Nigeria May Slide Back To Recession - CBN Gov Warns

Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele has raised the alarm that the country might slide back to recession except urgent measures are taken to address the high rate of unemployment. He said the country has made progress in the year under review but more efforts were needed to reduce the staggering unemployment rate. “From some of my concluding remarks, you may have observed whether you like it or not, there is global uncertainty that will unfortunately most certainly lead to another crisis.

Zenith Bank Reaffirms N0.00 Account Opening Balance for Current, Savings and Other Accounts

Zenith Bank Plc, the largest bank in Nigeria by tier-1 capital and the foremost provider of financial services to multinationals, corporates and SMES in the country, has affirmed its commitment to accord its growing retail business the same attention and focus that has enabled it become the leading corporate bank player in the country.

CBN Set To Launch Clean Note Policy, Banknote Fitness Guidelines

The guidelines would be launched in Lagos tomorrow. The documents would be unveiled by the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele. The Clean Note Policy provides a uniform standard for the circulation of only clean and fit banknotes in Nigeria; while the Banknote Fitness Guidelines provide the industry with clear and acceptable criteria for determining the quality of banknote in circulation. These documents were developed after extensive collaboration and engagements with key industry stakeholders under the auspices of the Nigerian Cash Management Scheme, a Bankers’ Committee initiative.

Doctors Free To Leave Nigeria, We Have Enough – Ngige

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, says doctors who feel they want to relocate in search of greener pastures are free to do so as the nation has enough medical personnel. Ngige said this on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday. The minister was responding to a question on brain drain and the deliberate recruitment of Nigerian doctors by foreign embassies in Nigeria to the detriment of the nation’s health sector.

Nigeria is hellish under your watch – Omotola tells Buhari and Osinbajo

Nollywood star actress, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde has stated that the country Nigeria is hellish under the watch of President Buhari and VP Osinbajo

Don't Sack Married Women; FG Warns... increases maternity leave

While speaking at the ongoing International Labour Conference (ILC), in Geneva, Switzerland, yesterday, Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, disclosed that the Federal Government has increased maternity leave for Nigerian women from three to four months. The minister also told delegates that employers of labour in the public and private sectors in the country have been barred from sacking women from work either due to their marital or maternity status. He said; “Employers of labour (in Nigeria) are, by regulation, requested to provide workplace crèches for nursing mothers for ease at work place. In the public service, government recently increased the period for maternity leave from 12 to 16 weeks; to allow enough recuperation for both baby and mother, especially in the area of breast feeding. “In addition, all disciplinary proceedings against any female staff, which might have been taken during the period of her maternity leave shall be put in abeyance till the expiration of the leave.

Forte Oil To Sell Nigerian Assets, Exit Ghana

Forte Oil has said it plans to sell its upstream services and power businesses in Nigeria and divest from Ghana to focus on its core fuel distribution operation at home, according to a report by Reuters on Wednesday. The move comes as a surprise about-turn for a company, whose Chief Executive, Akin Akinfemiwa, told investors in Lagos in August that he wanted to aggressively pursue mergers and acquisition opportunities along the energy value chain, and acquire marginal oilfields to boost its upstream business. The company, majority owned by billionaire, Femi Otedola, has also been in talks with a major refinery to form a strategic partnership for local refining of petroleum products. Forte Oil’s share price plunged by 49 per cent last year after the company struggled to get hard currency to import products. It now has a total market value of N57.3bn but gave no indication on Wednesday of how much the businesses for sale might fetch.

Six Banks Meet CBN’s Dividend Payout Rule

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) circular on dividend payout by commercial banks and discount houses has been analysed based on the performances and balance sheet positions of all lenders. A report released yesterday by Afrinvest West Africa, an investment and research firm, showed that only six banks – Access Bank, First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Guaranty Trust Bank, United Bank for Africa, Wema Bank and Zenith Bank – met the CBN’s minimum requirement for Capital Adequacy Ration (CAR) and Non-Performing Loans. Hence these banks are excluded from the restrictions on dividend payment. The firm explained that many lenders will not be able to pay dividends based on their capital reserves as well as the proportion of Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) in a bid to forestall any threats to customer deposits in the system.

