The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Foreign

  • Foreign reserves down to $25.78b

    Foreign reserves down to $25.78b

    •Naira closes at N348.75/$ 

    The foreign exchange reserves fell to $25.78 billion as of August 16, representing 2.11 per cent plunge from a month ago, data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) data showed.

    The reserves position is expected to provide about five months import cover for the country.

    Previous data on the reserves showed that they increased marginally by $40 million in March on a 30-day moving average basis to $27.9 billion and have continued to record marginal decline till current position.

    The reserves were also at $28.33 billion at end-June 2015, compared with $34.24 billion at end-December 2014, representing a decrease of 17.3 per cent decline.

    The fall in reserves was due to the sharp decline in foreign exchange inflow from in the economy due to continuous decline in prices of crude oil in the international markets.

    The naira yesterday touched an all-time low of N365.25 to the dollar in a single interbank market trade of $1 million, but later appreciated and closed at N348.75 against the dollar, Thomson Reuters data showed.

    However, three-month non-deliverable forward contracts climbed 4.1 per cent to 364.5 versus the greenback, heading for a record close. Contracts maturing in a year rose by 3.5 per cent to N403, also a record.

    The naira has slumped 38 per cent since the CBN ended a 16-month peg of 197-199 per dollar on June 20. The International Monetary Fund forecasts a 1.8 per cent contraction of the economy this year.

    Foreign-exchange flows have been slow to trickle in to the country since the devaluation. The dollar shortage has been exacerbated by militant attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta, which have sent crude production tumbling to an almost three-decade low. Nigeria relies on oil for 90 percent of export earnings.

    The CBN has been selling dollars almost daily on the interbank market to prop up the currency. The naira plunged to a record low and forwards rose, suggesting traders expect further depreciation, as the economy faces dearth of dollars.

  • Plateau woos foreign peace mediators

    Plateau woos foreign peace mediators

    The Simon Lalong administration has engaged a Switzerland-based conflict management firm to resolve the state’s communal clashes, reports YUSUFU AMINU IDEGU

    By many people’s reckoning, Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong has done well in calming tempers in the state’s often boiling communities. Since taking office, he has dialogued with the leadership of diverse communities, urging them to ensure peace reigned. For a length of time, the state enjoyed a measure of tranquility. Yet, the governor figured there was more work to be done, necessitating the intervention of external professionals.

    The Lalong administration has engaged the services of an international conflict management organisation, Center for Humanitarian Dialogue (CHD), to resolve conflicts in the state.

    CHD was unveiled in Shendam Mini-Stadium where the pact was sealed.

    CHD is a private mediation organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland with a regional headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. Its mission is to help prevent and resolve armed conflicts through dialogue and mediation.

    The inter-communal dialogue which is expected to last for an initial period of six months will engage all the 46 communities across the six local governments of the state.

    Plateau State, like many others in the central region of Nigeria, has faced periodic inter-communal violence that has too often assumed ethno-religious dimensions, leaving many persons dead, more displaced and whole communities traumatised.

    In order to address the ethnic and religious tensions that sometimes manifest in violence, the governor had at inception of his administration in 2015 set up the Plateau State Peace Building Agency. The creation of the agency was in fulfillment of the governor’s promise to consolidate on the peace, security and good governance of the state.

    The state government acknowledges the need for an interim dialogue process to maintain the momentum gained by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (CHD) following the successful completion of a similar dialogue process in Jos City and its environs. There is a connection between the violence across Plateau State. Although there had been previous outbreaks of violence, the major inter-religious and communal clashes in Southern Plateau came on the heels of the 2001 Jos ethno-religious crisis. Ethnic and religious communities in Plateau State particularly Muslims and Christians developed a huge sense of fear and distrust between them.

    Prior outbreaks of violence in Southern Plateau revolved around clashes between farmers and grazers on, for instance, destruction of crops, stock routes, political positions and economic resources. Many of these disputes and clashes erupt on indigene-s settler dichotomy. The year 2002 was particularly dark for Southern Plateau with the crisis mainly characterised by violence in Yelwa Shendam, Wase, Langtang North and Langtang South. The crisis has left long-term scars and created “no go zones” in the communities.

