Economy

CIBN, CBN Carry out Survey to Legalise Bitcoin in Nigeria

Published

8 years ago

14/05/2018

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) said it has partnered with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to carry out a national survey on the possible adoption of cryptocurrency in the country, especially Bitcoin, the most popular among the digital currencies in the world.

The Nigerian authorities are yet to give legal backing to the use of cryptocurrencies in the country and have warned her citizens not to be involved in transactions using digital currencies.

President of the CIBN, Mr Segun Ajibola, during a visit to the Senate President, Mr Bukola Saraki, in Abuja recently, said the survey is mainly to way the pros and cons of the system and to also fully understand how it operates.

Also during the visit, the CIBN chief said there was a need for deeper understanding of legislature in the role of the banking sector as drivers of the economy, revealing that the body would soon approach the National Assembly to amend its extant law, the CIBN Act No. 5 of 2007 so as to further strengthen its capacity to deliver on its statutory mandate.

However, he appealed to the Senate to urgently pass the Financial System Strategy (FSS 2020) Bills into law to promote financial inclusion and strengthen electronic payment system in the country.

According to Mr Ajibola, the quick passage of Nigeria International Financial Centre Bill, Financial Consumer Protection Bill, and the Electronic Transactions Bill was critical to the implementation of FSS 2020.

However, he commended the Senate led by Mr Saraki for the passage of the collateral securities into law.

He said further that the passage of 15 other major economic Bills passed to law and the review of about 50 existing extant laws showed the commitment of the Senate to the growth of the nation’s economy, which got out of recession last year.

Mr Ajibola noted that the establishment of the Collateral Registry Bill was a good one because it provides an enhanced environment for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to access credit.

In his remarks, the Senate President said the upper parliament will continue to support efforts of stakeholders to improve the economy and create more jobs for youths in the country.

“We will continue to create an enabling environment for the youth to exploit their entrepreneurial talent especially as the public sector does not have the jobs that could provide gainful employment for the youth,” Mr Saraki stated.

Also, the Senate President said there was need to deepen financial inclusion to reach the unbanked population in hard to reach areas of the country, noting that the importance of the FSS2020 Bills and observed that FSS2020 must be brought to the front burner in view of its strategic work that is important to the financial system and economic growth of Nigeria.

On the amendment of the CIBN Bill, the nation’s number three citizen said the Senate will give its full backing to the exercise.

On the pending economic bills, Mr Saraki said a small joint technical committee would be established to prioritize them for quick passage.

According to him, “The Chairman of the Committee on Banking will be on hand to facilitate a working collaboration on the critical Bills with the delegation, particularly FSS2020 High Level Legal Working Group and the FSS2020 Secretariat.”

Economy

OTC Securities Exchange Falls 2.48%

Published

2 hours ago

20/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange was down by 2.48 per cent on Friday, June 19, with the Unlisted Security Index shedding 108.36 points to close at 4,252.73 points compared with the previous day’s 4,361.09 points.

During the trading day, the market capitalisation of the OTC securities exchange dropped 2.18 per cent or N67.29 billion to settle at N2.552 trillion, in contrast to Thursday’s N2.609 trillion.

The alternative stock market was in the red yesterday after finishing with three price losers led by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gave up N8.57 to trade at N77.77 per share versus the preceding day’s N86.34. FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N8.19 to quote at N170.00 per unit compared with the previous session’s N178.19 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc crashed by 26 Kobo to end at N2.51 per share versus N2.77 per share.

Business Post reports that there were also three price gainers during the session, led by Golden Capital Plc, which chalked up 67 Kobo to sell at N13.67 per unit versus N13.00 per unit. Afriland Properties Plc gained 65 Kobo to trade at N16.85 per share compared with the previous price of N16.20 per share, and MRS Oil added 3 Kobo to close at N142.23 per unit versus N142.00 per unit.

The volume of trades was up by 20.3 per cent on Friday to 954,106 units from 792,835 units, and the number of deals increased by 75 per cent to 35 deals from 20 deals, while the value of transactions went down by 12.9 per cent to N42.7 million from N49.0 million.

The most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis was Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 67.8 million units exchanged for N4.7 billion.

