Economy
DLM Capital Repays N20.161bn Taken from Bond Investors
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The bond investors involved in the N25 billion CERPAC SPV securitization of DLM Capital Group have been repaid a total of N20.161 billion.
The CERPAC N25 billion Securitization Programme is a five-year bond issuance created in May 2017 when Continental Transfert Technique Limited sponsored the incorporation of the special purpose vehicle to raise funds in connection with the funding program for the purchase of current and future receivables accruing to the seller from the sale of the Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Alien Cards (CERPAC Cards) in Nigeria.
CERPAC Receivables Funding SPV is unique in the sense that the only metric that informs the success of the company is the performance of the purchased CERPAC Receivables, which in turn are used to service the SPV’s debt obligations.
In a statement from DLM Capital, it was disclosed that the redemptions of the N21.161 billion were for the discrete and series 1 bonds executed by the organisation.
Since its creation in 2017, CERPAC has had four issues: the first N4.877 billion 5-year 18.25% discrete bond due 2023, the N12.5 billion 5-year 15.25% Series 1 bond due 2023, N1.600 billion 5-year 15.5% Series 2 bond due 2023, and the N1.250 billion Series 3 bond due 2028.
In November 2019, an asset-backed commercial paper of about N2.87 billion was issued and fully repaid in June 2020, and on January 15, 2023, the discrete N4.8 billion and Series 1 N12.5 billion matured and were fully paid.
Upon the final payment of both the discrete and series 1 bonds, DLM also refunded the sum of N2.3 billion kept in the reserve accounts to Continental Transfert Techniques Limited.
Since the course of the CERPAC transaction, DLM Capital Group has raised about N23.011 billion and paid a total sum of N31.144 billion, covering both principal and coupons to date. The CERPAC Series 2 and 3 bonds will mature on July 15, 2023, and July 15, 2028, respectively.
“The current collateral cover to the remaining investors in Series 2 & 3 as of December 2022 was 34.5x, average DSCR (including principal) is approximately 4x and current credit enhancement is 64.17 per cent,” the chief executive of DLM Capital, Mr Sonnie Babatunde Ayere, said.
Speaking further, he disclosed that, “Based on these facts, the rating agencies should have re-rated the deal for an upgrade. This was the first ever SEC-approved combined offer, which allowed the SPV to issue both debt and equity at the same time and from the same prospectus to investors.
“Whilst the debt has performed fantastically well, so has the equity. The equity investment returned year-on-year an average of 55.65 per cent per annum, beating most market indices, appreciating from N50 a share to N189 a share as of December 2022.
“Finally, whilst this transaction was initially frowned upon by real money managers in 2017, we were glad to note that at final redemption, a big chunk of the paper was finally held by the funds as they had come to find comfort from its fantastic performance and transparency.”
On her part, the Managing Director of DLM Trust Company Limited, Mrs Ololade Razaaq, remarked that the receivables had posted very strong cashflows over the last decade till date.
“Since the inception of the programme, there has been no record of delinquency or default as all investors received their principal and full coupon as and when due.
“This was also the first transaction in Nigeria to provide investors with 100 per cent transparency by providing investors with detailed monthly performance reports,” she stated.
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.
