Economy
Stakeholders Hail FCMB’s Export Trade Promotion
By Dipo Olowookere
The series of customer fora organised by First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited on export trade has been described as laudable and an impressive initiative as it will go a long way to assist the growth of businesses and activities of the government, particularly in its bid to diversify the nation’s economy through the Zero-oil strategy.
The commendation came from the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammed Sanusi II, Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr Olusegun Awolowo and other stakeholders who attended the customer forum of the Bank held in Kano on January 26, 2017.
It was in collaboration with the NEPC, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and 3T Impex Trade Academy.
The forum, the fourth by the Bank in its series, was themed, “Financial Inclusion for Non-oil Exports Growth”. It was aimed at further empowering and enhancing the capacity of its customers and other stakeholders on the rudiments and benefits of export trade and how FCMB could provide support, such as direct export financing, refinancing and rediscounting of sales contracts/invoice (pre-shipment and post-shipment financing) for agro commodities, solid minerals and other non-oil resources.
Speaking at the event, Emir Sanusi urged Nigerians engaged in export trade to move beyond primary products by focusing on the exportation of processed products, which will go a long way to add value to their businesses and the country in general. He stated that, “we must realise that the era of Nigeria exporting raw agricultural and other primary products is gone.
“For us to achieve the required mileage and benefits in international trade, we must redirect our efforts on processing finished products and export these items which will earn us more revenue, build capacity and accelerate the country’s drive towards industrialisation”.
He expressed gratitude to FCMB for organising the forum in Kano, while urging exporters in the state to take advantage of the opportunity to take their businesses to the next level.
“FCMB has provided a window of opportunity for businesses in Kano through this forum. I believe the Bank will use this platform to further empower the people, businesses and the economy of the state, considering its rich history beginning as an investment Bank and the institutions impressive skills pedigree”, Emir Sanusi added.
In his speech, Mr Awolowo, who was represented by the Regional Co-ordinator, North-West of the Council, Mr Abdullahi Mamman, stated that, “the NEPC’s collaboration with FCMB will play an important role in delivering the Zero-oil plan strategy and making the non-oil export sector a significant contributor to foreign exchange earnings”.
He added that by organising the customer forum, FCMB is helping to build a higher level of engagement with exporters and other stakeholders to promote competitiveness, competence and capacity through innovative and bespoke financial solutions.
Mr Awolowo explained that the Zero-oil plan is a coherent agenda to mobilise public and private sector resources towards replacing oil as the main source of the country’s foreign exchange and revenue.
“The focus is to make the world a market place for Nigerian non-oil products. We want to grow non-oil exports from $2.7 billion (2014) to $8 billion in 2019 and eventually $25 billion by 2025. Appropriate trade financing definitely is critical in achieving this feat”, he stressed.
Commenting on the customer forum, the Executive Director, Business Development of FCMB, Mr Adam Nuru, said it is one of the various initiatives of the Bank to build the capacity and support customers to take their businesses to the next level in order to effectively leverage on available opportunities, such as those provided by financial inclusion and e-payment solutions.
He added that, ‘’this programme helps to amplify how much we value our customers. It also provides a platform for us to equally inform the Market that we are truly on ground to support government, exporters and stakeholders in their efforts towards driving and growing export trade to boost non-oil revenue and other benefits in Nigeria in a sustainable manner’’.
Mr Nuru disclosed that FCMB has various services which it provides to exporters to enable them effectively carry out their business.
These include, but are not limited to, pre-shipment and post-shipment financing, processing of payments by way of telegraphic transfer, internet banking, or other means, provision of documentary and standby letters of credit, guarantees, performance bonds, securities underwriting commitments and other forms of off balance sheet exposures, issuing bank drafts and bank cheques to exporters to facilitate trade, lending through overdraft, instalment loans, cash management and treasury services, among others.
The Executive Director urged customers of the Bank to take advantage of these services so as to be able to compete favourably globally.
He assured that, “As an inclusive lender committed to exceptional service delivery, we will continue to champion and support initiatives that will fast-track the growth of the country and by extension our customers’ businesses in line with our values as a simple, helpful and reliable financial institution’’.
First City Monument Bank (FCMB) is a member of FCMB Group Plc, which is one of the leading financial services institutions in Nigeria with subsidiaries that are market leaders in their respective segments.
Having successfully transformed to a retail and commercial banking-led group, FCMB expects to continue to distinguish itself by delivering exceptional services, while enhancing the growth and achievement of the personal and business aspirations of its customers.
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira at the two major foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday as it suffered a heavy loss against the United States Dollar at the close of transactions.
In the black market segment, the Naira weakened against its American counterpart yesterday by N10 to quote at N1,485/$1, in contrast to the N1,475/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the GTBank forex counter, it depreciated by N2 to settle at N1,467/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,465/$1.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) window, which is also the official market, the nation’s legal tender crashed against the greenback by N6.65 or 0.46 per cent to close at N1,464.49/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,457.84/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency tumbled against the Euro in the spot market by N2.25 to sell for N1,714.63/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,712.38/€1, but appreciated against the Pound Sterling by 73 Kobo to finish at N1,957.30/£1 compared with the N1,958.03/£1 it was traded in the preceding session.
