NAIRA.COM

The officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and financial experts, in Lagos, yesterday, differed on the controversial issue of multiple exchange rates and its implications for the economy. The Senior Special Assistant to CBN Governor, Emmanuel Ukeje, said the development has severally been clarified, except that people have chosen to go with misconceptions.He the nation’s apex bank is not practicing multiple exchange rates, but multiple windows due to the country’s peculiar situation. Making the clarification at the Special Policy Dialogue Colloquium, entitled: “Policy Change – The Enabler of Sustainable Growth”, organised by the Financial Derivatives Company, he said that those rates at N345/$ are forward rates, not spot rates, which when delivered in six months period are equivalent to N360 per dollar at spot rates. He said that such moves are arranged to take care of the various sectors that will naturally not be serviced by the ...

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive for banks not to deposit funds above N2 billion at its Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) window will free over N750 billion for loans, it was learnt on Thursday. Commercial banks are expected to deposit excess funds at the CBN daily and earn interests on such funds, The Nation learnt. The guideline, issued on Wednesday, took effect yesterday. It reduced the remunerable daily placement of SDF from N7.5 billion to N2 billion. SDF is the excess reserve funds that banks deposit at the SDF window of the CBN at the end of each business day. The Standing Lending Facility (SLF) is fund borrowed by banks from the apex bank to square up their positions in the market. The SDR attracts interest rate of Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) minus 500 basis points, which is 8.5 per cent per annum up to the limit of N2 billion. Any deposit over and above the maximum will attract zero interest rate. CBN Director Financial Markets Department Angela Sere-Ejemb...

The Coordinating Secretary, Tax Appeal Tribunal (TAT), Muhammad Lawal Abubakar, has said that between November 2018 and June 2019, 62 new appeals with disputed tax value of about N71.7 billion were filed at the Tribunal by claimants. This is just as he revealed that 42 appeals with disputed tax value of N288.1 billion were resolved mutually in the period under review, noting that some of the resolved cases are at various stages of settlement or recovery, while others might probably go on appeal at the Federal High Court. He explained that 31 of the pending cases are either reserved for judgment or awaiting the filing of terms of settlement Abubakar made the disclosure yesterday in his welcome address at a retreat and workshop organised by the Tax Appeal Tribunal in Abuja, He said: “The number of pending appeals on commencement in November 2018 were 215 with disputed tax value of N607.535 billion, appeals struck out for other reasons such as lack of diligent prosecution, or di...

The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) has said total deregulation of the downstream sub-sector remains the best option, as no marketer is getting foreign exchange at N305 to a dollar for importation of petrol. Its chairman, Tunji Oyebanji who made the clarifications on the side-lines of the just concluded Nigerian Oil and Gas conference in Abuja, said none of its members were getting foreign exchange at N305 to a dollar for the importation of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol. The Chief Operating Officer, Downstream, NNPC, Henry Ikem-Obih had stated that the state corporation was able to save $1.7billion from the forex intervention scheme which was rolled out by CBN and co- managed by the NNPC, adding that applications that came in for AGO,HHK,HTK also got forex at N305/$1. The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) has said total deregulation of the downstream sub-sector remains the best option, as no marketer is getting foreign exchange a...

Green Energy International Limited (GEIL), operator of the Otakikpo Marginal Field, in oil mining lease (OML) 11, Rivers State, said it has secured a $350million financing package for the second phase development of the field. GEIL said the fund was secured from a consortium of international companies, including an oil services giant, London-based International Bank, prominent crude oil offtaker, and EPIC contractor.With the deal, the Otakikpo field, a crude processing and exporting hub in the Eastern Niger Delta, would unlock the potential of other commercially-stranded marginal fields in the area, GEIL Chairman, Prof. Anthony Adegbulugbe, said in a statement. He said the second phase development involves the drilling of additional wells at the Otakikpo Field, which would significantly increase the field production from the present 6,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (bopd) to 20,000 bopd, and the expansion of processing facilities from 12,000 to 50,000 bopd to adequately ha...

Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC’s) compliance with its production quotas fell sharply in June, as output gains in the month by Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, along with Iraq’s continued flouting of its cap, shrank the bloc’s margin despite its supply cut agreement. According to Platts’ data, Nigeria’s production rose to 1.97 million barrels per day (mbpd) last month, up from the 1.69mbpd quota under the cut agreement, signalling the nation’s highest output since January 2015.Among OPEC’s 11 members with quotas, Nigeria and Iraq were the least compliant, as Platts’ survey showed that pressure on both countries to comply with their quotas is expected to grow in the coming months. Nigeria’s 1.97 million bpd output is its highest since January 2015, as its newest deepwater field Egina, which started production six months ago, is already pumping close to its capacity of 200,000 bpd. The June figure was 110,000 bpd rise from May as none of Nigeria’s crude export g...

