Business

Nigeria’s central bank disburses N791.9bn to farmers

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The Central Bank of Nigeria has disbursed a total of N791.9 billion to 3.9 million farmers across the country under its Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP).

The CBN disclosed this in a communiqué issued at the end of its 281st Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Friday in Abuja.

According to the apex bank, the fund was part of its various interventions in various sectors of the nation’s economy particularly manufacturing, agriculture, energy/infrastructure and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

The communiqué read: “The Bank under its Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) has cumulatively released the sum of N798.09 billion to 3.9 million smallholder farmers cultivating 4.9 million hectares of land across the country.

“ Out of this for the 2021 wet season farming, the Bank released the sum of ₦161.18 billion to 770,000 small-holder farmers cultivating seven commodities on 1.10 million hectares across the country.

“While harvesting for the 2020 dry season under the Programme is rounding up, harvesting activities had commenced for the 2021 wet season cultivation. The Strategic Maize Reserve Programme of the CBN has been useful in moderating maize prices by directly targeting large feed mill producers.

“Under its Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS), the CBN has supported 657 large-scale agricultural projects to the tune of N708.39 billion.

To support MSMEs across the country, the Bank disbursed N134.57 billion to 38,140 beneficiaries under the Agribusiness/Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS), and for the Targeted Credit Facility (TCF), the sum of N343.21 billion has been released to 726,198 beneficiaries, comprising 602,730 households and 123,468 Small and Medium Enterprises.

“Under the Real Sector Facility, the Bank released the sum of N1.00 trillion to 269 real sector projects, of which 140 are in light manufacturing, 71 in agro-based industry, 47 in services and 11 in mining.

“Under the Healthcare Sector Intervention Facility (HSIF), N103.02 billion has been disbursed for 110 healthcare projects, of which 27 are pharmaceutical, 77 hospitals and 6 other healthcare service projects.

“The Bank has also disbursed a total of N145.99 billion under its Non-Oil Export Stimulation Facility (NESF). The CBN has revised the guidelines, working with Nigerian Export-Import Bank to improve access to the intervention and stimulate non-oil export growth in Nigeria.

“Under the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP), N41.06 billion has been disbursed to 10 DisCos, for the procurement and installation of 759,748 electricity meters.

“Under the Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilization Facility – 2 (NEMSF-2), the Bank has released the sum of N145.66 billion to 11 DisCos as loans to provide liquidity support and stimulate critical infrastructure investment to improve service delivery and collection efficiency.

“In furtherance of its intervention in the energy sector, the Bank has disbursed N39.20 billion to six beneficiaries to improve gas-based infrastructure to support the Federal Government’s Auto-Gas Conversion Programme.”

Business

Union Bank appoints Buhari’s former minister into board

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Union Bank of Nigeria has strengthened its board of directors with the appointment of former Nigerian minister, Aisha Abubakar, following regulatory approval.

Abubakar had served as Minister in Nigeria twice under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, first as Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment between 2015 and 2018.

Her portfolio was changed in 2018 to Minster for Women Affairs and Social Development, a position she held till 2019 when she left the cabinet.

In a statement obtained on Thursday, Ripples Nigeria gathered that Abubakar was appointed as an Independent Non-Executive Director, effective September 9, 2021.

Abubakar will be providing independent oversight, including constructive challenge to the executive directors of Union Bank till she vacates the role.

Prior to her political appointment, Abubakar had worked at Continental Merchant Bank Ltd., African Development Bank and African International Bank.

In the statement announcing her appointment, the Chief Executive Officer, Emeka Okonkwo said, “I am pleased to welcome our new Independent Non-Executive Director, Ms. Aisha Abubakar to the Board.

“We look forward to drawing from her wealth of experience and fresh perspectives as we continue to execute our vision to be Nigeria’s most reliable and trusted partner.”

Business, Lifestyle, World News

Okonjo-Iweala makes ‘TIME 100,’ thanks Prince Harry, Meghan for kind words.

