E-Financial
Fidelity Bank Prioritises Host Community’s Health, Wellbeing with Laudable CSR Initiatives
Excellent healthcare indisputably ranks high on the list of important requirements for sustained human existence and various nations are prioritising the provision of adequate healthcare for their citizens.
In fact, the United Nations succinctly captures this in its Sustainable Development Goal 3 with the objective to Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
Due to several factors however, Nigeria has consistently fallen behind on key indices for measuring progress on this all-important goal. For instance, 814 pregnant women lose their lives per 100,000 live births in the country with Nigeria (and India) accounting for about 34% of global maternal deaths.
Also, about 57 babies are lost to the cold hands of death for 1,000 live births in the country. These are startling statistics and an urgent call for attention to the nation’s ailing healthcare sector.
Keen to contribute its quota towards addressing this worrying development, foremost banking institution -Fidelity Bank Plc -is providing succor for vulnerable members of the populace through its extensive, life-changing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) campaigns specifically in the area of upgrading healthcare centres in various communities in the past few months.
For instance, through its Fidelity Helping Hands Programme (FHHP), the tier two lender completed the renovation of the Ugwuike Health Centre – a primary health care centre in Iwollo, Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State -in April 2021.
The bank renovated the wards and other critical facilities at the health care centre in addition to donating items such as beds, delivery couches, drug preservation equipment, electrical fittings, amongst others.
A similar gesture was replicated at Onikan Health Centre in Lagos, where the Bank through the FHHP renovated the centre’s maternity wards and other buildings by providing floor tiles, plumbing work, medical equipment and other items, as well as repairing old and faulty air conditioners in addition to building a nurse’s workstation.
Shedding light on the bank’s intervention in the health space, Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe said, “There is no gainsaying our healthcare system is in urgent need of support as anyone who has had cause to visit any of our primary healthcare facilities would attest to this.
“While we are given to delivering impeccable financial performance, as a responsible corporate organisation we are also mindful of the wellbeing and health of our host communities.
“We have therefore taken it upon ourselves as an institution to help with improving the state of healthcare facilities through our Fidelity Helping Hands Programme in true reflection of the age-old adage that health is wealth.”
In a nation with a burgeoning youth population (at least 46 percent of Nigerians are children under the age of 15years), it is saddening to note that a large percentage of these children are homeless.
Presently, over 8 million orphaned children exist in Nigeria, many of whom live in unsafe places such as beneath bridges, at railway stations and markets. A related statistics show that over 10 million Nigerian children are out of school despite being of legal school age. Orphanages offer some of these children the chance for a better life.
To show support for children living in such conditions, Fidelity Bank took its CSR initiatives a step further with a celebration of children at the Heritage Home Orphanage in Lagos in May 2021.
At the event, which will forever be etched in the children’s positive memories, inductees of the bank’s Experienced Hire programme donated several food items and domestic materials to assist the orphanage in caring for them.
To address the challenges facing the nation’s health sector, well-meaning organisations will need to play an active role in supporting the sector through compassionate interventions as it is being demonstrated by Fidelity Bank. Only then will the terrifying infant and maternal mortality statistics mentioned at the beginning of this article become a thing of the past.
E-Financial
Lagos State Appoints MoneyMaster as Payment Partner for “Ounje Eko” Programme
“Ounje Eko”, the food price discount initiative of the Lagos State Government, has appointed leading payment service bank, MoneyMaster Payment Service Bank Limited (MMPSB), as its collaborator in the bid to ensure ease of payments at the market.
MoneyMaster is one of the Central Bank of Nigeria-licensed Payment Service Banks (PSBs) to promote financial inclusion across Nigeria.
Under the partnership, MMPSB will apply its cutting-edge payment solution to engender easy payment and reconciliation in order to make the experiences of Lagosians who will be getting their food supplies from the markets pleasurable. Its payment solution is also all-encompassing and ensures real time value to payment destinations.
The mobile bank was appointed as the collection and payment partner for “Ounje Eko” Food Markets programme which is a government initiative serving the five divisions of Lagos State. Consequent on this, MoneyMaster Payment Service Bank will collect payments in 57 LCDAs in the state.
The partnership gives credence to the quality of payment solutions that MoneyMaster is reputed for in its services to its growing business clientele in private and public sectors.
E-Financial
CBN, EFCC Probe Banks, Firms over Alleged Forex Racketeering
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is investigating irregular foreign exchange transactions and forward contracts valued at approximately $2.4 billion.
The inquiry follows an extensive audit by Deloitte, which scrutinized $7 billion in dollar debts accumulated under the bank’s previous leadership.
In the aftermath of the 294th Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Abuja, Yemi Cardoso, governor of CBN, disclosed to journalists that the investigation, supported by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, among other security bodies, aims to clarify the legitimacy of these FX allocations identified as problematic by the audit.
“It was determined that a number of these transactions did not qualify…they were outright illegal. The law enforcement agencies are now looking into those transactions that as far as we are concerned, are not valid to be paid,” Cardoso detailed, emphasizing the unlawful nature of these forex deals.
The crux of the investigation lies in the audit findings that a significant portion of the scrutinized transactions lacked proper documentation and, in many instances, were deemed outright illegal.
However, the unfolding investigation has raised concerns within the organized private sector, with some entities contemplating legal action against commercial banks for unresolved forex bids.
Despite these tensions, Governor Cardoso reassures that the foreign exchange market remains open and transparent, inviting stakeholders to address their forex needs through the official channels.
Furthermore, Cardoso clarified the distribution of fertilizers to farmers as a one-off measure and not indicative of a shift back to direct interventions by the CBN, underscoring a commitment to strategic, regulatory governance rather than direct market involvement.
E-Financial
CBN Urges Banks to Expedite Action on Recapitalisation
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed deposit money banks in the country to expedite action to increase their capital base from the current ₦25bn.
Olayemi Cardoso, governor of CBN, stated this during the apex bank’s 294th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Tuesday in Abuja, when the MPC hiked the interest rate by 22.75% to 24.75%.
The apex bank chief said the MPC examined developments in the banking sector and expressed satisfaction that the industry remained stable. The committee, however, said to guard against risk, commercial banks in the country should accelerate their recapitalisation efforts.
Cardoso said, “The MPC also reviewed developments in the banking system and noted that the industry remains safe, sound, and stable. The committee thus called on the bank to sustain its surveillance and ensure compliance of banks with existing regulatory and macro-potential guidelines.
“The MPC also enjoined the banks to expedite actions on the recapitalisation of banks to strengthen the system against potential risks in an increasingly globalised world.”
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