China hails Trump's ZTE olive branch ahead of trade talks

China hails Trump's ZTE olive branch ahead of trade talks
source: AFP

AFP / Johannes EISELE US President Donald Trump says he is working with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to help telecom giant ZTE stay in business

China on Monday hailed President Donald Trump's offer to prevent Chinese telecom giant ZTE from collapsing due to a US technology ban, as the two sides prepare for new negotiations this week to avert a trade war.

In an apparent olive branch, Trump announced on Twitter that he had discussed how to save ZTE with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The fate of ZTE has become a key part of the talks between the top two world economies, with Chinese officials protesting at the ban during discussions with top US officials in Beijing earlier this month.

"We highly commend the positive remark from the US on the ZTE issue and now we are communicating with the US side on the details," foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang told a regular press briefing.

ZTE, which employs 80,000 people, said last week its major operations had "ceased" after being banned for seven years from buying crucial American technology, raising the possibility of its collapse.

Its fibre-optic networks depend on US components and its cheap smartphones sold en masse abroad are powered by US chips and the Android operating system.

"President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast," Trump tweeted on Sunday.

"Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!"

Trump's concern for Chinese workers comes despite his repeated vows to bring back US jobs which he complains have been lost to other countries, particularly China.

"How about helping some American companies first?" Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in response to Trump's tweet.

- Trade war fear -

US officials imposed the ban because of what they said were false statements by the firm over actions it claimed to have taken regarding the illegal sale of goods to Iran and North Korea. ZTE pleaded guilty to the charges in March last year and was hit with $1.2 billion in fines.

Trump has insisted that relations between Washington and Beijing have never been better and has been working closely with Xi to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear programme.

At the same time, threats of mutual tariffs have sparked fears of a trade war after Trump accused China of unfair practices that have cost American jobs.

China's top economic official, Vice Premier Liu He, will be in Washington for a new round of trade talks from Tuesday until Saturday, the foreign ministry said, confirming the dates of the previously announced trip.

"The two sides will work together to ensure a positive and constructive outcome during the upcoming consultations," Lu said.

The Washington Post reported late Sunday that the White House and senior Chinese officials are discussing a deal that would relax the severe penalties on ZTE in exchange for unspecified demands from Trump.

It said ZTE has become a bargaining chip as Washington seeks trade-related concessions while pushing for cooperation on sanctions against North Korea and Iran.

The daily reported that a high-level Chinese delegation was in Washington on Friday and raised the issue of whether the US could relax its stance on ZTE.

The newspaper also cited a veteran lobbyist as saying the high-powered Hogan Lovells law firm, which has represented ZTE, has been asking people close to the Trump administration for ways to alter the US position.

There has been an intense rivalry for supremacy in emerging technology fields such as artificial intelligence and 5G, the next-generation superfast wireless system.

- Cybersecurity 'threat' -

Against that background, the Pentagon cited security risks in banning personnel on US military bases from buying equipment from ZTE and fellow Chinese smartphone maker Huawei.

Trump's conciliatory move quickly came under fire domestically.

"Our intelligence agencies have warned that ZTE technology and phones pose a major cyber security threat," said Adam Schiff, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.

"You should care more about our national security than Chinese jobs," he wrote on Twitter.

David Frum, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, said Trump was sending mixed signals after scrapping the Iran nuclear deal and threatening sanctions on European countries that continue to do business with Tehran.

The US president earlier this year cited security concerns when he took the unusual step of blocking the proposed takeover, by a firm then-based in Singapore, of US chipmaker Qualcomm.

That case highlighted growing concerns about the rise of Chinese competitors.

"China and the United States are working well together on trade," Trump said on Sunday.

"But past negotiations have been so one sided in favor of China, for so many years, that it is hard for them to make a deal that benefits both countries," he tweeted. "But be cool, it will all work out!"

French university exams halted for hundreds as protests persist

French university exams halted for hundreds as protests persist
source: AFP

AFP / JEFF PACHOUD A police vehicle outside the Lyon 2 university in Lyon, southeast France, on Monday after a blockade by students prompted officials to cancel end-of-term tests

Hundreds of French students saw their end-of-term exams suspended Monday as protesters blocked access to two universities, the latest in months of demonstrations against the government's plans to introduce more selective admission requirements.

