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UBA Business Series Promotes Women’s Enterprise, Leadership

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UBA Gen.W Business Series brings female leaders together in Lagos to discuss evolving roles of women in leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation

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Africa’s Global Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, on Thursday hosted an engaging edition of its quarterly Business Series, bringing together accomplished female leaders and entrepreneurs to discuss the theme “Gen.W: The Evolved Woman.”

Also read: UBA Unveils Investment and Banking Platform for Diaspora Nigerians

The hybrid event, held at UBA House in Marina, Lagos, and streamed live to participants across the globe, formed part of activities marking International Women’s Month.

The UBA Gen.W Business Series explored the evolving role of women in leadership, business and innovation, highlighting how African women are redefining success while creating sustainable impact across industries.

Opening the session, UBA’s Group Head of Customer Experience, Michelle Nwoga, described the “evolved woman” as someone who actively shapes her environment and ensures her voice is heard.

“The evolved woman is one who is taking charge, volunteering and making her voice heard above the noise,” Nwoga said.

The event was moderated by media personality and actor Tobi Bakre, who reflected on the concept of the evolved woman as a journey rather than a destination.

“When I think about the evolved woman, I do not see a checklist or a finish point. It is a woman grounded in her own self-worth who also creates space for other women to believe that they belong,” he said.

Panel discussions featured prominent voices including founder of ORÍKÌ Group, Joycee Awosika; digital entrepreneur and media personality Tomike Adeoye; founder of Fine-Funky, Olufunke Davies; and broadcaster Ayo Mairo-Ese.

The speakers shared personal experiences about navigating entrepreneurship, leadership challenges and growth.

Awosika noted that the evolved woman understands her value and is confident enough to create opportunities rather than wait for them.

“That woman does not need to ask to sit at the table. She is creating her own table and adding value. As your company grows, you must grow too,” she said.

Adeoye added that modern women are redefining ambition by building their own platforms and speaking openly about their journeys.

“The question of what a woman brings to the table is now obsolete because the evolved woman is bringing her own table,” she said.

Broadcaster Ayo Mairo-Ese encouraged women to confidently share their achievements, warning that many are often reluctant to showcase their impact despite doing remarkable work.

“A lot of women are doing phenomenal work and sometimes hesitate to share their stories. As an evolved woman, you must find your unique offering and remain open to collaboration,” she said.

Entrepreneur Olufunke Davies highlighted persistence as a key ingredient in success, explaining that discovering the right business path often requires experimentation and continuous learning.

The Group Head of Brands, Marketing and Corporate Communications at UBA, Alero Ladipo, praised the panelists and attendees for their contributions and reiterated the bank’s commitment to empowering women.

Ladipo also highlighted the bank’s Gen W platform, a lifestyle initiative designed to support women with expert insights, practical resources and access to discounted products and financial support.

“Through expert insights, real stories and practical resources, the platform connects women who are building brands, creating businesses, growing careers and leading across industries,” she said.

The UBA Gen.W Business Series continues to serve as a powerful platform for mentorship, knowledge exchange and thought leadership.

Also readUBA Celebrates Modern African Women with Special Business Series Edition

By bringing together influential voices and practical experiences, the bank aims to inspire a new generation of women leaders and innovators across Africa and beyond.

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Shoreline Group secures US$200 million Afreximbank Facility

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Shoreline Group today announced that African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has approved a US$200 million facility in favour of Shoreline Power Company Limited and co-borrowers including Arkad S.p.A., Shoreline’s majority-owned engineering and construction platform.
Approved in June 2026, the facility was arranged and provided by Afreximbank as sole mandated lead arranger and lender. It provides bonding and working-capital capacity for Arkad’s delivery of the Hassi Bir Rekaiz project and supports Shoreline and its affiliates in developing further pipeline and infrastructure
projects in Nigeria and other permitted jurisdictions.
“This is a defining transaction for Shoreline and Arkad. We built Arkad as an African- sponsored engineering platform capable of competing at the highest level, and it is now delivering against a billion-dollar energy contract. Afreximbank’s US$200 million commitment gives the platform the financial strength to match its engineering capability and pursue further major infrastructure mandates. It demonstrates that African enterprises can assemble the capital, capability and partnerships required to compete for infrastructure at international scale.”
Hassi Bir Rekaiz Phase 2a Arkad holds 44 per cent of the approximately US$1 billion EPCCS-1 contract awarded by Groupement
Hassi Bir Rekaiz (GHBR) to an unincorporated consortium led by Egypt’s Petrojet, which holds 56 percent. EPCCS-1 covers engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and start-up for the Phase 2a central processing facility and related infrastructure at the Hassi Bir Rekaiz field in Algeria’s Berkine
Basin.
GHBR is the joint operating entity for the licence, held by Sonatrach with 51 per cent and Thailand’s PTTEP with 49 per cent. The project includes a new crude oil processing facility with capacity of 31,500 barrels per day, facilities for associated gas and produced-water treatment, approximately 217 kilometres
of pipelines and the brownfield modifications required to integrate existing Phase 1 infrastructure.
The facilities are designed to support later expansion to 63,000 barrels per day under Phase 2b.
“This financing addresses the instruments that determine whether an EPC contractor can execute at scale: performance guarantees, advance payment guarantees and working capital through the project cycle. Hassi Bir Rekaiz is a demanding scope, combining a new central processing facility, associated treatment systems, pipelines and brownfield integration. With Petrojet, and with the support of Shoreline and Afreximbank, Arkad is focused on disciplined delivery against the project’s safety, quality and schedule requirements.”
The transaction was structured under Afreximbank’s Engineering, Procurement and Construction Initiative, which supports African engineering and construction firms with the financial instruments required to compete for and execute large infrastructure contracts. Afreximbank also supported the Arkad-Petrojet partnership through its EPC twinning work at the Intra-African Trade Fair held in Algiers
in 2025.
According to Afreximbank, the transaction is its first support for a Sub-Saharan African contractor undertaking a major infrastructure project in North Africa. For Shoreline, it demonstrates a practical model for combining African ownership and capital with established international engineering andindustrial capability.

