Economy
Airtel Seeks NCC Support for SMEs to Drive Economic Recovery
By Adedapo Adesanya
Airtel has advocated support from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to stimulate economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 era.
This came as the commission reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring accelerated licensing of new spectrum that would usher in new technologies which include 5G, broadband satellite services, high altitude platform services, and others.
This assertion came at a virtual webinar organised by the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) tagged Nigeria’s Telecommunication Industry-Post COVID.
Speaking at the event, Mr Segun Ogunsanya, the Managing Director of Airtel, in his presentation, said that the SMEs were most hit by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and Airtel had created incentives and discounts for them to support their businesses.
This, he said, was the company’s ultimate objective to reduce the digital divide between those who have access to the internet and those who do not.
According to him, access to the internet is key and imperative because it acts as a leveller that provides information opportunities to small and big businesses alike.
Mr Ogunsanya said that contrary to conventional thinking, the telecommunications industry recorded a decline in its revenue in the first month after the lockdown.
President Muhammadu Buhari announced a total lockdown in Lagos State, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory in March 2020 to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
The said that the pandemic had transformed the conventional ways of carrying out businesses, with online engagements becoming more popular.
“The impact has been huge on social and economic activities but we thank the authorities for creating a good environment for the virus to be contained very quickly.
“The telecoms industry is not isolated from the main economy and you can see the impact on the five key areas of the GDP.
“There was an initial reduction in consumer spending on telecoms services and products and a rise in the demands for data services at the initial stage of the lockdown.
“We got a decline in the second quarter and a lot of pressure is being put on us to increase capital expenditure as a result of increased backhaul requirements,” he said.
Mr Ogunsanya urged telecommunications industries to live up to their key responsibility of creating the right access either through mobile broadband, fibre or wireless connectivity to improve the future trend of businesses in the country.
“We need both fibre and wireless because it’s slightly more difficult to leave fibre but easier to spread the wireless access.
“We have seen a shift from coverage and capacity to customer experience, but data requires a lot of bandwidth.
“We’re focusing more on the kind of experience we’re giving our customers,” he said.
Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the commission, Mr Umar Danbatta, noted that “We will create additional areas of investments with the opening of new spectrum, especially for broadband deployment in both urban and rural areas, and facilitate fibre deployment through initiatives such as the information communication.
“NCC is committed to the provision of infrastructure, transparency and ease of doing business in Nigeria,” he said.
Mr Danbatta, represented by Mr Babagana Digima, Head, Digital Economy Department, NCC, added that some operators had reported an increase in data usage and volume of calls.
This had, in turn, raised the demands for better network connectivity and improved internet coverage, especially in the rural areas, he said.
He said that the telecommunications industry was committed to the delivery of better service and internet infrastructure that would provide quality service and experience as well as address customers’ complaints.
“Some of the complaints raised by the customers during the pandemic were attributed to poor mobile network signals’ absorption and low internet speed.
“The immense contribution of the telecommunications industry during this pandemic is undoubted because it has managed to keep people connected, informed, entertained and enlightened about the disease which has helped in curtailing its spread.
“Governments worldwide, especially in developing countries like ours, have since recognised the need for telecommunications’ infrastructure.
“The pandemic has laid bare the urgency of such interventions,” he said.
Also, Mrs Bisi Adeyemi, the Deputy President of NBCC, stressed the importance of the telecommunications industry on small businesses due to the evidence of more reliance on data and voice connectivity.
“People across the world have had to rely on technology to deal with the new realities of working from home.
“It has, therefore, become necessary to evaluate the impact of the industry on creating an enabling business environment and economic growth,” she said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Despite signs that Nigeria’s headline inflation is easing, rising food prices continue to threaten the country’s inflation outlook, the chief executive of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Mr Muda Yusuf, has warned.
He noted that structural inflationary pressures in the real economy remain pronounced despite improving macroeconomic stability.
In a policy brief released following the inflation report, he noted that headline inflation eased marginally, while month-on-month change moderated from 1.75 per cent to 1.66 per cent, indicating that headline inflation has largely plateaued.
According to him, the dominant concern in the latest inflation report is the renewed acceleration in food inflation.
This growth, he said, suggested that food prices have resumed an upward trajectory after a brief period of moderation.
Warning that a renewed increase in food inflation has significant economic and social implications, he stressed that food inflation remained the biggest driver of Nigeria’s cost-of-living crisis, stressing that rising food prices continue to erode household purchasing power, worsen poverty and food insecurity while weakening the inclusiveness of the current reform programme.
He maintained that sustained moderation in food prices is critical to improving citizens’ welfare and strengthening public confidence in the ongoing economic reforms.
Acknowledging the easing of core inflation as encouraging, he drew attention to the persistence of urban inflation.
At 16.08 per cent, urban inflation exceeded the national headline inflation rate of 15.91 per cent, while month-on-month urban inflation increased from 1.99 per cent to 2.13 per cent.
