Economy

CIBN, CBN Carry out Survey to Legalise Bitcoin in Nigeria

Published

8 years ago

14/05/2018

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) said it has partnered with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to carry out a national survey on the possible adoption of cryptocurrency in the country, especially Bitcoin, the most popular among the digital currencies in the world.

The Nigerian authorities are yet to give legal backing to the use of cryptocurrencies in the country and have warned her citizens not to be involved in transactions using digital currencies.

President of the CIBN, Mr Segun Ajibola, during a visit to the Senate President, Mr Bukola Saraki, in Abuja recently, said the survey is mainly to way the pros and cons of the system and to also fully understand how it operates.

Also during the visit, the CIBN chief said there was a need for deeper understanding of legislature in the role of the banking sector as drivers of the economy, revealing that the body would soon approach the National Assembly to amend its extant law, the CIBN Act No. 5 of 2007 so as to further strengthen its capacity to deliver on its statutory mandate.

However, he appealed to the Senate to urgently pass the Financial System Strategy (FSS 2020) Bills into law to promote financial inclusion and strengthen electronic payment system in the country.

According to Mr Ajibola, the quick passage of Nigeria International Financial Centre Bill, Financial Consumer Protection Bill, and the Electronic Transactions Bill was critical to the implementation of FSS 2020.

However, he commended the Senate led by Mr Saraki for the passage of the collateral securities into law.

He said further that the passage of 15 other major economic Bills passed to law and the review of about 50 existing extant laws showed the commitment of the Senate to the growth of the nation’s economy, which got out of recession last year.

Mr Ajibola noted that the establishment of the Collateral Registry Bill was a good one because it provides an enhanced environment for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to access credit.

In his remarks, the Senate President said the upper parliament will continue to support efforts of stakeholders to improve the economy and create more jobs for youths in the country.

“We will continue to create an enabling environment for the youth to exploit their entrepreneurial talent especially as the public sector does not have the jobs that could provide gainful employment for the youth,” Mr Saraki stated.

Also, the Senate President said there was need to deepen financial inclusion to reach the unbanked population in hard to reach areas of the country, noting that the importance of the FSS2020 Bills and observed that FSS2020 must be brought to the front burner in view of its strategic work that is important to the financial system and economic growth of Nigeria.

On the amendment of the CIBN Bill, the nation’s number three citizen said the Senate will give its full backing to the exercise.

On the pending economic bills, Mr Saraki said a small joint technical committee would be established to prioritize them for quick passage.

According to him, “The Chairman of the Committee on Banking will be on hand to facilitate a working collaboration on the critical Bills with the delegation, particularly FSS2020 High Level Legal Working Group and the FSS2020 Secretariat.”

Economy

Otedola Plans $100m Stake in Dangote Refinery Private Placement

Published

47 minutes ago

21/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigerian billionaire investor, Mr Femi Otedola, has announced plans to invest $100 million in the Dangote Refinery, which plans to list later this year.

Mr Otedola disclosed this on Wednesday after leading a delegation of top executives from First HoldCo on a visit to the Dangote refinery.

“On a personal note, I’ve appealed to him (Aliko Dangote). I’ve been here with him 25 times, so my compensation is he’s going to allocate to me shares worth $100 million in the private placement,” the billionaire said.

Mr Otedola had previously denied that he had any stake or funded the construction of a 650,000 barrels per day facility.

The announcement marks his next big move after increasing his stake in First Holdco as well as buying a $10 million property in London.

Mr Dangote last year said the refinery could sell up to 10 per cent stake in the listing, which is valued at about $5 billion. It is aiming for a valuation of up to $50 billion for Dangote refinery.

The billionaire is planning to make the IPO a cross-border listing to enable the refinery to draw investments from domestic and international investors.

Mr Dangote, this week, said the IPO is designed to democratise wealth creation and give Africans direct access to participate in the continent’s industrial transformation.

On his part, Mr Dangote, president of the Dangote Group, says the company is targeting a private placement of about $2 billion for the refinery.

While the actual date for the IPO is yet to be announced, Mr Otedola’s early investment indicates value and could spur other high-net-worth individuals to show interest.

