/home/kenneth/web/nigeriacommunicationsweek.com.ng/public_html/wp-content/themes/zox-news/parts/post-single.php on line 153
">
Warning: Undefined array key 0 in /home/kenneth/web/nigeriacommunicationsweek.com.ng/public_html/wp-content/themes/zox-news/parts/post-single.php on line 153
Warning: Attempt to read property "cat_name" on null in /home/kenneth/web/nigeriacommunicationsweek.com.ng/public_html/wp-content/themes/zox-news/parts/post-single.php on line 153
FG Says No to Merger of NCC, NBC, NIPOST
Federal government has rejected the recommendation that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC); National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the regulatory functions of Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) be brought together under a unified management structure to be known as the Communications Regulatory Authority of Nigeria.
The development followed the release of the White Paper on the Stephen Oronsaye-led Presidential Committee, on the Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Commission’s and Agencies.
In the White Paper, the federal government rejected a a number of recommendations the committee had proposed but is it also accepted a number of others which has led to the merger of some agencies.
For instance, the FG accepted to merge Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA; )Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA); and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) into a new body to be known as the Federal Civil Aviation Authority (FCAA).
The respective enabling laws of the affected agencies are to be amended accordingly to reflect the merger.
The FG however, rejected the recommendation of the Steve Oronsaye committee that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC); the Independent Corrupt Practices and other offences Commission, (ICPC); the Code of Conduct Bureau and the Code of Conduct be merged.
These were the highlights of the report of the white paper drafting committee on the recommendations of Oronsaye committee which was made available to State House correspondents.
The government also rejected the privatisation of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigerian (FAAN) in view of the security situation in the country.
The recommendation that the Nigerian Television Authority, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria and Voice of Nigeria be merged into one body, to be known as Federal Corporation Broadcasting of Nigeria, FCBN, was also rejected.
It was, however, approved that the Nigerian Television Authority be fully commercialised by 2015.
Other recommendations rejected by the government were the re-introduction of tuition fees in its universities; the abolition of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, NEDRC, and the merger of the National Directorate of Employment and Small Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, SMEDAN, to form a single agency for wealth creation.

Warning: Undefined array key 0 in /home/kenneth/web/nigeriacommunicationsweek.com.ng/public_html/wp-content/themes/zox-news/parts/post-single.php on line 493
Warning: Attempt to read property "cat_ID" on null in /home/kenneth/web/nigeriacommunicationsweek.com.ng/public_html/wp-content/themes/zox-news/parts/post-single.php on line 493
General News
Guinness Nigeria Sustains Growth Momentum in Q4 Amid Market Headwinds

Guinness Nigeria Plc has announced its unaudited financial results for the twelve months ended 30 June 2025, reporting a remarkable turnaround in performance despite a persistently challenging economic environment and an intensely competitive landscape.
The announcement comes in a landmark year for the company, as Guinness Nigeria celebrates 75 years of operations in Nigeria—a testament to the enduring strength of its brands, its people, and its commitment to brewing excellence.
In the period under review, the company delivered strong topline growth, with revenue rising by 65.8% to ₦496.6 billion, up from ₦299.5 billion in the previous year. Gross profit grew by 62.2% to ₦148.3 billion, while operating profit rose by 86.6% to ₦47.4 billion. Most notably, the company returned to profitability with a net profit after tax of ₦16.2 billion, compared to a ₦54.7 billion loss recorded in FY24.
These results reflect Guinness Nigeria’s focused execution of its strategic priorities, disciplined cost management, and the resilience of its people and portfolio.
Commenting on the performance, Prof. Fabian Ajogwu, SAN, Chairman of the Board, said: “This strong turnaround speaks to the quality of leadership, clarity of vision, and strength of governance at Guinness Nigeria.
“As we mark 75 years of doing business in Nigeria, this performance underscores our long-standing resilience and commitment to value creation. The Board remains confident in the company’s long-term strategy and is committed to sustaining this momentum for our shareholders and stakeholders.”
Girish Sharma, Managing Director/CEO, added: “These results reflect our team’s focus, agility, and deep connection with our consumers. We have set a clear ambition—to be one of the best performing, most trusted, and most respected consumer products companies in Nigeria.
“That ambition is driving us to build a high-performance organisation with an entrepreneurial spirit. While the external environment remains dynamic, we are building on this momentum with confidence and purpose.”
Guinness Nigeria remains committed to delivering long-term, sustainable growth while continuing its legacy of enriching lives and communities across the country.
E-Financial
Moody’s Upgrades Ecobank’s Outlook to Stable

