CBN earmarks over N1trn to Fund Real Sector

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has set aside over N1 trillion to promote lending to the real sector of the economy with a view to stimulating economic activities in the country. The Governor of the CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this at the 21st Seminar for Finance Correspondents and Business Editors in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, yesterday.

Mr. Emefiele who spoke through the Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu, justified the massive interventions of the apex bank in financing the real sector of the economy, saying that the current trend in global central banking has gone beyond the core functions of monetary policy management. Infrastructure interventions.

I paid Dasuki $322m from Abacha fund- Former Minister Okonjo-iweala

Former Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo Iweala yesterday said she had paid former National Security Adviser to the President, Col Sambo Dasuki (rtd) $322m (about N63billion) from recovered Abacha funds to finance military operations.

 

She was reacting to online media reports that accused her of illegally diverting the Abacha funds to the office of the former NSA. The money was returned to Nigeria in January 2015.

The statement signed by her Media Adviser, Paul C Nwabuikwu, said the attempt to link the former minister to any misuse of the funds for any purpose other than security was baseless.

Finance sector worries over rising rules violations

Stakeholders in the financial market have expressed dismay over the rate at which public companies violate extant rules of their respective regulators, thereby attracting heavy fines. According to a cross-section of key shareholders that spoke with Financial Vanguard, recklessness and carelessness on the part of companies’ chief executives that give rise to such penalties should be curtailed, or the board and management of such companies should either be sacked or be made to pay the fines instead of using shareholders’fund.

 

They said that shareholders bear the brunt of their carelessness as the company’s profit is reduced as a result and in effect lowers the dividends accruing to members of the company. Financial Vanguard investigation showed that, a total of N241.529 million was paid as fines by four banks — FCMB Group Plc, Sterling Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc and United Bank for Africa (UBA) for flouting the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directives in 2014 financial year alone.

Also, this year, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) fined 33 quoted companies N63.8 million. Their offence was reneging on their post-listing rules requirement in relation to timely submission of yearly and quarterly financial statements.

International Montary Fund to help Improve Tax System in Developing Countries

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have said they would establish an initiative to help developing countries strengthen their tax systems ahead of the Financing for Development conference scheduled in Ethiopia.

 

According to a recent joint statement carried by their official websites, the two bodies vowed to deepen the dialogue with developing countries on international tax issues with an aim to help increase their weight.

World Bank Supports Ghanaian Economy With $500m

The World Bank Group's Board of Executive Directors yesyerday approved US$150 million budget support for Ghana.

The credit from the International Development Association (IDA) supports the First Macroeconomic Stability for Competitiveness and Growth Development Policy Financing (DPF).
The first of three development policy financing operations is aimed at helping the Government of Ghana stabilize its economy and shore up fiscal control by implementing financial policies and processes that are transparent and predictable.

Technical Analysts Society of Nigeria Monthly Meeting and Training Resumes July 25th.

On behalf of the Executive committee of our society, I am pleased to announce a renewed and refined Technical Analysts Society that is committed to the ideals, objectives and mission of our parent body the International Federation of Technical Analysts (IFTA) which in part encompasses educating and disseminating the application of technical analysis of the financial markets, and also serves as central for the exchange information for all technical analysts globally for better investment decision.

Lagos city, Apapa is Dying, Ambode get to work.

They call it the cradle of Nigeria’s industralisation and also rightly, Apapa used to be a government reservation area in its true meaning. Not anymore. Apapa is today a jungle, the shame of Lagos and indeed of a nation forced into learning that transitions from one government to another can also be both painful and frustrating.

 

The chaos in Apapa was once left to the residents and the businesses there to bear but now the whole of Nigeria’s commercial capital must carry the cross.

Oil marketers warn Okonjo-Iweala of fuel scarcity

Major oil marketers have warned that fuel scarcity may linger for a while as the federal government has not paid what it owes marketers who imported fuel into the country. 

With $1.5bn capital, Nigeria’s Development Bank takes off to Revolutionise MSME financing

Nigeria, on Monday launched its National Development Bank, a $1.5bn capital wholesale finance institution which promises  – for the first time -to revolutionise financing in the Micro, Small and Medium scale Enterprise sector in the country.

Structured to be private sector led, the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) significantly de-risks the country’s MSME sectors bringing cheap, affordable lending of up to ten years tenor and about 18 months moratorium for the first time in the country.

Another exceptional feature is that as a private sector run institution, the bank would bring in corporate governance tenets, unlike what is obtainable in the existing Development Finance Institutions, (DFIs) thereby guaranteeing sustainability.

The DBN would also alongside its partners, provide hands-on business training for over one million MSMEs, making them more bankable and thus more attractive for commercial bank lending. The participating financial institutions would also benefit in the capacity building to reposition them for better MSMEs financing.