The market continues to face seasonal pressure even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is still conducting FX intervention sales, which have significantly reduced but not remove pressure from the Naira. Also, there seems to be reduced supply from exporters, foreign portfolio investors and non-bank corporate inflows.
President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented the government’s N58.47 trillion budget plan aimed at consolidating economic reforms and boosting growth.
The budget is based on a projected crude oil price of $64.85 a barrel and includes a target oil output of 1.84 million barrels a day. It also projects an exchange rate of N1,400 to the Dollar.
President Tinubu said inflation had plunged to an annual rate of 14.45 per cent in November from 24.23 per cent in March, while foreign reserves had surged to a seven-year high of $47 billion.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was dominated by the bulls but it continues to face increased pressure after million in liquidations in previous session over accelerating declines, with Dogecoin (DOGE) recovering 4.2 per cent to trade at $0.1309.
Further, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $1.90, Cardano (ADA) rose by 3.5 per cent to $0.3728, Solana (SOL) jumped by 3.4 per cent to $126.23, Ethereum (ETH) climbed by 2.9 per cent to $2,982.42, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 2.0 per cent to sell for $853.06, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 1.7 per cent to $88,281.21, and Litecoin (LTC) soared by 1.2 per cent to $76.50, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude oil prices edged up on possible disruptions from a US blockade of Venezuelan tankers as the market waits for news about a possible Russia-Ukraine peace deal.
Brent futures rose 65 cents or 1.1 per cent to $60.47 per barrel while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures expanded by 51 cents or 0.9 per cent to $56.66 per barrel. Both Brent and WTI were down about 1 per cent this week after both crude benchmarks fell about 4 per cent last week.
US President Donald Trump said he was leaving the possibility of war with Venezuela on the table, noting that there would be additional seizures of oil tankers near Venezuelan waters after the US seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela last week.
The American President this week ordered a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, in the US’ latest move to increase pressure on Nicolas Maduro’s government, targeting its main source of income. The pressure campaign on President Maduro has included a ramped-up military presence in the region and more than two dozen military strikes on vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near Venezuela, which have killed at least 90 people.
President Trump has also previously said that US land strikes on the South American country will soon start.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday said that the US is not concerned about an escalation with Russia when it comes to Venezuela, as the Trump administration builds up military forces in the Caribbean.
This development comes as President Trump seeks an end to the unending war between Ukraine and Russia that is heading towards its fourth year.
European Union leaders decided on Friday to borrow cash to loan 90 billion Euros to Ukraine to fund its defense against Russia for the next two years as Russian President Vladimir Putin offered no compromise on Friday on his terms for ending the war in Ukraine and accused the European Union of attempting “daylight robbery” of Russian assets.
Ukraine, meanwhile, struck a Russian “shadow fleet” oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea with aerial drones for the first time.
Earlier this week, the US and Ukraine both signaled progress in negotiations about a peace agreement during talks in German capital city of Berlin. The US is now reportedly offering Ukraine security guarantees modeled on NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense pledge.
By Adedapo Adesanya
President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented a budget proposal of N58.47 trillion for the 2026 fiscal year titled Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity to a joint session of the National Assembly, with capital recurrent (non‑debt) expenditure standing at 15.25 trillion, and the capital expenditure at N26.08 trillion, while the crude oil benchmark was pegged at $64.85 per barrel.
Business Post reports that the Brent crude grade currently trades around $60 per barrel. It is also expected to trade at that level or lower next year over worries about oil glut.
At the budget presentation today, Mr Tinubu said the expected total revenue for the year is N34.33 trillion, and the proposal is anchored on a crude oil production of 1.84 million barrels per day, and an exchange rate of N1,400 to the US Dollar.
In terms of sectoral allocation, defence and security took the lion’s share with N5.41 trillion, followed by infrastructure at N3.56 trillion, education received N3.52 trillion, while health received N2.48 trillion.
Addressing the lawmakers, the President described the budget proposal as not “just accounting lines”.
“They are a statement of national priorities,” the president told the gathering. “We remain firmly committed to fiscal sustainability, debt transparency, and value‑for‑money spending.”
The presentation came at a time of heightened insecurity in parts of the country, with mass abductions and other crimes making headlines.
Outlining his government’s plan to address the challenge, President Tinubu reminded the gathering that security “remains the foundation of development”.
He said some of the measures in place to tame insecurity include the modernisation of the Armed Forces, intelligence‑driven policing and joint operations, border security, and technology‑enabled surveillance and community‑based peacebuilding and conflict prevention.
“We will invest in security with clear accountability for outcomes—because security spending must deliver security results,” the president said.
“To secure our country, our priority will remain on increasing the fighting capability of our armed forces and other security agencies by boosting personnel and procuring cutting-edge platforms and other hardware,” he added.
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