlines, it Is not to de-market airlines but to improve the system and ensure everybody smiles,鈥� the ART executive said.

He said that the way to improve the system would be to have comprehensive statistical table of delays and cancellations and reasons for the delays, noting that this would help everybody.

鈥淎nd I think that is the work of the regulator to provide the statistics and not the airlines alone. But the airlines should also be able to tell their story and look forward to such a time when they can put that forward. But we should look at what is best for us now. And I think what is best for us is to support timely and accurate release of information related to delays and cancellations,鈥� he said.

Ohunayo recalled that at a recent outing during at Akwaaba Conference, held in Lagos, the issue of flight delays and cancellations was discussed.

鈥淥ne thing that was commonly agreed was that there is that bottleneck at about seven am in the morning. For those first flights, there is that bottleneck at the two domestic terminals of the Lagos airport, MMA2 and at General Aviation Terminal, known as Terminal 1 (GAT). If that bottleneck starts from the very first flight, quite naturally it is going to cascade to the rest of the flights, and not cascade at reduced time, but at an increased time naturally, and that is how that delay begins to build up, and that ends up that the last flight suffers,鈥� he observed.

Ohunayo added that the delays that snowballed from the beginning of the flight operations may lead to the cancellation of flights to sunset airports.

鈥淭here are a number of flights that are departing at almost the same time. So, happily, we heard that Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) are now working on the apron side to clear, to get more space for aircraft to park and move, that is good news, and that is also a reflection of that report. So, what we want to see is the airlines and the regulator working together to minimize, not just coming out to argue over statistics and the cost of delay, but how that can be minimised, and improve the general integrity of scheduled operations in Nigeria,鈥� he said.

Spokesman of Air Peace, Efeoghene Osifo-Whiskey, told 糖心视频: 鈥淏eyond the immediate operational disruption lies an equally consequential passenger, commercial and reputational burden. Delays and cancellations trigger a chain of recovery obligations: passengers have to be re-accommodated on subsequent services, accumulated passenger loads must be absorbed into already planned rotations, eligible refund requests processed, and welfare interventions provided where circumstances require them.

鈥淭hese recovery measures carry substantial direct and indirect costs while disrupted inventory, cancelled sectors and displaced bookings translate into foregone revenue and additional operational expenditure. More difficult to quantify is the effect on passenger confidence. Travelers experience disruption through the immediacy of missed engagements, prolonged waiting and uncertainty, and their grievances can quickly migrate from airport terminals to social and traditional media, where an externally induced operational constraint may ultimately be perceived as an airline service failure.

鈥淩ecent media coverage has reflected precisely this tension, documenting passenger frustration alongside the fuel-related circumstances behind the disruptions.  Sustained Jet A1 instability, therefore, presents more than a fuel-supply problem: it creates a cascading operational challenge capable of affecting schedule integrity, passenger experience, commercial performance and, ultimately, the trust an airline works continuously to build and preserve.鈥�

The airlines and the concerned agencies need to adopt new strategies at sensitising the passengers. Also, passengers that become violent due to flight delay or cancellation should be punished in accordance to the law and this should be made public as deterrence to others.

Ebere Nwoji

Insurance experts have highlighted affordability and trust deficit as two key barriers to insurance adoption among smallholder farmers. 

The experts identified these at the 9^th edition of Agriculture Summit Africa (ASA) 2026. 

Speaking during  a panel session   titled, 鈥淐limate Risk Management for Sustainability: Future-Proofing Africa鈥檚 Food System,鈥� Global Head, Agricultural Risk Solutions, Leadway Assurance,  Ayoola Fatona noted that against this backdrop, Leadway    often sought to address these challenges by building partnerships with organisations that share its  commitment to advancing the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and strengthening their resilience to climate-related risks. 

He said through  these collaborations,  the underwriting firm has  been able to mobilise funding to pre-finance insurance premiums, ensuring that farmers have the protection they needed in place from the onset of the planting season, when their risk exposure was  at its highest.鈥�

The summit convened by Sterling Bank,  focused on improving food production, financing, processing, technology, trade, and policies to help Africa build stronger value chains, create jobs, strengthen intra-African trade, and become a stronger global food power. 

Leadway said these objectives align with its  commitment to strengthening the agricultural sector by providing risk protection for farmers, agribusinesses, and investments across the agricultural value chain.

Fatona, said in 2025  wet season alone, Leadway partnerships enabled it  to mobilise over $1.2 million to provide insurance coverage for more than 400,000 farmers.

He said the underwriting firm would continue  to build on that progress. 

Ebere Nwoji

Stanbic IBTC Insurance, one of the first set of insurance companies to cross the recapitalisation huddle embarked by the National Insurance Commission ( NAICOM), said with the new capital it has reinforced strength for the future .

The company said raising the new capital marked  a significant milestone in the company’s growth journey and reaffirmed  its position as one of Nigeria’s leading life insurance providers.