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Nigerian-born Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has thanked the Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle the Duchess, for the kind words they penned about her as she makes the TIME 100 list of The World’s Most Influential People.
The magazine has noted the globally-rated economist’s activities around the efforts to ensure that everyone on the planet earth gets vaccinated against any preventable disease for which there is a vaccine.
The ex-World Bank guru has been the Board Chair of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, since January 1, 2016. Gavi has the goal of increasing access to immunization in poor countries.
Concerning the TIME entry, the Duke and the Duchess state:
What will it take to vaccinate the world? Unity, cooperation—and leaders like Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

As the first African and first woman to lead the World Trade Organization, a 164-member group of nations that oversees trade across the world, Okonjo-Iweala took on the role of director-general this March at a watershed moment for our global health and well-being. Make no mistake, her job affects every person, family and community.
As we face a constant barrage of vaccine misinformation, bureaucratic slowdowns across both government and industry, and the rise of variants that underscore the urgency of the situation, Okonjo-Iweala has shown us that to end the pandemic, we must work together to equip every nation with equitable vaccine access. Our conversations with her have been as informative as they are energizing. This is partly because, despite the challenges, she knows how to get things done—even between those who don’t always agree—and does so with grace and a smile that warms the coldest of rooms.

The fragility of our world right now cannot be overstated. Just over a quarter of the nearly 8 billion global population is fully vaccinated.
Achieving vaccine equity is a global duty of compassion for one another. Our hope is that guided by strong leaders like Ngozi, we can get there soon.

Business

CBN begins probe on banks forex transactions, blows hot

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Concerned about the Naira-to-Dollar exchange rate, Nigeria’s Central Bank has issued a strong warning to Deposit Money Banks, threatening to revoke their licenses for one year, if they are found wanting in foreign exchange operations.

According to CBN, banks must always observe due diligence when carrying FX transactions.

CBN gave the warning in a letter by the Director of Trade and Exchange Department, Ozoemena Nnaji, and addressed to the DMBs obtained by Ripples Nigeria on Sunday

Nnaji urged the banks to, not only ensure to know their customers, but also to know their customers ‘ businesses.’ She said the directive was necessitated by recent occurrences in the FX market.

Part of the letter reads:“The CBN wishes to remind all banks that it is their responsibility to not only know their customers (KYC requirements) but also know their customers’ businesses (KYCB requirements).

“Given this responsibility and in view of recent occurrences in the market, the CBN will like to remind banks to desist from all forms of FX malpractices.

“We wish to reiterate that FX operating licences of any bank or banks that are found culpable with ongoing investigations will be suspended for at least one year,” the director said.

She also urged all the DMBs concerned to take note and ensure compliance.

Business

UBA records N7.6bn profit in 2021 first-half results

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The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has reported a profit before tax of N76.2 billion in the first half of the year.

This represents a 33.4 percent appreciation compared to the N57.1bn recorded in the same period of 2020.

The profit was the highest in the first half of the year, according to the bank’s result filed with the Nigerian Exchange.

The result also showed the bank’s gross earnings grew 5.0 percent to N316billion from N300.6billion, while total assets rose to N8.3 trillion from N7.7trillion.

Customer Deposits also crossed the N6trillion mark growing by 7.4 percent to N6.1trillion in the period under consideration, compared to N5.7 trillion as at December 2020.

The Group’s Shareholders’ Funds remained robust at N752.5billionn up from N724.1billion in December 2020, reflecting its strong capacity for internal capital generation.

In line with the bank’s culture of paying both interim and final cash dividend, the Board of Directors of UBA Plc has declared an interim dividend of 20kobo per share for every ordinary share of 50kobo each, held by its shareholders.

Reacting to the result, UBA’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka, expressed delight over the bank’s performance, adding, “This has been a strong first half for us, as global economic recovery exceeded expectations, creating a positive rub-off on consumer and corporate confidence, savings and investment activities”.

Continuing, the GMD pointed out that the bank recognises the far-reaching effects of the pandemic on businesses globally.

Business

Naira drops in value again, but major boost expected

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The Naira again traded weaker against the US Dollar on Monday, losing 16 kobo or 0.04 per cent at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window, the official foreign exchange market.

According to data from FMDQ securities the Naira closed at N411.83/$1 in contrast to N411.67/$1 it traded last Friday.

