Business News

Thursday, 23 July 2020 05:52

CBN approves N50bn revival fund for textile industry

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced N50 billion special mechanism funds to revive the ailing textiles industry. The funds to be administered by the Bank of industry (BoI) at 4.5 per cent interest rate will use any of the CBN-approved non-interest financing instruments for refinancing of projects, long- term financing for acquisition of plant and machinery and working capital for the beneficiaries. A statement containing the guidelines for the revival pill, tagged “Central Bank of Nigeria Non-Interest Guidelines for Intervention in the Textile Sector”, was released yesterday. It was signed by CBN Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Mr…

Thursday, 23 July 2020 05:50

CBN has disbursed N635.39bn to commercial farmers. Here's what each subsector got

The amount disbursed to farmers under Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme from inception in 2009 rose to N635.39bn as of the end of March 2020. Central Bank of Nigeria disclosed this in its “Economic report for the first quarter of 2020 on agriculture,” which was obtained on Wednesday. The report reads, “At end-March 2020, the total amount released, since inception by CBN under Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme to the participating banks for disbursement, amounted to N635.39bn for 608 projects, while the total amount repaid since inception stood at N406.29bn at end-March 2020.” CBN stated that a total of N539.8m loans was…

Thursday, 23 July 2020 05:37

Adapt or die: Five predictions for the workplace of the future

We will still be going to the office, but the buildings that we use will be newer and better aligned for social distancing As a commercial real estate veteran, I can assure you that my industry has rarely if ever driven front-page news. How quickly things change. In a matter of months, Covid-19 has caused an historic, radical transformation in how we think about the time-honored act of going to work. The CDC recently issued restrictive occupancy guidelines; companies like Twitter and Shopify have suggested their employees may work remotely forever; NYC is re-opening, yet only 10-15% of office workers…

Wednesday, 22 July 2020 05:29

NIPOST releases new guidelines for courier services

Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) has issued new guidelines for courier and logistics services. In a statement on Tuesday, general manager, corporate communications, Mr Frankin Alao said minister of communications and digital economy, Mr Isa Pantami, has approved the new guidelines. According to the statement, the new regulation was issued to replace the one which has been in existence since 2001. It added that the development was made in a bid to enhance the operations of courier services while giving special consideration to small & medium enterprises (SMEs). Alao explained that “erstwhile regulations largely focused on the big players in the…

Wednesday, 22 July 2020 05:28

Nigeria recorded ‘highest in four years’ PoS transactions during lockdown - Report

Transactions done through Point of Sale(PoS) channels across Nigeria between January and May 2020 has been valued at N1.64 trillion, data released by Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS)have shown. This is N500 billion higher than the N1.14 trillion recorded for January – May 2019. It is also the highest transaction value recorded under the same months since 2017. The report also recorded an increase in the total volume of PoS transactions. Within the period under review, the volume increased from 152.6 million to 228.86 million. This increase can be associated with the lockdown on economic activities to curb spread of…

Tuesday, 21 July 2020 05:13

Dollar shortage puts pressure on black-market rate

Nigeria’s dollar shortage is worsening, with the local currency weakening in the parallel market and banks restricting the ability of customers to spend greenbacks abroad using naira cards. The naira’s black-market rate declined to 472 per dollar on Monday from 465 naira on June 15, according to abokiFX.com, which collates rates from street traders in Lagos. That’s the weakest since February 2017 and compares with 12-month forwards that traded at 456.65 as of 1:20 p.m. in Lagos. In the official spot market, the unit weakened 0.2% to 389 per dollar. Central Bank of Nigeria kept the benchmark interest rate at…

Tuesday, 21 July 2020 05:12

FG seeks buyers for 216 PHCN’s assets

Federal government is seeking buyers for 216 non-core buildings, lands and other assets belonging to defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to generate revenue for driving the power sector. Managing Director of Nigerian Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO), Mr Adebayo Fagbemi disclosed this on Monday when he led Senate Committee on Power to tour some of the facilities under the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) in Abuja. Fagbemi said sale of the assets was being done in three phases after the company placed public notices in June 2018 to appoint valuers and sales agents. He said, “The first phase…