Tests were cancelled for some 800 students in the southeastern city of Lyon after about 300 protesters formed a human chain at two sites of the Lyon 2 university, officials said.

In the southern port city of Marseille, meanwhile, police moved in to remove an estimated 60 to 80 students blocking access to the law and economy faculties of the Aix-Marseille University.

Shortly afterwards the protesting students were joined by about 30 rail and dockers' union activists as they squared off against police.

Officials suspended tests scheduled for roughly 700 students given the risk of "disturbing the public order".

Elsewhere on Monday, police evacuated protesters at a university in the western city of Rennes, an operation carried out "calmly and without any incidents," the school's president Olivier David said.

Exams had already been halted last week after blockades at universities in Arcueil, the Paris suburb where Nanterre university moved the exams following weeks of student occupations, and at Grenoble in the southern French Alps.

Dozens of sites have been fully or partially blocked or occupied since the beginning of the year to protest government plans for stricter entry requirements, a key element of President Emmanuel Macron's wide-ranging reform drive.

At present, anyone who graduates from high school is guaranteed a place at a public university, where admission fees are often limited to just a few hundred euros (dollars) a year.

That has led to intense overcrowding at many universities as well as high dropout rates as the number of people graduating from high school has soared in recent decades, with 80 percent currently obtaining a diploma.

But many students view the government's plan for a more selective admissions process as an attack on France's longstanding promise of free education for all.

For the far-left students who dominate the sit-ins, the protests are about much more than education -- they have echoes of the momentous French university demonstrations which spurred a social revolution exactly 50 years ago, in May 1968.

The education ministry has vowed to ensure that year-end exams will take place despite the blockades.

It said Monday that the protests appeared to be winding down, with only Nanterre still completely blocked, compared with four universities at the height of the protests.

Paris 8 university in the suburb of Saint-Denis remains partly shut down, as do four other sites across France (Limoges, Marseille and two Sorbonne sites in Paris), which is "just half the number of two weeks ago," the ministry said.

Many students anxious to wrap up the year appear to be increasingly exasperated with the protests.

On Friday, many students scuffled with protesters while trying to force their way into the exam centre at Arcueil.

Film shows 'fearless' pope taking on church
source: AFP

AFP/File / VINCENZO PINTO For director Wim Wenders, who had unprecedented access to Pope Francis, the 81-year-old is a revolutionary

There is a killer moment in the new film "Pope Francis -- A Man of His Word" when you realise what he is up against.

The Argentine is dressing down the cardinals and bejewelled princes of the Curia who run the Catholic Church, lacerating them for their greed, back-stabbing and lust for power.

The scandal-hit, Italian-dominated body is full of people leading immoral double lives who "possess a heart of stone and a stiff neck", he tells them in German director Wim Wenders' remarkable insight into the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

"Pay a visit to the cemeteries" and look at those "who thought they were immortal, immune and indispensable," Francis urges them in the feature, which premiered late Sunday at the Cannes film festival.

"You see the sharp faces of some of these cardinals who are rich and ambitious," said Wenders, who interviewed the reforming pontiff over several months for the portrait.

"But you can also see other archbishops thinking, 'Yes, this is why we elected you.' As Francis said, you cannot combat the diseases of the world without examining yourself first."

The picture that emerges of Francis from Wenders' unprecedented access is of a man determined to radically transform the vast wealthy institution into "a poor church for poor people".

And Wenders, the maker of such classics as "Wings of Desire", "Paris, Texas" and "The Buena Vista Social Club", believes this pontiff has the steeliness to do it.

- Enemies digging in -


 AFP/File / Vincenzo PINTO Many in the Curia think Pope Francis "is going too fast and too far," says director Wim Wenders whose film on the pontiff just premiered at cannes


Many in the Curia "think he is going too fast and too far," according to Wenders, and have been digging in with traditionalists to resist him.

"But I think the opposite," said the filmmaker. "I think Francis is stepping on the brakes in order to take them all along.

"Yet also he is fearless. He knows what has to be done and he wants to push it as far as he can knowing that he is not young anymore."

For Wenders, a lapsed Catholic who rediscovered his faith in a "friendly God" after the death of his doctor father, the 81-year-old is a revolutionary.

"When you look him in the eye you see this is a very loving man who really likes people. He is as honest as a man can be and you see the courage in his eyes.

