The Nation Newspaper

Category: Money

  • NDIC to pay liquidation dividend to depositors of defunct Peak Merchant Bank

    NDIC to pay liquidation dividend to depositors of defunct Peak Merchant Bank

    The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has said it will pay liquidation dividends to depositors and former staff of defunct Peak Merchant Bank.

    In a statement, the NDIC said: “As the official liquidator of the failed Banks in Nigeria, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), in line with its mandate wishes to inform the depositors and ex-staff (deposits) of defunct Peak Merchant Bank that it has concluded preparations to pay their first liquidation dividend.” 

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    According to a statement  by the Director, Communication and Public Affairs, NDIC, Bashir A. Nuhu, the exercise would enable depositors of the defunct bank to cross-check and ascertain their account information as well as balances with the bank as at closure. 

    “We enjoin eligible stakeholders of the defunct bank to visit any NDIC offices or visit NDIC Website for verification of their claims, which commenced yesterday and ends October 16,” it said.

  • FirstBank offers tips on sustainable business strategy  

    FirstBank offers tips on sustainable business strategy  

    FirstBank of Nigeria has advised its corporate customers on ways to grow their businesses.

    Speaking during the  bank’s Corporate Customer Engagement Forum in Lagos, FirstBank Group Chief Executive Officer, Adesola Adeduntan, said the event was to provide   provide vital updates on developments in the financial landscape, as a mark of its commitment to putting customers at the heart of the bank’s business. 

    Adeduntan, who was represented at the event by FirstBank Group Executive, Technology, Digital Innovation  & Services, Callistus Obeta, said the event enabled the facilitators focus on topical issues and the economic outlook after 100 days of a change in government.

    “As we dive into the business, I like to mention that for the second year in a row, FirstBank has been awarded the Best Corporate Bank in Western Africa 2023 by Global Banking and Finance Awards amongst other high-profile global recognitions. Our recently released H1 2023 financials also attest to the consistent upward leap that has become a second nature to us in FirstBank, accentuating our commitment to becoming Africa’s Bank of first choice,” he said. 

    Adeduntan said the bank made an impressive, record-breaking Profit Before Tax of N188.8 billion, up 214.6 per cent y-o-y (June 2022: N60.0 billion) with Total Assets climaxing to N13.6 trillion, year to date and customers’ deposit growing to N8.8 trillion, up 26.9 per cent year to day , among several other remarkable indices.

    On her part, Head of Treasury Sales and Derivatives Marketing at FirstBank, Mrs. Adeola Abioye, advised businesses to go for long term foreign currency loans, to give them enough time to payback when the ongoing market volatility and dollar crunch improve. 

    “We also recommend that you close out existing positions that lead to losses. Those with foreign loans should seek extension of tenor and for new trades, should be long term of six months or one year.”

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    “We have seen a surge in the non-oil export, but the concentration has been on the agriculture. I think that businesses should be more more deliberate and intentional about focusing more on non-oil export.

    “The body language is that we are not going to seeing as much supplies from monetary authority as we were seeing in the past. The generation of forex supply will then lie in the market because we are not likely to be seeing the CBN playing the major role that they played in the past in providing forex.”

    “Businesses now have to get their own source of forex, and one way to do that is to be more intentional and deliberate, focusing on export business. Not just for companies that are traditionally within the export business but even for companies that are import dependent to look at export as a way of diversifying our businesses,” she said.

    Also speaking, Founder and Chief Consultant of B. Adedipe Associates Limited, ’Biodun Adedipe, said an organisation should have the ability to access quickly new funds, either to take advantage of an emerging opportunity in its market or to survive/stabilize during a crisis or major shock in its operating environment.

    Adedipe, who spoke on ‘Policy Shifts and Disruptions- What, Why and Implications’  advised business owners to be nimble, agile and responsive to the changing business environment, including the challenge of naira depreciation, petrol subsidy removal, taxation, among others. 

  • Stock Exchange eyes foreign inflows on Tinubu’s NASDAQ appearance

    Stock Exchange eyes foreign inflows on Tinubu’s NASDAQ appearance

    The Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group) Plc and other stakeholders in the Nigerian capital market have said Wednesday’s ringing of the closing bell at NASDAQ by President Bola Tinubu could boost inflows of foreign investments into the country.