According to the Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Chuma Nwokocha, meeting that bar required more than access to capital. It required the kind of financial discipline, planning and governance that regulators were specifically screening for. Stanbic IBTC Insurance’s successful verification against the N10 billion threshold reflected the rigour of that preparation. Today, that outcome speaks to the strength of its balance sheet, at a moment when the industry itself is being reshaped by fewer, better capitalised operators.鈥�

He noted that the confirmation reflects the strength of the wider group’s approach to capital planning and governance.

Also speaking, Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Insurance,  Akinjide Orimolade, noted that the milestone should be understood in the context of where the industry is heading, not simply where it has been.

鈥淭his confirmation is a moment worth marking, but it is not the finish line. NAICOM has set a new baseline for what it means to operate responsibly in this industry and meeting that baseline required real discipline across our organisation. What matters now is what we do with this position. Nigeria’s insurance industry is entering a phase where scale, governance and financial strength will separate the operators built for the long term from those simply built for today. Our task is to keep building the kind of institution that customers and stakeholders can rely on, not just at this moment, but as the industry continues to evolve,鈥� he stated.

Ebere Nwoji

AXA Mansard has launched an all inclusive financial protection  and savings awareness campaign tagged,  鈥淐ulture of Care鈥�. 

The campaign is aimed at promoting care and protection while highlighting the role of insurance, healthcare and financial planning in securing the long-term well-being of Nigerians.

The campaign, according to the company, seeks to deepen understanding of care as a shared responsibility across families, businesses and communities, while repositioning insurance as more than a financial transaction.

putting customers and their needs at the centre of its operations.

In his address, the Chief Executive Officer, AXA Mansard Health, Tope Adeniyi, said the campaign was a call for society to recognise the importance of caregiving and provide better support for both caregivers and those receiving care.

鈥淥ur bodies, our souls, and our properties matter to us. And the culture of care is very important,鈥� Adeniyi said.

He noted that caregiving cuts across virtually every aspect of society, as people care for spouses, children, parents, relatives and colleagues.

According to him, the need for care extends beyond individual families to systems such as healthcare, health insurance, childcare and other forms of social protection.

In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer, AXA Mansard Investment, Deji Tunde-Anjous, said financial well-being was an equally important component of protection because financial security gave people the confidence to plan for the future.

FACTFILE with Lanre Alfred

For decades, the high-priests of global capitalism have built an altar of metrics out of thin air. They charted human achievement by the nervous, digital ticking of Western stock tickers.

To those who view the world through such glossy panes of foreign wealth indices, fortune may seem like an abstraction, a numerical vapor that expands or contracts at the whim of retail sentiment in New York or London.

But travel to the edge of the Atlantic, where the swamps of Lekki have been reshaped into a colossal monument of steel and fire, and you will find an empire that scoffs at such vacuous estimations.

Here, Africa鈥檚 leading industrialist Aliko Dangote has constructed a reality too massive to fit into the narrow columns of a magazine page, exposing the profound blindspot of global wealth tracking: you cannot measure the destiny of a continent with an algorithm designed only to count paper.

Yet, one cannot but marvel at the tranquil arrogance that depicts the core of the West鈥檚 attempts to quantify the titans of the global south. Every year, billionaire indices publish their real-time rankings with the precise decimals of mathematical certainty, reducing complex lifetimes of industrial conquest to a single, shifting digit. However, these charts suffer from a structural blindness, mistaking public equity for ultimate power.

This informed why Dangote recently brushed aside a widely cited $38 billion valuation. He didn鈥檛 do so out of vanity, but out of a profound understanding of corporate wealth and finance.

It took a casual street interview to puncture the carefully maintained myth of global wealth tracking. Standing before a smartphone camera, the richest man in Africa authoritatively dismissed the multi-billion-dollar calculation that global financial magazines have attached to his name for a generation.

The trackers, guided by superficial movements of listed stocks, had confidently declared his worth. But their calculators had missed the true scale of his business empire and failed to see a newly born refinery valued at $40 billion through private placements, and they had overlooked a torrent of private revenue that reached $10 billion in a single quarter.

And even more troubling is their failure to factor in significant milestones, like the historic execution of Dangote Petroleum Refinery鈥檚 Initial Public Offering (IPO), which marks Africa鈥檚 largest-ever public equity sale, a landmark move aimed at raising N2.15 trillion ($1.6 billion) by offering 4.1 billion ordinary shares at N525 each. Touted as a 鈥減eople鈥檚 IPO鈥� to democratise wealth, the offering features a remarkably low entry threshold of N5,250 for 10 shares, targeting up to 10 million retail investors across Nigeria, the diaspora, and the broader continent. This monumental listing on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) is a strategic mechanism to secure growth capital for a massive $14.3 billion expansion program. By doubling the refinery鈥檚 capacity from 700,000 to 1.4 million barrels per day by 2029, the public offering becomes a critical financial tool to restructure institutional debt and solidify the facility鈥檚 role as a dominant, self-sustaining global energy powerhouse.