The decline witnessed on Monday is coming despite a significant increase in the forex supply by 203.62 per cent with $173.64 million recorded as against the $57.19 million posted in the previous session on Friday last week.

However, at the black market, the Naira maintained stability against the US Dollar yesterday as its value remained unchanged at N520/$1.

Similarly, the Nigerian currency traded unchanged against the Pound Sterling on Monday, closing at N708/£1 the same rate it closed last Friday.

Nigerian currency however appreciated against the Euro by N2 to close at N604/€1 compared with N606/€1 of the preceding trading day.

Meanwhile a significant boost is expected to come for the Naira, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday announced the disbursement of $650 billion Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to member countries to boost reserves.

Ripples Nigeria had reported yesterday that the expected $3 billion to Nigeria will go a long way toward assisting the Central Bank of Nigeria in defending the Naira and help easily meet demands from investors, importers, and exporters for foreign currency.

Business

Access Bank warns directors, insiders against trading shares as it suffers setback

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Access Bank has instructed its management and other members of the company against trading in the shares of the lender as it suffers a setback in release of financials.

According to the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) companies are expected to release their audited interim second quarter financial report on or before August 29, 2021.

But Access Bank in a statement to the investing public, published on the NGX on Thursday, said it will be unable to meet the deadline for quoted companies.

The company blamed the strategic business combinations across jurisdictions for the late submission. Recall that Access Bank had made series of acquisitions between late 2020 and the First Half of 2021.

It had acquired Grobank Limited in South Africa, African Banking Corporation in Mozambique, Transnational Bank in Kenya and Cavmont Bank Limited in Zambia.

The integration of these acquisitions into the operation of Access Bank were cited as reason for the failure to meet deadline, while also blaming regulatory approval.

Ripples Nigeria gathered that Access Bank now plans to release its Q2 financial report for 2021 on or before September 10, 2021, “In view of the foregoing, NGX has approved an extension of time to publish the Results.” the lender said.

As the firm delays publication of its financials, Access Bank ordered its board of directors, staff, consultants, relatives, and other related parties to stay away from its shares in the capital market.

The directive is in line with NGX listing rules, which forbids company insiders from trading in the quoted firm’s stock during the period their organisation is collating its financial reports.

This is to ensure insiders don’t take advantage of their knowledge of a company’s private information by selling off or buying shares of their firm – such period is called “closed period”.

“The Bank’s insiders are hereby reminded that the earlier declared closed period in respect of transaction in the Bank’s securities remains in place until 24 hours after the release of the Results.” Access Bank directed.

Business

CBN gets court’s order to block accounts of fintech companies

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Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday granted the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s request to block accounts of six fintech companies for the next six months.

The firms are Rise Vest Technologies Limited, Bamboo Systems Technology Limited, Bamboo Systems Technology Limited OPNS, Chaka Technologies Limited, CTL/Business Expenses, and Trove Technologies Limited.

The judge gave the order while ruling on a motion filed by a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Micheal Aondoakaa (SAN), on behalf of the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele.

The apex bank approached the court to order the temporary freezing of the companies’ accounts pending the conclusion of an investigation into their financial activities.

The CBN alleged that Rise Vest Technologies Limited, Bamboo Systems Technology Limited, Chaka Technologies Limited and Trove Technologies Limited operate in Nigeria without licenses as asset management companies and utilize forex sourced from the Nigerian foreign exchange market for purchasing foreign bonds/shares in contravention of its circular with reference No: TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/012 and dated July 01, 2015.

The apex bank told Justice Mohammed that the foreign exchange deals with the defendants contributed to the devaluation of the Naira, hence the need to block their accounts for 180 days.

Business

How COVID-19 caused devaluation of Naira – CBN

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday explained how the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the recent devaluation of Naira against the United States Dollar.

The Deputy Governor of CBN, Corporate Services, Edward Adamu, who addressed members of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance during an interactive session on 2022-2024 MTEF/FSP organised by the House in Abuja, said the pandemic was responsible for the devaluation of the Nigerian currency and the indirect shortage of foreign exchange supply.