Monday, 20 July 2020 06:00

Banks reduce debit card spending abroad

Nigerian banks plan to reduce the amount customers can spend abroad using debit cards on Monday, two lenders said, as banks try to limit foreign currency settlement risk. The country is facing dollar shortages because of the sharp fall in the price of oil, Nigeria’s main export, and domestic banks are trying to avoid transactions with hard currency. Stanbic IBTC Bank, the local unit of South Africa’s Standard Bank, said it will halve the spending limit for offshore card transactions to $500 per month from Monday and will limit cash withdrawals to $100. Another top tier lender Zenith Bank said…

Monday, 20 July 2020 05:54

Maize farmers applaud CBN as apex bank releases N16bn for Anchor Borrowers

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released N16 billion for Anchor Borrowers Programme. The apex bank has also been applauded for its new foreign exchange policy restricting forex access for maize imports. Maize Association of Nigeria (MAAN) said the apex bank acted in the best interest of the economy, urging farmers to explore the opportunities presented by the restrictions to increase production capacity. MAAN President, Mr Abubakar Bello spoke at a news conference in Abuja, listing achievements of the last planting season. He said though the association was targeting about 25 million metric tonnes of maize production in this year’s…

Monday, 20 July 2020 05:53

Fish farmers decry huge losses, business collapse

Fish farmers under the auspices of National Fish Association of Nigeria, NFAN, Sunday, lamented huge losses, glut, and business collapse over the impact of lockdown resulting from novel coronavirus pandemic. National President, NFAN, Mr Gabriel Ogunsanya, disclosed this in a statement signed by National Publicity Secretary, Mr Chidike Ukoh. Ogunsanya in the statement raised challenges currently faced by members of the association including inadequate fish supply, production challenges, fish glut, abysmally low pricing, and the inability to harvest and evacuate fish ponds and other fish-holding water bodies, thereby preventing restocking to break the production cycle. According to him, in the…

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Monday, 20 July 2020 05:44

Companies should learn Elon Musk's 'Chain of Command' rule

The Tesla founder suggests removing some of the links to communicate more clearly and efficiently. Elon Musk has had plenty to share with business owners over the years, and he's spent plenty of time thinking outside the box. But a comment he made a couple of years ago in a letter to employees may be one more business leaders should consider in a world disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. "Communication should travel via the shortest path necessary to get the job done, not through the 'chain of command,'" Musk wrote to his employees in 2018. "Any manager who attempts to…

Sunday, 19 July 2020 05:38

Women to receive 60% of N220bn SME fund – CBN

Central Bank of Nigeria has said that women will be given 60 per cent of the N220bn Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund as part of its developmental role and mandate of promoting a sound financial system. It also said that two per cent of the wholesale component of the fund would go to economically active persons living with disabilities and 10 per cent provided for start-up businesses. The banks said this in a circular on, “Guidelines for micro, small and medium enterprises development fund for non-interest financial institutions,” which was signed by Director, Development Finance Department, CBN. The…

Saturday, 18 July 2020 05:23

Nigeria’s inflation rises to 26 months high

Inflation in Nigeria has been on the rise since August 2019 when the country shut its land borders with its neighbours to curb smuggling. It later became worse with the effect of the novel coronavirus on the global economy. However, latest report on the consumer price index (CPI) by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday showed that the inflation rate for the month rose by about 0.16 per cent point, from 12.40 per cent attained in May. The border closure had affected the availability of rice, vegetable oil, frozen food, and other staples, causing prices of the commodities to…

Saturday, 18 July 2020 05:18

CBN supports maize growers with another N13bn

National President, Maize Growers Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (MAGPAMAN), Mr Edwin Uche has confirmed the association’s receipt of N13 billion worth of support from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for 2020 wet season maize production. This is in addition to another N16 billion given to other farmers under the aegis of Maize Association of Nigeria (MAAN) for maize production this year through CBN Anchor Borrowers Programme. Uche who spoke at the stakeholders’ meeting of the association on Friday in Abuja called on the maize farmers to take advantage of the programme to increase maize yield to be able…

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