For Aliko Dangote personally, this public offering provides transparent market validation that fundamentally elevates his estimated financial worth and cements his position as Africa鈥檚 richest man. Prior to the official public subscription window opening on September 14, 2026, the mere formalisation of the IPO agreements injected immediate momentum into his valuation, pushing his estimated net worth upward by $1 billion to roughly $32.5 billion to $38 billion according to global wealth indices. Moving an asset of this scale from a private entity to a publicly-traded corporation replaces speculative valuations with real-time, liquidity-driven stock pricing, unlocking vast tranches of trapped equity. As the refinery records massive turnarounds, such as reporting a $1.82 billion after-tax profit in the first half of 2026 alone, the resulting market capitalisation is expected to dramatically increase Dangote鈥檚 broader wealth trajectory for years to come.

In the light of this, Dangote鈥檚 recent dismissal and rebuke of the Forbes rating of his wealth, excites a supreme irony, showing how the world鈥檚 most famous financial indices could look directly at a continent-spanning industrial empire and miss its true value entirely.

More importantly, his defiance exposes a deeper truth known to genuine builders of empires: that the truest wealth is often kept deliberately in the dark, hidden away in private holdings and unlisted assets, completely invisible to the distant eyes of foreign accountants.

Flaws of the global wealth tracking system

There is no gainsaying that international business journalism has, for a long while, treated global wealth rankings with the reverence of holy writ. Every year, glossy magazine covers and real-time electronic tickers broadcast authoritative-looking numbers next to the names of the world鈥檚 financial elite.

Yet, behind the slick graphics and precise decimals lies a massive structural flaw. The methodology used by these trackers is fundamentally incapable of measuring the true value of colossal, privately held industrial empires. This blindspot is particularly evident in emerging markets, where it distorts the true economic reality of those driving continent-scale development.

The systemic failure of these conventional formulas became glaringly obvious recently when African industrialist Aliko Dangote openly dismissed the numbers assigned to his name. Confronted during a street interview by James Dumoulin, founder of the platform School of Hard Knocks, Dangote shrugged off the trackers鈥� top estimate of $38 billion.

He pointed out that these published figures do not reflect his actual wealth because his most valuable, high-growth companies remain private and unlisted. His perspective matches a broader trend: across the globe, the truly wealthy often view these foreign wealth calculators with total amusement, recognizing them as flawed, incomplete, and highly inaccurate summaries of genuine financial power.

To understand why these global wealth ratings are unreliable, one must examine the specific mechanics of how they are calculated. The core issue is that these trackers rely almost entirely on the public stock market to estimate value.

When a billionaire鈥檚 wealth is concentrated in publicly listed equities, tracking it is simple. The software merely multiplies their total share count by the daily closing price on the New York Stock Exchange, the London Stock Exchange, or the Nigerian Exchange Group.

This method creates an illusion of precision. It updates every minute, flashing red or green to signal slight changes in wealth. However, this calculation treats paper volatility as if it were actual, tangible value. A sudden panic among retail investors or a brief macroeconomic shift can wipe out billions on paper overnight, even when the underlying factories, land, and supply chains remain completely unchanged.

The methodology breaks down entirely when evaluating large, unlisted private conglomerates. When a company does not trade publicly on an open exchange, wealth trackers are forced to guess its value. They typically use two highly flawed approaches in the sense that they look at the original money spent to build a facility years ago, completely ignoring asset appreciation, market capture, and future cash flow potential.

Then there is what profound economics identifies as sector proxy disconnect: in this sense, global wealth trackers find a vaguely similar public company in the United States or Europe, look at its market valuation multiples, and apply a steep, arbitrary 鈥渄iscount鈥� to the private African asset simply because it operates in an emerging market.

The Bloomberg vs. Forbes discrepancy

Lest we forget the Bloomberg vs. Forbes ratings鈥� discrepancies. The guesswork identified in previous paragraphs has been known to often lead to a lack of consistency. Hence it is common to see a billionaire鈥檚 estimated net worth differ by several billion dollars between various trackers on any given day. If these tracking methodologies were genuinely scientific, their final valuations would align closely. Instead, their frequent contradictions reveal that these numbers are not solid, verified facts. They are merely soft estimates disguised as financial data.

Dangote鈥檚 explicit rejection of these metrics, as advanced by Forbes for instance, is grounded in solid corporate finance. It is an open secret that his business empire is structurally insulated from the view of foreign financial journalists. And he presented a clear argument that exposed the huge gap between public estimates and actual asset values: that is, the invisibility of unlisted powerhouses. The core of Dangote鈥檚 argument rests on a simple reality: 鈥淭hey say I鈥檓 worth $38 billion, but most of our businesses are not listed yet.鈥�

While entities like Dangote Cement Plc are listed publicly, the highest-growth parts of his modern industrial portfolio operate entirely within private holding companies. This creates a massive information gap for outside trackers.

