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Tag: Central Bank of Nigeria

  • IMF seeks confirmation of MPC members, CBN directors

    IMF seeks confirmation of MPC members, CBN directors

    International Monetary Fund IMF, has advised Nigeria to confirm the appointments of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) board of directors and members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). The advice was contained in the IMF Article IV Consultation with Nigeria released on Wednesday.

    A few directors of the Fund urged confirmation of the appointments of the CBN’s board of directors and members of the MPC in the interest of the economy. The directors also commended the CBN’s tightening bias in 2017, which they said, should continue until inflation is within the single digit target range.

    They recommended continued strengthening of the monetary policy framework and its transparency, with a number of directors urging consideration of a higher monetary policy rate, a symmetric application of reserve requirements, and no direct central bank financing of the economy.

    The document also raised hope on the state of the economy, but made several recommendations including need for the country to revive the non-oil sector.

    The Executive Board of the IMF which concluded the Article IV consultation with Nigeria on March 5 said the economy is exiting recession but remains vulnerable.

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-led MPC meeting planned for January 22nd and 23rd, 2018 failed to hold due to the failure of the Senate to approve nominees to replace eight members of the committee whose tenure expired last December.

    The MPC needs six members to form a quorum, with two expected to be the CBN Governor and a Deputy Governor of the apex bank.

    President Muhammadu Buhari had appointed new members for the MPC and the list of the nominees is already with the National Assembly for approval.

    In an emailed report to investors, Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismarck Rewane, confirmed that President Buhari had in October, nominated the former Executive Director of a top bank, Aisha Ahmad, as Deputy Governor of CBN to replace former Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Sarah Alade who retired last year.

    Four lecturers from National universities, including Aliyu Sanusi (Ahmadu Bello University) and Adeola Adenikinju (University of Ibadan), were also nominated by the President.

    The MPC held its sixth and final meeting for 2017 from November 20 to 21 and in line with consensus expectation, the committee members overwhelmingly kept policy rates unchanged whilst emphasising on the need to consolidate on gains in external balance and domestic price stability.

    The November meeting was held against the backdrop of moves by the apex bank to begin phasing out accommodative monetary policy put in place to sustain growth – rising commodity prices and improving domestic macroeconomic conditions anchored by recovery in external sector variables.

     

  • Reps to probe alleged loss of N2bn, $3.8m interests from sale of PHCN

    Reps to probe alleged loss of N2bn, $3.8m interests from sale of PHCN

    The House of Representatives is to investigate the alleged loss of two billion naira and 3.8 million dollars through banks’ non-payment of interests on the proceeds of the sale of PHCN successor companies.

    The decision followed the unanimous adoption of a motion by Rep. Chukwuka Onyema ( Anambra-PDP ) at the plenary on Tuesday.

    The session was presided over by the Speaker, Mr Yakubu Dogara.

    The house resolved to set up an ad hoc committee to carry out the probe and to report back to the house within six weeks for further legislative action.

    Onyema had said that the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005 unbundled the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) into 18 successor companies.

    He said the companies were six generation companies, and 12 distribution companies covering the 36 states of the federation as well as National Power Transmission Company.

    Onyema said following the divestiture of Federal Government from PHCN through privatisation, the company was divided into separate companies known as the Local Electricity Distribution Companies.

    He said the successor companies made payment to the Federal Government through Standard Chartered Bank, Fidelity Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Access Bank, FCMB, Skye Bank, Sterling Bank, Zenith Bank and Unity Bank.

    “The accrued interests due to the Federal Government to the tune of two billion naira and 3.8 million dollars were alleged to have been diverted by those banks in collaboration with officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria,’’ Onyema said.

    He pointed out that the Nigerian Constitution empowers the House to conduct investigations for the purpose of exposing corruption, inefficiency or waste in the execution or administration of laws and management of funds.

    NAN

  • CBN warns Nigerians against virtual currencies

    CBN warns Nigerians against virtual currencies

    As Nigerians continue to seek ways of making more money, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has cautioned against investments in crypto currency, maintaining that virtual currencies were not legal tender in the country.

    It identified such crypto currencies as Bit Coin, Ripples, Monero, Litecoin, Doge Coin, One Coin and exchanges such as NairaEx.

    The CBN gave the caution in statement by Mr Isaac Okorafor, Acting Director of Corporate Communications Department posted on its website.

    According to Okorafor, dealers and investors in any kind of crypto currency in Nigeria are not protected by law.

    Okoroafor said that virtual currencies were traded in exchange platforms that were unregulated all over the world.

