2018 FICAN Conference to Focus on Financial Inclusion

Forex trading in Malaysia has been legal and regulated by the central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), since 2012. While Malaysia’s growing economy attracts financial companies, traders need to beware of scammers who target beginners seeking quick profits. Traders Union (TU) experts provide a Forex scammer list for Malaysia and discuss types of Forex scams. Blacklist of Forex scam brokers in Malaysia BNM, the country’s financial regulator, maintains a list of nearly 400 companies involved in Forex trading scams in Malaysia. These companies are regularly updated as they engage in fraudulent activities, such as using manipulated software, blocking withdrawals, and

By Adedapo Adesanya All is not well with the Naira in the parallel market and the peer-to-peer (P2P) segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market in Nigeria, with its exchange rate against the Dollar nearing N1000. At the black market on Thursday, the Nigerian Naira depreciated against the US Dollar by N25 to sell at N995/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N970/$1. It was a similar story with the local currency in the P2P wing of the forex market as it lost N22 against the greenback yesterday to quote at N992/$1, in contrast to Wednesday’s exchange rate of

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed in the green territory after it chalked up by 0.37 per cent on Friday, September 22, as three securities finished on the price gainers’ chart and one stock closed in the price losers’ table. This raised the market capitalisation of the OTC Exchange by N4.24 billion to N1.143 trillion from the previous day’s N1.139 trillion, as the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) increased during the session by 3.00 points to finish at 808.95 points compared with Thursday’s 805.95 points. At the close of transactions, investors traded a total of 10.7

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has disclosed that Nigeria saw a 65.7 per cent or N76.77 billion increase in earnings from the solid minerals sector in 2021 to N193.59 billion from the N116.82 billion achieved in 2020. This upward trajectory has been on for the past five years, according to a report from the agency. The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, however, lamented that this is still abysmal considering the potential of the sector to the Nigerian economy. He said this while presenting the solid minerals sector report in Abuja, noting that

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Issuers’ Portal (X-Issuer) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has been upgraded to further enhance the compliance and regulation experience of companies listed on the bourse. The X-Issuer is one of the exchange’s dedicated efforts to improve the level of services it provides to the market while enhancing its ability to compete effectively in the global marketplace. A statement issued by the NSE on Monday, July 6, 2020, stated that the enhanced X-Issuer, accessible via, https://ip.nse.com.ng, comes with modern layout, improved functionalities and new user-friendly features. Few of the new features include the Release Calendar Module

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The decision of the management of Paxful, a leading global peer-to-peer fintech, to explore the Nigerian market is already paying off. This is because the P2P platform has recorded an impressive increase in the number of its Nigerian users to about 1.5 million, while the volume currently stands at $1.5 billion, making Nigeria the biggest market of the firm. Globally, Paxful, which was established in 2015, has recorded transactions worth over $5 billion, while the number of users has reached over six million. As of April 2021, the top 4 countries by volume on Paxful asides Nigeria

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigerian startup, Pivo, which helps freight carriers get paid faster by providing banking services and digital invoicing tools that track payments, has closed a $2 million seed round. This is in addition to a $550,000 pre-seed round it raised earlier this year. The startup, which was part of Y Combinator’s S22 batch, counts Precursor Ventures, Vested World, Y Combinator, FoundersX and Mercy Corp Ventures as its investors in this round. In a statement, the company said it intends to use the financing to upgrade existing products, build new ones, hire talent and expand outside of Lagos, its

By Dipo Olowookere Almost after six years he was appointed to the board of directors of Stanbic IBTC, Mr Ratan Mahtani has decided to leave. Mr Mahtani announced his resignation from the board of the financial institution with effect from Thursday, July 19, 2018. Though no reason was given for his action, the company wished him “the very best in his future endeavours.” In November 2012, Mr Mahtani joined the board of Stanbic IBTC Holdings as a non-executive director. During his time, Mr Mahtani contributed his own quota to the growth of the financial power house in Africa. In a

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Medical researchers from the Middle East and North Africa region are meeting in Cairo on December 5-7 to study ‘Implementation Science,’ which is a field that brings evidence from biomedical and healthcare research into public health practice and policy. Their goal is to improve public health by bridging the gap between optimal health practices and the realities of everyday practice. The Implementation Science program is sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); the U.S. National Cancer Institute; the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine; and the World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Kaduna International Airport is now set for international operations, according to the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA). In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, Managing Director of FAAN, Mr Saleh Dunoma, said the organisation has installed all safety equipment needed for the operation. The FAAN explained that the main equipment for smooth operations is the safety equipment for the landing of the aircraft, which is already in place. “All the things we need for international operations are on ground. What is important actually

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Innovative consumer finance company, Zedvance Ltd, has flagged off its Back-to-School campaign to provide easy access to quick and collateral-free credit to all parents and guardians in Nigeria.  According to the company, the campaign themed, “Zedvance Back-to-School Unburden”, is designed to promote inclusive education by reducing the financial impact of a new academic term on Nigerians. Marketing Manager of Zedvance, Mr Lukmon Oloyede, while commenting on the initiative, stated that, “As a customer-centric company, Zedvance is committed to providing lifestyle-enabling financial solutions to our customers and prospects across Nigeria through a flexible and hassle-free process.” He added

In demonstration of its commitment to promote and support healthy living amongst Nigerians, Keystone Bank Limited has partnered with “The TunMicro Sickle Cell Foundation”, a UK-based humanitarian organization and ‘Slum2School Africa’ to create awareness about Sickle Cell Disorder (SCD) in Lagos. According to the lender, the initiative is part of its efforts to commemorate the 2019 World Sickle Cell Day which holds in June. World Sickle Cell Day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2008 in order to increase the awareness about the sickle cell disease and its cure among the common public. During the week-long awareness