Adamu stressed that the COVID-19 had devastating effects on the nation’s economy.

He said: “There are three major ways that we get forex. These are proceeds from the sale of crude oil, foreign portfolio inflows, and remittances.

“Crude oil sale has not been as high as we all want it to be and obviously in the aftermath of COVID-19, the global economy was grounded to a halt and the use of crude oil also was reduced.

“Sometimes in April last year, we had crude oil selling at negative, which means that people were being paid to store what they bought. Therefore, the avenue for forex inflows was significantly reduced.”

Business

NNPC spent N473bn operating dead refineries —Report

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has reported a N473.3 billion operating loss on three idle refineries in Warri, Port Harcourt, and Kaduna in the last six years.

This was revealed in a new report published by SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based research firm.

According to the report titled operating moribund refineries, the losses occurred between January 1, 2015 to February 2021.

“In that time, only 6.73 per cent of their capacity has been utilised on average. In fact, none of the three refineries has produced a drop of refined petrol since July 2019, racking up over N185bn in losses,” the report stated

Breakdown of the operating losses incurred according to the firm showed that a N56.9 billion operating loss was recorded in 2015 and N5.5 billion in 2016.

The operating loss increased in 2017 to N32.8 billion and again to N126.2 billion in 2018.

In 2019, despite the refineries reporting no fuel, N148.9 billion operating cost was reported.

In 2020 also no fuel but a loss of 101.6 billion was recorded.

So far in the first two months of 2021, the refineries have recorded a cumulative operating loss of N12.2 billion.

“And yet, there’s no sign of the expenditure slowing down. In March, the Federal Executive Council approved the sum of $1.5bn for the rehabilitation of the Port-Harcourt refinery,” the report continues.

“Nigeria must count the cost, not only of spending scarce resources on refineries that had not reached more than 30 per cent capacity in over six years but also of the income foregone from not privatising them,” SBM advised.

Business

Nigerians consume 57m litres of petrol daily in March, increase of 24.1%

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has announced an increase in the country’s daily supply of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, in March.

This was revealed in the company’s March 2021 Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR), which was released on Sunday.

According to NNPC, Nigerians consumed 1.75 billion litres of petrol in March 2021, and more than 1.41 billion litres consumed in February 2021.

This implies a consumption growth of 24.1 percent or 340 million litres and an average daily consumption of 56.5 liters.

NNPC also revealed that its downstream subsidiary, the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), recorded N234.63 billion revenue from the sale of white products in March 2021.

This represents a 24.7 percent increase from the N188.15 billion sales recorded in February 2021.

The total revenues generated from the sales of white products for the period of March 2020 to March 2021 stood at N2.129 trillion, where petrol contributed about 99.2percent of the total sales with a value of N2.113 trillion.

NNPC also revealed it sold 0.45million litres of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO).

For gas, a total of 222.74 billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas was produced in March 2021 translating to an average daily production of 7,183.33 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd).

This implies that 63.18 per cent of the average daily gas produced was commercialized while the balance of 36.82 per cent was re-injected, used as upstream fuel gas or flared.

The report also recorded that the Corporation recorded 70 vandalised points across its pipeline network in the period under review, representing 29.63 per cent increase from the 54 points recorded in the previous month.

Business

CBN directs banks to set up teller points for forex

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to set up teller points in designated branches for the sale of Foreign Exchange (forex) to Nigerians.

The directive was sequel to CBN’s decision to discontinue sale of forex to Nigerians through Bureaux de Change operators.

The directive was contained in a letter to the DMBs by Haruna Mustafa, Director, Bank Supervision Department of the apex bank, on Thursday in Abuja.

“Further to the Monetary Policy Committee briefing of July 27, all DMBs are hereby reminded to set up teller points at designated branches across the country.

This is to fulfil legitimate FX requests for Personal Travel Allowance, Business Travel Allowance, tuition fees, medical payments and SMEs transactions, among others.

“In this regard, DMBs are also required to adequately publicise the locations of the designated branches and make necessary arrangements to sell FX to customers in cash and/or electronically in compliance with extant regulations,” he said.

Mustafa further advised DMBs to ensure that no customer was turned back or refused FX provided that documentation and all other requirements are satisfied.