Without access to private quarterly boards, internal ledgers, or audited cash flow statements, foreign tracking algorithms default to highly conservative baselines. They end up missing the enormous value being generated within these private entities.

The $40 billion refinery disconnect

The clearest example of this miscalculation is the sprawling Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical complex in Lekki, Lagos. For years, international wealth trackers valued this massive 650,000-barrel-per-day facility at roughly $20 billion, basing their calculation strictly on its historical construction costs.

Dangote directly challenged this stale calculation, stating clearly: 鈥淥ur refinery, I know, is worth over $40 billion, just the refinery.鈥�

This $40 billion asset value is not a random guess; it has been validated by real private equity transactions. The group successfully placed a small 6% private equity stake in the refinery with institutional buyers for approximately $2.5 billion.

Simple math shows that if a 6% stake is worth $2.5 billion, the entire facility is valued at over $41 billion. This single private asset alone is worth more than the entire net worth global trackers have assigned to Dangote鈥檚 name, proving that their public models are vastly underestimating his wealth.

When asked about his peak performance metrics during his interview, Dangote shared a striking detail: 鈥淲ell, first quarter, we did about $10 billion.鈥� For an industrial group to generate $10 billion in revenue in just three months reveals an incredible amount of operational velocity. The conglomerate鈥檚 total revenue has skyrocketed over the past five years.

Static wealth formulas are built around mature, slow-moving Western consumer brands. They are simply not equipped to accurately measure an industrial giant that generates massive cash flows by supplying fundamental goods to the fastest-growing populations on earth.

Dangote鈥檚 legacy mindset vs. net-worth distractions

Thus, it may be said that a major reason these external ratings miss the mark is a fundamental misunderstanding of the billionaire鈥檚 personal motivations. Foreign media outlets often assume that every tycoon is obsessed with their daily position on global wealth leaderboards.

Dangote, however, dismissed this mindset completely, calling the trackers 鈥渧ery distractive.鈥� He made it clear that he has moved past the phase of running businesses purely to accumulate personal wealth.

His primary focus now is on leaving a lasting legacy by driving the full industrial self-reliance of the African continent. He is focused on building long-term production capacity rather than managing his public image for foreign financial magazines.

No doubt, Dangote is far from the first global titan to openly challenge these public wealth indices. Over the years, many of the world鈥檚 most successful entrepreneurs have privately laughed at or publicly criticized these lists, viewing them as inaccurate caricatures of their real financial standing.

Why true billionaires dismiss Forbes, others鈥� ratings

Global billionaires of truly massive financial worth have overtime learned to dismiss of the estimations of global wealth trackers. Most instructive was the Saudi Prince Precedent; in 2013, Saudi Arabia鈥檚 Prince Alwaleed bin Talal famously cut ties with Forbes, filing a defamation lawsuit against the publication, accusing it of intentionally understating his net worth by billions because its methodology refused to properly value equities listed on the Saudi stock exchange (Tadawul).

Icons like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have also regularly pointed out the absurdity of these real-time trackers. They note that their multi-billion-dollar paper wealth fluctuations are driven by volatile stock market sentiment rather than any actual change in the cash or assets held by their businesses.

Also, major real estate magnates in New York, London, and Hong Kong routinely ignore these public billionaire lists knowing that because their vast property holdings are sheltered inside private LLCs, trust networks, and offshore funds, public journalists have no way of knowing their true net worth.

The impending realignment

Yet, the big disconnect between public wealth ratings and Dangote鈥檚 actual financial scale will not last forever as the true value of his empire is set to become undeniable through a series of major public market listings including the mega refinery鈥檚 public listing. The group鈥檚 recent filing of the initial paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a massive $5 billion Initial Public Offering (IPO) for the Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals, and its subsequent launching of the IPO manifests as a historic corporate listing for the African continent.

And to attract global capital, the group is also pursuing a sophisticated dual-listing framework that involves a primary listing on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) combined with cross-border shares or Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) in key regional financial hubs, including Johannesburg, Cairo, and Nairobi. The group鈥檚 massive 3-million-metric-ton urea fertilizer facility is also being prepared for its own public carve-out and listing, separating it from the core holding company to highlight its distinct value.

When these huge assets begin trading openly on public stock exchanges, global wealth tracking algorithms will no longer be able to rely on conservative guesses or outdated construction cost models. They will be forced to calculate Dangote鈥檚 net worth using real-time open-market stock prices.

This transparency will likely spark a massive upward correction in his global billionaire ranking, exposing how deeply flawed the public estimates were for all those years. It will prove once and for all that true economic power is measured by industrial production and infrastructure, not by the surface-level metrics of foreign magazines.