    With the backing of Plateau State government and the support of the German government, CHD is set to start an inter-communal dialogue process between the  communities in Southern Plateau, for the next six months across 6 flash point LGAs of Langtang North, Langtang South, Mikang, Qua’an Pan, Shendam and Wase. The dialogue process will focus primarily on continuous causes of tension that include that of pastoralist and farmer conflicts; internally displaced persons; cross-border disputes between the LGAs; cattle rustling; land disputes; chieftaincy issues and claims; rehabilitation of damaged infrastructure and social amenities; role of government and security agencies in maintaining law and order; Youth restiveness; gun running and proliferation of arms; Representation in political positions and offices among others.

    By addressing these issues through dialogue, CHD hopes to involve the affected communities in developing collective solutions to their problems. To achieve this objective each community has selected six persons to represent it at the dialogue table. CHD completed similar dialogue processes in Dec 2014 in Jos and in Southern Kaduna in Kaduna State in March 2016.

    Chairman of the event, the Catholic Archbishop of Jos, Most Rev. Dr. Ignatius Kaigama said, “The nature of the conflict that manifested at the Southern Plateau in 2004 were that of Land ownership, cattle rustling, farmer-pastoralist conflict, ethnicity, control of political power, indigene/settler conflict, control of economic activities (especially markets) religion and criminality. However, all these causes manifest themselves in three ways namely: Religious conflict, conflict over land and farmer/pastoralist conflict. I know this because I was privileged to spent all my seminary years and early priesthood working in Southern Plateau. I have worked in Langtang North and South, Shendam and Quan-Pan LGCs for many years. In fact when the conflict in Yelwa happened, I was working in Namu, another conflict hot spot.

    He added, “Some of you may remember how even before the conflict in Yelwa, attempts were made to relocate the famous Yam market from there so as to reduce the influence of one ethnic group on it. Also, there were many cases of cases of cattle rustling or theft in Wase and Langtang South. Furthermore, many farm produce were destroyed. Crops still growing on farms were cut down and destroyed. Furthermore, houses and food stores were also burnt, I remember also a time when some youths in Namu went and poisoned a stream where Fulanis go to water their cattle so that the cattle will drink and die. All this attacks and counter-attacks, revenge mentality and hatred have divided our communities, made us enemies one to another and impoverished Southern Plateau which is supposed to be the food basket of Plateau State because most of the inhabitants here are farmers. So at the end of it all, we were the losers.

    Commenting on the effect of the prolonged conflict, Archbishop Kaigama said, “Violent conflict doesn’t bring progress and prosperity to a land. Rather, it slows progress or even takes us back many years.

    “I want to use this opportunity to thank and appreciate His Excellency, Rt. Hon. Barr. Simon Bako Lalong, the gentle and Peace-loving governor of our dear State for initiating this intervention. Coming from Ajikamai, I am sure he has also suffered the effects of all these conflicts both directly and indirectly. Most of us here may not appreciate the import and significant of what His Excellency has done. In some places, Government will prefer that conflict continues because that will help them to siphon money in the name of security vote without being accountable. Also, Government can use the excuse of conflict to abdicate its responsibility of providing social services and amenities to the people, thereby exposing citizens to more poverty. It’s therefore highly commendable that it is the Governor himself who has initiated this process. May God bless you Your Excellency.

    “I want to also appreciate the officials of Humanitarian Dialogue Germany for their courage and sacrifice, also for agreeing to steer this process. Looking at the road map, they intend to use facilitated dialogue style where they will guide us so that we find solutions to our problems, difficulties and differences by ourselves. From their careful selection of delegates, all interest groups are represented and the relevant stakeholders are carried along and included. They respect you so much and believe in your maturity and capacity to find solutions to your problems and difference through dialogue guided by maturity, respect and collaboration.

    Lalong in his remarks before signing the peace roadmap said, “Our commitment to consolidating on our peace building efforts in all parts of the state is what has led to the launching of this inter-communal dialogue in Plateau South. This is expected to last for six months. This dialogue process will not be easy, but it can be done, it has been done in societies more divided than ours.

    “My government will support the recommendation that will emanate from the dialogue provided it will lead to permanent peace in the state,” said Lalong.

  • Law Union and rock woos foreign investors for capital

    Law Union and rock woos foreign investors for capital

    Law Union and Rock Insurance Plc is wooing foreign investors to inject capital into the firm to make it be among the top five in the country, the new Chairman of the company, Remi Babalola has said.

    He made this known to reporters in Lagos.

    Babalola said the company decided to woo foreign strategic investors to improve product distribution, upgrade processes and platforms, and deepen participation in oil and gas, power and transportation segments.