Mr Otedola, an ally of Mr Dangote, led top executives of First HoldCo on a tour of the refinery and the fertiliser plants in the Lekki free trade zone area.

The team also visited key project sites such as the jetty, a facility built by Dangote industries to receive large vessels.

Economy

11 Plc, CSCS Drive NASD Market Higher by 0.32%

Published

3 hours ago

21/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange further chalked up 0.32 per cent on Wednesday, May 20, spurred by price appreciation in 11 Plc, and Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc.

11 Plc, which used to be known as Mobil, added N22.11 to sell at N243.21 per unit compared with the previous day’s N221.10 per unit, and CSCS Plc gained N1.19 to trade at N71.81 per share versus Tuesday’s N70.62 per share.

The growth posted by the duo raised the market capitalisation by N8.04 billion to N2.495 trillion from N2.487 trillion, and lifted the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 13.44 points to 4,171.19 points from 4,157.75 points.

Yesterday, there were two price losers, led by Nipco Plc, which shed N22.60 to close at N287.00 per unit compared with the preceding day’s N309.60 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco, which lost 84 Kobo to sell for N150.95 per share, in contrast to the N151.79 per share it was traded a day earlier.

The volume of trades recorded at midweek dipped by 99.9 per cent to 2.3 million units from 1.9 billion units, the value of transactions fell by 93.7 per cent to N334.2 million from the preceding session’s N5.3 billion, and the number of deals went down by 43.3 per cent to 34 deals from 60 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 60.9 million units exchanged for N4.1 billion.

GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.

Economy

Naira Gains 53 Kobo Against Dollar at Official FX Market

Published

4 hours ago

21/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira broke its weakening streak in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, May 20, after it appreciated against the US Dollar by 53 Kobo or 0.04 per cent to trade at N1,373.34/$1, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,373.87/$1.

The domestic currency also improved its value against the Euro in the official FX market during the midweek session by N1.99 to close at N1,592.53/€1 compared with Tuesday’s closing value of N1,594.52/€1, but depreciated against the Pound Sterling at the official FX market during the midweek session by 39 Kobo to trade at N1,840.00/£1 versus the previous day’s value of N1,839.61/£1.

Data from GTBank FX bench showed that the Naira appreciated against the Dollar yesterday by N2 to sell at N1,379/$1 versus N1,381/$1, but closed flat in the parallel market at N1,390/$1.

The performance of the local currency in the different segments of the forex market comes as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) insisted that it is no longer aggressively intervening in the foreign exchange market to defend the Naira, as it held interest rate steady despite happenings in the global economy.

Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, disclosed after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja on Wednesday that the structure of Nigeria’s foreign exchange market has changed significantly under the ongoing reforms, adding that increased market liquidity has reduced the need for heavy intervention by the CBN.

Currency traders and investors are expected to continue monitoring CBN policy direction, foreign portfolio inflows, crude oil earnings, and external reserve performance as key indicators influencing the naira’s trajectory in the coming months.

According to Mr Cardoso, the CBN will continue with its current policy direction to sustain the fight against inflation and stabilise the exchange rate.

He described exchange rate stability as the centrepiece of the apex bank’s policy toolkit and stressed the need for stronger collaboration between monetary and fiscal authorities to reduce inflationary pressures in the economy.

As for the cryptocurrency market, it was in green on Wednesday as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is delaying the launch of a recent wave of “novel ETFs,” including those that offer prediction-market style event contracts, to consider the implications of introducing the new products.

Prediction markets have become one of crypto’s hottest use cases over the past 18 months and now consistently record more than $15 billion in monthly trading volume across markets spanning from sports and elections to financial results and cultural events.

Dogecoin (DOGE) appreciated by 2.2 per cent to $0.1058, Solana (SOL) grew by 1.99 per cent to $86.42, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped 1.6 per cent to $652.01, TRON (TRX) rose by 1.4 per cent to $0.3604, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 0.8 per cent to $77,769.62, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.5 per cent to $2,135.25, and Ripple (XRP) gained 0.5 per cent to quote at $1.37.

However, Cardano (ADA) dropped 0.4 per cent to trade at $0.2490, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.