Business

RMAFC Hosts First African Conference On Climate Justice

Published

3 months ago

July 30, 2025

Joel Ajayi

The Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), in partnership with the Center for African-American Research Studies (CAARS), convened the First African Conference on Climate Justice at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday, 30th July 2025.

The Conference, themed “Strategic Access, Mobilisation, and Equitable Allocation of Global Climate Funds for Vulnerable Populations,” brought together academicians, policymakers, civil society actors, traditional rulers, and international development experts.

Delivering a goodwill message on behalf of the RMAFC Chairman, Dr. Mohammed Bello Shehu, OFR, the Federal Commissioner representing Kwara State, Hon. Ismail Mohammed Agaka welcomed participants to what he described as a landmark international conference on climate justice. He said, “While RMAFC’s mandate differs from that of CAARS, both energy and climate challenges are common concerns, and our collective efforts towards solving these challenges guarantee timely and better results.”

Dr. Shehu commended CAARS for considering RMAFC a strategic partner in the global discussion around climate finance.

“The relevance of this collaboration will unfold through the thought-provoking presentations and discussions that will follow,” he stated.The Chairman further said that global energy funding for vulnerable African populations is essential to achieving sustainable development.

He emphasized the importance of recent constitutional reforms in Nigeria, which moved electricity from the exclusive list to the concurrent legislative list. The Chairman observed that the reform would enable subnational governments to generate and distribute power and position the nation to better access and deploy global climate funds at all levels.

He expressed confidence that the deliberations and recommendations of the conference would significantly support ongoing efforts to address national and global climate challenges.

In his keynote address, Prof. Nnamdi Nwaodu, Director General of CAARS and Chief Convener of the conference, stressed that Africa must move from the margins to the centre of global climate finance discussions. He urged participants to develop frameworks rooted in fairness, asserting that “climate justice means ensuring that vulnerable communities do not continue to suffer the most while contributing the least to climate change.

In his words, “We are not here to rehearse the known statistics of environmental harm—we are here to act. It’s time to claim our seat at the table and design climate finance frameworks that reflect our continent’s realities.”

The conference featured rich academic and technical discussions, including presentations from renowned experts such as Prof. Ignatius Onimawo, former Vice Chancellor of Ambrose Alli University who presented a paper on addressing climate adaptation, governance, and resilience in Africa;Arc. Steve Nwaiwu, Principal Consultant at Delish Nature & Wellness Africa who spoke on the topic “Nature, wellness, and Green Infrastructure for Urban Africa.”HRH Eze Dr. Okechukwu Izim, a traditional ruler and Head of the Department of Political Science at Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education presented two separate papers; “Cultural Reflections on Environmental Justice” and, “Climate Policy and African Political Economy.” Dr. Nwarieji Felistas Director Center for Circular Economy Technology Education was also in attendance.

A panel session moderated by civil society leaders and youth climate advocates focused on climate finance, local needs, and community resilience.

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Business

TAJBank Emerges Nigeria’s Biggest Non-Interest Bank

Published

2 weeks ago

October 23, 2025

The Gleamer

Cyril Ogar

After five years of operations in Nigeria’s rapidly evolving non-interest banking (NIB) space, TAJBank Limited has become the biggest player in the NIB subsector based on its total assets and gross earnings values.

Disclosing this during his paper presentation on the key performance indices in the non-interest banking space over the past few years at a seminar organized by Leaders Corporate Services with the theme “Roles of Non-Interest Banks In SMEs’ Financing” for SME entrepreneurs yesterday in Abuja, an investment expert, Mr. Olabode Akeredolu-Ale, maintained that based on the non-interest banks’ approved financial statements for the half year 2025, TAJBank currently remained the biggest in terms of its total assets.

The expert, a chartered stockbroker, specifically confirmed that his recent investment researches on the NIBs and their financial performances showed that TAJBank, with its total assets rising to N1.017 trillion in half year 2025 up from N953.098 billion as of December 2024, which is about N53 billion higher than the nearest NIB’s assets, now ranked top in the banking subsector.

According to him, TAJBank’s gross earnings for H1 2025 also surged to N53.752 billion from N32.86 billion as of December 2024, representing a 64% growth, and higher than the nearest NIB’s gross earnings in the period under review.

This is even as he disclosed that on the NIBs’ earnings per share during the half year, TAJBank reported N61.36 kobo earnings per share, about 92% higher than the earnings per share of the next NIB during the period.

Akeredolu-Ale, who is also a chartered accountant, clarified: “The figures I am reeling out here on the NIBs are sourced from the banking and capital market regulatory institutions’ platforms, which anyone can access to verify.

“I am part of this event because of my research interest in non-interest banking and how the players in the subsector in Nigeria can help to leverage their competencies in innovation and ethical banking to support our MSMEs.

“Today, the MSMEs cannot access DMBs’ loans due to high lending rates and other inclement macroeconomic factors. This is where I think the NIBs have become very crucial to Nigeria’s economic growth.

“Overall, my findings on the NIBs indicated that they are all trying their best with non-interest loans to support entrepreneurs, particularly the MSMEs owners. I have advised those of them at this seminar to explore the cost-friendly financing options of the NIBs to grow their businesses by opening accounts with the NIBs”, the expert added.

Another speaker at the event, Benjamin Chukwudi, also commended the NIBs for their “catalytic roles in helping SMEs to access interest-free loans and providing them the needed financial management advisory, which have been helping them in sustaining their operations in the face of rising cost of doing business in the country.”

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