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BUSINESSWOMAN AISHA ACHIMUGU SPEAKS OUT, CALLS FOR PROTECTION OF LIFE AND RESPECT FOR RULE OF LAW

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Nigerian businesswoman and investor Aisha Achimugu has made a public appeal for the protection of her life, her family, and her business interests while alleging a sustained campaign of intimidation, media trial, and asset seizures.

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Achimugu, in a statement Tuesday, said she is facing actions that she described as an affront to the rule of law and natural justice.
She then called for the respect for court orders and for an end to what she termed misleading media coverage about her person and companies.
According to Achimugu, the widow of the late Engr. Sulaiman Achimugu, former Managing Director of the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company, PPMC, she has over the last three decades built businesses in the oil and gas and other sectors, and runs the SAM Empowerment Foundation, SEF, which she said has implemented health, education, and community projects across Nigeria.
The businesswoman, however, alleged that since 2023 she has been the subject of investigations and actions by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Narrating her ordeals, Achimugu noted that in 2023, the EFCC’s Port Harcourt zonal office froze her personal accounts, her children’s accounts, and company accounts linked to the Felak Group, based on an interim forfeiture order.
She said this was connected to a mistaken association with MBA Forex and Capital Investment.
Achimugu stated that in January 2024 she honoured an EFCC invitation with her counsel, clarified her company’s single transaction with MBA Forex, and refunded N58 million by bank draft to the EFCC recovery account.
In March 2025, the businesswoman said she received WhatsApp messages inviting her to the EFCC Port Harcourt office. Her lawyer responded in writing, proposing dates in April 2025. Despite this, she alleged a media campaign began on March 10, 2025 linking her to wrongdoing.
On March 28, 2025, the same day her company, Oceangate Oil & Gas Limited, submitted proof of $20 million payment to NUPRC for oil blocks PPL 302-DO and PPL 3007, subsequently, she claimed the EFCC declared her a “Wanted Person” for “conspiracy and money laundering.” She also alleged that EFCC operatives searched her home that day.
In April 2025, Achimugu said she filed a fundamental rights suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja. But upon returning to Nigeria on April 28, 2025 from a foreign trip, she alleged she was taken into EFCC custody, granted bail by a judge, but released five days later. She also said her international passport was collected.
She alleged further asset actions, including freezing of bank accounts, and the seizure of vehicles from her home in January 2026. She said matters relating to these actions are the subject of ongoing litigation and appeals.
Achimugu also alleged that her United States visa was revoked in April 2025, and that she encountered issues with visa processing related to her Grenadian citizenship, which she linked to media reports citing the EFCC’s declaration.
Achimugu stated that she has invested nearly $90 million in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector in the last five years and has attracted over $100 million in investments into the economy while directly employs close to 200 Nigerians.
However, she said the actions of the anti-graft agency have affected her business operations, international partnerships, and family, including her elderly parents and young children.
Achimugu then called on the National Assembly, the Judiciary, security services, and local and international human rights organizations to examine her case.
She also asked for the protection of her life and properties, respect for court orders, and an end to what she described as a “media trial”.
“I believe that justice delayed is justice denied, and I am not afraid to face the law provided due process is followed. My lawyers are pursuing all legal remedies locally and internationally,” she said.
Achimugu added that she remains committed to Nigeria and to supporting private sector growth.

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Nigeria’s Credit Crisis: Why Firms Still Struggle for Loans

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Nigeria’s Credit Crisis deepens as businesses struggle with high lending rates, weak bank credit access and government borrowing despite falling inflation (more…)

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