    The United States Chamber of Commerce had invited Tinubu to ring the closing bell at the NASDAQ on Wednesday, September 20. The bell-ringing ceremony will take place on the sidelines of Tinubu’s participation at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

    NASDAQ-National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations, based in New York, is the most active stock trading exchange in the US by volume and is ranked second behind the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on market capitalisation.

    NGX Group yesterday stated that it was collaborating with leading capital market operators and prominent private companies to showcase the potential value in the Nigerian capital market, especially in the light of ongoing reforms by the Tinubu administration.

    NGX stated its planned non-deal roadshow alongside the NASDAQ’s bell ringing, was aimed at attracting more listings by engaging prospect companies and spotlighting them in front of international investors.

    “It will spotlight NGX, pipeline of listings and bluechip market operators. This window presents a unique opportunity to reignite the interest of foreign capital in our country, create vital partnerships, and promote increased deal flow into the capital markets,” NGX stated.

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    According to the Exchange, Stanbic IBTC Capital, CardinalStone Partners, and Chapel Hill Denham are sponsors for the roadshow, which will feature prominent private companies like Lagos Free Zone Company, Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP), Flutterwave and VFD Group.

    NGX noted that the roadshow was planned to support Tinubu administration’s efforts in reigniting renewed foreign capital interest in the Nigerian economy, thereby positioning the country for sustainable growth.

    “The non-deal roadshow would help to foster dialogue, strengthen economic ties, and enhance collaboration. The roadshow is part of the Group’s drive to support Federal Government’s agenda to elicit interest of foreign investors in the Nigerian economy. The goal is to display the robustness of the capital market and leverage the pace of reforms by the new administration of President Tinubu; enabling foreign investors recognize the value created by the changing landscape,” NGX stated.

    Other events scheduled between September 20 and 25 by NGX Group include the non-deal roadshow in New York and London organised in collaboration with Debt Management Office (DMO) to be headlined by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun; and a tech event themed “Invest in Africa’s Future” planned with the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, and Future Africa. It will be headlined by Dr Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy.

    The tech event will among other objectives explore how the newly created NGX Technology Board can support capital formation in the technology industry and provide an opportunity for US institutional investors interested in investing in Africa, to meet with prominent African venture capital firms and tech founders.

  • Afreximbank’s total assets rise to $30.1b in H1

    Afreximbank’s total assets rise to $30.1b in H1

    Total assets of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) increased by eight per cent to $30.1 billion in the first half of 2023.

    The consolidated financial statements of Afreximbank for the half year ended June 30,2023 indicated that the group’s total balance sheet size expanded by 8.0 per cent from $27.9 billion recorded by year ended December 31, 2022 to close approximately at $30.1 billion as at June 30, 2023.

    The balance sheet growth was driven by increase in loans and advances to customers, which grew by 13 per cent to $26 billion. The liquidity position remained strong at $3 billion, representing 11 per cent of total assets and achieving a liquidity coverage ratio of 310 per cent.

    Also, due to increased volume of interest-earning assets, particularly loans and advances and higher interest rates, total interest income doubled by 107.1 per cent to $1.1 billion in first half 2023 compared with $540.8 million recorded in first half in 2022.

    Net interest income rose by 76 per cent to $663.6 million, driven mainly by continuous effective management of interest expenses.  Net interest margin had improved from 3.47 per cent in first half 2022 to 4.77 per cent in first half 2023.

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    Afreximbank’s group’s shareholders’ funds rose by 7.63 per cent to $5.6 billion  in first half 2023, due partly to $261 million fresh equity contributions from existing and new shareholders who had supported group’s general capital increase exercise which aims to raise $2.6 billion paid-in equity by 2026.  The growth in shareholders’ funds was also underpinned by $125.5 million internally generated net earnings after taking into account the approved dividend and other appropriations which amounted to $209 million.

    Executive Vice President, Finance, Administration and Banking Services, Afreximbank, Mr. Denys Denya said the bank marked its 30th anniversary, which fell during the first half 2023, with a strong set of results.

    He said the results were driven largely by a focused execution of the group’s mandate as a countercyclical lender which generated increased volume of interest-earning assets, particularly loans and advances and benefited from a rising interest rate environment.

    “The bank continued to make progress on its strategy implementation, carefully balancing the need to be profitable and sustainable, while maintaining sufficient liquidity, capital, and a quality portfolio of assets,” Denya said.

