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Zenith Bank Plc has marked a significant milestone with a Closing Gong Ceremony at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), celebrating the successful conclusion of its public offer and the achievement of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) recapitalisation target.

The bank’s recently concluded public offer, which was heavily oversubscribed, contributed N350.46 billion to its total capital raise, bringing its capital base to N614.65 billion.

This positions Zenith Bank comfortably above the N500 billion regulatory threshold for banks with international authorisation and underscores the strong confidence investors continue to place in the institution’s leadership, performance, and growth strategy.

Speaking at the ceremony, Emomotimi Agama, Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), commended the success of the offer, describing it as a reflection of the market’s strength and integrity. ‘This capital raise demonstrates the robust capacity of our markets. It’s a clear signal that with sound fundamentals and transparency, Nigeria can efficiently mobilise capital for growth,’ he said.

Adaora Umeoji, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank Plc, described the accomplishment as both a regulatory milestone and a springboard for sustainable growth. She also acknowledged the role of NGX Invest as a vital enabler in achieving the Bank’s goals.

‘Reaching a capital base exceeding N600 billion is not just a compliance achievement; it’s a foundation for the future. Through platforms like NGX Invest, which expanded access and simplified participation, we were able to reach a broader pool of investors. This underscores how innovation within our market ecosystem can drive inclusivity and accelerate growth,’ she stated.

Reflecting on the achievement, Jim Ovia, Founder and Chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, expressed gratitude to the investing public for their trust and support. ‘This successful capital raise, which secures our regulatory standing, is a vote of confidence in our legacy and our future growth trajectory,’ he said.

Also speaking, Umaru Kwairanga, Group Chairman of Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group), described the milestone as ‘a testament to strong leadership and a win for our capital markets,’ adding that ‘Zenith Bank’s achievement solidifies its position as a pillar of the financial sector and underscores the market’s faith in its future.’

In his remarks, Temi Popoola, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NGX Group, highlighted the role of innovation in driving the success of the offer. ‘The oversubscription of Zenith Bank’s offer is a direct result of innovation and collaboration. Our NGX Invest platform was instrumental in broadening access, onboarding a new generation of investors, and deepening market participation,’ he stated.

The Closing Gong Ceremony symbolised the beginning of a new chapter for Zenith Bank, one defined by strengthened capacity, innovation, and renewed investor confidence. It also underscored the productive collaboration between the bank, regulators, and the exchange group in fostering a resilient and dynamic capital market in Nigeria

Presidency has again reaffirmed that ‘there is no cause for alarm’, over the health status of Wale Edun, the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, as he is fast recuperating.

A top presidency source who spoke with BusinessDay on Wednesday disclosed that, contrary to reports, the Minister was not flown out of the country, but that he travelled by himself for medical attention.

The presidential aide also dismissed claims that the Minister is ‘incapacitated’ as claimed in some media reports.

‘He was not flown. He travelled himself two days ago,’ he told BusinessDay, insisting also that there is no need for his replacement.

Recall that the Presidency had on Monday dismissed reports indicating that the Minister was critically ill, adding that President Bola Tinubu is shopping for his replacement.

Some online news reports had indicated that the Minister was bedridden and therefore unable to continue in office, making it necessary for the President to commence a search for his replacement

Edun, a seasoned economist, banker, and former Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, has been widely credited with steering Nigeria’s fragile economy through some of its most challenging moments since Tinubu assumed office in May, 2023.

News reports had claimed that Edun who had been instrumental to shaping the nation’s economic and financial plans, was ‘seriously ill, adding that the President is looking for his replacement.’

The report was further fueled by a Presidency statement which stated that the Minister who usually leads the Federal government delegation to the annual World Bank and International Monetary Fund Meeting in Washington DC, would be replaced by Oluyemi Cardoso, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

But Onanuga, while reacting to the Social media reports in a telephone chat with BusinessDay, stated that although the ‘Minister was indisposed, he is currently recovering’

‘Contrary to the reports by the Social Media, the Minister is not incapacitated and like I said before, he is currently recovering.’

This position was further corroborated on Wednesday by another Presidency official who stated that Edun actually travelled out by himself.

Onanuga, in a statement on Sunday, said Cardoso, as the alternate Governor, replaces the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, who is indisposed.

