Business

Stakeholders Push for Stronger Labor Polices to Protect Jobs in Energy Transition

Published

7 months ago

March 27, 2025

…Unveil ‘Workers’ Charter of Demand’

By Joel Ajayi

In a bid to strengthen labour laws and safeguard Nigerian workers from job losses amid the country’s transition to a low-carbon economy, stakeholders have called for equitable policies that protect employment and workers’ rights.

***Presenting the Workers’ Charter of Demand, Tunde Selman, Researcher and Team Lead at GGT-Nigeria, outlined key labour concerns in Nigeria’s evolving energy landscape***.

The call was made at the public presentation of the Workers’ Charter of Demand and Stakeholders’ Engagement held on Thursday in Abuja.

The event, organized by the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) in collaboration with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Nigeria, also marked the launch of the Justice Department Transition Project, aimed at ensuring a just and sustainable shift to renewable energy.

In his remarks, Lennart Oestergaard, Resident Representative of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung FES Nigeria, emphasized the need for stronger collaboration between trade unions, the private sector, and the government to develop policies that protect jobs and equip workers for employment in the renewable energy sector.

“As Nigeria moves towards cleaner energy sources, we must ensure that workers are not displaced or exploited,” he stated. “A just transition means that no one is left behind. This requires deliberate policies that promote job security, social dialogue, and economic fairness.”

Presenting the Workers’ Charter of Demand, Tunde Selman, Researcher and Team Lead at GGT-Nigeria, outlined key labour concerns in Nigeria’s evolving energy landscape.

“The charter is a call to action, advocating for fair labour practices and worker protections,” Selman said.

Some of the key demands highlighted in the charter include: Job Security: Preventing mass redundancies in the energy sector.

Social Protection Measures to Ensuring access to pension schemes and health insurance for workers transitioning from fossil fuel jobs; Fair Wages and Improved Working Conditions to Address labour rights in both traditional and renewable energy sector.

Also, Equipping workers with skills in clean energy technologies, Stronger Labor Union Involvement: Ensuring labor unions play a role in policymaking related to energy transition amongst other.

In her goodwill message, Executive Secretary of the Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria (REAN), Dr. Tosin Akande, thumbed FES and its partners for their advocacy efforts in protecting labor rights during the energy transition.

However, She stressed the need for stronger policies to prevent unemployment and low wages. “Without strong policies, many workers could face job losses or poor working conditions,” Dr. Akande warned.

Meanwhile, the event also featured a panel discussion on “Just and Clean Transition for Trade Unions in Nigeria,” where experts examined challenges and opportunities in the energy transition.

Discussions focused on: Expanding the renewable energy sector while protecting workers’ rights; The role of government and private sector investment in job creation and Vocational training for green economy jobs.

Stakeholders therefore reaffirmed their commitment to advocating for policies that ensure a fair transition for Nigerian workers, ensuring that no one is left behind as the country moves toward a greener future.

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Business

TAJBank Emerges Nigeria’s Biggest Non-Interest Bank

Published

1 week 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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