    He also said that customers might therefore, lose money without legal redress in the event that exchanges collapse or close business.

    Crypto currency is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange that uses cryptography.

    Cryptography is the art of writing and solving codes to secure its transactions, control the creation of additional units, and to verify the transfer of assets.

    The CBN had in January 2017, issued a circular to banks and other financial institutions on virtual currency operations in the country.

  • Banks must settle customers’ complaints within 2 weeks – CBN

    Banks must settle customers’ complaints within 2 weeks – CBN

     

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed banks and other financial institutions to settle customers’ complaints on issues of overcharge, unauthorized deductions and other matters within two weeks.

    Mr Tajudeen Ahmed, the CBN Head of Complaints Management Division, made this disclosure on Thursday in Abuja.

    He said the CBN would ensure that bank customers received redress on issues of excess charges or unauthorized withdrawal.

    Ahmed reiterated the apex bank’s commitment to eradicating the culture of excess and arbitrary charges.

    According to him, the CBN has since issued a circular which could be found on the Its website showing all legitimate bank charges.

    He explained that any charge outside what is contained in the circular was not allowed and should not be charged.

    “The consumer protection department issued guidelines to banks dated August 16, 2011, directing all banks and other financial institutions to resolve all customer complaints within two weeks of receipt of that complaint.

    “Before the expiration of that complaint, the financial institution is expected to be engaging the customer on a continuous basis to update him or her on the status of the complaint.

    “If it is not resolved within the deadline given, then such a person is encouraged to draw the attention of Central Bank of Nigeria to find solution to that complaint,” he said.

    Ahmed advised customers with unresolved complaints to contact the CBN by writing to the Director Consumer Protection Department or send an email to cbd@cbn.gov.ng.

    He also advised disgruntled bank customers to visit any branch of the CBN closest to them to lay their complaints.

    “The CBN continually engages the banks to find out if their conducts and practices are fair to their customers in order to stimulate people’s confidence in the banking system.

    Read Also: Banks’ loan request from CBN hits N11.73tr

    “Non-adherence to that normally results to regulatory sanctions as the case may be,” he said.

    Ahmed faulted banks for setting a limit on ATM withdrawals to get customers to make several withdrawals to cash large sums.

    “I have also observed and noted this. Don’t forget that at the beginning, it wasn’t like this. Over time, we started having this problem.

    “One of the reasons is that the quantum of N500 denomination is much more than that of N1,000 denomination.

    “When we approached the banks about these problems, they said that the machines become easily faulty when it is set to dispense up to N30, 000 to N40, 000 units.

    “However, CBN has directed that the machines that allow payment of up to N30,000 to N50,000 should be installed.

    “This is still ongoing. The Banking and Payment Department of the CBN is championing it,” he said.

    Also, the Head of Consumer Protection Division, Mrs Hadija Kasim, said bank customers could also avoid some of these issues by inculcating the habit of cashless policy.

    She reminded the public that there were various methods to make payments rather than carrying cash.

    “Let’s not forget that ATM cards can also be used on Point of Sale (POS) terminals.

    “We are encouraging people that unless it is absolutely necessary, they should reduce the carriage of cash. Cashless transactions are more convenient, safer and you will avoid the problem of overcharges,” she said.

    Kasim also advised bank consumers to use bank transfer channels for transactions in cases where sellers do not have POS.

  • Forex: CBN intervenes in retail SMIS with $325.64m

    Forex: CBN intervenes in retail SMIS with $325.64m

    The Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN ) today intervened in the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) to the tune of $325.64 million.

    Figures obtained from the bank  showed that the amount released was for requests in the agricultural, airlines, petroleum products and raw materials and machinery sectors.

    The figures were confirmed by the bank’s Acting Director in charge of Corporate Communications, Isaac Okorafor, who noted that the continued intervention were in line with the assurances made by the Governor, Godwin Emefiele, to sustain market liquidity in order to boost production and trade.

    According to Okorafor, the feedback from the wholesale and retail segments of the Nigerian Forex markets showed that customers were satisfied with their level of access to foreign exchange. He said the degree of optimism displayed by all players underscored the fact that everyone was happy with the level of transparency in the market.

    Speaking further, Okorafor assured that, with the recession now over and foreign reserves now standing at $42 billion, the CBN had enough in its arsenal to maintain the international value of the Naira as well as guarantee access to forex by those requiring it to meet genuine needs.