The most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was also GNI Plc, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.

Economy

Sell-Offs in GTCO, First Holdco Crash NGX All-Share Index by 0.62%

Published

5 hours ago

20/06/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The local stock exchange remained in the red on Friday after it further depreciated by 0.62 per cent due to panic sell-offs in some bellwether equities.

NAHCO lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N148.50, Royal Exchange depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N1.53, GTCO slumped by 9.97 per cent to N115.55, First Holdco dropped 9.84 per cent to quote at N55.00, and Neimeth slipped by 9.60 per cent to N28.12.

On the flip side, Deap Capital increased by 9.89 per cent to N4.89, RT Briscoe expanded by 9.62 per cent to N13.10, International Energy Insurance advanced by 7.43 per cent to N5.06, Jaiz Bank gained 7.14 per cent to sell for N9.00, and Living Trust Mortgage Bank rose by 5.26 per cent to N4.00.

During the session, the energy index chalked up 2.35 per cent, but this was not enough to lift the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited when the closing gong was struck by 4 pm to signify the close of trading activities.

This was because the banking sector lost 4.41 per cent, the insurance counter shed 1.52 per cent, the industrial goods space declined by 0.71 per cent, and the consumer goods segment tumbled by 0.13 per cent.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 1,463.45 points to 235,941.27 points from 237,404.92 points, and the market capitalisation retreated by M939 billion to N151.327 trillion from N152.266 trillion.

The activity chart was topped by Access Holdings, which posted a turnover of 65.0 million shares valued at N1.5 billion. Zenith Bank sold 35.2 million stocks worth N3.9 billion, Sterling Holdings exchanged 28.4 million equities for N217.8 million, UBA transacted 16.3 million shares valued at N650.7 million, and GTCO traded 14.0 million stocks worth N1.8 billion.

In all, investors transacted 440.4 million equities for N24.7 billion in 50,273 deals, in contrast to the 691.6 million equities valued at N116.9 billion traded in 50,025 deals on Thursday, implying an uptick in the number of deals by 0.50 per cent, and a decrease in the trading volume and value by 36.32 per cent and 78.87 per cent, respectively.

Economy

Naira Crashes to N1,370/$ at Official Market, N1,390/$1 at Black Market

Published

6 hours ago

20/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira again depreciated against the United States Dollar by N7.16 or 0.53 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 19, to N1,370.46/$1 from the previous day’s N1,363.30/$1.

In the same vein, the Nigerian currency lost N9.07 against the Pound Sterling at the official market yesterday to trade at N1,814.76/£1 compared with Thursday’s closing price of N1,805.69/£1, and crashed against the Euro by N6.43 to settle at N1,571.50/€1 versus N1,565.07/€1.

Also, the Naira weakened against the greenback in the black market during the session by N5 to sell for N1,390/$1, in contrast to the preceding day’s N1,385/$1, and at the GTBank FX desk, it shed N3 to close at N1,376/$1 versus N1,373/$1.

The official market’s FX liquidity has been facing pressure over the last three trading sessions, contributing to a decline in the official exchange rate due to rising demand for foreign payments.

FX reserves rose to $51.03 billion, the highest level since January 20, 2009, according to data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The figure also represents the highest since the beginning of the year and under the administration of the current Governor of CBN, Mr Yemi Cardoso.

The latest figure underscores the steady strengthening of Nigeria’s external buffers, which continues to reinforce investor confidence in the Nigerian economy and support exchange rate stability.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was mixed, with Bitcoin (BTC) up by 0.8 per cent to $63,225.80 after trading activity was relatively subdued due to a US federal holiday, as the absence of stock and bond market activity led to quieter conditions across crypto markets, even though digital assets continue to trade around the clock.

Further, TRON (TRX) also gained 0.8 per cent to sell at $0.3230, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped 0.5 per cent to $579.84, and Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 0.1 per cent to $1,704.23.

On the flip side, Ripple (XRP) declined by 0.9 per cent to $1.13, Cardano (ADA) shed 0.8 per cent to trade at $0.1611, Solana (SOL) fell by 0.1 per cent to $69.23, and Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 0.1 per cent to $0.0831, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.