CBN Plans New Licensing Regime to Address Emerging FinTech Issues

By Adedapo Adesanya President Bola Tinubu has thrown his full weight behind the plan by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to increase the capital base of banks in the country. The President expressed his views on this move, which last occurred in 2005, through his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, in his message at the 40th anniversary of The Guardian Newspapers in Lagos on Tuesday. He said bank recapitalisation was crucial to Nigeria achieving a $1 trillion economy. “Amidst the general lull in a global economy, our ambition to attain a $1 trillion economy appears

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Like a golden fish, which has no hiding place, Stanbic IBTC Capital, the investment banking subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, was the cynosure of all eyes at the recently concluded Association of Issuing Houses of Nigeria (AIHN) Investment Banking Dinner and Awards ceremony. At the event held in Lagos, the company went home with five awards, named as the Best Investment Bank in Nigeria, the Equity Deal of 2022, the Best Equity House of 2022, the Best Corporate Bond House 2022 and the M&A Deal of the Year 2022. The recognitions spread across Stanbic IBTC Capital’s Advisory,

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday finally laid the 2018 appropriation bill after postponing it in the past two different times. The #Budget2018 Report was laid on the floor of plenary today by Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Mr Danjuma Goje. Last week, spokesman of the upper parliament, Mr Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, said the Senate would lay the report last Tuesday and pass on Wednesday and if it was not laid on Tuesday, it would be done on Wednesday to be passed today. However, the red chamber did not lay the 2018 budget report any of

By Hussaini Monguno On November 15, 1884, 14 mainly European countries gathered in Berlin for a meeting which lasted to February 26, 1885. The aim of that conference was to split the continent of Africa and share it to the Europeans who were scrambling over it. The countries represented were; Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands. Others included; Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden-Norway (unified from 1814 to 1905), Turkey, and the United States of America. Of these 14 nations, France, Germany, Great Britain, and Portugal were the major players in the conference, controlling most of Africa at

By Dipo Olowookere The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), parent company of the Ecobank Group have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to promote joint corporate objectives through the financing of private sector projects and trade finance transactions, focusing particularly on transactions involving trade and investment in Afreximbank member countries where Ecobank also has a presence. The cooperation between the two institutions will support efforts at promoting intra-African trade, facilitating industrial development and export development, and strengthening African trade finance leadership, with the ultimate goal of transforming the African continent. Under the agreement, Afreximbank and Ecobank

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The need for the development of a robust strategy on cyber risks to protect the funds of investors and boost market confidence has again been emphasised by the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Lamido Yuguda. While presenting a paper recently at the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc Cyber Securities conference, Mr Yuguda said stakeholders must urgently work on this policy because cyber risks pose a significant threat to market confidence, integrity and efficiency because people’s hard-earned income and other financial instruments are saved and invested in it. “In the Nigerian capital market, we

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The treasury bills market on Wednesday closed on a bearish note with average yields depreciating by 12 basis points to finish at 17.72 percent. At close of business yesterday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold a total of N44.43 billion of the 197-day bill via the open market operations (OMO) at 17.75 percent. This was below the N66.52 billion subscriptions received from traders at the market yesterday for the 197-day instrument. It is important to note that the 197-day bill was oversubscribed by N26.52 billion. However, the central bank did not sell the 92-day bill despite

Originally named Avwraka until anglicised to “abraka”, Abraka town is one of the 22 towns in Urhobo kingdom, located in the southern parts of Nigeria. Endowed with some of the most beautiful sceneries in Urhobo land, the town is one of the Delta state‘s – and Nigeria’s – most popular vacation spots for both domestic and international tourists. The city’s pleasant climate makes it a very popular holiday destination, particularly for those in the southern regions of the country. Though destinations often are said to offer something for everyone, the Abraka area offers multiple enticements for everyone: its trendy nightlife,

By Dipo Olowookere The board of Access Holdings has surprised the company’s shareholders by increasing the final dividend payout for the 2022 financial year by almost 86 per cent, precisely 85.7 per cent. Access Holdings is not too known to pay higher dividends to investors, unlike its peers, Zenith Bank and GTCO. But in the audited results of the financial institution released on Thursday, the board proposed the payment of N1.30 as the final dividend compared with the 70 Kobo paid in the 2021 accounting year, bringing the total cash reward for the year under review to N1.50. “The board

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed 0.27 per cent lower on Monday after investors offloaded some of their shares in the banking and industrial goods sector of the market. This resulted in the 0.38 per cent loss in the industrial goods space and the 0.24 per cent decline suffered by the banking index. The depreciation recorded by these two key counters weakened the gains printed by the insurance space (2.89 per cent), oil/gas sector (0.49 per cent) and the consumer goods index (0.23 per cent). Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) reduced by 67.17 points to 25,132.67 points