    Read Also:  CBN lifts forex market with $210m

    He also reiterated that the desire of the Bank to ensure that all, particularly low end users, had access to foreign exchange to meet genuine needs prompted the Bankers’ Committee, in its first meeting of 2018, to agree to sell United States dollars to those requiring it for invisibles at the rate of N360/$1, without any commission whatsoever.

    It will be recalled that the CBN in its last SMIS, in January 2018, injected the sum of $304.4 million in the inter-bank foreign exchange market. Meanwhile, the naira exchanged at N361/$1 in the bureau de change segment of the market on Friday, February 9, 2018.

  • RIFAN begins bio metric data capturing of rice farmers in Zamfara

    RIFAN begins bio metric data capturing of rice farmers in Zamfara

    Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) in collaboration with the Project Monitoring Team of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Anchor Borrower’s Programme (ABP) has begun biometric data capturing of rice farmers.

    The Zamfara RIFAN Chairman, Alhaji Ishaq Ajiya-Anka, disclosed this in an interview in Gusau on Friday.

    He said, the data capturing was for the 2018 dry and wet seasons farming.

    Ajiya-Anka who is a member of the monitoring team, noted that the team was responsible for implementing the CBN/Anchor Borrower’s Programme in the state.

    He said the team had representatives from RIFAN and the Bank of Agriculture (BOA).

    “We have already started biometric data capturing of farmers as well as farmland mapping in Bungudu and Shinkafi LGAs of the state,’’ the official said.

    He said, the two LGAs were among the nine of the 14 LGAs of the state selected for the 2018 CBN Anchor Borrower’s Programme dry season farming in the state.

    Ajiya-Anka listed the remaining seven LGAs to include Anka, Bakura, Bungudu, Gusau, Maradun and Talata-Mafara.

    Read Also: RIFAN  begins registration of 2,000 rice farmers in Daura LGA

    He told our reporter, over 4,000 rice farmers had so far been registered in the two LGAs alone.

    “We are targeting over 60,000 farmers across the state.

    “President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 launched this programme in Kebbi State, but in Zamfara we had not participated in the programme due to some problems but now, we will participate fully.

    “We have been sensitising farmers to this programme; so all the farmers we are registering are aware of this programme and willing to participate and cooperate,’’ he said.

    Ajiya-Anka noted that farmers would be given inputs such as fertilizer, seeds, pumping machines and insecticides as well as cash, under the scheme.

    “Each farmer will be given a loan based on his production capacities.

    “We have already made arrangements with anchors who will buy the rice and process it when farmers harvest their produce,’’ he said.

    He hailed the Federal Government for introducing Anchor Borrower’s Programme through CBN, saying that it had improved rice production in the country.

    NAN

     

  • RIFAN begins registration of 2,000 rice farmers in Daura LGA

    RIFAN begins registration of 2,000 rice farmers in Daura LGA

    Daura Local Government chapter of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria ( RIFAN ) has commenced the registration of 2,000 large scale rice farmers under the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN ) Anchor Borrowers’ Programme.

    Alhaji Nura Baure, the Chairman of the Association, made the disclosure in an interview in Daura on Monday.

    He said that under the large scale farming scheme, the farmers would be provided with sufficient farming inputs including fertiliser, insecticides, water pumping machines, seedlings and cash, to ensure bumper harvest.

    Baure assured that the distribution of the implements and disbursement of cash to the registered large scale farmers would begin by the end of February.

    Read also: RIFAN seeks collaboration with African countries on rice production

    According to the Daura RIFAN chief, the association will be more meticulous in the registration of members in the council area, as only genuine farmers will be registered.

    He said that so far, 300 women have been registered for the large scale farming programme, adding, “we recorded significant improvement this time, as only 20 women keyed into the Small Scale Farming Borrowers’ Programme in 2017.”

    Baure said that 500 metric tons of rice was harvested in the last cropping season under the Small Scale Anchor Borrowers’ Programme.

    He said that about 40 per cent of beneficiaries of first tranche disbursement under the small scale farming programme had repaid their loans.

    The chairman lauded the Federal and Katsina State Governments, for awarding the reconstruction and renovation of the Sabke Dam in Mai’ adua Local Government Area and that of Dabiram Dam in Daura Local Government.

    Sabke dam will produce 31.6 million litres of water while that of Dabiram will have 15 million litres

    1,500 farmers in the area benefited from the CBN Anchor Borrowers’ agricultural programme in 2017.

    NAN

  • Deferred constitution of MPC may hurt economy, says LCCI

    The economy may suffer investment hurt if the Senate continues to defer the full constitution of the Monetary Policy Council (MPC), the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has warned.