"His message -- that we are equal and we have to treat each other as equals -- is why people say he is a communist. We cannot leave people behind in the dust. It is a tough message and he doesn't hesitate with it."

Francis is a radical just like the medieval saint from whom he took his name, Wenders argued, "who like him wanted to go back to early Christianity... when the church was an organisation of poor people."

- Call from the Vatican -


AFP / Alberto PIZZOLI German director Wim Wenders says the Vatican contacted him out of the blue asking if he would like to talk to the pope

"St Francis of Assisi was also the first ecologist," said Wenders, who was "amazed" by the depth of the pope's understanding of climate change and his warning that the global "mania for growth" is threatening mankind.

"That growth is coming at the expense of the poor majority... who are suffering first and worst from climate change," said Wenders.

The director said the Vatican contacted him out of the blue asking whether he would be interested in talking to the pope.

"I was given carte blanche," he told AFP, and access to the Vatican's video archives. "There was no interference whatsoever," he insisted, despite the film being co-produced by Vatican television.

Wenders said he was also touched by the pope's deep tolerance of other religions and lifestyles.

"He says don't try to convert anybody, just try to convince them to be of goodwill and to accept each other. His firm belief is there is no difference between people. That is revolutionary -- communists don't have that message."

But despite trying to lead by example by living modestly, the pope knows his power is limited. "All he has are his words," Wenders said.

"Each time he left us after the shoot, he would look into our eyes and ask each of us, 'Please pray for me.' "There are a lot of people praying for him, praying that he can do it," Wenders said

Two families staged Indonesian suicide bombings: police

Two families staged Indonesian suicide bombings: police
source: AFP

 PEMERINTAH KOTA SURABAYA/AFP / Andy PINARIA The spate of bombings has rocked Indonesia, with the Islamic State group claiming the church attacks and raising fears about its influence in Southeast Asia

A family of five, including a child, carried out the suicide bombing of a police headquarters in Indonesia's second city Surabaya on Monday, police said, a day after a deadly wave of attacks on churches staged by another family.

The spate of bombings has rocked Indonesia, with the Islamic State group claiming the church attacks and raising fears about its influence in Southeast Asia as its dreams of a Middle Eastern caliphate fade.

Indonesia, which is set to host the Asian Games in just three months, has long struggled with Islamist militancy, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed over 200 people -- mostly foreign tourists -- in the country's worst-ever terror attack.

Security forces have arrested hundreds of militants during a sustained crackdown that smashed some networks, and most recent attacks have been low-level and targeted domestic security forces.

But that changed Sunday as a family of six -- including girls aged nine and 12 -- staged suicide bombings of three churches during morning services in Surabaya, killing 18 including the bombers.


AFP / John SAEKI Indonesia Surabaya family attacks


On Monday members of another family blew themselves up at a police station in the city, wounding 10.

"There were five people on two motorbikes. One of them was a little kid," national police chief Tito Karnavian said. "This is one family."

An eight-year-old girl from the family survived the attack and was taken to hospital, while her mother, father and two brothers died in the blast, he said.

The children were likely led to their deaths without a full awareness of their fate, said Ade Banani, of the University of Indonesia’s research centre of police science and terrorism studies.

If a family believed in traditional roles, the father "has the power, so everyone has to obey", Banani said.

"The children probably don't know what's going on or don't understand."

The father of the church suicide bombers was a local leader in extremist network Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) which supports IS, and the second family was also linked to JAD.

"It ordered and gave instructions for its cells to make a move," Karnavian said of the Islamic State's role in the church attacks.

He added that the bombings may have also been motivated by the arrest of JAD leaders, including jailed radical Aman Abdurrahman, and were linked to a deadly prison riot staged by Islamist prisoners at a high-security jail near Jakarta last week.


 AFP / JUNI KRISWANTO National police chief Tito Karnavian said the attacks in Indonesia's second city Surabaya may have also been motivated by the arrest of leaders of extremist network Jamaah Ansharut Daulah which supports IS

Abdurrahman has been connected to several deadly incidents, including a 2016 gun and suicide attack in the capital Jakarta that left four attackers and four civilians dead.

Despite their apparent allegiance to IS, the church-bombing family were not returnees from Syria, police said Monday, correcting their earlier statements.

However, hundreds of Indonesians have flocked in recent years to fight alongside IS there.

