Economy
CBN Adds New Feature to Yet-to-be-Launched eNaira
By Sodeinde Temidayo David
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that the yet-to-be-launched eNaira will have a new add-on that will enable users to complete transactions with mobile phones without Internet capability.
The apex bank, in a document titled Design paper for the eNaira, disclosed that maximising the value and use cases of the nation’s digital currency would depend largely on devices with Internet capabilities.
A few months ago, the CBN said it would launch eNaira on October 1, 2021, but it later suspended this without giving a new date for the unveiling.
This digital currency, which is expected to promote the cashless policy, is expected to become operational after the central bank stopped the trading of unregulated digital currencies in the country like Bitcoin, Ethereum and others.
The eNaira is to be introduced into the country under the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), an electronic record or digital token of the local currency and is to be issued and regulated by the monetary authority.
Given the reason, the CBN noted that, “The eNaira thus risks further alienating sections of the population who are uneducated, lack exposure and access to internet services or digital devices.”
The apex bank is adding the new feature to the eNaira following a recent publication that estimated that 35 per cent or about 37.1 million of the nation’s adult population was illiterate.
To face the risk of losing adoption of the digital currency to this segment of the population, the CBN added that the bank has factored in the need for inclusiveness as part of the core design principle of the eNaira.
According to the central bank, this principle has enabled the bank to focus on simplicity and ease on the use of the e-Naira, to ensure that Nigerians without Internet-enabled phones can access the digital service.
The CBN said the eNaira would complement existing payment options available via the mobile banking apps, Point of Sale (POS) terminals, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), quick response code and Internet banking, among other channels.
GSMA, a global industry organisation that represents the interests of mobile network operators, had said in a recent report that 19 per cent of people living in Nigeria do not have access to mobile broadband coverage.
In its design paper, the central bank, in a bid to ensure inclusive access while also ensuring the integrity of the financial system, has chosen the account-based CBDC model for the eNaira.
The CBN said, “The account-based CBDC model at its core mirrors the progress made on the National Financial Inclusion Strategy which enables access to financial services by leveraging last-mile networks to identify users and to provide banking services through channels such as PoS and USSD.
“With the account-based model, the CBN seeks to enable access by leveraging the existing identity infrastructure in Nigeria such as the BVN, NIN, TIN, etc., to uniquely identify individuals and corporate entities.
“Specifically, identity frameworks such as the NIN will enable access for the financially excluded as they can be uniquely identified, thereby enabling the provision of financial services. These identity systems will help ensure a robust KYC framework positioned to enable access for all Nigerians.”
The CBN also added that this would help improve cross-border payments and address issues of dollarisation of the economy, as it could be recalled that Visa, a payments company, recently noted that the ease of operating CBDCs would determine the success of digital currencies.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Deep Offshore Oil and Gas Projects Incentives (Tax Remission) Order, 2026, approved recently by President Bola Tinubu, has been described as a landmark reform that significantly enhances Nigeria’s competitiveness for deep offshore investment and strengthens the nation’s pathway towards achieving its 3 million barrels of oil per day (MMbopd) production ambition by 2030.
The chief executive of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mr Bayo Ojulari, in a statement signed by the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPC, Mr Andy Odeh, said the development is one of the most significant policy interventions for the upstream sector in recent years.
He thanked Mr Tinubu for his relentless leadership and unwavering commitment to creating an enabling environment for investment and sustainable growth in Nigeria’s energy sector through several Presidential Executive Orders which have strengthened the nation’s oil and gas sector.
“This is a transformative reform that sends a strong signal to global investors that Nigeria is committed to providing a stable, competitive and investment-friendly environment for deep offshore development. Fiscal certainty is a critical driver of investment decisions, and this framework provides the additional clarity the industry has long sought,” he said.
“For NNPC, the order aligns directly with our strategy of protecting our existing production base, accelerating near-term growth, and attracting new investment into high-value assets. It strengthens our confidence in achieving our strategic production ambition of 3 MMbopd while creating greater value for our shareholders and the Nigerian economy,” the NNPC chief added.
Mr Ojulari noted that recent reforms across the petroleum sector have already stimulated more than $34 billion in new investment commitments, stating that the Deep Offshore Incentives Order is expected to build on that momentum by enabling timely FIDs on strategic offshore developments.
The new order establishes a transparent, predictable and globally competitive fiscal framework for qualifying greenfield deep offshore developments. It provides the certainty required to unlock long-term capital, accelerate Final Investment Decisions (FIDs), and maximise value from Nigeria’s offshore resources.