According to Mr Yusuf, the figures indicated that inflationary pressures remained particularly intense across urban centres.
He attributed the rising urban inflation partly to increasing population displacement from rural communities affected by insecurity, expressing worry that as more households migrate to urban areas, demand for housing, transportation, utilities and other essential services would increase, adding to inflationary pressures and creating additional urbanisation challenges.
Addressing insecurity in farming communities, he said, was important not only for protecting lives and property and boosting agricultural output but also for easing cost pressures in urban centres, adding that the June CPI data reinforced the view that Nigeria’s inflation challenge is predominantly structural rather than monetary.
On the monetary policy outlook, he said the data do not justify further monetary tightening, arguing that headline inflation has largely stabilised.
The CPPE chief expected the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to retain the current monetary policy rate at its next meeting, adding that the priority is for monetary and fiscal authorities to work together to accelerate structural reforms to expand food supply, improve logistics, reduce energy and production costs, lower debt service costs, as well as strengthen domestic value chains.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Additional shares of Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc have been listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
The new equities were added to the company’s existing stocks on Customs Street on Thursday, July 16, 2026, a notice from the bourse confirmed.
Business Post reports the total new ordinary shares of Sterling Holdings listed yesterday were 13,812,239,000 units.
They were from the offer for subscription of 12,581,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each sold for N7.00 per share, which was oversubscribed by investors.
The financial institution brought the new shares to the stock exchange to increase its total issued and fully paid-up shares to 65,929,251,414 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each from 52,117,012,414 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.
“Trading licence holders are hereby notified that an additional 13,812,239,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc were on Thursday, July 16, 2026, listed on the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange Limited.
“The additional shares listed on NGX arose from the company’s offer for subscription of 12,581,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N7.00 per share.
“With the listing of the additional shares, the total issued and fully paid-up shares of Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc have now increased from 52,117,012,414 to 65,929,251,414 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each,” the notice read.
By Adedapo Adesanya
President Bola Tinubu has signed a Presidential Executive Order on Virtual Assets Coordination, establishing a new framework to coordinate the regulation of virtual assets across government agencies as Nigeria seeks to curb fraud while supporting innovation in the digital economy.
The Executive Order, which takes immediate effect, creates a Virtual Asset Council chaired by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to harmonise oversight of cryptocurrencies, tokenised assets, stablecoins, and other digital assets without creating a new regulator.
As part of the new framework, the CBN will establish a regulatory sandbox that will allow eligible firms to test virtual asset products, blockchain solutions, and related services under regulatory supervision before they are introduced to the wider market.
The development was disclosed in a statement issued on Friday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga.
According to the presidency, the Executive Order responds to the growing complexity of virtual assets, which increasingly cut across the traditional boundaries of currencies, securities, commodities, and payment systems.
The fragmented regulatory environment has left gaps that have exposed Nigeria to money laundering, terrorism financing, cybersecurity and data privacy risks, fraud, and revenue losses.
The government said some unregistered operators have exploited these regulatory gaps to defraud unsuspecting Nigerians, resulting in significant financial losses.
“The Order is designed to close these gaps through supervisory coordination, without introducing new layers of regulation or displacing the mandates of existing agencies,” the statement read.
Under the new framework, the Virtual Asset Council will be chaired by the CBN, with the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) serving as vice chairs. Other members include the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
The Council will provide policy direction, improve cooperation among participating agencies, and work with the Attorney General of the Federation to develop a harmonised legal and institutional framework for the sector.
The Executive Order also establishes a Virtual Asset Office, which will serve as the Council’s operational arm. The office will be domiciled at the CBN and will coordinate information sharing, applications, and reporting among the participating agencies through a shared supervisory technology platform.
The presidency stressed that the Executive Order does not create a new regulator or transfer statutory powers from existing agencies, clarifying that instead, each institution will continue to exercise its existing mandate while working within a coordinated framework.
Under the arrangement, registration of virtual asset businesses will depend on the nature of the service being offered.
Activities classified as securities will continue to be regulated by the SEC, while payment, settlement, custody, and other services involving non-security virtual assets will fall under the CBN.
Where there is uncertainty over regulatory jurisdiction, the Virtual Asset Council will determine the appropriate supervising agency.
“The sandbox will provide a controlled environment in which eligible operators can test and operate virtual asset products, services, and blockchain-based solutions under close supervision, enabling the participating agencies to assess the implications for monetary sovereignty, financial stability, market integrity, consumer protection, financial inclusion, and revenue administration before products reach the wider market,” the statement added.
According to the presidency, the sandbox will enable regulators to evaluate the implications of emerging products for financial stability, monetary sovereignty, consumer protection, financial inclusion, market integrity, and revenue administration.
The central bank is expected to announce further details of the sandbox.
