Economy
Mobile Transactions in Nigeria Rise 384% to N1.4tr in Seven Months
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of financial transactions carried out via mobile transactions amounted to N1.4 trillion from January to July 2020 as more Nigerians had to use the medium due to the limitations brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.
The figure indicated a 384 per cent rise compared to N289 billion recorded in the same period of 2019.
According to the e-payment data released by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS), the amount transferred through mobile platforms in the last seven months has surpassed the total value of mobile transfers recorded in the 12 months of 2019, which stood at N828 billion.
NIBSS revealed that the volume of the mobile interscheme transactions also rose by 485 per cent from 10.9 million recorded between January and July 2019 to 63.8 million in the same period of 2020.
In a breakdown of the seven months figures, the financial body disclosed that the sum of N133.2 billion was transferred via mobile in January this year.
In February, transactions worth N148.3 billion were carried out, while in March, a total of N169.8 billion was recorded as mobile transfers.
In April, a total of N172 billion was transferred over mobile, while the figure stood at 230.2 billion in May.
The steady rise continued well into June and July as they rose to N245.9 billion and N275 billion respectively. This means July has recorded the highest transactional value so far.
The NIBSS data showed that electronic payments through the various platforms made available by banks and facilitated by system sustained their gains in the period under review. For instance, transactions over Point of Sales (PoS) rose by 41 per cent as the value of transactions on the platform across the country stood at N2.4 trillion in the seven months, compared with N1.7 trillion recorded in the same period of last year.
The NIBSS data showed that in January 2020, N313.4 billion worth of transactions were carried out over the PoS, an amount which is 41 per cent higher than the N222.9 billion recorded in January 2019.
In February 2020, the value grew by 69 per cent from N193.4 billion in 2019 to N326.0 billion. In March 2020, N368.9 billion worth of transactions were conducted, an amount which is 70 per cent higher than the N217.5 billion recorded in 2019.
By April, the value of transaction declined slightly to N272 billion, this was, however, higher than the N246 billion recorded in April 2019 by 11 per cent.
This changed in May as transactions worth N358 billion was recorded, a 39 per cent growth over N257.7 billion recorded in the same period last year.
The value of PoS transactions in June stood at N364.7 billion, which was 48 per cent higher than N245.9 billion recorded in June 2019. In July, the value jumped to N416.7 billion, a 49 per cent growth over N279.5 billion recorded in the same period last year.
In terms of volume of transactions, the e-payment platform also recorded 46.9 per cent increase as the volume of the PoS transactions for the seven months stood at 332 million compared with 226 million recorded in the same period of last year.
Analysis of the monthly volume showed that in January, the total volume of PoS payments was 41.30 million; 46.07 million in February and 52.25 million in March 2020. In April, the volume dropped to 40.8 million while it increased to 48.3 million in May. By June, the transaction volume rose to 49.4 million, while 53.9 million was recorded in July.
Out of a total of 548,592 terminals registered by Nigerian banks, only 360,534 had been actively deployed for use as of July, NIBSS data showed. This indicated that 188,058 PoS terminals were inactive.
By Dipo Olowookere
The decision of investors to book profit after the previous session’s gains pulled back Customs Street by 0.09 per cent on Thursday.
The selling pressure was mainly on BUA Cement, which put the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited off-balance during the session.
Analysis of the trading data showed that the industrial goods sector was the sole decliner, losing 2.85 per cent, as a result of the poor performance of BUA Cement at the market yesterday.
The other key sectors of the bourse were bullish, with the banking space up by 2.87 per cent. The consumer goods index appreciated by 0.30 per cent, the insurance counter improved by 0.16 per cent, and the energy segment rose by 0.08 per cent.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 221.14 points to 242,145.61 points from 242,366.75 points, and the market capitalisation decreased by N32 billion to N156.207 trillion from N156.239 trillion.
Eunisell crashed by 10.00 per cent to N189.00, BUA Cement lost 9.99 per cent to quote at N275.60, CAP declined by 9.61 per cent to N142.45, Royal Exchange slipped by 9.55 per cent to N1.42, and Guinea Insurance tumbled by 5.38 per cent to 88 Kobo.
Conversely, First Holdco soared by 9.96 per cent to N87.25, McNichols gained 8.00 per cent to trade at N5.40, UBA appreciated by 7.93 per cent to N44.25, Veritas Kapital jumped by 6.85 per cent to N1.56, and Jaiz Bank chalked up 4.07 per cent to settle at N8.95.
It was observed that the market breadth index was positive after the exchange closed the session with 22 price losers and 27 price gainers, representing strong investor sentiment.