The framework, which reinforces Nigeria’s position as one of the world’s attractive destinations for deep offshore oil and gas development, is expected to unlock over $50 billion in new investments, including major projects starting with Bonga South-West, which was approved in March 2026, and the Zabazaba and Owowo Deep Offshore projects. Bonga South West is expected to be the first FID on a Nigeria deepwater Production Sharing Contract asset since 2008.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The board of Geregu Power Plc has acknowledged the concerns raised by shareholders, stakeholders, as well as regulators over the inability of the company to pay bondholders for their investment in its N40 billion bond sale.
There were reports that the power-generating organisation defaulted in repaying investors who bought its debt instrument.
In 2022, the company issued a seven-year paper to investors at a coupon of 14.5 per cent to be paid semi-annually. The note is expected to mature in July 2029. But data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange showed that there have been defaults in the 8th coupon payment and the 4th bullet principal repayment.
Reacting to the issue on Thursday, Geregu said it is actively having talks with advisers and others on ways to iron things out.
“Geregu remains actively engaged with relevant stakeholders and advisers regarding the resolution of the various challenges and is committed to achieving an orderly and mutually beneficial outcome.
“Discussions and engagements are ongoing, and the Company will continue to act in good faith in fulfilling its responsibilities,” part of the statement signed by its scribe, The Structure HQ, stated.
The firm explained that since assuming responsibility for its affairs, the current board and management have undertaken a comprehensive review and reconciliation of its transactions, liabilities, operational commitments, financing arrangements, financial obligations and related corporate documentation.
It stressed that this action was to ensure transparency, accuracy and prudent financial management, adding that it remains committed to transparency, responsible corporate governance and constructive engagement with all stakeholders.
The majority stake of Geregu Power was controlled by Mr Femi Otedola. He divested his stake in the energy firm in 2025, with the sale of 95 per cent of his shares in Amperion to MA”AM Energy.
Earlier in 2023, he sold N399 million shares of Geregu to another investor. Before then, he sold his stake in Forte Oil to invest in Geregu Power, which now has the former Governor of Zamfara State, Mr Abdulaziz Yari, as its chairman.
By Adedapo Adesanya
A former Commissioner for Insurance of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Mr Mohamed Kari, has warned the federal government to reduce its intervention in the sector’s post-recapitalisation process.
He charged the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, to ignore calls for regulatory concessions in the just-concluded insurance industry recapitalisation exercise in the country.
The call, he said, was critical, especially when the companies clamouring for such concessions were chronic defaulters whose failure or strict regulatory discipline poses absolutely zero systemic risk to the Nigerian financial system or the broader economy.
Recall that NAICOM had requested insurance companies, as part of the recapitalisation process, to transfer their entire recapitalisation funds into an escrow account with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). However, NICON Insurance and Nigeria Re, in a recent petition, had petitioned NAICOM over what they described as unlawful fees and regulatory demands arising from the implementation of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025.
Mr Kari, who was also a former chief executive of NICON Insurance and Nigeria Re, said it was globally accepted that a government may occasionally intervene to rescue or support a consequential player in the financial sector, strictly where its distress poses a genuine ‘too big to fail’ systemic risk whose collapse would trigger a wider economic catastrophe.
“However, one must examine the reality of the two institutions in question today. These are no longer the market giants they once were decades ago,” he said.
He warned that having suffered years of steep decline, loss of market share, and severe operational shrinkage, their current market footprint is virtually insignificant.
“Their failure or strict regulatory discipline poses absolutely zero systemic risk to the Nigerian financial system or the broader economy. Why then should government intervene to shield operators whose distress carries no systemic consequence whatsoever?
“Rescuing or granting regulatory concessions to insignificant, chronic defaulters cannot be justified under any sound macroeconomic policy,” he added.
“When political intervention steps in to shield such non-systemic entities from standard regulatory checks, the equilibrium of the market breaks down as it creates unfair advantage.
“Operators that meet compliance targets carry the full cost of regulatory fidelity, while non-compliant firms that secure political exemptions operate with an artificial cost advantage.
“It disincentivises real capacity building: When political lobbying becomes an alternative to recapitalisation, companies are discouraged from making the hard structural choices necessary to refine their balance sheets and operations.”
He noted that if such a concession is granted to both insurance industry players in the defunct, it “distorts investor confidence: Both domestic and international investors look for predictable, transparent environments. A playing field where rules can be bent for select players frightens away patient capital. It weakens policyholder protection.”
