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“Nollycoin Is Designed To Transform Entertainment Industry And Generate More Employment” …Dr. Ope Banwo, Founder

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To say he has earned respect through sheer doggedness and determination would be an understatement. Dr. Ope Banwo, a lawyer, author, entrepreneur, motivational speaker and internet business consultant, is a man, who, in spite of repeated challenges of any terrain he ventures into, is persistent until he is successful. Ope is also a strong force in the entertainment industry. His intrepid exploits some years back with Stingomania Records, combining music label, recording and artistes management, became the standard by which the growth of Nigeria’s showbiz industry is measured.

A US registered legal practitioner, Ope Banwo is back on the familiar terrain with Nollycoin, a blockchain technology-powered idea aimed at revolutionizing the Nigerian movie industry. With Nollycoin partnering with Nollywood, he explains in this interview, an avenue is unlocked for stakeholders to make mega money via quality movie production, distribution and also ensures compact guide against fraud and piracy. Excerpts…

The Nollycoin idea is offering itself as an advanced technology that movie makers in Nigeria can benefit from. How much have your resource team done to sell to movie stakeholders the prosperity that may arise from this beautiful synergy?

We are already engaging top influencers in the movie industry to share this vision and seek their support. As a matter of fact, we are having an exclusive media parley on the 10th of February, 2018, where we will meet openly with most of them and answer questions on how this can benefit them and their industry. Some of the stakeholders including producers; movie executives, actors and actresses; even cinemas are already on our advisory team and we hope to get many more on board on my trip to Nigeria in February. As you know, its always a challenge to be a pioneer in the entertainment industry, and this blockchain and crypto technology is still new to a lot of them and many of them even see it as a bubble with no lasting influence. Fortunately, I am very comfortable being a pioneer and have been a pioneer in the entertainment industry before, so I know the work that must be done. I know we must do a lot of work to make them see beyond the misconceptions about the technology, and make them see how it can revolutionize the industry. We know, going in, that no matter how revolutionary this is, or how beneficial to the industry, some will get it now, some will get it later, and some will never get it. But we shall continue to work with the few visionaries who can glimpse what is inevitable to the movie industry.

With this partnership you are introducing, the volume of movie sales would be increased, access to grants for project financing, and other benefits; are you also going to work with movie makers to ensure that the qualities of movie production are improved on?
Yes. A big part of the Nollytainment initiative with Nollycoin, is to use it as a platform to improve the quality of African movies while also providing financial support for the talented producers who are already doing great things with little capital. To get quality products, you have to have access to quality finance and it is part of our game plan to provide access to adequate financing to create international standard movies that we can all be proud of on the global scene. To ensure that picking a good movie project does not rest with one man or myself, thereby leading to mistakes one had made in the past, I am putting together a 7-man Creative Advisory Team to evaluate any movie project we would be investing in to ensure transparency and verify that the movie meets all standards required for international success.

Explain what the shared interests from this scheme would be like.

There are different levels of interest that would be shared by people who will participate in the Nollytainment ecosystem powered by Nollycoin.
I would like to call the shared interest the Nollycoin value proposition for the movie community.Nollycoin also offers a lot of win-win opportunities to stakeholders in the entertainment industry excluding the pirates and copyright thieves. Some of the solutions and opportunities that Nollycoin is bringing into the entertainment ecosystem include one, Hardworking movie producers win. This means that contrary to what some companies in entertainment may think at first blush, they will definitely benefit from the NollyCoin Economy that will be heralded by Nollycoin. Under our ecosystem, the entire entertainment market scale can be enlarged to enhance long term exploitation of the copyrighted creative works. All stakeholders will enter their copyrighted content onto Nollycoin blockchain and harvest the profits worldwide ad infinitum. Two: Collaborators and Creative Artistes in The Movie Production Chain Win. This means that, with blockchain technology and the Nollycoin, collaborators can now be compensated accurately per contract without need for any third-party intervention. The terms of ongoing compensation for key collaborators like cinematographer, director, editor; writers, main actors etc are coded into the ‘smart contract’ governing the uploading of the specific movie into the blockchain powered marketplace and everyone is automatically compensated per terms of that contract without the need for any third party intervention. Three; Movie financiers and stakeholders in each completed movie win. By this, proportionate payments to movie financiers can also be worked into the smart contract that would form the basis of distribution of income from all movies on the Nollytainment network. No longer will financiers or stakeholders have to chase movie producers to get repayment of loans or capital investment in any movie project. Four; Open and transparent record-keeping ledgers for all stakeholders. This means that, Nollytainment platform, with its underlying blockchain technology, will provide all players in the movie making industry including movie makers, movie producers, cinematographers, and writers with digital recording of all transactions in copyrighted works that is accessible to all stakeholders on an instantaneous and permanent basis.

