Economy
MasterCard Boosts Cashless Economy in Ghana
By Dipo Olowookere
Ghana has partnered with MasterCard to smartly integrate technology into all aspects of the economy, building for the future, a cashless Ghana, with aspirations of becoming an African economic powerhouse.
Looking globally, close to 85 percent of consumer payments are still made using cash, this is not only inefficient, but leads to the lack of transparency as well as an environment where criminal behaviour can thrive.
In Ghana, the cost of cash is making tremendous impact on growth as the shadow economy is allowed to thrive.
The ongoing Ghanaian Investment Summit focuses on key areas including financial inclusion, meaningful innovation and the importance of sectors such as agriculture. On the agenda is specific focus on the need for partnerships, across the public and private sectors.
Vice President and Area Business Head for West Africa at MasterCard, Omokehinde Adebanjo, wondered why “we talk about the Internet of Things but this can’t exist without the Inclusion of Everyone, and so we need to connect people to opportunities for better and safer lives?
“What’s stopping us is that we’re stuck in a cash-based economy which makes you vulnerable. These are the people – and businesses – who lack the financial services to guard themselves against risk, or plan their investments?”
In Ghana, 92 percent of companies registered are micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). These MSMEs have been noted to provide about 85 percent of manufacturing employment, contribute about 70 percent to Ghana’s GDP, and therefore significantly contribute towards growth by providing jobs and cash flow within the economy.
“Delivering efficient, secure and cost effective financial solutions to Ghanaian MSMEs is an essential step to providing the level of support required to grow and develop their businesses. Coupled with a high mobile penetration that is estimated to be over 128 percent – it is clear that technology will ensure Ghanaians are financially included by giving them access to smart, secure and accessible financial solutions. Allowing for a more connected way of living,” says Adebanjo.
Mastercard says it is investing in innovation, with the Mastercard Labs for Financial Inclusion situated in Sub-Saharan Africa, already this has proven valuable given that the Labs first solution – born in Africa, for African’s – is focused on supporting the agriculture sector.
The agri-app was introduced early in 2017 and focuses on providing a digital marketplace for the benefit of all those involved in the supply chain.
The solution was developed to give smallholder farmers, agents, produce aggregators, large-scale buyers and financial service providers a way to do business more efficiently and effectively.
Technology, driven by mobile devices is key to delivering not only financial access but also the ability to use these solutions in everyday life.
Masterpass QR is such a solution, it enables consumers to pay for goods and services directly from their smart or feature phones and gives business owners the ability to accept digital payments for the first time, and immediately receive funds – ensuring cash flow, record keeping and other challenges are overcome.
MSMEs have traditionally struggled with the cost of installing payment infrastructure such as point-of-sale devices, as well as with issues of security surrounding payment.
Masterpass QR combats these challenges in a simple and user-friendly manner helping to stimulate the economy by digitizing a sector previously solely dependent on cash-based transactions.
Masterpass QR has been rolled out in Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania and will soon be in a number of countries across the continent. It drives efficiency and transparency for these smaller businesses, something many business owners in Ghana are not able to achieve currently
“Ghanaians are entrepreneurial by nature, and there are incredibly exciting business ideas coming from the market. We want to help these business owners to grow and prosper by delivering solutions that meet the needs of these business owners,” she says.
“In just a few short years we’ve helped connect millions of people through partnerships with banks, governments, retailers and NGO’s. Mastercard has committed its support to helping the country to develop a cashless economy, firmly in support of Ghana’s Vision 2020 goals, and backing its push to be an economic powerhouse in Africa. This is testament to our Universal Financial Access 2020 commitment made in 2015,” concludes Adebanjo.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The domestic supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, from the Dangote Refinery increased by 64.4 percent in December 2025, contributing to an enhancement in Nigeria’s overall petrol availability.
This is according to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in its December 2025 Factsheet Report released on Thursday.
The downstream regulatory agency revealed that the private refinery raised its domestic petrol supply from 19.47 million litres per day in November 2025 to an average of 32.012 million litres per day in December, as it quelled any probable fuel scarcity associated with the festive month.
The report attributed the improvement to more substantial capacity utilisation at the Lagos-based oil facility, which reached a peak of 71 per cent in December.
The increased output from Dangote Refinery contributed to a rise in Nigeria’s total daily domestic PMS supply to 74.2 million litres in December, up from 71.5 million litres per day recorded in November.
The authority also reported a sharp increase in petrol consumption, rising to 63.7 million litres per day in December 2025, up from 52.9 million litres per day in the previous month.
In contrast, the domestic supply of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) known as diesel declined to 17.9 million litres per day in December from 20.4 million litres per day in November, even as daily diesel consumption increased to 16.4 million litres per day from 15.4 million litres per day.
