Business

Nigeria, Japan Launch Groundbreaking Youth-Focused Venture Fund

Published

7 months ago

April 2, 2025

Joel Ajayi

In a major boost to youth entrepreneurship, Nigeria and Japan have launched a strategic venture capital initiative that will channel Naira-denominated investments into high-growth startups, shielding them from currency risks while unlocking access to long-term concessional financing.

The Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, today in his office in Abuja met with officials from the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to finalise the framework of the fund, which has now received formal approval from the Japanese government.

NSIA CEO Aminu Umar-Sadiq confirmed that the initiative satisfies two key conditions set by the Minister: mitigating foreign exchange volatility by investing in Naira and securing first-loss or grant capital to de-risk private investment.

With JICA’s support, this is not just a proposed solution—it’s a fully approved, ready-to-launch initiative, Umar-Sadiq said.

JICA Director General Takao Shimokawa announced that diplomatic agreements would be signed within weeks, with full implementation expected thereafter.

The Coordinating Minister of the Economy welcomed the development, calling it a timely response to Nigeria’s youthful demography. This fund provides critical financial backing across the capital structure—from equity to debt—and is aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for inclusive economic growth, he stated.

By combining international concessional financing with domestic currency stability, the fund marks a new model for venture capital in Africa, aimed squarely at empowering the next generation of Nigerian innovators.

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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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