Does the government have a role to play in your own arrangement, given that it has set up a similar funding plan to assist movie production and distribution across Nigeria?

We are a private organization and like to keep our activities in the private business arena since most things that involve government tend to get politicized. We all can benefit more from government support of initiatives in the entertainment sector but more often than not, government initiatives have not really lived up to the hype. The issues of the Entertainment Fund and its accessibility is a strong case in point. So, while we hope govt will support by providing the right climate for the technology to take off, we are not relying on them for this. The private sector will drive this and make it more efficient

Apart from making money for yourself as a business person, and money for the contents owners, what are the plans being worked on to ensure that other elements like theft of intellectual property rights and piracy are dealt with? Also explain how your idea can generate jobs for persons in the entertainment industry.

The very concept of blockchain protects the registration rights of copyright holders and even allows different constituent collaborators in making a movie to preserve their own part of the copyright by recording all of that in the ‘Smart Contract’ that will be executed as the movie gets on our platform. That contract cannot be changed by anyone and compensation agreed to by the collaborators will be disbursed automatically without the intervention of a third party. When people really understand the power of blockchain to preserve, protect and compensate their artistic products, everyone will want their works released on a blockchain protected platform. Blockchain technology is tailor made for protection and compensation for copyrighted works. As for how these will generate jobs for participants in the movie industry; more international level movies will be sponsored and produced and thousands of people from actors to set hands will be employed in the process and more importantly the key players will not need to sue anyone for enforcement of their rights on the platform since blockchain handles everything without the intervention of weak third parties. I honestly see blockchain transforming the entertainment industry and generating millions of jobs for everyone as the concept gets clearer and implementation of its promise becomes real to people.

You are a busy man. How do you now find time to relax with and entertain your family?
I work hard and I also play hard. I am able to find time for my entire crowded schedule because I only do things I really enjoy doing now. At this point of my life, I don’t get involved in any projects unless I am really passionate about it. Money is the last consideration though I am also an unapologetic businessman. So, I wake up every day excited to go to work. In the midst of it all projects, I still find time for five or six vacations each year. In fact, I just came back from a one week Caribbean cruise with my wife, and the year is only one month old. We are also scheduled to be in Hawaii for five days in about two weeks, and then we visit Nigeria. Life is always good, and there is always time when you are doing what you love.

You are no doubt a tested hand in the entertainment business who is always out to make a success of his innovation. How is this massive project going to be funded?

Apart from the initial heavy capital investment by myself and a few partners, this massive project is being fully funded by the project itself. That is why we are having a massive ICO that will not only generate the funds to execute the ambitious project, but also provide participants and supporters of the initiative with huge compensation and high returns commensurate with their support and business risk far into the future.

These days, when people hear of any ‘coin’ related business idea, it creates fear and suspicion probably due to past experiences. What are the strategies being deployed to bring back the confidence people hitherto had in this kind of idea?

We recognize and understand that people are generally suspicious of cryptocurrency projects. Some of the fears are founded on past scammers while most of it is based on lack of knowledge how an ICO works. The main selling points of the Nollycoin initiative that we hope will help people overcome their initial reluctance to embrace the initiative includes the following: Our team includes top executives with decades of experience in managing major business projects and in bringing timely and innovative solutions to different industries including entertainment, business, stock trading, real estate etc. We have a solid team and network of partners with creative talents and movie executive experience. We also have a solid technical team in cryptocurrency. On the crypto technical side, we are avid cryptocurrency technocrats and enthusiasts who have been involved in all levels of the cryptocurrency world, including mining, token development, trading, and networking with like-minded individuals and communities. Also, o ur partnership with Top Influencers in Nollywood on Social Media with combined followership of over 50,000,000 followers. These top influencers have social media pages (Facebook; twitter; Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube Channels pages dedicated to Nollywood films.