Its ambitions have been reined in after losing most of the land it once occupied in Iraq and Syria, and there are concerns that jihadists will now turn their focus on establishing a base in Southeast Asia.

- 'Increasingly proficient' -

On Sunday evening, just hours after the church bombings, a further three people in another family were killed and two wounded when another bomb exploded at an apartment complex about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from Surabaya.

That explosion appeared to have been an accidental detonation that killed a mother and her 17-year-old child who was not identified.

The woman's husband -- a confidante of the husband behind the church bombings, Dita Oepriyanto -- was badly injured in the explosion.

Police said they arrived after the explosion and shot dead the injured man, Anton Febrianto, as he held a bomb detonator in his hand.


 AFP / JUNI KRISWANTO Indonesian police have foiled numerous terror plots, but the coordinated nature of the church bombings and subsequent blasts point to more sophisticated planning than in the past, analysts said


"When we searched the flat we found pipe bombs, similar to pipe bombs we found near the churches," said Karnavian.

Police said they also shot dead four suspects,including the second-ranking member of the JAD cell in Surabaya, in raids on houses and offices Monday while nine others were arrested.

Indonesian police have foiled numerous terror plots, but the coordinated nature of Sunday's church bombings and the subsequent blasts point to more sophisticated planning than in the past, analysts said.

"There is definitely a growing technical proficiency," said Zachary Abuza, Southeast Asian security expert at the National War College in Washington.

"To pull off three near-simultaneous bombings is the hallmark of a group that is thinking."

Abuza questioned the police suggestion that the attacks were ordered by the IS leadership abroad, but said it would likely boost its presence in Southeast Asia as it fades elsewhere.

"(They're) going to continue to benefit from operating transnationally in Southeast Asia," he said.

Net closes on Malaysia's Najib over 1MDB scandal after poll loss

Net closes on Malaysia's Najib over 1MDB scandal after poll loss
source: AFP

AFP/File / MOHD RASFAN Najib Razak's Barisan National coalition suffered a shock defeat at the Malaysian elections

The net tightened on toppled Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak as the new government on Monday placed on leave a controversial figure seen as his protector in a multi-billion-dollar graft scandal.

Najib's Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition last week suffered a shock defeat to an alliance of parties headed by the elderly Mahathir Mohamad, ending the corruption-mired regime's six decades in power.

Voters turned out en masse to oust Najib, angered at rising living costs, divisive racial politics in the Muslim-majority country and allegations of endemic graft among the country's ruling elite.

The 92-year-old Mahathir -- who ruled Malaysia for two decades until 2003, and came out of retirement to take on Najib -- is now the world's oldest state leader.

He officially got down to work as prime minister Monday, holding meetings with top civil servants and receiving his first official visitor, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.

Najib became a hugely unpopular figure over his alleged involvement in plundering huge sums from Malaysian sovereign fund 1MDB in a sophisticated fraud that is now being investigated in several countries.

The US State Department alleges that at least $4.5 billion dollars were looted from the fund, and funnelled to the United States where it was used to buy everything from artwork to high-end real estate and a luxury yacht.

Both Najib and 1MDB deny any wrongdoing.

A total of $681 million also mysteriously appeared in Najib's personal bank accounts in 2013 just ahead of a hotly-contested election.

He was later cleared by Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali, who said the money was a personal donation from the Saudi royal family, and ordered the closure of domestic probes into the scandal.

Mahathir, however, said in a press conference that the attorney-general was taking leave.

"There have been lots of complaints against the attorney-general. On that basis we gave him a holiday," he said.

"When he is on leave, the solicitor-general will cover his job as the attorney general."

He added that once an investigation had been carried out, Apandi could be suspended and banned from leaving the country.

- Markets shrug off result -

Apandi -- who has ties to the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the main party in the BN coalition -- came to office after Najib sacked the previous attorney general, who was believed to be aggressively investigating the matter.


AFP/File / ROSLAN RAHMAN Mahathir has vowed that "heads must fall" in government bodies suspected of colluding in corruption


Mahathir has vowed that "heads must fall" in government bodies suspected of colluding in corruption, and on Monday the head of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission -- which had targeted critics of Najib -- resigned.

A former intelligence and investigations director from the commission also lodged a report with the body, accusing Najib of seeking to prevent investigations into 1MDB.