West African countries will later this month meet in Lagos to chart path to integrated ports, road and rail transport sector, with new investments in excess of $57 billion for the region. The new cooperation, which is the central focus of the West African Ports and Rail Evolution Event (WA-PoRa) holding in Lagos, is in lieu of emerging needs and opportunities from economic integration in the region. Experts, at a roundtable meeting yesterday, were unanimous that the West African transportation corridor is arguably the least integrated passage in the world, despite enormous opportunities that abound. With a teeming population of well over 390 million and high economic growth index in some of the countries, there is now a greater impetus on the part of governments of the ECOWAS States to help speed up and sustain economic growth through a regional integration transport policy to link West African cities and states together via ports, rail and road. Managing Director, Grolla Po...

Aiming to better the lives of millions of consumers in the cement industry, Nigeria’s leading cement brand, Dangote Cement, plans to empower about 21 million consumers in a mega promo. The promo, which runs from July to September, will enrich consumers with prizes worth billions of Naira, comprising 43 cars, 24 tricycles, 24 motorcycles, 550 refrigerators, 400 television sets, 300,000 Dangote foods goodies packs, and recharge cards for all networks worth N200 million.   Speaking in a media parley to unveil the jumbo consumer promo tagged, “Dangote Cement Bag of Goodies,” yesterday, in Lagos, the Group Managing Director, Dangote Cement Plc, Joseph Makoju, represented by the Group Executive Director, Dangote Industries Limited, Knut Ulvmoen, said the promo was a way to contribute to the economic wellbeing of e customers. According to him, the promo would reward valued consumers for their unflinching partnership in ensuring that the company’s range of cement products remains ...

Fidelity Bank Plc has announced plans to connect Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), to affordable and long tenor funds courtesy of its SME Connect Fair, scheduled to hold in three commercial nerve states – Lagos, Kano, and Rivers. Indeed, the bank said the move became imperative considering the fact that funding SMEs through commercial sources is very expensive and uncompetitive for SMEs. The Managing Director, Fidelity Bank, Nnamdi Okonkwo, represented by the Executive Director, Lagos and South West, Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, at a news conference to herald the SME Funding Connect, scheduled to hold on the 7th of August, kick-starting from Lagos, said SMEs are the engine for any economy that is growing. He said statistics from the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), revealed that about 40 million SMEs are registered, contributing 80 per cent of the workforce in Nigeria. “This shows that it is a sector we cannot ignore. We also know that funding i...

Latest report by the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), has revealed that Nigeria needs to unlock as much as $900billion worth of dead capital to increase economic activities and stimulate growth. In a new report titled, ‘Bringing dead capital to life – What Nigeria should do’, estimated the amount of dead capital in residential agricultural and real estate sectors in Nigeria, which it said: “holds at least $300billion or as much as $900billion worth of dead capital in residential real estate and agricultural land alone.” The report said the high-value real estate market segment held between $230billion and $750billion in value, while the middle market carried between $60billion and $170billion. ‘Dead capital’ was coined by a Peruvian economist, Hernando de Soto, to define assets that cannot be converted to economic capital. With Nigeria’s population projected at 200 million and 40 million families with five members each, the report said, “Approximately 95 per cent of household d...

SEL Capital Limited has launched Customer Experience Centre (CEC) to improve and deliver exceptional experience, providing great opportunity for the financial services company to effectively attend to all of its customers’ enquiries, requests and address their complaints. The Managing Director of the company, Segun Opaleye, said: “We are pleased to launch our CEC at Still Earth Capital Finance. The CEC has been set up to promptly receive and attend to all your enquiries, requests and complaints. “Equipped with the latest technology, product knowledge and effective customer handling skills, our customer service officers are available to deliver a unique experience each time you contact us for enquiries, requests and complaints about our products and services.” Meanwhile, he said SMEs can also get advice on how to establish Letters of Credit (LCs) and be guided on issues around corporate governance, adding that understanding the customers’ business was one of the easiest ways to...

Convert foreign currencies instantly using our fund wallet service.

German, Swiss and Austrian companies in Nigeria may not consolidate on existing investments until the economy improves. A recent survey indicated that the tough economic climate and growth stagnation are forcing most of the companies to withdraw new investments. The report, fourth Austrian-German-Swiss Business Outlook (AGSBO) 2019, by the delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria, recently disclosed in Lagos, showed four major factors affecting their operations. They are: compliance and corruption, infrastructure and insecurity, access to forex, and overall security, which also forms part of the major factors affecting Nigeria’s ranking on the 2019 ease of doing business analysis. However, majority of the companies remain optimistic about the economic condition of Nigeria and hope to see future improvements. The delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria, organised a survey among the Austrian, German and Swiss companies operating in Nigeria, to unders...

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that the replacement of burnt or damaged currency notes is not automatic. The CBN, at a two-day public sensitisation forum in Umuahia, Abia State, advised those in possession of such notes to take them to the CBN branch near them for inspection and replacement, if approved. The apex bank, however, said that this consideration will not apply to forged or counterfeit notes, adding that holders of such should be reported to the Police. At the forum, CBN officials demonstrated to participants how they could identify a fake note among genuine ones. The Umuahia CBN Branch Controller, Michael Ogbu, said the forum was part of the bank’s public enlightenment drive at promoting financial stability, economic development and education on how the public can benefit from its various facilities. “This public fair is an enlightenment campaign programme by the CBN Corporate Communications department to sensitise the public on the various initiative...