Business

BUA Foods Records 91% Surge in Profit After Tax, Hits ₦508bn in 2025

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BUA FOODS PLC RECORDS 101% PROFIT GROWTH IN H1 2025, CONSOLIDATES LEADERSHIP IN NIGERIA’S FOOD SECTOR …Revenue Rises to ₦912.5 Billion; PBT Hits ₦276.1 Billion

BUA Foods Records 91% Surge in Profit After Tax, Hits ₦508bn in 2025

By femi Oyewale

BUA Foods Plc has delivered one of the most impressive financial performances in Nigeria’s fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, recording a 91 per cent increase in Profit After Tax (PAT) for the 2025 financial year.
According to the company’s unaudited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2025, Profit After Tax rose sharply to ₦508 billion, compared with ₦266 billion recorded in 2024, underscoring strong operational efficiency, improved cost management, and resilience despite a challenging macroeconomic environment.
The near-doubling of profit reflects BUA Foods’ ability to navigate rising input costs, foreign exchange volatility, and inflationary pressures that weighed heavily on manufacturers throughout the year. Analysts note that the performance places the company among the strongest earnings growers on the Nigerian Exchange in 2025.
The company’s Q4 2025 performance further highlights this momentum. Group turnover stood at ₦383.4 billion, while gross profit came in at ₦151.5 billion, demonstrating sustained demand across its core product lines including sugar, flour, pasta, and rice.
Despite a year marked by higher operating costs across the industry, BUA Foods maintained disciplined spending. Administrative and selling expenses were kept under control relative to revenue, helping to protect margins.
Operating profit for Q4 2025 stood at ₦126.9 billion, reinforcing the company’s strong core earnings capacity. Although finance costs and foreign exchange losses remained a factor, reflecting the broader economic realities, BUA Foods still closed the period with a Net Profit Before Tax of ₦102.3 billion for the quarter.
Earnings Per Share Rise Sharply
Shareholders were among the biggest beneficiaries of the strong performance. Earnings Per Share (EPS) rose significantly, reflecting the substantial growth in net income and strengthening the company’s investment appeal.
Market watchers say the improved earnings profile could support sustained investor confidence, especially as the company continues to consolidate its leadership position in Nigeria’s food manufacturing space.
BUA Foods Records 91% Surge in Profit After Tax, Hits ₦508bn in 2025

By femi Oyewale
Industry Leadership Amid Economic Headwinds
BUA Foods’ 2025 results stand out against a backdrop of currency depreciation, energy cost spikes, and logistics challenges that constrained many manufacturers. The company’s scale, backward integration strategy, and local sourcing advantages are widely seen as key contributors to its resilience.
Outlook
With a 91% year-on-year growth in PAT, BUA Foods enters 2026 on a strong footing. Analysts expect the company to remain a major driver of growth in the consumer goods sector, provided macroeconomic stability improves and cost pressures ease.
For now, the 2025 numbers send a clear signal: BUA Foods is not only growing—it is accelerating.
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Adron Homes Unveils “Love for Love” Valentine Promo with Exciting Discounts, Luxury Gifts, and Travel Rewards

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Adron Homes Unveils “Love for Love” Valentine Promo with Exciting Discounts, Luxury Gifts, and Travel Rewards

Adron Homes Unveils “Love for Love” Valentine Promo with Exciting Discounts, Luxury Gifts, and Travel Rewards

In celebration of the season of love, Adron Homes and Properties has announced the launch of its special Valentine campaign, “Love for Love” Promo, a customer-centric initiative designed to reward Nigerians who choose to express love through smart, lasting real estate investments.

The Love for Love Promo offers clients attractive discounts, flexible payment options, and an array of exclusive gift items, reinforcing Adron Homes’ commitment to making property ownership both rewarding and accessible. The campaign runs throughout the Valentine season and applies to the company’s wide portfolio of estates and housing projects strategically located across Nigeria.

 

Adron Homes Unveils “Love for Love” Valentine Promo with Exciting Discounts, Luxury Gifts, and Travel Rewards

Speaking on the promo, the company’s Managing Director, Mrs Adenike Ajobo, stated that the initiative is aimed at encouraging individuals and families to move beyond conventional Valentine gifts by investing in assets that secure their future. According to the company, love is best demonstrated through stability, legacy, and long-term value—principles that real estate ownership represents.

Under the promo structure, clients who make a payment of ₦100,000 receive cake, chocolates, and a bottle of wine, while those who pay ₦200,000 are rewarded with a Love Hamper. Payments of ₦500,000 attract a Love Hamper plus cake, and clients who pay ₦1,000,000 enjoy a choice of a Samsung phone or a Love Hamper with cake.