The assets vanity game

Interestingly, however,  the real problem is not Forbes or Bloomberg, but the seriousness with which many a billionaire treat their rankings. A billionaire may 鈥渓ose鈥� billions overnight because a stock falls or a currency weakens, yet his factories remain standing, his workers remain employed and his businesses continue to produce.

Yes, only the number changed. That is the vanity of the game. For a man like Dangote, the bigger question should no longer be how many billions a magazine says he is worth, but what he has built with that wealth. Markets will rise and fall. Rankings will change. But factories and industries endure.

In the end, history will not remember whether Dangote was ranked 30th or 70th among the world鈥檚 richest men. It will remember what he built.

Emmanuel Olorunda-Otaru

The Chairman of Resource Intermediaries Limited, Dr. Alex Okoh, is optimistic about the future of the company, 鈥漈o be the first in outsourcing management, providing value adding services to clients with a highly efficient and professional team鈥�.

Dr. Okoh said this in his opening remark at the 20^th anniversary celebration of the company at the weekend in Lagos.

鈥淥ur anniversary theme: 鈥淔uture Forward: Beyond Outsourcing; Sustainable Growth鈥� is timely. Our journey into the future is about being Future Forward through innovation and adaptability, going Beyond Outsourcing by creating greater value and strategic solutions for our clients, while pursuing sustainable growth,鈥� he said.

According to him, 鈥�20 years is a milestone, not a destination. The next 20 years must be about greater ambition, innovation, relevance, and impact. We have the opportunity to build a legacy, which should not be by how long we have existed, but by the value we have created鈥�.

In his keynote address, the MD/CEO of RIL, Mr. Ademolasoye Awonaike, said, 鈥淭oday, we celebrate 20 years of purpose, resilience, solving problems, and building people while helping businesses grow. No organization succeeds for 20 years on strategy alone, but because of people, with courage, conviction and commitment to excellence鈥�, he said.

On his part, the pioneer MD and co-founder of RIL, Mr. Olusoji Oyawoye, said that most businesses, very few survive the first five years, but their company is waxing strong after 20 years, giving birth to subsidiaries in Ghana, Kenya, and theBUNKer workspaces with staff all over Nigeria, three regional offices, that is worth celebrating.

He said the real competition are your customers, not people doing what you are doing. 鈥漌hen we started, there were international companies doing outsourcing, some are dead now, but we local indigenous, we are still alive. If your customers are happy, no competition can do anything.

https://meet.google.com/call?authuser=1&hl=en&mc=KAIwAZoBFDoScGludG9fcXFldHk2NmVubXJ6ogE3MgJQADoCEAFKBAgBEAFaAggAagIIAXICCAF6AggCiAEBkgECEAGaAQQYASAAogECEADiAQIIALIBBxgDIAAqATHCAQIgAdgBAQ&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmail.google.com&iilm=1790706230688

Page

Nume Ekeghe 

Polaris Bank has said that it is set to join organisations globally to celebrate the 2026 Customer Service Week.

The bank, in a statement noted that the theme represents a continuation of its longstanding commitment to putting customers at the heart of its business and continually improving the quality of their banking experience.

Speaking ahead of this year鈥檚 celebration, the Managing Director/CEO of Polaris Bank, Mr. Kayode Lawal, reaffirmed the importance of customers to the Bank鈥檚 continued growth.

鈥淐ustomers are at the heart of everything we do. Their feedback, trust and partnership challenge us to keep improving and delivering value every day. Customer Service Week is an opportunity to recognise that relationship and remind ourselves that great service must go beyond expectation,鈥� he said.

For Polaris Bank, this commitment extends across its physical and digital touchpoints, including its branch and business network, contact centre and digital banking platforms such as VULTe. The Bank continues to focus on creating a consistent and responsive experience, regardless of where or how customers choose to engage.

Nume Ekeghe

The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) has inducted 2,178 new Chartered Bankers, charging them to embrace innovation, strengthen their professional competence and uphold ethical standards as the banking industry continues to evolve.

President/Chairman of Council, CIBN, Dele Alabi, gave the charge at the 2026 Stream II Chartered Banker Induction Programme held in Lagos.

Alabi said the inductees were entering the banking profession at a time of profound technological and economic transformation, with artificial intelligence, economic uncertainty and changing customer expectations reshaping the industry.

He said future-readiness required bankers to anticipate change, exercise sound judgement and harness innovation while remaining committed to professional and ethical standards.

Alabi said: 鈥淭his occasion is more than the attainment of a qualification, it marks your formal admission into a chartered profession and, with it, your acceptance of the Code of Ethics and Professional Standards that define the profession. From today, you do not merely occupy positions within the banking and financial services industry; you assume a professional trust and the responsibility that comes with it.

鈥淭echnology, Automation and Innovation encourages professionals to use emerging tools to improve how financial services are delivered, while Professionalism and Ethical Conduct ensures that innovation and leadership remain grounded in the standards on which confidence in our profession depends.鈥�

Also speaking at the event, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, FirstBank Nigeria, Olusegun Alebiosu, urged the new Chartered Bankers to see innovation as an essential part of remaining relevant in the industry.