    He noted that despite the continued challenges caused by the Ukraine crisis, ongoing geo-political tensions and persistently high inflation, the half-year period saw some headwinds receding, including relatively lower energy and food prices, reduced supply bottlenecks and the re-opening of China, Africa’s biggest trading partner.

    He pointed out that Global Credit Rating (GCR) and Japanese Credit Rating (JCR) respectively affirmed Afreximbank’s international scale long and short-term issuer ratings of A/A2 and A-, with a “Stable” Outlook, while Moody’s maintained the Bank’s credit rating at Baa1. In addition, African Banker recently awarded Afreximbank the 2023 African Bank of the Year and Development Finance Institution (DFI) of the Year awards in recognition of the bank’s contributions to the continent’s trade and development. 

    According to him, significant progress was made during the first half of the year with the bank’s subsidiary FEDA generating profit after only two years of operation and AfrexInsure generated premium income on assets valued at over $2 billion.

    “We began the second half of 2023 well and are confident that Afreximbank’s strong financial position will provide a solid base for the group to continue assisting its clients and African countries in expanding trade and investments, meet trade finance obligations, boost production especially of food and export value added products, as well as alleviate supply chain constraints and enable the continent to adapt sustainably to the challenging effects of climate change,” Denya said.

  • Chams HoldCo lays out roadmap to sustained growth

    Chams HoldCo lays out roadmap to sustained growth

    • Shareholders to inject more funds

    The board and management of Chams Holding Company (Chams Holdco) have outlined ongoing initiatives and strategic plans aimed at ensuring stronger and sustained growths in the years ahead.

    At an interactive session with the investing public at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), directors of Chams laid out recent achievements despite the tough operating environments, while assuring shareholders of increased return on investment.

    Group Managing Director, Chams Holding Company (Chams HoldCo) Plc, Mrs Mayowa Olaniyan, said the group would further consolidate on cost optimisation and expand product lines into new sectors through collaborations and partner banks and Fintechs in order to deepen its market share.

    She explained that the group would also embark on off-shore technology businesses and revolutionise the payment and technology industry with fast, secure, and reliable platforms.

    “We are poised for innovation that will revolutionise the payment and technology industry with fast, secure and reliable platforms. We have plans to expand product lines through collaborations and partnerships. The company will seek support from stockbrokers, NGX and advisors in assessing additional capital in tranches via right issues. This was endorsed by shareholders last year and this capital will help to reposition the company to achieve its objectives,” Olaniyan said.

    Making graphical presentation of the group’s recent outstanding financial performance, Olaniyan listed seven key recent achievements, including changing of business model to platform model, transformation into non-operating  holding structure , business expansion, development of PenCentral solution and strong financial performance among others.

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    “We possess the highest fintech license category which has changed the business model to platform model. Our non-operating HoldCo structure is cost effective. We have expanded Perso Bureau to include SIM card production. Chamsswitch has received certification by UnionPay International, the biggest card scheme.

    “We have developed PenCentral solution to resolve reconciliation problems in Pension Fund Administration (PFA) industry. Over N10 billion has been remitted seamlessly this year. We target our fintech solutions at the young ones to drive significant growth and our financial performance shows three digits,” Olaniyan said.

    Chairman, Chams Holding Company (Chams HoldCo) Plc, Sir Demola Aladekomo, said Chams had weathered the storm to come out stronger and would continue to play pivotal role in the technology space globally.

    He said the group had transited from a business-to-government model to a more sustainable direct-to-consumer model, with a view to maximising shareholder value.

    According to him, Chams’ biggest asset was its quality staff who are some of the brightest in the industry.

    He assured the Exchange and market operators of sustained interaction in the nearest future.

    Divisional Head, Capital Market, Nigerian Exchange (NGX), Mr Jude Chiemeka commended the board and management of Chams for providing an up-to-date information of the company’s financial performance, strategic and operational developments to the investing public.

    He explained that NGX had provided a fair market for trading different asset classes.

    According to him, it is part of the post listing requirements of NGX that quoted companies should provide regular information to the market as part of stakeholder engagement.

    He also noted that regular flow of information enhances price discovery.

    “Given that accurate, accessible, and timely information is essential to stimulate market activity, your continued interaction with investors and the capital market ecosystem is important to ensure reasonable flow of relevant information to the market. We anticipate that today’s interaction will be fruitful, encourage transparency, price discovery, and positively impact the overall performance of your stocks,” Chiemeka said.