The Nigerian team will also comprise the Minister of State for Finance, Doris Uzoka-Anete.

According to the World Bank, key elements of the Annual Meetings include the Development Committee Plenary session on October 16 and the International Monetary and Financial Committee meetings on October 17.

‘Other featured events include regional briefings, press conferences, and fora focused on international development, the global economy, and financial markets’ the statement said.

Nigerians have been urged not to keep fretting over the tax reforms initiated by the President Bola Tinubu administration. The reforms have led to the enactment of the Nigeria Tax Act (NTA) and others.

Now, the reforms have been described as a bold initiative towards freeing sub-nationals from overdependence on federal allocations.

This comes against the backdrop of an over 70% dependence on oil revenue distributed through monthly federal allocations by many states in the country.

The fears were allayed in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, by Innocent Chinyere Ohagwa, President of the Chartered Institution of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN). He did this while delivering a speech at the Tax Conference held in the Garden city on October 14, 2025, where he said the new tax laws have created opportunity for states to drastically review their tax collection efforts and boost internally generated revenue (IGR).

He urged states in the federation to take advantage of the opportunities captured in the new tax laws by reviewing their tax collection processes and design, and deploying technology to automate the process.

Ohagwa, who is CITN’s 17th president, said sub-nationals should rather focus on creating enabling environment for willing compliance to tax payment among the citizenry.

‘The focus is not on paying tax. The focus of the reform will be to enhance the standard of living of the masses, the citizens, and secondly, to ensure that the tax compliance system is made easy.

‘And when you make tax compliance easy, the fallback position is that you will collect more, you will incur less costs, the country will develop better,’ he said.

Ohagwa disagreed with the suggestion that the tax reforms have placed some states with less population demographics at a disadvantage, arguing that those with high net-worth individuals, such as Lagos and Rivers, are strategically positioned to reap the benefits of the tax laws.

He said, ‘Another area of advantage to the states is what we call presumptive regime, which the minister through the advice of the Joint Task Force is going to make available. States are going to leverage a lot on it.’

He said the benefits of the new tax laws for citizens will begin to manifest as the government begins administration of the reforms, urging individuals, tax authorities, and consultants to take advantage of the opportunities inherent.

Victoria Okokon, Chairman, CITN’s Port Harcourt and District Society, said the tax reforms offer challenges and opportunities for sub-nationals.

She however pointed out that the reforms were not designed to weaken revenue generation at the sub-national level, but to strengthen the ability of states to generate and boost their revenue.

Israel Onwuanaku Egbunefu, Chairman of the Rivers State Internal Revenue Service (RIRS), presenting a paper on ‘Expanding the Tax Net beyond Salaries,’ said 70% percent of the tax receipts in Rivers State is from Pay As You Earn (PAYE).

He said the need to wean the state of the overdependence on this source, and to diversify to other revenue sources, such as Blue and Digital economy, is both urgent and imperative.

Chris Yorkina, Rivers State Auditor General, pointed out that the design of the new tax laws is not to impoverish the poor, but to aid government drive for development.

He said tax officers should be abreast of the provisions of the new tax laws and be ready to guide citizens, who naturally lack knowledge, on them.

Yorkina pointed out that the new tax law repeals certain existing tax laws and creates a legal framework to strengthen simplicity, integrity, and efficiency in tax administration

Ignatius Chukwu, BusinessDay’s Regional Editor, said the informal sector in the state has been overtaxed, with traders and artisans paying for over 70 items on an ‘black market’ tax list.

He pointed out that low-income earners, such as artisans, who are exempt from PAYE, have been pushed into what he described as the ‘black market tax system,’ which is operated by non-state actors, and maintains a high tax incidence on the already overtaxed informal sector.

Chukwu urged the Rivers State government to enforce the autonomy granted the state’s internal revenue service (RIRS) by the law establishing it, arguing that this will allow the agency to implement initiatives that will boost the tax net and collection efforts.

Ezekiel Eden Williams, professor and Director of Eggheads International, presented a paper on ‘Subnational Expectations and Implementation of the New Tax Laws,’ while Chris Yorkina explored the New Tax Laws, as they relate to tax practitioners.