    He said the outlook for the industry is positive while the company it is very bright.

    The truth is the stage at which Law Union is now, the capital is small compared to the brand value that the company has, as well as the opportunities.

    He said: “The Law Union used to be among the best five in the industry even when we had over 110 insurance companies. Now we have fewer than 50. We need to take the company to where it used to be and probably better than that and the only way we can do that is to inject capital.

    “It is to bring in skills, capacity, and technology, enhance description platform. We also want to ensure that our staffs are well trained such that they will be attracted to outsiders but we will motivate them so much that they will remain inside. The only way we can do that is by partnering with foreign strategic investors. And they are coming with non-life, reinsurance agency, and collaborations with technology companies, among others. By the time they come in, they will be significant shareholders in the company and the face of the industry will change.”

    On the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun’s call for recapitalisation, he stressed that change was inevitable in the industry and the time was right for insurance operators to grow the industry.

    “If we do not take the positioning in-house and recapitalise, external forces will take the positions for us. So shareholders are taking the right decision to recapitalise now. We must not wait until we are being forced to take the decision. We have an industry that is less than 0.4 per cent contribution to the GDP and this is not good. Even Nollywood contributes much more than that. So it’s something that the operators and regulators need to sit down and talk about the fundamental problems. Why would the insurance penetration in Benin Republic be higher than that of Nigeria? Our economy is stronger.

    “It is not because we are more religious then them, or our culture doesn’t favour sharing risk and if we say that there is recession, I think that is when people need insurance more. When there is no recession, if they steal your car you can buy another one because you have too much money to play around with, you will simply buy another one.

  • Canada slams extra 15% property tax on foreign buyers

    A new tax for foreign property buyers is being introduced in British Columbia in Canada in an attempt to cool escalating house prices.

    The 15 per cent foreign buyer tax came into effect  at a time when prices in the province’s capital city, Vancouver, are escalating.

    Indeed, the latest global cities index from international real estate firm, Knight Frank, showed that prices in the city have increased by 17.3 per cent in the mainstream market and by 26.3 per cent in the prime market in the year to March 2016.

    Policy makers have been looking at ways to cool price inflation in recent months and the new tax will relate to residential purchases in Metro Vancouver, an area that extends from Bowen Island to Maple Ridge/Langley Township.

    According to Knight Frank, in real terms the new tax will result in an extra $300,000 in property transfer tax based on a property bought for $2 million by a foreign citizen. This figure will rise to $1.5 million for a $10 million home.

    The latest government data shows foreign buyers, mainly from China, purchased more than $1 billion worth of property in British Colombia between June 10, 2016 and July 14, 2016 of which around 86 per cent was located in the Lower Mainland.

    The foreign buyer tax will also apply to corporations that purchase residential real estate and the British Columbia Government has the power to examine the citizenship status of directors and the beneficiaries of corporate profits in deciding whether to add taxes. The resulting revenue from the new tax will be spent on housing affordability projects.

    However, Knight Frank points out that some loopholes exist and details as to how it will be policed remain unclear. For example, the tax itself relies on buyers self reporting their nationality and providing a social insurance number, backed up by new auditing procedures and penalties. However,  it is unclear whether a resident with citizenship could buy a property by proxy for a family member living abroad.

    “There is no doubt that the new law will cool sales volumes and prices as foreign buyers absorb the additional cost implications. It is worth noting that the planned legislation also allows the BC cabinet to alter the foreign tax rate by between 10 per cent and 20 per cent at a later date and expand it to outside the Lower Mainland,” the firm explained.

  • Foreign investors partner Agric College on cassava production

    The Provost, Federal College of Agriculture, Akure, Dr Adeola Odedina, has said the college is partnering with foreign investors to create millions of value chain jobs in cassava production.

    Odedina spoke in Akure on Wednesday during the Cassava Adding Value for Africa Phase ll (CAVA ll) Project’s International Farmers’ Field Day.

    He said the college would support the Federal Government‘s investment in agriculture, aimed at employment generation, food security, poverty alleviation and provision of raw materials for industries.

    “We have four African countries with an investor partnering with us on Cassava Adding Value Chain for Africa phase ll (CAVA). These are Malawi, Ghana, Uganda and Tanzania and Bill Melinda Gates Foundation.

    The programme is to showcase the positive effect of best and recommended practice in cassava production enterprise”.