“Equally, undue delays, rationing and/or diversion of FX is strongly discouraged whilst DMBs are required to establish electronic application and alert systems to update customers on status of their FX requests,” he added.

The CBN also pledged to closely monitor banks’ conduct and compliance with the directive in order to ensure an efficient FX market for all legitimate users.

Business, World News

Nike and Adidas Supplier Suspends Production at Vietnam Plant Due to Covid.

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Taiwan’s Pou Chen Corp, which makes footwear for companies such as Nike and Adidas, suspended operations at its plant in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday as Covid-19 curbs hit factories in the country’s business hub.

Vietnam’s health ministry said in a statement that production at Pou Chen’s Pouyuen Vietnam factory would be suspended for 10 days.

State media said 49 infections had been detected at the plant in Ho Chi Minh City, which is at the epicentre of the country’s worst coronavirus outbreak.

The company did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Shares in Pou Chen, the world’s largest manufacturer of branded athletic and casual footwear, closed down 1.3 percent on Wednesday.

After successfully containing the disease for much of the pandemic, Vietnam has faced a more stubborn outbreak since late April.

Record infections and strict curbs on movement have left plants operating below capacity in northern provinces where suppliers for Apple, Samsung Electronics and other global tech firms are located, sources have said.

Pouyuen Vietnam, the largest employer in the city with 56,000 workers, was unable to arrange for its workers to sleep at the site as required by authorities to allow the business to remain open, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

Last year, Pouyuen Vietnam was ordered to suspend its production for two days after failing to meet local social distancing rules.

Earlier this week, state media said authorities also ordered 29 companies in the Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone, an industrial park, to suspend production due to the outbreak.

In the neighbouring Saigon Hi-Tech Park, which houses international companies, more than 700 infections were detected in recent days and authorities ordered companies to shut units with infected workers, state media reported.

Despite the latest outbreak, Vietnam has recorded far lower caseloads that many other countries with 36,605 infections in total and 130 deaths.

Business

CBN bars PSBs from accepting foreign currency, granting loans

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The Central of Nigeria (CBN) has released the guidelines for the operation of Payment Service Banks (PSBs) in Nigeria.

In a document released by the apex bank on Friday, the PSBs were barred from granting any form of loans, advances, and guarantees (directly or indirectly) to customers.

Also, the PSBs are not expected to accept foreign currency deposits, deal in the foreign exchange market, insurance underwriting or undertake other transactions which are not prescribed by the guidelines.

In addition, the banks were restrained from accepting closed scheme electronic value (e.g. airtime) as a form deposit or payment; establish any subsidiary except as prescribed in the CBN regulation on the scope of Banking and Ancillary Matters, No 3, 2010.

However, the regulator allows the PSBs to grant loans to their employees in line with their established loan policy and subject to the Board approval, accept deposits from individuals and small businesses, which shall be covered by the deposit insurance scheme and carry out payments and remittances (including inbound cross-border personal remittances) services through various channels within Nigeria, among others.

The document read: “This framework hereby provides a set of regulations that are targeted at streamlining operations of PSBs, ensuring transparency in their operations as well as ensuring adequate customer protection.

“The framework focuses on corporate governance, risks management of the PSBs and safety of funds to the consumers of the PSBs’ products.

This framework also aims to ensure that sound risk management practices are embedded in the operations of the PSBs.”

The CBN stressed that PSBs were required to comply with relevant extant regulations and prudential guidelines and circulars which were issued periodically.

“They shall use the words ‘Payment Service Bank’ in their names to differentiate them from other banks.

“However, the name of a PSB shall not include any word that links it to its parent company or promoter,’’ it added.

The apex bank also declared that the banks shall operate mostly in the rural areas and unbanked locations targeting financially excluded persons with not less than 25 percent financial service touchpoints in such areas as defined from time to time.

They are to enter into direct partnership with card scheme operators. Such cards shall not be eligible for foreign currency transactions.

“Deploy ATMs in some of these areas; deploy Point of Sale devices, and be at liberty to operate through banking.