    Stockbrokers lauded Chams for providing information that show direction in which the company is going.

    They urged the company to sustain the momentum in order to enable investors make informed decision on purchase and sale of its shares.

    Chams HoldCo, formerly Chams Plc, had transitioned to a holding company structure. With its subsidiaries; Chams Switch, Chams Mobile, Chams Access, and Card Centre, Chams HoldCo has evolved from the computer and hardware maintenance company that listed on NGX in 2008 to providing enterprise technology solutions in the identity management and transaction payments space to public and private sector institutions.

  • ‘Legacies of Akintola Williams in capital market’

    ‘Legacies of Akintola Williams in capital market’

    The Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group) has said the late Mr. Akintola Williams would be remembered for his several enduring legacies at the Nigerian capital market.

    Williams, the last surviving signatory to the original Memorandum and Articles of Association of the defunct Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) at the founding of the NSE on September 15, 1960, died last week, aged 104 years.

    The NGX Group, the holding company for the defunct NSE and its former subsidiaries, stated that Williams, known as Doyen of Accounting in Nigeria, dedicated his life to fostering a viable capital market. NSE became NGX Group in 2021 after its demutualisation, conversion to a share-based, profit-making company.

    The NGX noted that as a member of the National Council of the Exchange, the late Williams’ contributions significantly fostered the expansion of the Exchange’s listing portfolio as he played a pivotal role in instituting regulations that lowered the hurdles for companies seeking to be listed on the Exchange.

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    Group Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group), Mr. Oscar Onyema described the death of Williams as a profound loss for the Nigerian capital market and the nation as a whole.

    “Nigeria bids farewell to one of its most distinguished professionals and forward-thinking corporate leaders. His memory is forever etched in the history of Nigerian capital market as one of the greats. Pa Akintola Williams’ contributions to the capital market and organized private sector will remain enduring references, and we deeply appreciate his contributions.”

    “He was all about a strong ethical culture and upholding top-notch professionalism. The recent collaboration between NGX Regulations, a subsidiary of the NGX Group and Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) is a testament to the solid groundwork Pa Akintola laid in the accounting industry. His visionary leadership, standard of excellence and legacy will be cherished and upheld by all of us who had the privilege of witnessing his remarkable achievements,” Onyema said.

  • LBS prepares CEOs for emerging business trends with relaunched CEP

    LBS prepares CEOs for emerging business trends with relaunched CEP

    The Lagos Business School has relaunched its Chief Executive Programme (CEP) for Senior Business Executives to address emerging trends in today’s business world.

    The Director, Executive Education, Lagos Business School,  Victor Banjo, in his introductory remarks emphasized that, just as the business environment has evolved, so must the approach to leadership development. The way CEOs are developed must mirror this evolution. 

    It must enable people leadership practices that influences CEOs to be imaginative, open to learning and unlearning. A significant proportion of learning on this programme will come out of peer stimulated learning and the sharing of experience and stress- testing each other’s ideas.

    “Participants will learn to go beyond problem solving skills to using design-thinking to build ecosystems that harness success. Participants will learn to handle numerous inherent paradox situations that defy either/or solutions and compromises, to build on existing value streams and at the same time, find new ones thereby ensuring resilience and agility,” he said.

    Also speaking at the relaunch programme, Chief Operating Officer, Pan Atlantic University, Dr. Peter Bamkole, said the programme needed to be relaunched after 28 editions before COVID-19 to address present and emerging realities. He said the Lagos Business School Chief Executive Programme (CEP) was designed for senior business executives who are ready to accelerate their career to the highest level of leadership programme or seeking to further enhance and authenticate their leadership skills. 

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    “So, we’ve had the programme run for 28 editions before COVID, then the work of CEOs changed from what it used to be pre-COVID. Even the workforce now has to work from home, and the human resource management is also different.” 

    “There is a different way of working and the CEO must understand that. The CEO is constantly being challenged in many directions and the relaunched programme is to prepare the CEOs and Senior Business Executives for these new challenges,” Bamkole said.

    Other participants at the event such as Chief Dr. Grover Anil, MD/ CEO, Grover’s Hospital; Dapo Omolade, CEO Hybrid Group; Yemi Keru, CEO of Hecker Bella Limited, among others reiterated the impact of the programme on the growth of their companies.

