Economy
CryptoLocally Acquires Finance Bridge Academy
By Adedapo Adesanya
Leading decentralized Peer-to-Peer (P2P) trading platform, CryptoLocally, has announced its acquisition of Finance Bridge Academy, Africa’s fastest-growing online trading school.
With this acquisition, CryptoLocally is looking to launch the CryptoLocally African Academy free online training courses specialized for users in Africa as part of efforts to achieve financial inclusion by allowing their users to learn more about cryptocurrencies and crypto trading.
CryptoLocally is one of the leading P2P trading platforms in the industry which supports over 50 cryptocurrencies.
It is regarded as the first true decentralized P2P exchange powered by their native GIV tokens and the first to integrate DeFi functionality into their ecosystem with its Finance Wallet.
Finance Bridge Academy is a strategic trading and investment education company with over six years of experience trading in the financial markets.
It has been providing paid trading courses for Africans, mostly in Nigeria and Ghana, educating them on how to get more out of trading this new asset class. Now integrated into CryptoLocally’s ecosystem, these paid online courses are available for free for all registered users on their P2P platform.
The launch of the CryptoLocally African Academy highlights its continuous effort for cryptocurrency’s mass adoption and to promote free cryptocurrency literacy in Africa.
This acquisition opens the door to more courses in the future for other African jurisdictions and other regions globally, especially in Asia. It is the first step to a larger international crypto academy.
CryptoLocally is starting its education program with a focus on Africa because traditional financial institutions have failed to provide financial services to the masses. Their antiquated and often unfair banking practices are designed to protect the interest of the privileged few.
Speaking on this new development, the co-founder of CryptoLocally, Mr Hugo Campanella, said, “Africa is home to millions of tech-savvy youth who are very eager and receptive to technological innovations, especially for innovations that may give them the opportunity to achieve financial freedom and stability.”
“Needing and eager to learn, they are the perfect demographic to introduce this burgeoning asset class that will revolutionize financial services in the near future and step towards a more equitable financial system in the region,” he added.
CryptoLocally’s acquisition is expected to bolster the impressive crypto flow involved in Africa. In the last five years, Nigeria traded $566 million worth of Bitcoin which is the second-largest volume in the world.
Nigeria’s Bitcoin trade traffic increased at least 19 per cent annually since 2017. As for Africa as a whole, the monthly crypto transfers to and from Africa under $10,000 increased by 55 per cent the past year, indicating that cryptocurrency is being increasingly relied on as a financial asset, and potentially, a store of value (DW).
Previously, CryptoLocally announced their first incubation project with GemsLab, a game studio based in Africa, Ghana. The game studio specializes in developing simple, exciting, and easy-to-learn blockchain-based games with the purpose of introducing crypto and blockchain to the masses via its games.
CryptoLocally is strengthening its position in Africa which has been identified by many pundits and industry leaders as one of the regions that will benefit most from revolutionary technologies like crypto and blockchain.
It also represents one of the highest potential growth for cryptocurrency usage in light of its ongoing digital revolution and less than Ideal traditional financial landscape.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has defended its decision to allow Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to invest in the parent companies of their custodians, insisting that adequate safeguards are in place to protect contributors’ funds.
The director-general of the pension regulator, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, speaking on Tuesday during the Meet the Press Briefing at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the commission’s decision to relax the investment restriction followed a comprehensive risk assessment that found minimal conflict of interest.
She explained that under PenCom’s investment regulations, PFAs are only permitted to invest pension assets in carefully selected instruments that meet stringent criteria, including profitability, strong credit ratings and proven track records.
According to her, the commission regularly reviews its investment regulations, conducts routine examinations and spot checks on PFAs to ensure strict compliance with established risk management guidelines.
“PFAs cannot just go into the stock market and buy any kind of stock. There are strict guidelines. Companies must demonstrate profitability, have a proven track record and satisfy other criteria before pension funds can invest,” she said.
Ms Oloworaran noted that each PFA also operates under the oversight of a board, an investment committee and a risk management committee, providing additional layers of governance to safeguard contributors’ funds.
She said PenCom recently issued a circular allowing PFAs to invest in the parent companies of their custodians after determining that the potential conflict of interest was negligible.
The PenCom boss explained that the parent companies involved are largely Tier-1 banks, including First Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Zenith Bank, which she described as A-rated institutions with strong financial foundations.
She said the policy was intended to widen investment opportunities for pension funds without compromising safety.
Using Stanbic IBTC as an example, Ms Oloworaran explained that if its custodian is Zenith Bank, the previous restriction prevented the pension administrator from investing in Zenith Bank shares despite the bank’s strong performance.
“We reviewed the risks and any potential conflict of interest and found the risks to be very low. That is why we opened that investment window,” she said.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Analysts at Meristem Research have predicted that the inflation rate for June 2026 in Nigeria should marginally rise to 15.95 per cent on a year-on-year basis from the 15.93 per cent reported in May 2026.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is expected to release inflation numbers for last month later today, Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
In its report sighted by Business Post, Meristem Research said it expects inflationary pressures to re-emerge across key economies in the near term, as the re-escalation of the US-Iran conflict has reignited upward pressure on global oil prices.
It disclosed that this marks a sharp reversal from most of June, when the ceasefire between the two countries helped drive oil prices lower, raising expectations of some relief on the inflation front.
With conflicts now flaring up again, oil prices are likely to increase again, and the anticipated easing in energy-driven inflation may not materialise as broadly as earlier envisaged.
“Nonetheless, some relief is likely from the food segment, where robust supply conditions across major producing regions and softening demand should continue to ease food price pressures,” it stated.
The team also explained that it projected a 15.95 per cent inflation rate because of the lingering effects of persistent food price pressures.
“However, we expect core inflation to moderate as the sharp reversal in energy prices begins to filter through to transportation, distribution, and other energy-related costs, easing underlying price pressures.
“On a month-on-month basis, the combined effect of lower petrol prices, a relatively stable Naira, and the gradual pass-through of reduced energy costs across the supply chain should exert further downward pressure on inflation.
“Based on our assessment, food inflation is expected to remain the key swing factor, as seasonal pre-harvest supply constraints are likely to offset some of the gains from lower logistics costs,” it said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and Afriland Properties Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.61 per cent on Tuesday, July 14.
CSCS Plc saw its stock value drop N9.08 to close at N82.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N91.48 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc slid by 17 Kobo to sell at N15.00 per unit versus N15.70 per unit.
The losses recorded by the two securities pulled back the market capitalisation by N41.64 billion to N2.546 trillion from N2.587 trillion, and cracked the NASD Security Index (NSI) by 69.36 points to 4,242.31 points from 4,311.67 points.
It was observed that the exchange witnessed two price advancers during the session, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which gained N1.37 to end at N151.37 per share compared with the previous day’s N150.00 per share, and Food Concepts Plc chalked up 5 Kobo to settle at N2.50 per unit versus N2.45 per unit.
The volume of securities traded by market participants surged by 50.7 per cent to 13.7 million units from the previous 9.1 million units, while the value of securities went down by 79.7 per cent to N65.2 million from N320.4 million, and the number of deals crashed by 3.6 per cent to 27 deals from the previous session’s 28 deals.
At the close of transactions, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with the sale of 3.4 billion units for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc, which exchanged 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units transacted for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the trading day 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 traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