Markets opened Monday for the first time since last week's polls but did not fall as heavily as had been anticipated after Mahathir sought in a weekend speech to calm investors.

Stocks initially lost 2.7 percent but quickly won back ground and closed 0.2 percent higher. Local currency the ringgit was steady against the dollar.

- Travel ban -

But it has not been all smooth sailing since the historic win, with concerns over the slow formation of the cabinet as different parties in the winning alliance jostle for positions.

Mahathir appointed three ministers at the weekend despite previously having said he would name 10 cabinet members.

Jailed politician Anwar Ibrahim, Mahathir's nemesis-turned-ally, issued a statement Sunday insisting his People's Justice Party (PKR) still supported the new premier after a senior figure from the group said the cabinet appointments were made without their consultation.


 AFP/File / Manan VATSYAYANA Malaysian voters turned out en masse to oust Najib, angered at rising living costs, divisive racial politics and allegations of widespread corruption

Anwar, in jail on sodomy charges his supporters say are trumped up, had been widely expected to be freed on Tuesday, paving the way for him to eventually become premier.

But his party said that the prime minister's office had informed them an official committee that issues pardons -- and would sign off on his release -- would now be meeting on Wednesday, without explaining why.

Mahathir also faced criticism for saying that a controversial law passed before the election that punishes "fake news" with up to six years in jail would be reviewed rather than revoked.

He said that it would be given a clear definition but that there was a "limit" to press freedom, despite having pledged during the election campaign to abolish it.

-- Bloomberg News contributed to this report --

Fiery cleric, paramilitary leader surge at Iraq elections

Fiery cleric, paramilitary leader surge at Iraq elections
source: AFP

AFP / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE An Iraqi man celebrates with a picture of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr in Baghdad on May 14, 2018 following the general election

An alliance headed by nationalist cleric Moqtada Sadr and a rival bloc of pro-Iranian former fighters appeared to surge Monday in surprise preliminary results from Iraq's first poll since the defeat of the Islamic State group.

If confirmed, the outcome would throw open the race to become the next prime minister, as internationally favoured incumbent Haider al-Abadi lagged behind after a vote hit by record abstentions.

According to partial results seen by AFP, the Marching Towards Reform alliance of Shiite cleric Sadr and his communist allies was ahead in six of Iraq's 18 provinces and second in four others.

Sadr has reinvented himself as an anti-graft crusader after rising to prominence as a powerful militia chief whose fighters battled US forces after the 2003 invasion.

While long railing against the United State, the nationalist firebrand has also distanced himself from its key rival Iran, drawing closer to regional Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia.

Next in the running is the Conquest Alliance, made up of ex-fighters from mainly Iran-backed paramilitary units that battled IS, with results putting them ahead in four provinces and second in eight others.

The head of the list is Hadi al-Ameri, a long-time ally of Tehran, whose forces ended up battling alongside the US to oust the jihadists.

Both Sadr and Ameri are long-time political veterans well-known to Iraqis, but they pitched themselves as seeking to sweep clean the country's reviled elite.


 AFP / Joyce HANNA The outgoing Iraqi parliament


The complex electoral arithmetic of the Iraqi system, however, means that the final makeup of 329-seat parliament is still far from decided.

The ballots of some 700,000 security personnel who voted and Iraqis abroad were yet to be tallied up, meaning Abadi could get a boost five months after he announced victory over IS.

Whatever the outcome, there looks set to be lengthy horse-trading between the main political forces before any new premier and a coalition government can be installed.

Sadr -- who did not stand as a candidate and therefore cannot become premier -- appears in pole position to play kingmaker after years on the sidelines.

Among the traditional powerbrokers looking set to lose big at the election was divisive former premier Nuri al-Maliki, who remains widely reviled for the loss of territory to IS.

- 'Done with corruption' -

The electoral surprise comes with tensions surging between the United States and Iran after Washington's withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal, sparking fears of a destabilising power struggle over Iraq.

Abadi -- who came to power as IS swept across Iraq in 2014 -- has been a consensus figure who balanced off the United States and Iran.


AFP / Haidar HAMDANI Iraqi electoral commission employees manually count ballots in the central city of Najaf on May 13, 2018

Several senior political figures had previously told AFP that preliminary results put Abadi in the lead, on course to scoop 60 of the 329 parliamentary seats up for grabs.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, whose country still has troops in Iraq from the fight with IS, on Saturday lauded the poll and called for an "inclusive government, responsive to the needs of all Iraqis".

