Receiving the Best Bank for SMEs in Africa 2024 prize: Carol Oyedeji (Acting Group Executive, Ecobank Commercial Banking) 📸 @EcobankNigeria Leading pan-African Banking Group, Ecobank, has won the esteemed Best Bank for SMEs in Africa 2024 prize, during the Global Finance annual SME Bank Awards. The award ceremony took place on February 20, 2024 at Glaziers Hall in London, UK. One of the Group’s affiliates, Ecobank Nigeria, also emerged Best FX Bank under the Country & Territory Awards category for Nigeria. This latest recognition adds to Ecobank’s growing list of accolades, including being named Africa’s Best Bank for SMEs in Euromoney’s Awards…
Stories1
Olubanke Claude-Wilcox (Founder, Fit & Well Limited) According to Nutritionist, weight loss coach, and wellness consultant, Olubanke Claude-Wilcox, obesity is associated with a higher risk of having several mental health disorders, mainly due to the effects of weight discrimination. These mental health disorders include depression, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder and eating disorders. Olubanke adds: “It’s important to note that the relationship between obesity and mental health disorders is not a one-way street. This means that while obesity can sometimes lead to mental health disorders on the one hand, on the other hand mental health disorders can also lead to obesity.”…
Affiong Williams (founder, ReelFruit) 📸 AffiongWilliams On February 15, 2024 the resilience and innovation that thrives within Nigeria’s agricultural sector was on full display as ReelFruit commissioned its 800MT/ annum dried fruit processing facility in Abeokuta, Ogun State. It is Nigeria’s largest installed capacity. Says ReelFruit founder, Affiong Williams: “February 15th marked a momentous occasion in my company’s 12 year history. This has been my dream since the day I started this company, and I am so fortunate to see it to reality. “This factory isn’t just a structure of bricks and mortar; It embodies my long-term unwavering belief in…
Listen to Tony O. Elumelu, C.F.R (founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation – TEF), share what he calls the five core values needed for a successful life as an African entrepreneur or a working professional. 🎥 TEF Mr. Elumelu is also the Founder and Chairman of Heirs Holdings (his family owned investment company, committed to improving lives and transforming Africa, through long-term investments in strategic sectors of the African economy, including financial services, hospitality, power, energy, technology and healthcare). Tony is the Chairman of pan-African financial services group, the United Bank for Africa (UBA), which operates in 20 countries across…
Yetunde Adegbite (Founder, Jodriela Foods) Yetunde Adegbite is the adept entrepreneur who ceaselessly advocates for healthy living. She is the founder of Jodriela Foods, a food processing and packaging company created to provide consumers with natural, affordable, and convenient food products that support a healthy lifestyle and long-term wellness. Jodriela’s products include dehydrated fruits and vegetables, natural sweeteners, herbal teas, spices, and flours. Says Adegbite: “Our mission is to provide consumers with a wide range of superfoods that contain no preservatives at all. Our raw materials are also locally sourced, thereby empowering smallholder farmers. We produce with your health in…
Emmanuel Eyo (Co-Founder &CEO, Iko Africa) Five African startups are among the final 10 selected for the global Startup Boost project run by Sweden-based tech consulting firm tretton37 to provide pro bono support to startups whose objectives are to impact and change the world. From the approximately 50 companies that applied to Startup Boost, just 10 were selected. Five are from Africa: Digital product marketplace Ahiyoyo and farm produce platform Aliments (Benin Republic). Ugandan therapist-matching service Iguru Therapies Nigerian social literary and self-publishing platform Iko Africa, and Legal-tech platform originating from Ghana, Zupoto. The other five beneficiaries include companies from Sweden, Macedonia, the…
Benita Obasuyi (Founder, Benny’s Beading) Founder of Benny’s Beading, Benita Obasuyi, used to play with African beads in Nigeria when she was a teenager. As she got older, the 23-year-old noticed how her skin would negatively react to certain jewelry metals, convincing her that beads, with their uniqueness, durability, comfort and extraordinary colour range, were a better jewelry option. Two years after moving to Indianapolis to be closer to her family, Benita made a bracelet for a friend, whose friends in turn requested to purchase the same bracelet. That was all the motivation she needed, and in early 2022, Ms.…
(L-R) Arnelle Ansong and Erika Hairston (Co-Founders, EdLyft) In 2019, Arnelle Ansong and Erika Hairston created Edlyft to support Black university students and adults enrolled in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. Edlyft provided students access to group tutoring and study groups in order to excel in computer science courses. On January 29, 2024, Edlyft announced that Edlyft AI Tutor, its generative AI platform, had been purchased by Google – a purchase that will help the startup scale the number of students it can reach. The news comes after Edlyft first partnered with the tech giant in 2022 for Google Tech…
Affiong Williams (Founder, ReelFruit) Founder & CEO of ReelFruit , Affiong Williams is delighted to have her company’s wide range of products – made from the best tropical fruits sourced from West Africa – listed on US discount e-Tailer, Martie. For Williams, the ReelFruit listing on Martie is not just another happenstance achievement for her company. She says: “It is a culmination of years of lessons and insights to find the right retail partner, right logistics/distribution, right marketing representation, and right payment terms. I’m proud that we’re learning how to win in the U.S market! “Now, if you love our products and are…
Roosevelt Ogbonna (Managing Director, Access Bank) Access Holdings has announced that its subsidiary, Access Bank, will be acquiring a majority stake in Uganda’s Finance Trust Bank, subject to approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Bank of Uganda. In the new deal, Access Bank will hold 80% of shares in the East African financial institution. The definite agreement was disclosed by Sunday Ekwochi, Access Holdings’ Secretary, in a statement submitted to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) for the investment public and involves the institutional shareholders of Finance Trust Bank. This deal comes amidst struggles by Ugandan commercial…