The rewards become increasingly premium as commitment grows. Clients who pay ₦5,000,000 receive either an iPad or an all-expenses-paid romantic getaway for a couple at one of Nigeria’s finest hotels, which includes two nights’ accommodation, special treats, and a Love Hamper. A payment of ₦10,000,000 comes with a choice of a Samsung Z Fold 7, three nights at a top-tier resort in Nigeria, or a full solar power installation.

For high-value investors, the Love for Love Promo delivers exceptional lifestyle experiences. Clients who pay ₦30,000,000 on land are rewarded with a three-night couple’s trip to Doha, Qatar, or South Africa, while purchasers of any Adron Homes house valued at ₦50,000,000 receive a double-door refrigerator.

The promo covers Adron Homes’ estates located in Lagos, Shimawa, Sagamu, Atan–Ota, Papalanto, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Osun, Ekiti, Abuja, Nasarawa, and Niger States, offering clients the opportunity to invest in fast-growing, strategically positioned communities nationwide.

Adron Homes reiterated that beyond the incentives, the campaign underscores the company’s strong reputation for secure land titles, affordable pricing, strategic locations, and a proven legacy in real estate development.

As Valentine’s Day approaches, Adron Homes encourages Nigerians at home and in the diaspora to take advantage of the Love for Love Promo to enjoy exceptional value, exclusive rewards, and the opportunity to build a future rooted in love, security, and prosperity.

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Why Nigeria’s Banks Still on Shaky Ground with Big Profits, Weak Capital

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*Why Nigeria’s Banks Still on Shaky Ground with Big Profits, Weak Capital*

*BY BLAISE UDUNZE*

Despite the fragile 2024 economy grappling with inflation, currency volatility, and weak growth, Nigeria’s banking industry was widely portrayed as successful and strong amid triumphal headlines. The figures appeared to signal strength, resilience, and superior management as the Tier-1 banks such as Access Bank, Zenith Bank, GTBank, UBA, and First Bank of Nigeria, collectively reported profits approaching, and in some cases exceeding, N1 trillion. Surprisingly, a year later, these same banks touted as sound and solid are locked in a frenetic race to the capital markets, issuing rights offers and public placements back-to-back to meet the Central Bank of Nigeria’s N500 billion recapitalisation thresholds.

 

The contradiction is glaring. If Nigeria’s biggest banks are so profitable, why are they unable to internally fund their new capital requirements? Why have no fewer than 27 banks tapped the capital market in quick succession despite repeated assurances of balance-sheet robustness? And more fundamentally, what do these record profits actually say about the real health of the banking system?

 

The recapitalisation directive announced by the CBN in 2024 was ambitious by design. Banks with international licences were required to raise minimum capital to N500 billion by March 2026, while national and regional banks faced lower but still substantial thresholds ranging from N200 billion to N50 billion, respectively. Looking at the policy, it was sold as a modern reform meant to make banks stronger, more resilient in tough times, and better able to support major long-term economic development. In theory, strong banks should welcome such reforms. In practice, the scramble that followed has exposed uncomfortable truths about the structure of bank profitability in Nigeria.

 

At the heart of the inconsistency is a fundamental misunderstanding often encouraged by the banks themselves between profits and capital. Unknown to many, profitability, no matter how impressive, does not automatically translate into regulatory capital. Primarily, the CBN’s recapitalisation framework actually focuses on money paid in by shareholders when buying shares, fresh equity injected by investors over retained earnings or profits that exist mainly on paper.

 

This distinction matters because much of the profit surge recorded in 2024 and early 2025 was neither cash-generative nor sustainably repeatable. A significant portion of those headline banks’ profits reported actually came from foreign exchange revaluation gains following the sharp fall of the naira after exchange-rate unification. The industry witnessed that banks’ holding dollar-denominated assets their books showed bigger numbers as their balance sheets swell in naira terms, creating enormous paper profits without a corresponding improvement in underlying operational strength. These gains inflated income statements but did little to strengthen core capital, especially after the CBN barred banks from using FX revaluation gains for dividends or routine operations. In effect, banks looked richer without becoming stronger.

 

Beyond FX effects, Nigerian banks have increasingly relied on non-interest income fees, charges, and transaction levies to drive profitability. While this model is lucrative, it does not necessarily deepen financial intermediation or expand productive lending. High profits built on customer charges rather than loan growth offer limited support for long-term balance-sheet expansion. They also leave banks vulnerable when macroeconomic conditions shift, as is now happening.