Save Your Money: Checkout the Bank Fees You Need To Stop Paying Today

Banks still earn plenty of money, and fees are an important source of profits. That means that people who do pay fees make up for everybody else – sometimes paying thousands of naira or more each year. If you are paying fees to your bank, find out what they are, what they are costing you, and how you can put an end to those costs, according to https://www.thebalance.com.

 Maintenance fees: Some banks charge a fee just to have an account. These monthly maintenance fees are an automatic feature. For most, that kind of fee will more than eat up any interest you earn throughout the year, and you might even have a hard time keeping your account balance above zero.

Farmers To Crash Price Of Rice To N6,000 Per Bag

The National President, Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) Mallam Aminu Goronyo has said the farmers would crash the price of 50kg of rice to about N6,000 if the government provide the necessary farm inputs to reduce the cost of production. Mallam Goronyo who disclosed this after a meeting between the RIFA, Rice Processors and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development on Wednesday, noted that in few months’ time, if appropriate measures were taken by the government to ease the stress of rice production, the price of rice will crash in the market. Currently, the price of 50kg bag of rice is N18,000 across the country, but after a meeting between the RIFAN and Rice Processors, they agreed to reduce the price of rice paddy to N110,000 per ton, this move will further crash the price of rice from N16,000 to N13,500 per bag.

Five Things Nigerians Need To Know Before Putting Their Money In Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a type of digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank. Bitcoin is now worth $4,317. Due to this, many are encouraging others to invest in the cryptocurrency. Nigerians are slowly embracing Bitcoin. In line with this, Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency share things Nigerians must know before joining the Bitcoin train.

More people are using Bitcoin

Despite the fact that some Nigerians are struggling to accept Bitcoin, more people are embracing it after years of gradual growth. Hence, whether we like it or not, Bitcoin is the future and we have no choice than to use it.

Nigeria's Oil Reserve to Dry Up in 30 Years - Ibe Kachikwu

There is a projection about the number of years the Nigerian oil reserve will sustain the country, thereby necessitating alternative sources of revenue. 

President Muhammadu Buhari declared on Wednesday that Nigeria’s oil reserve estimate as per reserve has been estimated to dry up in the next 25 years to 30 years at most. To this end, the President said the focus of the government must be on gas which is also estimated to last for over 60 years, adding that his government must ensure a dramatic movement into gas production. President Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu spoke yesterday at the 5th triennial delegates conference of the Petroleum & Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) in Abuja.

Darkness Looms as Power Supply Drops By 14% After Another System Collapse Occurs

Nigeria's power supply has dropped by as much as 14% as another power system collapses causing apprehension of looming darkness. Nigeria’s power supply, yesterday, dropped by 14 per cent as the nation’s national grid experienced another systems collapse, Vanguard reports. The supply dropped from 3,333MW recorded the previous day to 2,881MW, showing a decrease of 452 MW. In its report made available to Vanguard, the advisory power team disclosed: “On June 27, 2017, average power sent out was 2,881MWh/hour (down by 452MWh/h). The reported gas constraint was 1927MW. “The reported line constraint was 684.3MW. The reported frequency management constraint due to loss of DisCo feeders was 890MW. The water management constraint was 0MW. ‘’The power sector lost an estimated N1,574,000,000 on June 27, 2017, due to constraints. System collapse at 17:40Hrs, system frequency declined sharply from 50.28Hz to 47.00Hz and followed by collapse.

Naira Records Impressive Gain Against the Dollar...See Latest Value

The Nigerian naira on Friday recorded tremendous improvement against the dollar by closing on a good note. On Friday, the naira recorded further gain against the dollars closing at 365 to a dollar. The local currency closed at 367/dollar on Friday, after closing between 367/dollar and 368/dollar for most days of last week. The local unit had closed at 371/dollar the previous week, after rising to 374/dollar from 382/dollar. Currency analysts have said they expect the naira to be stable across the board in the near term on increased dollar supply to both the official interbank window and the black market. 