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) supply recorded modest growth during the period, rising to 5.2 metric tonnes per day in December from 5.0 metric tonnes per day in November.
Despite the gains recorded by Dangote Refinery and modular refineries, the NMDPRA disclosed that Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries recorded zero production in December.
It said the Port Harcourt Refinery remained shut down, though evacuation of diesel produced before May 24, 2025, averaged 0.247 million litres per day. The Warri and Kaduna refineries also remained shut down throughout the period.
On modular refineries, the report said Waltersmith Refinery (Train 2 with 5,000 barrels per day) completed pre-commissioning in December, with hydrocarbon introduction expected in January 2026. The refinery recorded an average capacity utilisation of 63.24 per cent and an average AGO supply of 0.051 million litres per day
Edo Refinery posted an average capacity utilisation of 85.43 per cent with AGO supply of 0.052 million litres per day, while Aradel recorded 53.89 per cent utilisation and supplied an average of 0.289 million litres per day of AGO.
Total AGO supply from the three modular refineries averaged 0.392 million litres per day, with other products including naphtha, heavy hydrocarbon kerosene (HHK), fuel oil, and marine diesel oil (MDO).
The report listed Nigeria’s 2025 daily consumption benchmarks as 50 million litres per day for petrol, 14 million litres per day for diesel, 3 million litres per day for aviation fuel (ATK), and 3,900 metric tonnes per day for cooking gas.
Actual daily truck-out consumption in December stood at 63.7 million litres per day for petrol, 16.4 million litres per day for diesel, 2.7 million litres per day for ATK and 4,380 metric tonnes per day for cooking gas.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has introduced a comprehensive revision of minimum capital requirements for nearly all capital market operators, marking the most significant overhaul since 2015.
The changes, outlined in a circular issued on January 16, 2026, obtained from its website on Friday, replace the previous regime. Operators have been given until June 30, 2027, to comply.
The SEC stated that the reforms aim to strengthen market resilience, enhance investor protection, discourage undercapitalised operators, and align capital adequacy with the evolving risk profile of market activities.
According to the circular, “The revised framework applies to brokers, dealers, fund managers, issuing houses, fintech firms, digital asset operators, and market infrastructure providers.”
Some of the key highlights of the new reforms include increment of minimum capital for brokers from N200 million to N600 million while for dealers, it was raised to N1 billion from N100 million.
For broker-dealers, they are to get N2 billion instead of the previous N300 million, reflecting multi-role exposure across trading, execution, and margin lending.
The agency said fund and portfolio managers with assets above N20 billion must hold N5 billion, while mid-tier managers must maintain N2 billion with private equity and venture capital firms to have N500 million and N200 million, respectively.
There was also dynamic rule as firms managing assets above N100 billion must hold at least 10 per cent of assets under management as capital.
“Digital asset firms, previously in a regulatory grey area, are now fully covered: digital exchanges and custodians must maintain N2 billion each, while tokenisation platforms and intermediaries face thresholds of N500 million to N1 billion. Robo-advisers must hold N100 million.
“Other segments are also affected: issuing houses offering full underwriting services must hold N7 billion, advisory-only firms N2 billion, registrars N2.5 billion, trustees N2 billion, underwriters N5 billion, and individual investment advisers N10 million. Market infrastructure providers carry some of the highest obligations, with composite exchanges and central counterparties required to maintain N10 billion each, and clearinghouses N5 billion,” the SEC added.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The founder and chief executive of Austin Laz and Company Plc, Mr Asimonye Austin Lazarus Azubuike, has sold off about 52.24 million shares of the organisation.
The stocks were offloaded in 11 tranches at an average price of N4.36 per unit, amounting to about N227.8 million.
The transactions occurred between December 2025 and January 2026, according to a notice filed by the company to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday.
Business Post reports that Austin Laz is known for producing ice block machines, aluminium roofing, thermoplastics coolers, PVC windows and doors, ice cream machines, and disposable plates.
The firm evolved from refrigeration sales to diverse manufacturing since its incorporation in 1982 in Benin City, Edo State, though facing recent operational halts.
According to the statement signed by company secretary, Ifeanyi Offor & Associates, Mr Azubuike first sold 1.5 million units of the equities at N2.42, and then offloaded 2.4 million units at N2.65, and 2.0 million units at N2.65.
In another tranche, he sold another 2.0 million units at a unit price of N2.91, and then 5.0 million units at N3.52, as well as about 4.5 million at N3.87 per share.
It was further disclosed that the owner of the company also sold 9.0 million shares at N4.25, and offloaded another 368,411 units at N4.66, then in another transaction sold about 6.9 million units at N4.67.
In the last two transactions he carried out, Mr Azubuike first traded 10.0 million units equities at N5.13, with the last being 8.5 million stocks sold at N5.64 per unit.
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