“Rollout agent networks with the prior approval of the CBN; use other channels including electronic platforms to reach out to its customers; establish coordinating centres in clusters of outlets to superintend and control activities of the various financial service touchpoints and banking agents,” the document stated.

Business, World News

United Bank For Africa Sues Energy Firm, Polaris Bank Over N2.8 Billion .

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Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has restrained Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Company Ltd and Polaris Bank from tampering, howsoever, with funds standing to their credit up to $6,759,000 (about N2.8 billion) or its equivalent in any currency in 25 banks, the Debt Management Office and Federal Ministry of Finance.

Justice Daniel Osiaigor, who made the interim order of Mareva Injunction, held that it subsists pending the hearing and determination of a motion on notice filed against the duo by the United Bank for Africa (UBA).
The July 2 order followed UBA’s June 29 Application filed and argued by its counsel, Temilolu Adamolekun, who appeared with Gbenga Akinde-Peters, supported by an affidavit sworn to by Anike Isinguzo and Exhibits attached.

Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Company Ltd and Polaris Bank are the 1st and 2nd respondents in the suit number FHC/L/CS/714/21.

The 3rd to 26th respondents are Access Bank plc), (Citibank Nigeria Ltd), (Diamond Bank Plc), (Ecobank Nigeria ltd), (Enterprise Bank Ltd.), (Fidelity Bank Plc.),( First Bank of Nigeria Plc.), (First City Monument Bank Plc), (Globus Bank Limited), (Guaranty Trust Bank Plc), (Heritage Bank Plc.), (Jaiz Bank Limited), (Keystone Bank Limited), (Polaris Bank Limited), (Providus Bank Limited), (Stanbic IBTC Bank Nigeria Ltd.), (Standard Chartered Bank Ltd.) (Sterling Bank Plc.), (SunTrust Bank Nigeria Limited). (Titan Trust Bank Limited), (Union Bank Plc), (Unity Bank Plc.). (Wema Bank Plc.) and (Zenith Bank Plc).

The 28th and 29th respondents are the DMO and Finance Ministry.

The court further restrained the 3rd to 26th Respondents or their agents from releasing the sum to the Defendants.

The order also restrained the 1st Defendant from dealing with any of the monies standing to its credit in all of its accounts, or any money in which it has any interest held on its behalf with the 27th to 29th Respondents up to $6,759,000 or its equivalent.

The court restrained the 2nd Defendant from dealing with any of the monies, instruments, Sovereign Debt Notes, Promissory Notes, Treasury Bills or any other instrument in which it has an interest or standing with the 27th, 28th and 29th Respondents, to the tune of $6,759,000 or its equivalent.

It forbade the 27th, 28th and 29th Respondents (CBN, Debt Management Office and the Federal Ministry of Finance) from releasing any monies or funds belonging to the 2nd Defendant or wherein the 2nd Defendant has an interest up the $6,759,000 or its equivalent.

The judge further directed the 3rd to 29th Respondents to disclose on oath the total sum of money or funds in their custody belonging to any of the Defendants.

The plaintiff had averred in its affidavit that the energy firm won the bid to acquire 60 per cent stake/of the shares in the Ibadan and Yola Electricity Distribution Companies following the privatisation exercise of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) Assets sometime in 2013.

It applied to and received a $162,400,000 syndicated loan from the plaintiff, the 2nd Defendant (formerly Skye Bank Plc), Diamond Bank Plc now Access Bank Plc, First City Monument Bank Ltd, Heritage Bank Plc and Keystone Bank Ltd (jointly referred to as the lenders).

The lenders also agreed to the appointment of the 2nd Defendant as the Facility Agent in respect of the facility to, among others, ensuring the repayment of the loan.

The plaintiff accordingly disbursed the sum of $35 million to the 1st Defendant to enable it meet the purpose(s) for which it needed the pooled funds.

The energy firm was unable to conclude the transaction on Yola Electricity Distribution Company (Yola Disco), owing to the insurgency in North-East and it invoked the force majeure protection clause enshrined in the agreements and demanded a refund of the invested sum from the Federal Government.

Sometime in March, 2020, the Federal Government paid the final installments of the refund (recovered sum) to the energy firm and Polaris Bank.