    It said the non-confirmation of remaining eight members of the 12-man council, which caused the postponement of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s first Monetary Policy Committee meeting, could attract adverse consequences to the economy.

    At the chamber’s first briefing on  how the economy is fairing in Lagos,  its President, Babatunde Ruwase said the relevance of the MPC in determining interest rate and other economic indices was more  essential than political tussle straining the council’s efficiency.

    “The MPC has the mandate to review economic and financial conditions in the economy; determine appropriate stance of policy in the short to medium term; review regularly, the CBN monetary policy framework and adopt changes when necessary. The failure of MPC to meet as schedule has adverse implications for stakeholders in the financial sector and the economy in general. We call on the Presidency and the Senate to speedily resolve their differences in the interest of recovery and growth of our economy,” he said.

    Reviewing issues ranging from foreign exchange market, inflation, interest rate, foreign reserve, capital market, recurring fuel crisis, power situation and security among others, he said access to funding remained narrow for many domestic investors and private sector players, especially the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), noting that the commercial banks unfriendly lending rate was  still pegged between 20 and 35 per cent.

    Despite fragile economic growth backed by the  appreciation in crude oil price, oil output and better liquidity in the forex market, Ruwase believed the growth could only be sustained by job creating and socially inclusive initiatives.

    This, according to him, will spur backward integration while improving patronage of made in Nigeria products.

    “Beyond the GDP numbers, we have to contend with the challenges of unemployment, which was at 18.8  per cent in the third quarter of 2017, translating to 16 million unemployed people,” he said.

    The chamber also raised concerns over the reluctance of government to liberalise the petroleum sector, highlighting the concentration of petroleum products supply in the NNPC.

    The model of managing the downstream petroleum sector, he added, was not sustainable as it was at variance with the administration’s drive to diversify the economy.

    “The weak compliance with the regulated price of PMS in parts of the country is largely a symptom of much deeper problems and distortions in the petroleum products supply chain.  The government needs to urgently liberalise the downstream petroleum sector for unfettered private sector participation and investment, subject of course, to an appropriate regulatory framework.

  • Court orders CBN, three other banks to disclose ABU’s credit balance

    Court orders CBN, three other banks to disclose ABU’s credit balance

    The National Industrial Court, Abuja, on Monday ordered four banks to within 14 days disclose the balance standing of all accounts operated by the Ahmadu Bello University ( ABU ) Zaria.

    The listed banks are:  Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), First Bank Nigeria Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, and ABU Microfinance Bank (Main and Kongo Campuses).

    The judge, Justice Rakiya Haastrup, made the order while ruling on a motion ex-parte, filed by 110 staff of the university, wrongly sacked by the authority of the institution.

    The motion was brought pursuant to Order 51 of the Rules of the Court and Section 83 of the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act, CAP.407, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

    “The court has scrutinised this application and therefore holds that the prayers of the applicant/judgment creditors remain valid. The three prayers are hereby granted.

    “All the named garnishee banks are ordered to file and serve on the applicant/judgment creditor, sworn affidavit disclosing the balance standing to the respondent/judgment debtors’ account maintained with the garnishees.

    Read also: 5 banks  hit new highs as equities’ return rises to N1.84tr

    “They should show cause why the amounts standing to the credit of the debtors should not be used to satisfy the judgment debt within 14 days from the date of receipt of the order’’, she said.

    The judge also made an order mandating the attachment of the amount standing to the credit of the respondents/judgment debtors with the garnishees in favour of the judgment creditor.

    According to her, the exhibition of the outstanding amount is necessary in order to satisfy the judgment debt owed by virtue of Justice P.O. Lifu’s judgment delivered on November 30, 2015.

    Haastrup also made an order, directing the banks to show cause why they should not pay the N2.5 billion plus Claimant/Judgment Creditors Salaries from July 2016 to date.

    She held that the amount to be paid included 10 per cent interest awarded the applicant/judgment creditors in the judgment as outstanding salaries and other emoluments.

    The court also granted leave to the applicant/judgment creditors to serve the court order and other processes in the case on the garnishee banks by service at their Regional Headquarters in Abuja.

    The court, had in November 2017 struck out a motion of stay of execution, filed by the university to stall the payment of the amount.

    Haastrup, in her ruling, maintained that the motion was “not competent, lacking in merit and therefore refused to grant it.

    Haastrup said the application had not shown any exceptional circumstances to justify that the institution had no resources to pay the amount ordered by the court on November 30, 2015.