But the ballot saw a record low turnout, as only 44.5 percent of eligible voters headed to the polls in the lowest participation rate since the 2003 US-led ouster of Saddam Hussein.

After the announcement that the Marching Towards Reform was ahead in Baghdad, supporters took to the streets in the capital to celebrate early Monday.

Crowds of mainly young people waved flags and pictures of the populist nationalist cleric Sadr while fireworks fired off into the night sky.


AFP / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE Iraqi youth dismantle campaign posters in the city of Mosul on May 12, 2018, as they collect the scrap metal to sell


Zeid al-Zamili, 33, described the vote as a "new chapter for the Iraqi people".

"We're done with corruption and the corrupt, we've suffered for years, now everything will change," added another supporter in a black t-shirt.

Whoever emerges as premier will face the mammoth task of rebuilding a country left shattered by the battle against IS -- with donors already pledging $30 billion (25 billion euros).

Over two million people remain internally displaced across the country and IS -- while weakened -- still has the capability to launch deadly attacks.

United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) MASSIVE Graduate Trainee Recruitment 2018

United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) is one of Africa's leading financial institutions, with operations in 19 African countries and 3 global financial centres: London, Paris and New York. From a single country organisation founded in 1949 in Nigeria, UBA has grown to become a Pan-African provider of financial services with over 11 million customers, through close to 1000 business offices and touch points globally.

We are recruiting to fill the vacant position below:

Job Title: Graduate Trainee-CSO

Reference No: GTLAG001
Location: Lagos
Contract Type: Permanent
Job Functions: Banking   
Industries: Banking / Finance & Investment

Job Objective

• To ensure the business office provides excellent quality banking service to all customers.
• To maintain contact with new and existing customers on routine account management activities.
• To engage customers in cross selling of the bank’s products and services including E-sales

Role and Responsibilities
Customer Relations Management/Sales:

• Proactively develop client relationships, anticipate and provide solutions to client needs and give high priority to client satisfaction.
• Accurately assess the risk profile, suitability and appropriateness of clients when marketing the banks products and services by maintaining an accurate and up to date call report, KYC database.
• Sale to prospective customers UBA’s E-banking products, enrol new customers, and resolve related issues.
• Engage customers to cross sell bank products and services
• Increase product sales, and customer loyalty by maintaining good client relationship.
• Open and maintain accounts in accordance with the established procedures. Apply regulatory requirements such as KYC, Money laundering Prevention procedures at all times.
• Accomplish tasks efficiently by showing concern for all aspects of the job, pay attention to detail and ensure that output is delivered at the highest possible standard
• Ensure that the customer’s instructions are duly effected by applying all standard checks and controls, coordinating with other department including head office operations and compliance.
• Ensure proper documentation for all new and existing accounts.
• Ensure timely opening of new accounts on the system.
• Support branch sales and service team.
• Cheque book issuance and maintenance.
• Dormant account reactivation
• Meeter/Greeter

Customer Service Ambassador:

• Service improvement
• Ensure that all walk-in customers are directed to the right counters, assisted in completing transactions, and serviced efficiently.

Service issues resolution:

• Answer all customer queries, resolve ‘on the spot’ service issues; escalate to BOM, issues that cannot be handled on the spot.
• Follow up customers with pending cases, and keep him/her informed.
• Compile and publish customer satisfaction score daily
• Download Customers’ issues from the Group Response Portal (GRP) and monitor resolution of issues logged against the branch through the Business Office staff

Requirements
Educational Qualification:

• Minimum Educational level - B.Sc. in any related discipline

Experience:

• Prior experience in banking operations is highly desirable
• Relevant banking experience preferably supporting retail customers
• Sales knowledge, skill & experience (added advantage)

Knowledge:

• Sound knowledge of Banking products and services
• Good understanding of the operational, credit and regulatory risks facing the business
• Business Development and acquisition

Key Skills:

• Excellent customer service orientation
• High level of integrity
• Good verbal & written communication skills
• Selling skills
• Focused, Motivated & Results Oriented
• Paying attention to details
• Good interpersonal skills
• Fast and error-free processing
• Strong problem resolution skills
• Selling & Marketing Skills

Application Closing Date
25th May, 2018.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online