“However, the remaining tranche of the Plaintiff’s share of the said recovered sum has since been withheld by the Defendants, particularly the 2nd Defendant,” UBA told the judge.
The court adjourned till July 13, for hearing of the motion on notice.

Business, World News

Jeff Bezos Resigns As Amazon Boss.

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Jeff Bezos, American business magnate, who is founder and chief executive officer of one of the world’s largest technological organisations Amazon, steps down from Amazon on Monday – exactly 27 years after he founded it.

However, Bezos will retain a crucial role as the executive chair of the organisation. He will not be a part of the daily management and will spend more time on other projects including his Aerospace company Blue Origin.

Within the period, Bezos was CEO, he developed a series of unusual leadership principles – which some argue are the backbone of his success.

The chief of Amazon Web Services, Andy Jassy, will become the new CEO.

Amazon Web Services, the astoundingly successful cloud computing service, didn’t really have much to do with Amazon’s core business: e-commerce.

But Bezos supported the idea, giving his trusted employee Andy Jassy the freedom, and capital, to go about creating a company within a company.

Bezos views Jassy as an entrepreneur, not just a manager – a key part of why he will take over as Bezos’ successor.

Amazon employees testify to Bezos’ customer obsession. For Bezos, profit was a long-term aspiration. For a company to be successful, it had to have happy customers – at almost any cost.

One of Amazon senior managers, Nadia Shouraboura who started working for Amazon in 2004 told BBC that when she first started, she thought she was going to be immediately fired.

“I made the biggest mistake of my life during our Christmas peak,” she said.

Shouraboura said she had ordered key products onto warehouse shelves that were too high. It would take time and money to get the right products off the shelves.

“I came up with a clever way for us to lose as little money as possible, and sort of fix the problem. But when I talked to Jeff about it he looked at me and said, ‘you’re thinking about this all wrong’.

“You’re thinking how to optimise money here. Fix the problem for customers, and then come back to me in a few weeks and tell me the cost.”

Bezos, however, has many critics. Last month, an article from ProPublica claimed to have seen Bezos’ tax returns alleging he paid no tax in 2007 and 2011. It was a stunning claim about the world’s richest man.

There have been other negative stories about Amazon, its ruthlessness, its claims of monopolistic behaviour that have been a dent on Bezos reputation.

However, many people who worked closely with him have described him as a business visionary – a man with a singular focus who has created a legendary work philosophy and a company worth almost $1.8 trillion.

Always fascinated by space travel, later this month he aims to fly into space on the first crewed flight made by his company Blue Origin.

Business

NDIC to begin payments to depositors of failed banks

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The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has commenced verification exercise for depositors of failed 14 banks and 22 Microfinance Banks (MFBs).

This was disclosed in a statement signed by Bashir Nuhu, director, Communication and Public Affairs Department.

According to the NDIC, the verification exercise is geared towards the payment of insured sums to eligible depositors.

Depositors of the affected MFBs whose operating licences were recently revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have been advised to visit the closed banks’ addresses and be verified by the NDIC’s officials.

They are also to visit the Corporation’s website for the list of the banks and to verify their claims.

NDIC also announced plans to commence payment of liquidation dividends to uninsured depositors, creditors and shareholders of additional 14 banks in liquidation.

The statement noted that while stakeholders of eight closed banks are to receive their first round of liquidation dividend payments, those of the other six are to be paid additional sums due to them as part of their liquidation dividends.

The release listed the banks as City Express Bank, All States Trust Bank, Allied Bank, Commerce Bank, North South Bank, Cooperative and Commerce Bank and Nigeria Merchant Bank. Others are Hilltop MFB, Olomoyoyo MFB, Evo MFB, Ngwegwe MFB, Bekwarra MFB, Argungu MFB and Edet MFB.

The statement further advised eligible stakeholders of the banks to visit the Corporation’s offices nationwide for the verification of their claims or do so on the Corporation’s website.

Business

Nigerian govt says gas flaring drops by 92%

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The federal government, on Sunday said gas flaring in oil communities has been reduced by 92 percent, and those complaining are only exaggerating.