Africa’s economic growth remains resilient in the face of persistent global challenges, underpinned by easing inflation, stronger macroeconomic policies, and ongoing structural reforms, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday following a high-level meeting with African finance ministers and central bank governors in Washington.

The statement, released jointly by Hervé Ndoba, Central African Republic’s Finance Minister and Chair of the African Caucus, and Kristalina Georgieva, IMF Managing Director followed the 2025 African Caucus meeting held on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings.

‘Despite this difficult global context, Africa’s growth remains resilient and is projected at 4.2 percent for 2025, the same as in 2024,’ the IMF said, adding that inflation is expected to ease to an average of about 4 percent, while debt levels have stabilised around 65 percent of GDP.

The ministers acknowledged that Africa continues to operate in a fragile global environment, with the IMF projecting global growth to decline slightly from 3.3 percent in 2024 to 3.2 percent in 2025. Rising protectionism, geopolitical tensions, policy uncertainty, and tight global financing conditions were cited as key risks. Climate shocks are also weighing heavily on the continent’s most vulnerable economies, with extreme weather already shaving off 1-2 percentage points of output in some countries each year.

Still, the Fund pointed to progress across a range of macroeconomic indicators. It noted that governments have maintained policy discipline in the face of external shocks, while reforms to boost fiscal transparency, expand tax bases, and improve public financial management are beginning to yield results.

Several countries are also advancing medium-term fiscal strategies that aim to balance consolidation with growth, creating space for priority investments.

‘The African Caucus reaffirmed its commitment to safeguarding macroeconomic and financial stability while advancing policies that enhance living standards,’ the joint statement said. It added that African governments are prioritising job creation, expanded access to social services, and the promotion of sustainable and inclusive growth.

Efforts to strengthen domestic resource mobilisation remain central to fiscal reform agendas, supported by digitalisation of tax systems, governance improvements, and anti-corruption measures. These are expected to boost efficiency, enhance revenue collection, and ensure that public spending delivers greater impact.

The IMF noted that many low-income countries remain under considerable financial pressure. On average, interest payments in these economies now consume about 15 percent of government revenues, a situation exacerbated by high borrowing costs and declining official development assistance.

Fragile and conflict-affected states face particularly acute challenges. In several countries, per capita incomes have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, raising concerns about poverty, inequality, and social cohesion. Structural reforms, including efforts to deepen trade integration and support private-sector development, are being pursued to build resilience and unlock long-term growth potential.

The Fund also emphasised recent steps to improve the availability of concessional financing. ‘The recently approved reform of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) has strengthened the Fund’s capacity to provide concessional lending,’ the IMF said, projecting new commitments of about SDR 5.2 billion (US$7.1 billion) per year. These include zero-interest loans for the poorest countries.

Meanwhile, the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST), which offers longer-term affordable financing, has now approved 26 programs, nearly half of which are in Africa. These programs aim to support structural transformation, climate adaptation, and pandemic preparedness across eligible countries.

‘We encourage continued efforts to ensure that the PRGT and RST are adequately resourced to meet the region’s growing needs,’ the statement said.

Reaffirming the Fund’s support for the continent, Georgieva noted: ‘The Fund is strongly committed to its African members, working with these nations to build fiscal space for scaled-up infrastructure and human capital spending.’

The IMF assured that it would continue adapting its lending tools and policy advice to help African countries respond to evolving economic challenges while advancing their long-term development goals.

The jurisdiction of the Advertising Offences Tribunal (AOT), which had previously been unclear to some stakeholders, has now been affirmed by legal experts and key players in the advertising, who recognise the tribunal as a coordinate court with the power to adjudicate advertising-related offences.

The tribunal was inaugurated in May 2023 by the Federal Government to deal with violations of the provisions of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria, ARCON.

Some legal experts who spoke at the ‘The Nigerian Advertising Law: The role of the AOT’ at the Town-Hall meeting on Tuesday, in Lagos organized by ARCON in conjunction with Nigerian Bar Association, NBA Lawyers in the Media, NBA-LIM affirmed that AOT rulings carry the same judicial weight as those of other courts of equal status.