    Odedina said cassava national average yield is about eight to 10 tonnes per hectare with the possibility of farmers obtaining between 20 to 25 tonnes per hectare if trained. He however, said it is far below the potential of the crop if well managed.

    He projected that farmers and investors would witness unprecedented yield in cassava to as much as  60 tonnes per hectare. On how this will be achieved he said the strategy would be achieved through crop management options that are within the reach of the farmers.

    He expressed the hope that the steps being taken would lead to increase in production at low cost as well as encourage youths to embrace agriculture.

    According to him, the college is grateful to cassava Adding Value for Africa phase ll (CAVA) Project and its donors, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, for tapping into college experience in cassava sector in uplifting its project.

    He noted that the college had joined a high yielding and disease-resistant varieties with modern technology of cassava processing, which are meant for farmers and processor in Ondo State and surrounding states.

    “Over 40 per cent of 8,500 vocational training graduates in recent years have benefited from the college experience in cassava value chain opportunities, “ he noted.

    A team of delegates from Uganda led by Mr Tony Ijala, said  the new technology idea gathered in Nigeria would be fully implemented in his country.

    Noting  that the technology would improve cassava production in the east African nation.

    Ijala, who stated that Uganda has a lot of challenges which include tackling cassava diseases, added that Nigeria has always been of assistance to Uganda.

    Also, Mrs Chikumbeni Grace, who led the team from Malawi, lauded the programme and promised to take the new idea to her country.

    She expressed the hope that the new idea would assist Malawian farmers to increase their output in cassava production.

  • NAFDAC warns supermarket operators against foreign goods

    NAFDAC warns supermarket operators against foreign goods

    The National Agency for  Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned supermarket operators to adhere to the rule on foreign goods.

    Its Acting Director-General, Mrs Yetunde Oni, at a stakeholders’ forum organised by the agency in Lagos, said it expects that foreign stocks on supermarkets’shelves would have been exhausted before  December 31.

    NAFDAC, Oni stressed, will not tolerate the violation, infraction or deviation from the approved guideline of the global listing scheme.

    The global listing rule includes: that the importation of products banned by the government shall not be allowed; ‘mandatory’ fortified food shall not be allowed, that is salt, flour except they have been fortified to the levels prescribed in the food Grade (Table or Cooking); salt regulations and the Food Fortification with Vitamin A Regulations; supermarket operators can only retail the imported items once listed and distributed within their supermarket chain only, among others.

    Oni noted that the need to accommodate the supermarket operators, fast food chains, hotels, embassies and international organisations that house peculiar and large number of products, led to the introduction of the global listing scheme in 2003.

    The NAFDAC boss listed the items on the import prohibition list not be found in the supermarkets to include: live or dead birds including frozen poultry, pork, beef, birds, eggs, refined vegetable oil (except linseed, castor and olive oils), spaghetti or noodles, fruit juices in retail packs or waters, including mineral waters and aerated waters containing added sugar or sweetening matter or flavour, soaps and detergent and cane or beet sugar.

    She enjoined supermarket operators to patronise made-in-Nigeria products as it will help create jobs and boost the economy in line with government’s change mantra.

  • ‘Foreign investors may not rush back yet’

    ‘Foreign investors may not rush back yet’

    Nigeria’s swift one-step move to a floating currency has been welcomed by investors but most nonetheless will stay away until the country’s economy shows signs of recovering, Reuters report said  yesterday.

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)  ditched the peg that had controlled foreign exchange markets,  a policy that led to widespread capital flight and caused its first quarterly economic contraction since the 1990s.

    While investors welcomed the flexible forex policy as the right first step, most plan to watch the economy from the sidelines anticipating more pain in store.

    “It is positive, it is a more credible and flexible exchange rate regime in the long-run, you will see an external rebalancing of the economy, a fiscal adjustment and so on,” Jonas David, emerging market specialist at UBS Wealth Management in Zurich said.

    A slide into recession after the economy shrank in the first quarter of the year and a fresh spike in inflation are among issues investors will want to wait out, said David, together with confirmation that the new regime is functioning properly.

    Once that happens, focus will shift to fundamentals such as returning the economy to growth – key for a country of 180 million where some 46 percent live in poverty.

    Inflation too is running at the highest in more than six years – it hit 15.6 percent in May – already above the CBN’s 12 percent interest rate.