Alebiosu said customers were increasingly demanding faster, safer and more convenient financial services, making it necessary for banks and their professionals to continually improve how they serve them.

鈥淪ometimes, it is simply finding a faster, safer and easier way to solve a customer鈥檚 problem,鈥� he said.

According to him, innovation was not limited to launching new digital platforms, but also involved improving existing processes and finding better ways to meet customer needs without losing sight of risk.

He noted that Nigerian banks were operating in an environment shaped by recapitalisation, economic reforms, cyber threats and global uncertainty, making sound judgement and resilience increasingly important

鈥淒isruption is no longer temporary; it is our operating environment,鈥� Alebiosu said.

Kayode Tokede 

The market capitalisation of listed stocks on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) advanced by N63.73 trillion in  nine  months of 2026, driven  by foreign exchange reforms, renewed investors confidence , impressive corporate earnings,  among other factors.  

The market capitalisation  that opened for trading in 2026 at N99.376 trillion, gained N63.73 trillion or 64.13 per cent to close September 30, 2026 at N163.105 trillion.  

Also, the NGX All Share Index added 95,598.64 basis points or 61.43 per cent Year-till-Date (YtD) from 155,613.03 basis points to close September 2026 at 251,211.67 basis points.  

With less than five new listings, the NGX  so far in 2026 has witnessed an unprecedented growth, reaching historical N164 trillion mark  on improvement macroeconomic indicators.  

The returning to FTSE Russell in September 2026, boosted activities as the stock market gained N5.37 trillion or 3.4 per cent Month-on-Month (MoM) to close at N163.104 trillion from N157.739 trillion it closed for trading in August 2026. 

Nigeria on September 21, 2026  returned to Frontier Market status after a three years absence from the global index provider鈥檚 classification. The foreign exchange, T+1 settlement, among others have led to  soar in Nigeria’s capital importation amid stability.

The market in September 2026 also commenced the N2.1 trillion Initial Public Offer (IPO) of Dangote Refinery 

The NGX Group attributed the bullish trend to regulatory clarity, macroeconomic reforms, and increasing investor confidence鈥攂oth local and foreign. These gains positioned the domestic market among the best-performing globally.

Market analysts, however, affirmed that investor confidence, macroeconomic reforms, and enhanced corporate performance are the key drivers of the rally. The resurgence in foreign portfolio investments, improved company fundamentals, and oversubscribed public offerings were highlighted as signs of a maturing, resilient, and globally attractive Nigerian capital market.

The Vice president, Highcap Securities, Mr. David Adonri stated that the stock market performance in nine months of 2026 was propelled by improving macroeconomic conditions, rising crude oil prices, huge rate cut by MPC and restoration to frontier status by FTSE Russell.

鈥淭he switch by investors from the secondary market to the primary market to position for Dangote Refinery IPO which initially depressed the secondary market fizzled out subsequently.鈥�

About the market performance in Q4 2026, he said, 鈥� We are entering a Seller’s market judging from historical antecedents in Q4 2026. 

鈥淭his is when investors start positioning for end of year distributions. Market is expected to be upbeat due to favorable macroeconomic environment and the proposed listing of Dangote Refinery, notwithstanding heightened political risk.鈥� 

The MD/CEO, Globalview Capital Limited,  Aruna Kebira, said the stock market has shown a resilient and generally positive performance during the nine months of 2026, despite some volatility and economic headwinds.

He listed banking sector recapitalization, corporate earnings, inflation moderation (early q1, investor confidence and  increased transaction volume as the major drives of the stock market.   

On expectation for the remaining months of 2026, he said the outlook for the Nigerian stock market remains cautiously optimistic, with several factors that include, continued impact of reforms, banking sector momentum; half year earnings season, regulatory reforms  and  fixed income market stability.

Emma Okonji

Nigeria鈥檚 broadband penetration has maintained a steady growth in the past one year, reaching 57.40 per cent growth with 124.4 million broadband subscriptions in July this year, according to the latest statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The statistics also revealed an increase in the contribution of the telecoms sector to Nigeria鈥檚 Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which reached 9.72 per cent in Q2, 2026, up from 9.19 per cent recorded in Q1, 2026.

The statistics, which 糖心视频 obtained from the official website of the NCC, showed that as at August 2025, broadband penetration was 48.81 per cent, with 105 million broadband subscriptions.

In September 2025, broadband penetration increased to 49.34 per cent, with a corresponding growth in broadband subscriptions of 106 million.

In October 2025, Nigeria recorded another growth in broadband penetration, which reached 49.89 per cent, with a corresponding growth in broadband subscriptions of 108 million.

In November 2025, broadband penetration increased again to 50.58 per cent, with 109 million broadband subscriptions, before reaching 51.97 per cent broadband penetration level, with 112 million broadband subscriptions in December 2025.