This clarification clears previous doubts in some circles about the tribunal’s authority to handle advertising-related disputes. The speakers said that the judgement of the tribunal are appealable to Court of Appeal.

Speaking at the forum, Charles Odenigbo, Director General of Centre for Media Law and Development who urged business people to take advantage of the provisions of the law, called for compliance of the provisions of the law.

‘It is very clear about the jurisdiction of the AOT under section 37, but every Nigerian must be conversant with section 34 that deals with the offences’.

According to him, the objective of the Town- Hall between lawyers and the advertising community was to bring lawyers in the media, entertainment, film production, creatives and advertisers together to create awareness about the AOT.

‘We cannot afford to leave lawyers out there doing their own things without bringing them back into this very critical area’ of understanding the AOT and implications of violations of the law.

In his keynote address, Akinlolu Kehinde, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN said the establishment of the AOT is not just a legal reform-it is a statement of national intent. ‘It signals that Nigeria will not leave its people at the mercy of deceptive adverts, unregulated influencers, or exploitative practices’.

Represented by Leke Kehinde, he said AOT plays a vital role in advertising ecosystem: it protects consumers, deters misconduct, regulates digital spaces, preserves industry integrity, and demonstrates constitutional innovation. It is a global first, but more importantly, it is a Nigerian solution to Nigerian challenges, he said.

Also speaking, Justice C.M.A. Olatoregun who is Chairman of Advertising Offences Tribunal, AOT said the tribunal had a total of 266 cases but has dispensed 201 while 65 cases are pending.

Describing AOT as a gatekeeper, Olatoregun promised that the tribunal will deliver on its mandate.

She said that the AOT represents a systemic evolution that is embedding truth and accountability into the very structure of Nigeria’s advertising environment.

She further called on lawyers in the media space to grow with the tribunal and grow the tribunal.

In his speech, Lekan Fadolapo said Nigeria practices preventive advertising regulation, which requires advertisement approval before exposure of the material. He also insisted that Advertising Standard Panel engages in message regulation and not media regulation.

Also, in the digital space ‘what we regulate in the digital media space is just the advertising element and what we do is ensure that there is sanity in that space’

Fadolapo recounted offensive advertisements by some organisations which ARCON stopped without which they would have caused social unrest.

For Lanre Adisa, Chairman of Heads of Advertising Sectoral Groups, HASG, feels that the desire is for self-regulation so that practitioners do not need such regulations to operate. He said the fear is the feeling by people of being strangulated by too many laws. He however called for more awareness of the advertising laws to ensure compliance.

‘Awareness within our industry, and awareness even outside of here. A lot of people who are creating advertising online, in particular, don’t have enough knowledge of what is going on. In advertising, when I’m aware of something, I know what to do’, he said.

Lanre who commended ARCON moves to ensure sanity and ensure advertising decency said there must be a balance between regulation and the use of technology to ensure that there is efficiency. He said practitioners must feel that they are not been held back with regulation.

Investment

FG welcomes $2bn Shell new offshore final investment decision

The Federal Government has welcomed Shell Nigeria’s $2 billion Final Investment Decision (FID) for a new offshore project in Nigeria’s HI Field, located in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 144, approximately 50 kilometres offshore.

The significant investment was communicated to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, by the Country Chair of Shell Nigeria, Marno de Jong.

A statement by Nneamaka Okafor, Special Adviser, Media and Communications to the Minister on Tuesday, said the development represented another major milestone in the nation’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the energy sector and boost production.

The FID was taken out between Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) and Sunlink Energies Resources Limited.

It marks a strong demonstration of confidence in Nigeria’s oil and gas investment climate and the government’s commitment to driving sustainable energy growth.

Lokpobiri described the development as a direct outcome of the bold reforms and transformative policies implemented by the federal government, which continued to enhance Investors’ confidence and attract substantial capital inflows into oil and gas industry.

‘This two billion dollars investment reaffirms Nigeria’s position as a preferred destination for energy investment and highlights the value of collaboration

‘We anticipate that more Final Investment Decisions from other investors will follow in the coming months as confidence in our sector continues to grow,’ he said.

He reiterated the federal government’s commitment to foster an enabling environment for investment, ensuring that the benefits of such strategic partnerships translate into increase national prosperity and sustainable energy development.