    The application had indicated that the defendants lacked the resources to settle the workers and would be financially crippled if allowed to pay the estranged workers the said sum.

    The 110 workers, whose appointments were terminated in 1996, had dragged the university to court, claiming they were wrongly terminated.

    They joined the Minister of Education, the Attorney-General of the Federation, and the Minister of Justice, as co-defendants in the suit.

    The court, on November 30, 2015, ruled in favour of the workers, ordering the university to reinstate them and pay their entitlements.

    The university is yet to comply with the orders, which has necessitated this latest applicant seeking the garnishing of the institution’s bank accounts with the above four banks.

    The judge has fixed Feb.22, for the hearing of the substantive application.

    NAN

  • Achieving financial inclusion in Nigeria

    Despite the excitement of The Central Bank of Nigeria whose positively increasing year-on-year statistics papers over the gaping gaps of lethargy and underachievement in the financial inclusion agenda of the Federal Government of Nigeria, critical stakeholders with different levels of vested interest in the agenda knows the uncomfortable truth, financial inclusion has not even stirred in Nigeria. Banks have stopped the proliferation of their branches, scrutinising each venture for return on investment.

    While usage of electronic payments channels has improved from 22% of the adult population in 2014 to 24.7% in 2016, this is still relatively low.

    However, eight years after the introduction of Mobile Money in Nigeria, the ‘something’ has yet to give and there is a danger that it would take a bit more time to give if the regulators, MMOs, payment service providers continue with business as usual. The truth is that for all the fancy theories propounded for financial inclusion, all the phenomenal assumptions made of mobile money and voluminous papers written about its capacity to drive the country from the doldrums of economic lassitude to the exhilarating heights of economic virility, there is a much simpler, yet practical imperative, Financial Inclusion Agenda needs a whole lot of help.

    Mr. Samuel Oladimeji, The MD/CEO of Fortis Money, a leading Mobile Money Operator in Abuja, was categorical when he stated in an interview that the monies outside the banking system is enough to revamp the ailing economy.

    However, these theories were based on a set of heavy assumptions. The first of the assumption which has proven to be erroneous was that 80% of the Nigerian population has mobile phones, with Nigeria Communications Commission citing over 150 million mobile subscribers.

    The second faulty assumption was that the rural unbanked and the excluded will wholeheartedly embrace the mobile money proposition and digital finance innovations, abandoning their traditional systems.

    The enormous population of Nigeria and its latent yet palpable potential has been taken for granted. Scalability is thereby taken as a given. A country with close to 200 million people could achieve great mileage with just 30% of the population. That is four times more that the Kenyan population and over ten times the population of Zimbabwe, the two mobile money success stories in a continent that is sorely lacking many. If anything, gleaning from this very lean sample, mobile money could be said to be more suitable for a smaller, more compact population, at least in Africa because this postulation has already been debunked in Asia where The Philippines and Bangladesh having populations of above 100 million people have garnered relative successes.

    Then there is that frustrating knack of Nigerian MMOs and fintech entrepreneurs to always copy too well but only well enough to just leave the most important detail.

    It is unfortunate that Nigeria did not copy this too well. The Super Agency proposition is laughable as MMOs were more interested in showing the super agents who is in charge than in crafting a vibrant attractive proposition that will give the super agents more responsibilities that will make them take ownership of the business. Therefore, the strategy towards the recruitment of super agents by MMOs in Nigeria resorted to the scatter-gun approach, lacking in any deliberation and direction, and most eminently full of vain hope.

    According to the CBN, Nigeria is yet to have up to 30,000 agents. Recent research says this figure has continued to drop. The number of mobile money agent networks has continued to witness drop in the past one year and stakeholders are not happy about it. According to IMF Data: Eight Annual Financial Access Survey Report, 2017 for Nigeria, mobile money agent outlets available for 100,000 adults to use is 17.53 as at the end of 2016 down from 20.82 outlets available for 100,000 adults in 2015. It is my opinion that this figure is actually worse when we factor in the number of inactive agents which often accounts for at least half the total number of registered agents in an MMO’s database.

    MMOs and Fintech companies need all the help they can get. There may be a need to pamper and protect some of them that have risked return on investment in the vigorous pursuit of the financial inclusion agenda.

    Summarily, financial inclusion will remain a pipe dream until stakeholders understand that the poor are not mere beneficiaries of their services but are critical customers with the volume to drive their business goals and thus require investments, agile strategy and deliberate action to propose that sort of value that will address their needs.

     

    • Pius is a Digital Finance professional