In January 2026, Nigeria witnessed another broadband penetration growth, which reached 53.07 per cent, with 115 million broadband subscriptions.

In February 2026, broadband penetration increased again to 53.86 per cent, with 116 million broadband subscriptions. In March 2026, there was a further increase in broadband penetration to 54.30 per cent and a subsequent increase in broadband subscriptions to 117 million.
In April 2026, broadband penetration increased again to 55.67 per cent, with a further increase in broadband subscriptions to 120 million. As at May 2026, there was another increase in broadband penetration, which reached 56.11 per cent, with a subsequent increase in broadband subscriptions to 121 million.

In June 2026, broadband penetration further increased to 56.79 per cent, with another increase of 123 million broadband subscriptions, before reaching 57.40 per cent broadband penetration level, with an increased broadband subscriptions of 124 million in July 2026.

According to the statistics, the telecoms sector contribution to Nigeria鈥檚 GDP has also maintained steady growth in the last two years, but with minimal fluctuations.

From the statistics, the telecoms sector contribution to GDP in Q1, 2024 was 14.58 per cent, but it dropped to 8.93 per cent in Q2, 2024, with a further drop to 7.51 in Q3, 2024. Telecoms contribution to GDP however picked up in Q4, 2024 to reach 7.80 per cent, with a further increase in Q1, 2025 to 8.50 per cent. The NCC鈥檚 statistics also showed another increase in telecoms sector contribution to GDP in Q2, 2025, which reached 9.20 per cent.

In Q3, 2025, telecoms contribution to GDP, however dropped to 7.67 per cent, but increased again to 8.12 per cent in Q4, 2025.

In Q1, 2026, telecom sector contribution increased again to 9.19 per cent, with a further increase to 9.72 per cent in Q2, 2026.             

Giving reasons for the steady growth in broadband penetration and broadband subscriptions, the Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, who doubles as the spokesperson for all licensed telecoms operators in Nigeria, attributed the growth to the stable regulatory policies and initiatives of the NCC, which he said, impacted the telecoms sector鈥檚 contribution to GDP.

Emma Okonji

The Manufacturers鈥� Association of Nigeria Export Promotion Group (MANEG) has called on the federal government to tackle the high cost of production, logistics bottlenecks and other structural constraints undermining the competitiveness of Nigerian manufactured products in international markets.

The group made the call at its 9th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos, with the theme: 鈥楿nlocking Nigeria鈥檚 Manufacturing Export Performance Through Tackling Cost, Logistics as Competitiveness Constraints鈥�.

Speaking the Chairman of MANEG, Mrs. Ruth Owojaiye, said the competitiveness of Nigerian exports was being significantly affected by the cost of doing business, particularly high interest rates, unreliable power supply, rising energy and logistics costs, poor road infrastructure and other deficiencies that increase the cost of getting products from factories to markets.

According to her, while manufacturers recognise that structural reforms cannot be achieved overnight, the business community needs to see measurable and sustained progress in addressing the constraints that continue to erode the competitiveness of Nigerian products.

鈥淢anufacturers are itching. Exporters are asking the government for support to ensure everything works. We know that it鈥檚 not going to happen in a day. But we need to see steps happening to ensure that logistics issues are being dealt with, the roads are being fixed, interest rates are being addressed,鈥� Owojaiye said, while welcoming the recent reduction of the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) to 23 per cent.

She noted that access to affordable credit remained critical to manufacturers seeking to expand production, invest in technology, meet international standards and compete effectively in export markets.

The MANEG Chairman also renewed the group鈥檚 call for the settlement of outstanding claims under the Export Expansion Grant (EEG), describing the incentive as an important mechanism for supporting exporters operating in a highly competitive global environment.

She said the payment of outstanding claims would provide exporters with resources to reinvest in their businesses, strengthen production capacity and cushion some of the cost pressures affecting their operations.

Owojaiye further stressed the importance of compliance with standards in destination markets, noting that export competitiveness is not only about producing at scale but also about ensuring that Nigerian products consistently meet the technical, quality and regulatory requirements of international markets.

Also speaking, the Director-General of the Manufacturers鈥� Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mr. Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said the challenge before Nigeria was not simply to increase the volume of goods exported but to create the conditions under which Nigerian manufacturers could compete successfully against products from other countries.

He noted that Nigeria’s high-cost operating environment could undermine the gains from increased market access, including opportunities created by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Ajayi-Kadir observed that although AfCFTA had opened significant opportunities for Nigerian businesses to access African markets, domestic manufacturers continued to compete with products originating from countries with lower production costs, more efficient logistics systems and stronger technological capabilities.

He therefore called for greater investment in regional logistics infrastructure, particularly efficient shipping arrangements capable of moving goods between African markets without excessive dependence on road transportation.