Naira and dollar notes

 According to Reuters, the Central Bank of Nigeria has been intervening on the official market to try to narrow the spread between the official interbank and black markets. The CBN has sold over $4bn since February, improving dollar supply and providing support for the naira. The Acting Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr. Isaac Okorafor, said there were plans by the apex bank to make necessary interventions in the forex market this week, in line with its earlier resolve to achieve forex rates convergence and liquidity in the market.

Poisonous Rice All Over Markets, Becareful! - Governors Warn Nigerians

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has expressed concerns over the quality of rice being imported and consumed by Nigerians. The governors, while describing it as substandard, harmful, called on the Nigeria Customs Service to take urgent measures to curb the situation. A statement by NGF’s Head, Media and Public Affairs, Abulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, said this concern was contained in a communiqué released after the forum’s last meeting in Abuja. According to governors, a large consignment of rice still finding its way into the Nigerian market was imported since 2014 when the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration issued a liberal import licence regime to those who were able to bring substantial quantity of rice into the country using a waiver from the presidency at the time.

Naira puts up strong showing against dollar

The ​N​aira, Wednesday, remained stable ​at N375 per dollar in the parallel market. ​The local currency has maintained the figure in the last one week. Th​is strong showing is bolstered by the ​latest ​sale of dollars to bureaux de change (BDCs) by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)​.​ CBN​ had on Tuesday intervened in the inter-bank market to the tune of $482.6 million in the first trading day after the Democracy Day celebrations.

FG is borrowing money too much – CBN warns

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has expressed concern over the borrowing attitude of government, saying the pace has exceeded the target for the 2017 fiscal year. The CBN said this at its Monetary Policy Committee, MPC, second quarter 2017 meeting. The MPC communique reads in part: "The Committee was concerned that credit to government continued to outpace the programmed target of 33.12 per cent for fiscal 2017, while credit to the private sector declined considerably far below the programmed target of 14.88 per cent." CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele said the Net Domestic Credit, NDC, grew by 1.40 per cent in April, 2017, annualized to 4.21 per cent, which is significantly below the 17.93 per cent provisional growth benchmark for 2017. He noted that net credit grew by 24.08 per cent over end-December 2016, representing an annualized growth of 72 per cent.

Nigeria is Still in Economic Recession..GDP Growth Report Surfaces

The local Nigerian economy has remained recessed despite their intervention of the country's economic managers to resuscitate it. 

 The National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday released the Gross Domestic Product growth rate report for the first quarter with the economy contracting by -0.52 per cent in the first quarter of this year. With the economy having a negative growth rate of -0.52 per cent, the economy is still in recession. The rate of growth for the first quarter of 2017 is, however, an improvement over the revised -1.73 per cent GDP growth rate figure recording as of December 2016. This is the fifth consecutive contraction in GDP growth rate that the economy would be recording since the first quarter of 2016.

Ambode cancels N844b Lagos 4th Mainland Bridge

An artist view of the 4th mainland bridge

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has terminated a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a consortium of firms to build the 4th Mainland Bridge at the cost of N844 billion. The MoU for the 36 km bridge, which two past administrations had promised to do, was signed on 25 May, 2016. The project was to be financed by Africa Finance Corporation, Access Bank, and other private investors who have already signified intention to be part of the construction, while Visible Assets Limited would be the coordinating firm. PM News reports that the Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Mr. Adebowale Akinsanya during a ministerial briefing in Alausa, Ikeja area of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria cited the slow pace at which the concessionaire was working as the reason behind the termination of the contract.

I will resign if we're still importing fuel by 2019 – Kachikwu

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, has vowed to resign if the country fails to attain self-sufficiency in the refining of petroleum products by 2019. Dr. Kachikwu, who spoke as a guest on BBC Hard Talk in London on Monday, also stated that he recently signed an agreement with oil giant, Agip, for the firm to build a refinery in Nigeria. When asked to state the year that Nigeria would be self-sufficient in refining petroleum products, Kachikwu replied, “I have said 2019, and that is the target that I gave.” On whether he would leave office if he failed to achieve the target, the minister replied, “Yes, of course. That is the reason why you are in government.”