Indeed, the recapitalisation exercise coincides with a turning point in the monetary cycle. The extraordinary conditions that supported bank earnings in 2024 and 2025 are beginning to unwind. Analysts now warn that Nigerian banks are approaching earnings reset, as net interest margins the backbone of traditional banking profitability, come under sustained pressure.

Renaissance Capital, in a January note, projects that major banks including Zenith, GTCO, Access Holdings, and UBA will struggle to deliver earnings growth in 2026 comparable to recent performance.

 

In a real sense, the CBN is expected to lower interest rates by 400 to 500 basis points because inflation is slowing down, and this means that banks will earn less on loans and government bonds, but they may not be able to quickly lower the interest they pay on deposits or other debts. The cash reserve requirements are still elevated, which does not earn interest; banks can’t easily increase or expand lending investments to make up for lower returns. The implications are significant. Net interest margin, the difference between what banks earn on loans and investments and what they pay on deposits, is poised to contract. Deposit competition is intensifying as lenders fight to shore up liquidity ahead of recapitalisation deadlines, pushing up funding costs. At the same time, yields on treasury bills and bonds, long a safe and lucrative haven for banks are expected to soften in a lower-rate environment. The result is a narrowing profit cushion just as banks are being asked to carry far larger equity bases.

 

Compounding this challenge is the fading of FX revaluation windfalls. With the naira relatively more stable in early 2026, the non-cash gains that once flattered bank earnings have largely evaporated. What remains is the less glamorous reality of core banking operations: credit risk management, cost efficiency, and genuine loan growth in a sluggish economy. In this new environment, maintaining headline profits will be far harder, even before accounting for the dilutive impact of recapitalisation.

 

That dilution is another underappreciated consequence of the capital rush. Massive share issuances mean that even if banks manage to sustain absolute profit levels, earnings per share and return on equity are likely to decline. Zenith, Access, UBA, and others are dramatically increasing their share counts. The same earnings pie is now being divided among many more shareholders, making individual returns leaner than during the pre-recapitalisation boom. For investors, the optics of strong profits may soon give way to the reality of weaker per-share performance.

Yet banks have pressed ahead, not only out of regulatory necessity but also strategic calculation.

 

During this period of recapitalization, investors are interested in the stock market with optimism, especially about bank shares, as banks are raising fresh capital, and this makes it easier to attract investments. This has become a season for the management teams to seize the moment to raise funds at relatively attractive valuations, strengthen ownership positions, and position themselves for post-recapitalisation dominance. In several cases, major shareholders and insiders have increased their stakes, as projected in the media, signalling confidence in long-term prospects even as near-term returns face pressure.

 

There is also a broader structural ambition at play. Well-capitalised banks can take on larger single obligor exposures, finance infrastructure projects, expand regionally, and compete more credibly with pan-African and global peers. From this perspective, recapitalisation is not merely about compliance but about reshaping the competitive hierarchy of Nigerian banking. What will be witnessed in the industry is that those who succeed will emerge larger, fewer, and more powerful. Those that fail will be forced into consolidation, retreat, or irrelevance.

 

For the wider economy, the outcome is ambiguous. Stronger banks with deeper capital buffers could improve systemic stability and enhance Nigeria’s ability to fund long-term development. The point is that while merging or consolidating banks may make them safer, it can also harm the market and the economy because it will reduce competition, let a few banks dominate, and encourage them to earn easy money from bonds and fees instead of funding real businesses. The truth be told, injecting more capital into the banks without complementary reforms in credit infrastructure, risk-sharing mechanisms, and fiscal discipline, isn’t enough as the aforementioned reforms are also needed.

 

The rush as exposed in this period, is that the moment Nigerian banks started raising new capital, the glaring reality behind their reported profits became clearer, that profits weren’t purely from good management, while the financial industry is not as sound and strong as its headline figures. The fact that trillion-naira profit banks must return repeatedly to shareholders for fresh capital is not a sign of excess strength, but of structural imbalance.

 

With the deadline for banks to raise new capital coming soon, by 31 March 2026, the focus has shifted from just raising N500 billion. N200 billion or N50 billion to think about the future shape and quality of Nigeria’s financial industry, or what it will actually look like afterward. Will recapitalisation mark a turning point toward deeper intermediation, lower dependence on speculative gains, and stronger support for economic growth? Or will it simply reset the numbers while leaving underlying incentives unchanged?

The answer will define the next chapter of Nigerian banking long after the capital market roadshows have ended and the profit headlines have faded.

 

 

Blaise, a journalist and PR professional, writes from Lagos and can be reached via: [email protected]

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