    According to them, the programme provided them with the platform to network, and build on their ideas to grow their businesses ethically, profitably, competitively, and sustainably. They all agreed that successful businesses need good products, business ethics and sustainability. These are some of the knowledge and other benefits that come to participants in the programme.

    The Lagos Business School Chief Executive Programme comes in three modules namely: Authentic Leadership for Organisational Effectiveness and Competitive Advantage; Legal, Social, Political Dimensions of Business; and the Performance of Organisations. 

    The programme enables participants to anticipate risks outside formal functional boundaries and turn them into opportunities by coalescing around a common purpose agility while transforming customer experiences and building sustainable competitive advantage to deliver such experiences.

  • UBA Foundation commences 2023 National Essay Competition

    UBA Foundation commences 2023 National Essay Competition

    UBA Foundation has announced the commencement of the 2023 edition of its annual National Essay Competition (NEC) in Nigeria, with a call for entries.

    The Foundation is the corporate social responsibility arm of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc.

    Now in its 13th year, the annual National Essay Competition is part of UBA Foundation’s education initiative aimed at promoting literacy and encouraging healthy and intellectual competition amongst senior secondary school students in Nigeria and across the African continent.

    The 2023 edition promises increased participation from senior secondary school students across Nigeria as they can conveniently submit their entries from the comfort of their homes or schools through the UBA Foundation NEC digital submission portal.

    The essay topic for this year is “Will Artificial Intelligence(AI)take over Human Intelligence? what should students do to ensure AI doesn’t override but enhance their ability to learn through research?”. Students are expected to properly research, write, scan and upload their handwritten essays to the digital portal on or before October 20th, 2023.

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    The first prize winner will receive an educational grant of N5 million to study at any African university of their choice, whilst the second and third prizes now stand at N3 million and N2.5 million educational grants for any African University.

    Also, winners of the 12 best essays, will go home with brand new Laptops and other educational tools to help them with their studies and other tertiary research work.

    The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, UBA Foundation, Mrs. Bola Atta, said that with the digital submission portal, more students in senior secondary schools across the country now have the opportunity to scan and send in their entries and compete to win any of the educational grants for study at any university of their choice on the African continent.

    She said, “We have worked hard to ensure that every Nigerian high school student who wishes to, will be able to enter for the NEC 2023 and stand a chance to win a fully funded University education through the UBA Foundation.”

    “For several years, we have upgraded our processes to ensure that our UBA Foundation programmes continue to impact lives in meaningful ways. We realise that the use of technologically driven initiatives is part of modern day and we would like to reach students in their comfort zones, which is why we encourage students to submit their essays digitally.”

    She pointed out that the submissions will be evaluated by judges who are professors from reputable Nigerian Universities. The professors will select the top 12 finalists who will take home consolation prizes including personal computers. These 12 finalists will also write another supervised essay where the top three winners will be announced at the grand finale to be held in November at UBA’s head office in Lagos, Nigeria.

    The National Essay Competition has been rolled out in other African countries where UBA operates, in order to open-up the opportunity for more African children to benefit from the educational grants.

    UBA Foundation embodies the UBA Group’s CSR objectives and seeks to impact positively on societies through several laudable projects and initiatives. The Foundation through its Education pillar has donated hundreds of thousands of books to students across Africa under the ‘Read Africa’ initiative aimed at encouraging and promoting the reading culture in African youths. Its National Essay Competition has also afforded the opportunity to hundreds of students to improve their lives through higher education.

  • Unity Bank’s half-year gross earnings hit N27.5b

    Unity Bank’s half-year gross earnings hit N27.5b

    Unity Bank Plc grew its deposits to N333.38 billion, representing a marginal increase of two per cent compared to N327.42 billion recorded in H1’22 in its Half-Year unaudited financial statement submitted to the Nigeria Exchange Group Limited.

    The growth in deposits demonstrates incremental gains by the lender from its commitment to deepening its retail footprint through a well-diversified banking product suites that caters to different segments of the retail market.

    Other highlights of the unaudited financial statement include gross income and total assets which recorded N27.5 billion as against N27.4 billion and N512.1 billion from N510.1 billion respectively within the period under review. The net loans portfolio reduced significantly by 31% to N198.6Billion as at 30 June 2023 from N289.4Billion as at 31st December 2022. The Bank’s NPL Ratio remained moderate at below 3% while liquidity ratio stood strong at over 45%.

