CBN Extends Support to Skye Bank after N100b Intervention

By Adedapo Adesanya The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has unveiled a digital platform for the submission of Microfinance Bank (MFB) licence applications with effect from Monday, September 25. The apex bank made this known in a statement signed by its Director of Corporate Communications, Mr Isa AbdulMumin. “The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is pleased to announce the unveiling of a new online platform for submission of microfinance bank (MFB) licence applications,” the statement released on Wednesday said. According to the statement, the new online platform is called the CBN Licensing, Approval and Other Requests Portal (CBN LARP) and

By Modupe Gbadeyanka It was a double reward for a foremost microfinance institution, Advans Nigeria, at the recently concluded Marketing Edge Awards in Lagos. The firm, a subsidiary of Advans Group, was announced as the Most Innovative Microfinance Bank of the Year and the Most Customer-centric Microfinance Bank of the Year. The double awards are coming after the organisation was recently named as The Best in Retail Banking of the Year at the Pan African International Award. Advans Nigeria won the accolades due to its top-notch financial services and unwavering commitment to its customers. “We are immensely proud to receive

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Despite the challenging operating environment characterised by the Naira redesign policy and the foreign exchange (FX) unification policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Zenith Bank Plc showed why it is one of the strongest lenders in the country. Analysis of its financial statements for the first six months of 2023 showed that its gross earnings surged by 139 per cent to N967.3 billion from the N404.8 billion achieved in the same period of last year. It was observed from the results filed to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Monday that this triple-digit growth in

As part of efforts to fast-track the development of tourism in Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture has commenced the process of activating the Presidential Council on Tourism (PCT). Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, disclosed this in Abuja on Wednesday when he received the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) on a courtesy visit to his office. He said a Steering Committee meeting, which will draft the agenda for the inaugural session of the PCT, will hold on September 6, 2016. “My predecessors found wisdom in constituting what is termed as the Presidential Council

By Dipo Olowookere The first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for this year will hold next week, the apex bank has said. According to the central bank, this meeting will take place on Monday, January 21 and Tuesday, January 22, 2019. Next week’s gathering will be the 265th, a notice issued by the central bank said. While the Monday meeting will commence by 10am, the Tuesday event is slated for 8am, with the CBN Governor scheduled to address the media on outcome of the deliberations in the afternoon. The notice said the MPC

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil prices were able to hold a bullish position on Tuesday as investors banked on hopes that Congress would approve the $2,000 stimulus checks in the United States. The bill to increase stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000 could be scheduled for another vote in the Senate at a later date this week. The US House on Monday passed the bill that would increase covid stimulus payments from $600 to $2,000 by 275-134 vote, needing a two-thirds majority to pass the bill now heads to the US Senate. President Trump has now signed the $2.3 trillion coronavirus

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A collaboration towards ensuring maximum utilization of local capacities in the construction of petroleum refinery plant with 650,000 barrels capacity has been entered into by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Dangote Industries Limited. Recently, both parties met in Lagos and agreed to work towards achieving this goal. Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr Simbi Wabote, led a team from the Board to meet with the management of Dangote Group, led by the President, Mr Aliko Dangote. During the meeting, Dangote pledged, among other things, to utilize certified Nigerian service companies for the fabrication of

By Dipo Olowookere Arrangements have been concluded by the Lagos State government to enter the capital market to source for N60 billion. Commissioner for Finance in the state, Mr Akinyemi Ashade, disclosed at a combined Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the state bond series and rating programme at the weekend that the money would be sourced for this week. Mr Ashade noted that the floating of the N60 billion bond is from its pool of N500 billion approved by the state House of Assembly recently. According to him, in 2017, the state would further seek another tranche of N100 billion,

By Dipo Olowookere The much-awaited peer-to-peer (P2P) service to enable the trading of cryptocurrency in Nigeria will eventually commence on the Quidax platform next week. The P2P service enables two customers to complete a transaction with a centralised system. The two parties decide the price and the means of fund transfer. This system became effective after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) prohibited the trading of digital currencies in the country through the nation’s banking platform. Last month, the banking sector watchdog directed financial institutions to close bank accounts of anyone or organisation involved in cryptocurrencies in the country because

By Modupe Gbadeyanka An agreement to restructure the final tranche of payment of $7.6 million for the OPL 310 License due on or before Saturday, May 2, 2020 has been reached between LEKOIL and Optimum Petroleum Development Company. Optimum is the operator of the OPL 310 License and due to the present coronavirus pandemic, which has brought businesses down across the globe, especially those in the oil and gas sector, the restructuring of the payment became necessary. Observers said this partnership between LEKOIL and Optimum is a demonstration of the rare synergy and progress that is possible if indigenous companies

Discussions around food and nutrition security took centre stage at the just concluded Senior Policy Seminar hosted by the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The two-day conference, which held from March 9 to 10, 2020 and was supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, had the theme Agriculture and Food Policies for Better Nutrition Outcomes in Africa. Prof. Njunguna Ndung’u, the Executive Director of AERC, in his opening address, emphasised that the seminar focused on Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition Outcomes in Africa because agriculture is the main stay of