A total of 498.5 million shares valued at N34.9 billion were traded in 39,484 deals on Thursday, in contrast to the 476.3 million shares worth N29.6 billion transacted in 40,992 deals on Wednesday. This indicated that the trading volume grew by 4.66 per cent, the trading value increased by 17.91 per cent, and the number of deals depreciated by 3.68 per cent.
Japaul ended the day as the busiest equity after trading 77.7 million units for N231.5 million, Access Holdings sold 41.2 million units valued at N1.0 billion, First Holdco exchanged 38.8 million units worth N3.4 billion, UBA transacted 31.5 million units for N1.4 billion, and Fidelity Bank traded 23.8 million units worth N495.0 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices settled about 1 per cent lower on Thursday even as the Iran war escalated, with the Middle East oil producer asking Yemen’s Houthi movement to be prepared to close the Red Sea oil export route.
Brent crude futures fell by 72 cents or about 0.9 per cent to trade at $84.23 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures depreciated by 65 cents or 0.8 per cent to close at $78.95 a barrel.
Iran has instructed Yemen’s Houthi movement to stand ready to close the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the vital gateway to the Red Sea, if the US follows through on threats to strike Iranian power infrastructure.
Market analysts warned that with the Strait of Hormuz already closed, the latest threat raises the serious risk of both of the Middle East’s primary oil export routes being disrupted at the same time.
About 7.4 million barrels of petroleum transited Bab el-Mandeb per day in June, about 7 per cent of global oil output, according to Kpler data, up from 4.2 million barrels per day last year.
This week, US President Donald Trump repeated oft-stated threats to strike Iranian power plants and bridges.
According to senior Iranian sources, the Islamic Republic’s leadership has discussed the idea with Iran’s Houthi allies, with the rebel forces now awaiting definitive orders to begin targeting maritime traffic.
In a sign of escalating tensions in the region, the Houthis fired missiles at Saudi Arabia after accusing the kingdom of bombing an airport under their control on Monday, breaking a four-year truce in the conflict between the kingdom and the group.
This comes as Saudi Arabia is currently evaluating a massive infrastructure expansion to permanently upgrade the capacity of its western pipeline and terminal networks.
Any additional disruptions could force international shipping firms to redirect vessels around Africa, inflating transit costs and worsening the global energy crisis.
On Wednesday, the US struck Iran’s coastal defences and missile sites after reimposing a naval blockade of its ports, while the two countries exchanged intensified fire on Thursday, which kept pressure on prices upward.
However, weighing on prices was Iran’s release of a US citizen, which could point toward a path to avert the resumption of all-out war.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has launched a new digital platform to track every foreign exchange transaction involving Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators, marking a major step in its efforts to improve transparency and strengthen oversight of the country’s retail forex market.
In an operational guidance issued on July 15 to authorised dealer banks and licensed BDCs, the apex bank introduced the FX BDC Purchase Tracker (FXBT), a centralised electronic portal designed to monitor foreign exchange purchases by BDCs from the point of request through approval, settlement and eventual sale.
The CBN said the portal will require BDCs to upload real-time or same-day data on all FX purchases made through the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM), giving the regulator transaction-level visibility across the retail FX market.
According to the bank, the platform is designed to prevent abuse by making it easier to detect operators attempting to exceed the weekly purchase limit of $150,000, obtain allocations from multiple banks or divert foreign exchange outside approved channels.
The launch of the tracker builds on the CBN’s February policy that restored direct access for licensed BDCs to purchase foreign exchange from authorised dealer banks through the NFEM. While that policy improved access to official FX, the new platform provides the digital infrastructure to monitor how the funds are used.
Under the new framework, authorised dealer banks must conduct comprehensive Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and customer due diligence checks before selling foreign exchange to any BDC.
The new guideline also says banks must verify beneficial ownership information, retain incorporation documents and carry out enhanced due diligence for higher-risk operators. Any BDC that fails these checks will not be allowed to access official foreign exchange.
The guidance also requires banks to acknowledge BDC purchase requests submitted through the FXBT portal within two business hours and immediately notify operators whether their requests have been approved or rejected.
To discourage speculation, the CBN directed that any forex purchased through the NFEM but left unused must be sold back into the market within 24 hours after the expiration of the utilisation period. BDCs are also required to disclose any previously unused balances when submitting fresh requests.
In addition, all foreign exchange transactions between banks, BDCs and customers must be settled through registered accounts with licensed financial institutions. Third-party transactions are prohibited, and any transfer outside a BDC’s registered settlement account will be treated as a regulatory violation.
The apex bank also said all authorised dealer banks and licensed BDCs are expected to comply with the new regulatory guidance and operational procedures with immediate effect.