    However, the Bank’s profit for the period was impacted by foreign exchange revaluation on the back of Nigeria’s recent FX liberalization policy, resulting in a slide in our position.

    Notwithstanding, the retail lender grew its FX trading income significantly by 17% to N239.8 million from N204.4 million in the corresponding period of 2022, underscoring the Bank’s strategic focus on diversifying and growing its earnings portfolio.

    Similarly, fees and income commission also witnessed a 10% growth to N3.5 billion from N3.2 billion compared to the corresponding period of 2022, on the strength of the growing popularity of its digital banking platforms and customers’ acquisition in the retail space.

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    Commenting on the financial statements, the Managing Director/CEO of Unity Bank Plc, Mrs. Tomi Somefun noted that the significant disruptions which characterized the operating environment has impacted the positions of the Bank to the extent that we have constraints in income generation on the back of revaluation of the bank’s net foreign liabilities occasioned by the Naira devaluation during the period.

    Mrs. Tomi stated: “In the light of the prevailing FX revaluation in the financial system, what we have is a market-driven impact which is adjustable envisaged from the positive economic outcomes of the government policies in the near term. Be that as it may, the negative shareholders’ fund has improved considerably through the injection of N135billion which moderated the negative shareholders’ fund from (-ve) N275Billion in December 2022 financial year-end to (-ve) N178Billion as at the end of June 2023, after absorbing the FX revaluation loss suffered in Q2/2023. We are however, focused with clear-cut plans to close out on our recapitalization programme very soon to enable us do business as expected in the fast-growing markets in Nigeria”

    She further stated that while we remain optimistic that the government’s policy initiatives will lead to cause correction in the market, the Bank has accelerated measures to ramp up asset creation and liability generation in the short and medium term. The Bank is aggressively driving its retail growth in every segment of the market, expanding strategic partnerships; and growing commercial banking business to develop new and sustainable income lines for the Bank as well as pay sufficient attention to fast-paced process automation, cost and resource efficiency, targeted value chain relationships, and product marketing to enhance value creation in the market.

    Analysts are of the view that notwithstanding the market shocks currently being experienced, the Bank is still on course given the resilience it has demonstrated over time.

  • ABCON urges CBN to grant BDCs digital autonomy for rate convergence

    ABCON urges CBN to grant BDCs digital autonomy for rate convergence

    The Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has sought digital autonomy from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to achieve exchange rate convergence.

    In a report, ABCON President, Dr. Aminu Gwadabe, called on the apex bank to grant a ‘no objection approval’ for the BDCs to fully go digital. 

    He said the move would promote rate convergence, and curb volatility in the market.

    He said ABCON, had in the past, led its members to achieve rate convergence  in 2006, 2009, and 2018 before the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020.

    He said digital autonomy would lead to a true market rate, enhance the achievement of the Federal Government harmonised foreign exchange rate policies and promote effective monitoring of BDCs transactions.

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    He said aside providing employment for over 40,000 people, digital autonomy would usher in transparency, accountability and ease of supervision.

    “As a proactive organisation and an umbrella body of Central Bank licensed BDCs and in line with the CBN planned reforms on BDCs for tech compliance, ABCON started various digitisation reforms since 2016 to date for licensed operators,” he said.

    Gwadabe advised the CBN to diversify BDCs operation and business model from cash-based to digital payment.

    He said the naijabdcs.com platform inaugurated by ABCON in 2018 was a step by the group to digitise operations of BDCs.

    “ABCON has invested several millions of naira in IT research, developments, designs, implementations of various layers of automation on business transformation from manual to digital. Our members  now have transactions monitoring systems with installed IT office equipments and internet connections,” he said.

    “Our members now record their transactions on Amazon Web Service (AWS) online real time and  extract their daily reports for return rendition. Operators have also integrated with NIBSS, Bank Verification Number verification and validation platforms,” he said.

    The BDCs through the collaborations of ABCON and NFIU registered on the GoAML platforms and Nil-returns platform for the rendition of their suspicious and cash transactions threshold to the NFIU in compliance with their AML/CFT obligations.

    The BDCs have also complied with the appointment of Compliance Officer as directed by the CBN with members  constantly trained and retrained on regulatory compliance.