  • Foreign investors eye food sector

    Food and agribusiness could become an “emerging sector” for foreign investors, the Director, Life Sciences Group Africa, Global Exhibitions, Jamie Hill, has said.

    With a population of about 180 million, a government aspiring to improve the gross domestic product (GDP), Hill said  Nigeria offers enormous growth potential across a number of different sectors.

    Hill said the drivers for investments in the agric and food sectors were very strong and favourable and he expects that growth to continue.

    He said the nation would continue to see strong interest and investment from abroad and the foreign investors would find the food sector in the country attractive.

    According to him, improving the nation’s food   sector is critical given an ever-increasing demand for food.

    In line with this, he said his organisation zeroed on food safety during its just concluded Food Nigeria exhibition since   it has become an issue of concern for international food firms in export.

    He explained that the exhibition provided a platform for international and regional food and beverage companies to network and cultivate business ties.

  • Of Buhari’s foreign policy 

    SIR: A lot has been written on President Muhammadu Buhari’s foreign policy endeavours in his first year.  Unsurprisingly, most commentaries relate to his perceived ‘junketing’ while Nigeria’s domestic scene remains in a flux.  Much of the criticism rests on the N5.5 billion reportedly spent on foreign travels in 11 months of Buhari’s presidency. Such criticisms, to the extent they are partisan and sentimental are misplaced.

    Since May 29, 2015, President Buhari has undertaken a total of 26 foreign trips, spending some 50 days outside Nigeria.  Some Nigerians deem such peripatetic disposition excessive. Yet, Buhari’s activist foreign policy role must be considered against his personal convictions, and against the backdrop of his foreign policy engagement as a military leader.

    Hitherto, Nigeria enjoyed comparative advantage in Africa’s foreign policy realm. Her power position as Africa’s foreign policy bellwether grew from her domestic antecedents and strength.   Paradoxically, just as Buhari inherited a parlous economy, dwindling foreign reserves and crashing oil prices, he also inherited a much-diminished foreign policy capacity and credibility, plus the fact that Nigeria’s diplomacy still can’t be operated in a vacuum; but in the economic, political, and institutional environment both inside and outside the government.

    Months before Buhari appointed his ministers, he personally conducted his foreign policy, using career diplomats as advisers.  As if to affirm that “the test of foreign–policy principles lies in their application to u and more distant states”, he engaged both categories early and personally. Though he eventually appointed a foreign minister, it’s safe to assume that he reserved for himself, albeit informally, core foreign policy responsibilities.

    Doctrinally, Buhari’s foreign policy trajectory has positively been devoid of labels.  But it’s unclear if this is by design; a tacit departure from Nigeria’s erstwhile sloganeering. Whatever is the case, it’s only the level of solvency of a nation’s foreign policy that matters.  And solvency can be defined as return on investment or those tradeoffs that enhance the nation’s economic, political and military wherewithal.  President Buhari campaigned on the platform of rescuing the Chibok girls, tackling Boko Haram, and waging an anti-corruption campaign. He also pledged to par the Naira to the Dollar. These resonating challenges persist.

    Despite the presumed gains from Buhari’s travels, Nigeria’s economy is still tanking, and replete with shortage of fuel, electricity, foreign exchange, faith and trust. As the Financial Times noted, “No economy can survive without fuel, electricity or foreign exchange.”  Of the 26 trips undertaken so far, the China visit stands alone in yielding clear results.  Though not initiated by Nigeria, Chinese authorities in their enlightened self-interest, and to safeguard the lopsided Sino-Nigeria trade imbalance, offered Nigeria a Yuan-Naira currency swap and a $6bn loan.  The currency swap, which is aimed more at undermining the US dollar as Nigeria’s main foreign exchange reserve, helps Buhari’s foreign policy solvency only in a limited way. As if to confirm the vagaries of such on-the-fly foreign policymaking, after the swap was announced, the Naira weakened further.

    Three plausible strands may have influenced Buhari’s foreign policy inclinations: the desire to engender a new and robust foreign policy thrust; the desire to revitalize Nigeria’s stalled foreign policy impetus; and the desire to sustain the past and renowned foreign policy glory by hands-on engagement. Buhari conducting his foreign policy evokes power, dedication and priority. But whatever instructed his decision to assume full responsibility for his foreign policy machinery, also bequeaths on the president, total absence of plausible deniability, should his foreign policy performance prove lacklustre eventually. Staying home more in his second year may help sanitize the domestic environment and operational theatre, now remarkable for being nebulous,  disquieting and for its imperviousness. While applauding President Buhari’s constructive engagement thus far, he needs to be advised that the foreign policy solvency he seeks must be orchestrated from home. The problem lies there as does the foundation of his foreign policy solvency.

