NOVA Merchant Bank, a leading merchant bank in Nigeria, began 2021 on a high note as it announced several promotions for its employees who excelled in the performance of their responsibilities. 

The Bank announced on Monday that the promotions are in line with its goal of building a high performance culture, adding that they cut across most grade levels including General Manager subject to approval by the Central Bank of Nigeria. 

Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Bank, Mr Nath Ude, explained that the Bank set out to reward its deserving staff who had in the last few years put in a lot of effort to ensure it achieved its goals of providing premium services to its growing clientele at every opportunity. 

“These promotions, given the current operating context, represent a strong commitment by the Bank to put the right incentives in place to drive performance across the organisation,” he stated. On his part, the Chairman of the Board, Mr. Phillips Oduoza, pointed out that the management of the Bank was involved in continuous training and retraining to ensure its highly qualified staff are equipped with the needed tools to surpass customer expectations.  

“The Board remains committed to ensure the Bank has a deep talent pool aligned to the achievement of its strategic objectives. We will continue to support the management team to ensure this is realised,” Oduoza explained. 

As a fast-growing new business with the resultant need for expansion in all frontiers, the Bank has painstakingly ensured that key positions are occupied by well-grounded professionals through a combination of internal promotion and careful recruitment of good talents. 

It is interesting to note that only recently, the Bank launched the NOVA Executive Trainee Scheme (NETS) programme where “best in class” fresh hires are trained for six to nine months in a state-of-the-art training school in an effort to develop its pipeline of leaders.

The annual programme, which commenced with the first stream on the 4th of January 2021, is expected to turn the trainees into well-rounded bankers by its conclusion. This substantial deployment of resources further highlights the Bank’s dedication towards training and developing talent. 

NOVA Merchant Bank Limited is a licensed, investment grade rated merchant bank in Nigeria. It offers an integrated suite of financial solutions covering Wholesale Banking, Investment Banking, Asset Management, Securities Trading, Wealth Management, Trade Services, Deposit Taking, Lending Activities, Transaction Banking, Cash Management and Digital Banking

According to the company, the second season of the scheme was launched to give Glo subscribers who missed out on prizes in the first season the opportunity to win between N5,000 and N100 million in weekly lottery draws.

The program is packaged specially  for  existing and new Glo prepaid subscribers and is billed to hold  between 18^th December 2020 and 31st March, 2021.

Globacom disclosed that,  like in the first season, Cashtokens will be earned by customers whenever they recharge, adding that each Cashtoken will give an assured cashback as  tokens will accrue to customers on every N1000 cumulative recharge within a calendar month.

 “To enroll for GloRewards, subscribers will Dial *777*6# and start recharging to earn Cashtokens. However, welcome Cashtoken awaits new customers on first recharge of N200 only, after which they will earn more Cashtokens on every cumulative recharge of N1000 during a calendar month”, the grand masters of data explained.

According to the network, subscribers who satisfy the eligibility requirements will continue to earn and accumulate Cashtoken, as there is no upper limit to accumulating Cashtokens. All cashtokens will be credited in a virtual wallet that is linked to the customer’s mobile number, the company added. 

Said  Globacom, “Subscribers will be able view and redeem their cashtokens by dialing *6700# to purchase airtime/data, pay electricity bills, pay CableTV bills or other payments. They can also transfer their accumulated cash tokens to the bank and cash out the equivalent value”,

Winners who emerged from different parts of the country in the first edition included   Anthony Iyemi, from Warri, who carted home N100,000; Mohammed Tijani, a Kaduna-based farmer, who  won N20,000, Ugochi Nwabikeze, a businesswoman in Onelga, Port Harcourt who got a prize of  N20,000; a student of  Ogun State Institute of Technology, Igbesa, Sarah Sadiq who won N20,00 and William Ubi, a Civil Engineering student of  the Cross River State who won  N200,000.

However, the impact of the economic crisis promises to be severe for Africa’s economies, which face heightened levels of risk, a likely deterioration in returns on equity, and the challenge of rapid digitalisation. The silver lining is that there has never been a better time for African finance to rethink its development trajectory.

To help address these unprecedented challenges, the first edition of The Financial Industry Summit will convene 500 decision-makers representing the entire spectrum of the financial industry, including bankers, insurers, fintech executives, mobile money operators and microfinance institutions, stock markets, regulators, and government ministers.
Through panels, keynote speeches, and high-level roundtables, participants will explore topics essential to developing an efficient financial sector, such as how to drive digital transformation, developing financial inclusion strategies, adapting to the regulatory environment, updating risk management practices and understanding the impact of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The first edition of The Financial Industry Summit seeks to help the sector boost competitiveness, embrace innovation, and have a positive, sustainable impact on the continent’s economies.
“If we really want the AfCFTA to be successful and to seize this unique opportunity to rethink Africa’s financial industry, if we want Africa to overcome the COVID-19 crisis and find a way to create a full-fledged, continent-wide economic recovery plan, then we have no other choice but to combine the forces of the public and private sectors. Africa needs a dynamic public-private dialogue, and it needs it now. Tomorrow will be too late,” said Amir Ben Yahmed, President, the AFRICA CEO FORUM.
“The challenges of COVID-19 have placed stress on banks and financial institutions around the world, including in Africa, where they have proved resilient, but still face multiple challenges. IFC has long been a strong supporter of Africa’s financial sector, which we see as the foundation for economic growth. I look forward to the Financial Industry Summit where we will explore how financial institutions can continue to drive development across our dynamic continent,” said Sérgio Pimenta, Vice President, Middle East and Africa, IFC.