Moody’s has upgraded the outlook on Ecobank Transnational Incorporated’s long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings to stable from negative.
In the latest rating commentary, made available to media on Thursday, Moody’s also affirmed the pan-African banking group’s B3/Not Prime long- and short-term issuer ratings; B3 senior unsecured debt rating; b2 notional Baseline Credit Assessment and b1 Adjusted BCA.
ETI’s subsidiaries operate across 38 countries, including 35 African countries, and total assets of $28.9bn as of March 2025, details from the rating note highlighted. Moody’s said the decision to change the outlook to stable on the long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings reflects ETI’s resilient financial performance.
The rating upgrade also takes into consideration higher dividends being upstreamed to ETI, resulting in lower double leverage and reduced refinancing risk.
The rating adjustment also reflects an expectation that the recapitalisation process of Ecobank Nigeria Limited will be completed by the end of 2025, with limited impact on the group’s financial fundamentals.
“The stable outlook also captures our expectation that a series of capital-boosting initiatives and actions to cure Ecobank Nigeria’s total capital position will be completed before the end of 2025”, according to the ratings agency.
In May 2025, ETI received shareholder approval to raise $250 million in Additional Tier 1 (AT1) capital and announced the launch of the transaction effective 9 July 2025, of which a portion is expected to be downstreamed to Ecobank Nigeria as AT1 capital during Q3 2025.
Ecobank Nigeria’s plan to raise $200m in AT1 capital was noted in the rating note. The ratings analysts said they consider
“We also note that Ecobank Nigeria’s recent successful offer to tender $150m of its February 2026 $300 million notes and consent to remove the capital adequacy ratio covenant from this bond’s terms alleviates risks of an event of default in Nigeria that would trigger cross default at the ETI level. Over the past year, ETI has shown resilience in its financial performance, which supports our change in outlook to stable. Liquidity risks are being moderated by the group’s gradually improving profitability during 2024 and Q1-2025.
“This has translated into a 22 per cent increase in dividends upstreamed to ETI during 2024, these being received from 22 dividend-paying subsidiaries compared to just 14 in 2021,” the rating commentary revealed.
In turn, albeit high, ETI’s double leverage ratio, which measures the liquidity risk taken on by the holding company, as a result of it borrowing in order to invest in the equity of its subsidiaries, has eased to 168 per cent as of December 2024 from 173 per cent in 2023.
Additionally, the stable outlook reflects reduced liquidity risk at the holding company level with the refinancing of short-term liabilities in 2024 with longer-term funding.
Moody’s said this is underpinned by demonstrated market access, notably through senior unsecured notes issuance of $400m in October 2024 and a tap increase of $125m in May 2025, maturing in October 2029.
ETI’s B3 long-term issuer ratings affirmation reflects the affirmation of the group’s b2 notional BCA; the affirmation of the group’s b1 adjusted BCA as captured by a one-notch uplift for affiliate support, reflecting Moody’s assessment of a moderate probability that the firm’s major institutional shareholders would extend support to the group. Moody’s said asset quality for the group has improved over recent years.
Telecom
Airtel Africa Grew Customer Base to 169m as Q1 Revenue Hits $1.4 Billion

Airtel Africa has grown its customer base by 9.0% to 169.4 million, with data customers increasing 17.4% to 75.6 million with focus on bridging the digital divide across her markets continues. According to the telecommunications operator’s financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2025, which demonstrated strong growth across key metrics and a continued focus on expanding its services across its 14 African markets.
The operator reported a significant increase in revenue, reaching $1,415 million. This represents a 24.9% growth in constant currency and a 22.4% increase in reported currency, indicating a more stable macroeconomic environment in its operating regions and effective tariff adjustments, particularly in Nigeria.
The growth was broadly driven, with mobile services revenue increasing by 23.8% in constant currency. Data revenue showed exceptional performance, surging by 38.1%, while voice revenue grew by 13.9%. Mobile money services continued their strong upward trajectory, recording a 30.3% growth in constant currency. This was supported by accelerated growth in Francophone Africa (16.4% in constant currency) and continued strong performance in East Africa (20.3% in constant currency).
Airtel Africa’s profitability also saw a substantial uplift. EBITDA grew by 29.8% in reported currency to $679 million, with EBITDA margins expanding to 48.0% from 45.3% in the prior period. This margin expansion is attributed to sustained operating momentum, more stable fuel prices, and the ongoing benefits from cost efficiency programs.
Profit after tax saw a remarkable improvement, rising to $156 million compared to $31 million in the prior period. Basic Earnings Per Share (EPS) stood at 3.4 cents, a significant increase from 0.2 cents in the previous year, primarily reflecting higher operating profit in the current period and the absence of large derivative and foreign exchange losses that impacted the prior period.
Operational highlights further underscored the company’s growth. Airtel Africa’s total customer base expanded by 9.0% to 169.4 million. Data customers increased by 17.4% to 75.6 million, as the company intensified its efforts to bridge the digital divide. Mobile money customer base also grew by 16.1% to 45.8 million, with transaction value increasing by 28.7% in constant currency.
The company’s strategic focus on enhancing customer experience is supported by ongoing network investments. Over 2,300 new sites were rolled out, bringing the total to 37,579 sites, and the fiber network was expanded by 2,700 km, now exceeding 79,600 km. This investment has boosted data capacity across the region, with 4G population coverage reaching 74.7%, an increase of 3.4% year-on-year.
Airtel Africa continued its debt localization program, with almost 95% of its operating company debt (excluding lease liabilities) now in local currency, up from 86% a year ago, reducing foreign currency debt exposure. The company also confirmed it has returned $16.9 million to shareholders through its ongoing share buyback program as of June 30, 2025.
Sunil Taldar, chief executive officer, said: “We are very pleased with the strong growth in our operating and financial performance in the first quarter. The strength of this performance, and the scale of the growth we achieved, reflects the sustained demand for our services and the strength of our business model to meet these demands. Operationally, the acceleration in customer base growth to 9%, and 17.4% growth in our data customers to 75.6m reflects the strong on-ground execution with a relentless focus on digitisation and the simplification of the customer experience.”
- E-Financial3 days ago
Kuda Unveils New Wallet for Multiple Currencies
- Telecom3 days ago
Telcos Resume SIM Card Sales after 2-Week Halt
- Telecom3 days ago
Nigeria, Others Achieve 84% Adult Mobile Phones Penetration
- E-Business3 days ago
How AI Alert by Airtel is Transforming Mobile Security in Africa
- E-Business3 days ago
NITDA, API Partner Against Harmful Online Content
- Telecom2 days ago
Telcos: How and Why Network Services have Been Poor
- Telecom2 days ago
Glo Launches Nigeria’s First-of-its-kind Device Protection Plan
- News3 days ago
Horn of Africa Leaders Seek Enhanced Digital Integration for Increased Regional Growth