By Rosemary Iwunze

AXA Mansard Insurance Plc has been honoured with the Community Hero Award by the Blood Transfusion Centre of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) in recognition of its contribution to strengthening voluntary blood donation and supporting efforts to improve access to life-saving blood for patients.

The recognition comes amid growing calls for increased voluntary blood donation to address recurring shortages in healthcare facilities across Nigeria, where hospitals continue to rely heavily on voluntary donors to meet transfusion needs.

According to the insurer, the award followed its sustained employee-led blood donation drives organised in partnership with the Blood Transfusion Centre, LUTH, as part of its corporate sustainability and community health initiatives.

Over the past two years, employees of the company have donated more than 200 pints of blood to support patients requiring life-saving transfusions, with participation drawn from across its operations.
The company said the initiative demonstrates its commitment to improving community wellbeing while fostering a culture of volunteerism among employees.

Chief Marketing Officer of AXA Mansard Plc, Adebola Surakat, described the recognition as an affirmation of the company’s purpose of advancing human progress through initiatives that extend beyond its core insurance business.

“At AXA Mansard, our purpose is to act for human progress by protecting what matters. We believe protection should be inclusive and extend beyond insurance to improving the wellbeing and resilience of the communities we serve,” she said.

According to Surakat, the award reflects not only the organisation’s commitment to supporting healthcare interventions but also the willingness of its employees to contribute to initiatives that create lasting social impact.

She noted that the company would continue to encourage employee volunteerism and invest in programmes that promote healthier and more resilient communities.

The Community Hero Award is presented to organisations that have demonstrated commitment to promoting blood donation awareness, encouraging voluntary participation and supporting the availability of safe and sustainable blood supplies for healthcare delivery.

Healthcare experts have consistently identified inadequate voluntary blood donation as one of the major challenges facing Nigeria’s healthcare system, with stakeholders urging greater private sector participation in initiatives that strengthen national blood reserves and improve emergency medical response.

By Peter Egwuatu

The Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) has described FTSE Russell’s decision to defer Nigeria’s planned reclassification to Frontier Market status as a temporary review process rather than a reversal of the country’s capital market reforms, stressing that Nigeria’s newly adopted T+1 settlement cycle remains a landmark achievement capable of strengthening investor confidence and market efficiency.

The Institute said the postponement announced by FTSE Russell on June 30, 2026, followed the global index provider’s decision to further assess the practical implications of Nigeria’s migration from a T+2 to a T+1 securities settlement cycle for international institutional investors.

According to CIS, Nigeria’s transition to the T+1 settlement framework on June 1, 2026, represents one of the most significant reforms in the country’s capital market history, making Nigeria the first capital market in Africa to implement the shortened settlement cycle.

The Institute noted that the reform aligns Nigeria with major global markets that have adopted faster settlement systems to improve operational efficiency, reduce settlement risk and enhance liquidity.

“The introduction of T+1 settlement demonstrates Nigeria’s commitment to international best practices and strengthens the country’s competitiveness within the global investment community,” the Institute stated.

CIS explained that FTSE Russell’s concerns centre on whether the shortened settlement period could, in practice, create a de facto  prefunded  market for foreign institutional investors operating across multiple jurisdictions and time zones.

However, the Institute maintained that Nigeria’s migration to T+1 has not altered the country’s Delivery versus Payment (DvP) settlement model, under which securities and cash are exchanged simultaneously at settlement.

“The implementation of T+1 does not require foreign portfolio investors to  prefund  their transactions. The market continues to operate under internationally recognised Delivery versus Payment principles, with the only change being the reduction of the settlement period from two business days to one.

“We recognise the operational challenges arising from the shortened settlement cycle. Accordingly, sustained engagement and constructive collaboration with all stakeholders will be crucial to refining the reforms, addressing emerging issues, and ensuring that no category of investor is disadvantaged or unintentionally excluded from participating in the Nigerian capital market,”  CIS stated.

By Providence Ayanfeoluwa  

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr Adegboyega Oyetola, has called for synergy between the Federal and state governments, private sector and development partners to accelerate the implementation of Nigeria’s National Policy on Marine and Blue Economy,    describing sub-national participation as critical to unlocking the sector’s vast economic potential.

Oyetola said this at the Second Quarter 2026 Citizens’ and Stakeholders’ Engagement of the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy held in Lagos last week with the theme: “From Policy to Action: Mobilising Sub-National Governments for Effective Implementation of Nigeria’s National Policy on Marine and Blue Economy”.

He said Nigeria had moved beyond policy formulation and must now focus on implementation capable of delivering measurable economic benefits, noting that the National Policy on Marine and Blue Economy had provided a strategic framework for harnessing Nigeria’s oceans, inland waterways, fisheries and coastal resources, but stressed that its success depended on coordinated action across all levels of government.

According to him, many of the country’s blue economy assets were located within states and communities, making sub-national governments indispensable partners in driving investment, creating jobs, improving food security and promoting environmental sustainability.

Oyetola said reforms under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda had strengthened stakeholder engagement, attracted investment, improved maritime safety and enhanced the competitiveness of Nigeria’s ports. 

He cited the 2025 Container Port Performance Index by the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence, which ranked Tin Can Island Port as the tenth most improved port globally and Lagos Port Complex, Apapa, as the twelfth most improved between 2020 and 2025.

In his keynote address, Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Duoye Diri, commended President Tinubu for establishing the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, describing it as a strategic step towards diversifying Nigeria’s economy.

He said Bayelsa followed suit by creating its own Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy in June 2024 to drive the blue economy component of the state’s A-S-S-U-R-E-D Prosperity Agenda.

In his presentation on private sector investment and industrialisation, President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, said the successful implementation of the National Policy on Marine and Blue Economy would depend largely on sustained private sector participation. He noted that the policy targets the creation of three million jobs within its first four years, annual sectoral growth of seven per cent and the reservation of at least 50 per cent of new jobs for young people aged between 18 and 35.

Dangote, who was represented by the Managing Director of Dangote Port Operations, Simeon Akin Omole, said industrial transformation required policy consistency, quality infrastructure, access to finance and investor confidence.