     

    • Oseloka H. Obaze,

    Awka, Anambra State.

  • 51 foreign investors exit equities, bond markets

    51 foreign investors exit equities, bond markets

    Fifty-one foreign investors repatriated profits from their investments in equities and Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) bonds last week.

    The investors considered Nigeria’s foreign exchange policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), especially its refusal to devalue the naira, unfavourable to their investments. They pushed the transactions through Stanbic IBTC Bank, published data on forex disbursement for last week showed.

    The major part of the $15.91 million forex was disbursed by the lender to investors divesting from the country, local businesses importing petroleum products, payment of school fees abroad and settlement of Personal Travel Allowances (PTAs) and Business Travel Allowances (BTAs).

    Details of the transactions showed that foreign investors took $6.8 million of the disbursed cash. Stanbic IBTC Bank disbursed $100,000 to 32 investors divesting from the equities market. The beneficiaries are Merill Lynch International, HSBC, Brown Brothers, JPM Securities, The Bank of New York Mellon 1, The Bank of New York Mellon 2, HSBC Funds Services London, Deutsche Bank London, Standard Bank of South Africa, and Credit Suisse International, among others.

    For raw materials, the bank disbursed $1 million each to Pure Flour Mills Nigeria Plc and Flour Mills Nigeria Plc. Bua Sugar Refinery got $500,000 for the importation of raw sugar. Prudent Energy & Services Limited $1,170,267.10 for petroleum products.

    General sentiments in the equities market were bearish. Average yield across benchmark bonds closed at 11.6 per cent at the end of the first trading session of the week, rising five basis points from the last trading session of the previous week.

    Though the spread between the official and parallel forex market remains, the volatility recorded in rates earlier in the year has subsided. The CBN, however, is still unable to meet the dollar demands as seen in the amount returned by the CBN to the Deposit Money Banks for unfilled bids at the forex auction.

    The official naira rate at the CBN remained at N197 to dollar whilst naira/dollar rates at the Interbank stayed at N199 to dollar. The naira/dollar rate was stable at the Bureau-De-Change as it exchanged at N320 to dollar on all trading days of last week. The parallel market also remained stable as the local currency exchanged at N323 to dollar on all trading day of the week, except Monday when it appreciated by N1.00 to N322 to dollar. Current Gross foreign reserves level was at $27.47 billion as at April 14, down about $70 million from last Monday’s reserve level.

    GTBank disbursed forex to 82 customers, including Dozzy Oil and Gas, which got $1.16 million. Danium Energy Services, Midland Rolling Mills; M.R.S Oil and Gas; Shiv Lila Polymers Limited each got $1 million for raw materials import. The bank also paid school fees to over 25 customers. Several others got PTAs.

    United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc paid $1 million to IATA for remittances for ticket sales; $1 million to Matric Energy for the importation of dual purpose kerosene and $1 million to NFE Industry Limited for the importation of Prime Steel Bullets. There were several other disbursements for BTAs and PTAs customers as well as parents paying school fees for their children abroad.

    Fidelity Bank disbursed $100,000 each to United Africa Laboratory Limited and Onward Stationary Stores Limited for the importation of sealing machines and uncoated woodfree offset paper. There were several disbursements for school fees.

    Access Bank disbursed $1 million to Air France for ticket sales remittances and $1.9 million to Blakeney Management for repatriation. There were other disbursements to Bhojsons, Techno Oil Limited and Nestle Nigeria Plc, among others.

    Other lenders that made forex disbursements during the week were FirstBank, First City Monument Bank, Wema Bank and Sterling Bank, among others.

    The funds were sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and sold to the beneficiary customers at the official rate of N197.50 to dollar. The beneficiaries used the funds for the importation of goods, services and other items that fall within the CBN-stipulated import approval list.

    CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele has consistently assured stakeholders that the country will continue to meet mature financial obligations to foreign investors and her international trading partners.

    For the CBN, the ongoing weekly publications on forex utilisation are meant to promote transparency and accountability on the side of the lenders, which act as a link between the regulator and the forex users.