The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mrs. Nonye Ayeni, provided further context on the opportunities available to Nigeria’s exporters, revealing that the country recorded its highest-ever non-oil export performance in 2025, with export value reaching $6.1 billion and export volume rising to 8.02 million metric tonnes.

Ayeni disclosed that Nigeria exported 281 products to 120 countries during the year, underscoring the growing geographical reach of the country’s non-oil export sector. She noted that Nigeria’s export footprint had also expanded across the African market, with products reaching all 11 ECOWAS countries, alongside 25 other international markets.

Ayeni also highlighted initiatives by the NEPC aimed at reducing the logistics burden on exporters, including domestic export warehouses, the Single Window trade facilitation system and air cargo corridors.

She explained that the pilot domestic export warehouse model was designed to bring critical government agencies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service, NEPC, Standards Organisation of Nigeria and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, together at a common location to simplify export procedures, reduce transaction time and lower associated costs.

The group therefore called for closer collaboration among the federal government, manufacturers, exporters, financial institutions and relevant regulatory agencies to address the cost and logistics constraints confronting businesses.

The Nigeria Innovation Cluster Exchange (NICE) has opened applications for its Pipeline Clinics, inviting Nigerian entrepreneurs and businesses across six identified innovation clusters to participate in a sector-focused capacity-building programme.

The NICE initiative is implemented by The Nest Innovation Technology Park in partnership with the UK-Nigeria Tech Hub under the UK Government鈥檚 Digital Access Programme, with collaboration from the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI).

Co-founder, The Nest Innovation Technology Park, Oluwajoba Oloba, said:  鈥淲ith NICE, we are forging a bridge to strengthen our organic innovation ecosystem, leveraging the years of collaboration between the government of Nigeria and His Majesty’s government. The goal is to reflect what is possible when knowledge sharing goes hand in hand with available government resources and partnership with institutions. We thank the FCDO, UK TechHub and the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI) under NITDA for their support on this.鈥�

According to Oloba, the Pipeline Clinics are open to Nigerian-owned or Nigeria-based businesses and enterprises with an existing business, start-up, prototype, product, service or clearly defined business model.

MyCredit Investments Limited, owners of FairMoney Microfinance Bank, has announced the successful redemption of its N5.86 billion Series six Commercial Paper issued under its N10 billion Commercial Paper Issuance Programme.

The company said it has repaid the amount of N5,860,319,000 to investors, fulfilling its obligations under the issuance.

Commenting on the redemption, Managing Director, FairMoney Nigeria, Henry Obiekea, said: 鈥淢eeting our commitments to investors is fundamental to how we build and sustain trust. The full redemption of our Series 6 Commercial Paper reflects this commitment and our focus on responsible financial management. We appreciate the confidence our investors have placed in FairMoney and their continued support as we work to expand access to financial services in Nigeria. We wish to thank the FMDQ for providing a strong platform for institutions such as ours to access the Nigeria Debt Capital Markets.鈥�

Oghenevwede Ohwovoroile in Abuja 

An energy firm, Sunset energy has unveiled a cashless self-service fuel station in Abuja.

The Chief Marketing Officer of the firm, Abiola Ameen, in an interview during the unveiling said, they started with one in Lagos and they are unveiling the second one here in Abuja.

鈥淲e started this trend in Lagos a couple of weeks ago by launching the first ever fully automated fully self-service outlet in our Ogba station. So just another step to expand the network of service, taking the fare delivery system into a whole new level in Nigeria,鈥� Ameen said.

According to him, the system is fully automated and eliminates human errors or fraud.  鈥淥ver time, we’ve listened to people getting disgruntled because of passive misbehaviour of fuel attendants. So, we’ve tried to eliminate that to give customers free access to the pump where they just come in, tap the screen, inform the pump about what volume they want to buy. When you pay, the nozzle will tell you to go ahead, pick your nozzle and serve yourself. That is electronically,鈥� Ameen said.

The Leo Stan Ekeh Foundation (LSEF), in collaboration with businesses within the Zinox Group, Task Systems, TD Africa, Zinox Technologies Limited and Konga Group, has commissioned state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technology Centres at Gbagada Senior Grammar School and Lanre Awolokun High School, both in Gbagada, Lagos State.

Speaking at the event, chairman of the foundation, Mr. Leo Stan Ekeh, thanked the teachers and students for their warm reception and commended the school communities for their commitment to education. He urged the students to understand that success requires patience, discipline and hard work. He advised students of the two schools to use the platforms to cause positive disruption and become the new wealth creators of the nation, individuals who can defend their wealth and earn the status

of certified global citizens. 鈥淭his is my prayer for you, as I now see myself as part of these two schools,鈥� he said.

He also appealed to the federal government and subnational governments to prioritise education and ensure that knowledge workers are among the highest-paid professionals in the country. 鈥淎n angry or hungry teacher cannot deliver quality content to students. We must consciously raise the quality of education to save this nation,鈥� he added.