Business
Discount Airfares: Qatar Airways, Access Bank Extend To Dec
The Qatar Airlines, in its efforts to further ease financial burden of air passengers, has extended its discount partnership deal with Access Bank till December 2024.
Access Bank customers, who book their flights online using Qatar Airways’ website in this deal, enjoy up to 12 percent discount on both business and economy classses.
The Bank’s customers, using the promo code “ACCESS”, can book flights to any destination in the world and travel.
Qarta Airline, in a statement through the Vice President–Africa, Hendrick du Preez, stated that the partnership reiterates the Airways’ commitment to streamline travel within and across African markets by delivering first-rate services and offerings to passengers.
“As we are in the summer season and passengers tend to want to travel to spend time with loved ones, our priority at Qatar Airways remains broadening opportunities to travel for our passengers in the African market.
“Although Africa stands as the most underserved market, we strongly believe in the power of partnerships like these in transforming travel within the continent.
“We are proud to partner with respected pan-African financial institutions like Access Bank to provide innovative incentives for passengers and customers”, he stated.
This is coming on the heels of Qatar Airways’ recent expansion of routes across the African continent along with increased flight frequencies in various locations.
Also in the release, Access Bank’s Executive Director for Corporate and Investment Banking, Iyabo Soji-Okusanya, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership.
“Our team is delighted to collaborate with Qatar Airways to bring exceptional travel benefits to our valued customers. This offering aligns with our commitment to enhancing the overall experience for those who choose Access Bank and continue to do so every year.
“By providing exclusive discounts on Qatar Airways flights, we aim to make travel more accessible and enjoyable for our customers”, Soji-Okusanya said.
Corlins Walter
Business
Agency Gives Insight Into Its Inspection, Monitoring Operations
Business
BVN Enrolments Rise 6% To 67.8m In 2025 — NIBSS
The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has said that Bank Verification Number (BVN) enrolments rose by 6.8 per cent year-on-year to 67.8 million as at December 2025, up from 63.5 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.
In a statement published on its website, NIBSS attributed the growth to stronger policy enforcement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the expansion of diaspora enrolment initiatives.
NIBSS noted that the expansion reinforces the BVN system’s central role in Nigeria’s financial inclusion drive and digital identity framework.
Another major driver, the statement said, was the rollout of the Non-Resident Bank Verification Number (NRBVN) initiative, which allows Nigerians in the diaspora to obtain a BVN remotely without physical presence in the country.
A five-year analysis by NIBSS showed consistent growth in BVN enrolments, rising from 51.9 million in 2021 to 56.0 million in 2022, 60.1 million in 2023, 63.5 million in 2024 and 67.8 million by December 2025. The steady increase reflects stronger compliance with biometric identity requirements and improved coverage of the national banking identity system.
However, NIBSS noted that BVN enrolments still lag the total number of active bank accounts, which exceeded 320 million as of March 2025.
The gap, it explained, is largely due to multiple bank accounts linked to single BVNs, as well as customers yet to complete enrolment, despite the progress recorded.