Imagine spending your weekend with #50,000 for just doing a video. Let your smartphone make some money for you as Naira.com will be giving out One Hundred Thousand Naira (#100,000) to three (3) lucky winners this weekend. All you need to do is follow the simple steps below. 1. Record a one (1) minute video. 2. Talk about Naira.com and How the FUND WALLET service it Works. 3. Post it on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and make sure you tag @thenairadotcom. 4. Use the hash tag #NairaDotComChallenge and tag your friends. What are you waiting for? Take your smartphone and do the video now. Oya gbe body eh Social Media: Instagram: @thenairadotcom Facebook: Facebook.com/thenaira.com Twitter: @thenairadotcom Email: info@naira.com www.naira.com

               Head of Service of the Federation (HoSF), Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, has stressed the need to deploy technology in public service to enhance transparency, accountability and efficiency. Speaking yesterday at the flag-off of the second batch of the ‘ICT for Change’ programme by the federal government and Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria Limited, in Abuja, Oyo-Ita explained how technology could help to reduce corruption. “If we deploy technology in the civil service system, the level of transparency and accountability will be very high. The less you have of human interference, the more we see improved accountability and transparency,” she said. According to the HoSF, government plans to see an efficient, productive, incorruptible and citizen-centred public service.“We have a vision to develop an elite corps of civil servants who can compete favourably with their counterparts all over the world.“I commend Huawei for what they ...

Following price losses suffered by most blue-chip stocks, trading on the Nigeria equities market extended its bearish run yesterday, causing the All-share index to decline further by 0.2 per cent.Yesterday, the All Share Index (ASI) shed 59.68 absolute points, representing a dip of 0.2 per cent to close at 29,609.00 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation shed N26 billion to close at N13.048 trillion. The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Nestle Nigeria, Beta Glass, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN), Cadbury Nigeria and MTN Nigeria.Analysts at Cordros Capital Limited said: “Our outlook for equities in the short to medium term remains conservative, amidst absence of a positive catalyst.” Also, APT Securities and Funds Limited said: “We retain our cautious trading advice in the short run. However, accumulation of fundamentally justified and dividend paying stocks for mid to long term is recommended.” M...

Microsoft has called for safer online community in Nigeria, stressing that cybercrime will cost the global economy $6 trillion by 2021. Microsoft said the call became necessary following increasing phishing attacks on the Nigerian community. The firm said phishing, which is the biggest security headache for businesses and individuals, is among the hardest to tackle. The American technology company said phishing increased by over 250 per cent in Nigeria and other parts of the world.Phishing is the fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by disguising oneself as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. It is typically carried out by email spoofing or instant messaging. It often directs users to enter personal information at a fake website which matches the look and feel of the legitimate site. Speaking with Journalists yesterday, in Lagos, Country Manager for Nigeria & Ghana at Microsoft, Akin Banuso, d...

The federal government is planning to increase the rate of value-added tax to 7.5 percent from the current five percent by 2020, says the former finance minister, Mrs Zainab Ahmed. The ex minister made the disclosure on Tuesday, June 25 at the Bloomberg Emerging & Frontier Forum in London, ThisDay reports. Nigerians had previously opposed earlier plans by the federal government to increase VAT. Ahmed, whose tenure ended with President Muhammadu Buhari’s first term on May 29, said that her main preoccupation while in office was how to raise government’s revenue with only 55 percent of targets being met. She said: “We have developed a strategic revenue growth initiative, which we have started to implement. “Our target is to increase revenue to 65 percent minimum in 2019 so that in the next three years we are able to attain 80-85 percent of our revenue target.” The head, Communication and Servicom Department, Wahab Gbadamosi, made this known in a statement in Abuja. H...

Strong indications emerged yesterday that a strategic investor assumed to be Adebutu Kensington, is taking controlling stake of Wema Bank Plc, given the quantum of transactions executed on its shares on Monday and Tuesday. Specifically, at the close of trading on Monday, June 17, transactions in the shares of Wema Bank topped the activity chart with 2.7 billion shares valued at N1.71 billion. This volume of shares traded by the bank lifted total volume, as turnover rose 1,867.26 per cent to 2.86 billion units, valued at N3.92 billion, exchanged in 3,360 deals. Also, similar massive transactions were recorded in the shares of the bank on Tuesday, June 18, which traded 2.4 billion shares valued at N1.48 billion, resulting to 1.65 per cent rise in turnover to 2.91 billion units, valued at N11.225 billion, exchanged in 3,324 deals. The share price of Wema Bank, which stood at 0.60kobo at the close of trading last week Friday, rose to 0.63kobo on Wednesday, adding 0.03 gain. A ...