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, made this known while speaking at a forum in Abuja.

According to the Minister, gas flaring is no longer the major problem of our oil communities today.

“Today as we speak on gas flaring, it is so much exaggerated. Gas flaring has been reduced to about eight per cent. We have taken down about 92 per cent of flares.

There has been a lot of monetisation on gas, all the gas that was going into NLNG was previously flared, all the gas going into the power plants was previously flared, and there is a lot of gas also being re-injected into the ground so that we don’t flare it.

“We also use some of the gas to spike the crude oil, so we have found a lot of use for gas which brought flaring down by eight per cent, but people still exaggerate it,” he said.

“Before now in my own community, I saw the flares in the horizon when I stood by the Atlantic, but today it’s no more,” Sylva added

Sylva urged communities in the Niger Delta to tap into various opportunities created by the federal government’s gas utilisation projects and stop complaining about the dangers of gas flaring which had almost been eliminated.

“Gas flaring is no longer a problem in the Niger Delta, eight per cent of gas being flared cannot be the problem.

If I don’t know what to do with my gas that is when I flare, but if I can monetise my gas, why should I burn it when I can make money out of it.

“In fact, it is in my interest not to burn my gas because it now has value. The problem with gas before was that it has no value because nobody was buying it.

“But now, if I can monetise it, I will be guarding it so that I can get some benefits from it,” Mr Sylva emphasised.

Ripples Nigeria had ealier reported that between March 2012 and April 2021, a total of 1.8 billion (MSCF) of natural gas valued at $6.3 billion were flared both onshore and offshore.

This is according to data obtained from Nigeria’s Gas Flare Tracker, an environmental monitoring tool.

The data also showed there are still over 100 active flare sites in ten Nigerian states.

Business

CBN to print currency for Gambia

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says it is ready to help the Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) to print its legal tender, the Dalasi.

The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele agreed to the currency minting proposal from the Governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia, Buah Saidy, who led a delegation on a two-day visit to him on Tuesday.

The CBG had approached CBN for a possible partnership to tackle acute currency shortages among other currency management challenges in the country.

Speaking on the proposal, Emefiele said Nigeria has a lot of capacity in currency printing as she has been minting since the 1960s and “we are willing to assist in printing your currency. We can be extremely competitive in terms of cost.”

Saidy informed the CBN governor that relying on its current printer, De La Rue of London, for its currency needs was expensive and unsustainable.

He explained that it costs the bank about £70,000 to lift printed currencies from Sri Lanka to the Gambia.

Emefiele assured his visitors that the CBN has a competitive advantage to undertake the currency printing for Gambia, adding that the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting has a lot of idle capacity to satisfy the demand of the CBG.

“Our colleagues from Liberia who were there two months ago were fascinated by the facilities we have at the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting,” he said.

On its part, the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Plc said it is ready if both parties come to a deal.

Business

CBN to launch own digital currency by year end

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is planning to launch its own digital currency by the end of 2021, the bank’s IT specialist Rakiya Mohammed said.

Mohammed’s disclosure follows the conclusion of the Bankers Committee meeting on Thursday in Lagos state.

According to her, the apex bank has for over two years been exploring the technology and has made tremendous progress.

“Before the end of the year, the Central Bank will be making a special announcement and possibly launching a pilot scheme in order to be able to provide this kind of currency to the populace,” she said.

This follows concerted efforts by the CBN to crack down on cryptocurrency operations in Nigeria.

The regulator had in February ordered banks to shut down any accounts linked to crypto transactions.

Mohammed said when eventually operational, the currency would complement cash notes.

The official said another reason the apex bank plans to come up with digital currency is to make remittances travel easier from abroad to Nigeria.

She said that digital currency would accelerate the ability to meet the target, regardless of one’s country of residence.

The specialist also said that CBN would be exploring various technological options and engaging various industry players as well as moving to the next stage of proof of concept to pilot the scheme.

Mohammed said that CBN considered the architecture, accessibility issue and privacy of the currency before going into it.

Other issues discussed at the bankers’ committee meeting include launch of digital cards as well as foreign exchange availability in banks.

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