Business

The Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria’s banking giant, Access Bank Plc., Mr. Roosevelt Ogbonna has reportedly acquired a £15 million mansion in one of London’s most prestigious postcodes.

Business Hilights learnt that the transaction for the property was completed in August according discoveries from the Land Registry documents.

Already, Access Bank’s UK arm has also issued a mortgage in connection with the site.

The move adds Ogbonna to a host of celebrities and business magnates who have moved to the street nicknamed ‘Billionaire’s Row’, including the likes of singers Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, Indian industrialist Lakshmi Mittal and the Sultan of Brunei.

According to a property marketplace listing, the huge eight-bedroom home features a swimming pool, a spa, a cinema, nine bathrooms and a lift to all floors, along with a carefully landscaped garden.

he purchase is one of only two property deals completed on the glamorous street amid signs of a slowdown in the luxury market. The £15 million transaction was a discount from the original £17 million price tag when the house was listed for sale in 2022, while another home on the street sold for £8.8 million in June.

Access Bank is one the largest bank in Nigeria by assets, and the largest in Africa by number of customers with more than 50 million.

Ogbonna, who has worked at Access Bank since 2022, is described by the bank as “a thoroughbred and consummate professional” with “a very rich professional cum academic background.”

In August, Ogbonna resigned as a non-executive director of the bank’s parent company, Access Holdings, but remains managing director and chief financial officer of Access Bank.

The properties on The Bishops Avenue are together thought to be worth hundreds of millions of pounds, though several have become derelict and have remained unoccupied for decades, thus raising questions on the intelligence in buying it in the first instance.

Source: businesshighlights

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday reduced the benchmark interest rate from 27.5 percent to 27 percent, citing a sustained decline in inflation over the past five months.

CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, announced the decision at a press briefing in Abuja following the two-day 302nd meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

Cardoso said the rate cut was unanimously agreed upon by MPC members to support economic activity while maintaining price stability.

In addition to the rate adjustment, the MPC raised the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) to 45 percent for Deposit Money Banks and 16 percent for Merchant Banks. The committee also adjusted the asymmetric corridor to +250/-250 basis points around the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), while retaining the liquidity ratio at 30 percent.

The decision comes amid sustained calls from industrial stakeholders and manufacturers for a reduction in the MPR to ease borrowing costs and lower production expenses.

Artificial intelligence (AI), once hailed as capitalism’s new golden goose, is increasingly showing signs of being more hype than substance. Generative AI was expected to revolutionize industries—writing emails, reinventing customer service, and even reshaping entire economies. But as 2026 approaches, the much-vaunted promise appears to be faltering.

A new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has revealed that 95% of enterprise AI pilot projects fail to deliver meaningful revenue impact. Despite the frenzy around adoption, only about 5% of corporate AI initiatives have shown measurable improvements to company earnings.

Analysts point out that Silicon Valley’s hype cycle moves faster than genuine product-market fit. Tech giants such as OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic release new models at breakneck speed, prompting companies to scramble for integration. Roadmaps are rewritten, budgets are shifted, and executives announce ambitious “AI pivots.” Yet in most cases, the results are underwhelming—busy dashboards with little effect on the bottom line.

Interestingly, firms that purchase specialized AI tools are finding greater success. According to the study, they are twice as likely to achieve positive results compared to businesses attempting to build their own systems. However, many CEOs remain committed to in-house development, leading to costly projects stuck in endless beta phases. By the time a system is functional, newer models from providers like ChatGPT have already rendered them outdated.

Another concern is how AI budgets are being spent. Instead of prioritizing areas with strong return on investment, such as back-office automation and operational streamlining, many companies are directing funds toward sales and marketing gimmicks—AI-written emails, pitch decks, and lead generators. While these may appear innovative, they often fail to generate significant financial returns.

The situation has revived a recurring question: is artificial intelligence a bubble? OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently acknowledged that it is—but with a twist. He described it as “a bubble built around a kernel of truth.” This echoes the dot-com boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s, when billions were invested in internet startups. While many collapsed, the survivors—Amazon, Google, and eBay—emerged as global giants.

Today’s AI cycle bears striking similarities. Trillions of dollars are being poured into data centers and startups, and nearly every corporate strategy now touts AI integration. Yet, the gap between investor expectations and real-world adoption is widening, fueling the bubble dynamic.

OpenAI itself illustrates the challenge. Despite leading the AI revolution, the company is not yet profitable. Experts argue this is a warning sign that the industry, while transformative, is still struggling to find sustainable business models.

For now, the AI bubble has not burst. But as history has shown, stretched bubbles rarely deflate politely. The coming years will reveal whether AI can move beyond the hype to deliver on its revolutionary promise.

Dr. Sidi Ould Tah was on Monday sworn in as the ninth President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group during a ceremony held at the Sofitel Abidjan Hôtel Ivoire in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

The inauguration marks a new leadership era for the Bank, as Dr. Tah assumes office following the end of Dr. Akinwumi Adesina’s tenure.

According to the AfDB, the ceremony was attended by several dignitaries, including Côte d’Ivoire’s President, Alassane Ouattara; Mauritanian President, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani; Congo’s Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Integration and Chair of the AfDB Board of Governors, Ludovic Ngatsé; outgoing AfDB President, Dr. Adesina; representatives of international organizations, development partners, diplomats, the private sector, civil society, members of the Board of Directors, and AfDB staff.

Dr. Tah formally took the oath of office at 12:05 GMT before the Bank’s Governors, comprising Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of member countries.

Access Holdings Plc has announced the appointment of Mr. Innocent Ike as its substantive Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, effective August 29, 2025, following regulatory approval.

The appointment was disclosed in a statement issued on Wednesday by the Company Secretary, Sunday Ekwochi. It comes shortly after Roosevelt Ogbonna resigned from the board in line with new corporate governance guidelines introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Ike succeeds Ms. Bolaji Agbede, who has led the company in an acting capacity for the past 18 months, following the death of former Group CEO, Herbert Wigwe, in 2024.

Reacting to his appointment, Ike expressed gratitude and pledged to build on the foundation laid by his predecessors.

“I am honoured to take on the role of Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer and excited to work alongside the talented team at Access Holdings.

I look forward to building on the strong legacy established by Herbert Wigwe and Bolaji Agbede, and driving our vision forward, ensuring we continue to deliver exceptional value to our shareholders and stakeholders,” he said.

A distinguished banker, Ike graduated as the Best Student in Accounting from the University of Lagos in 1988. He is a Fellow of both the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).