Category: Economy - Page 12 - African News Today

Wike Backs Obaseki on N60 Billion New Notes Printing

19Apr

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Economy, Finance, News, Nigeria

Wike Backs Obaseki on N60 Billion New Notes Printing

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State says the claim by his Edo state counterpart, Godwin Obaseki that the Nigerian Government printed about N60 billion to share to the federating units in March cannot be regarded as spurious. The governor has therefore challenged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to unequivocally declare if money was printed or not. Wike stated this while briefing journalists shortly after he attended a private function in Abuja on Sunday. He said, "Obaseki was in APC (All Progressives Congress), so he understands them. So, Obaseki couldn't have come from the blue to say they printed N60 billion. He knows them." Wike said it was regrettable that instead of the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele to address the issue raised by Governor Obaseki...

APC Governors chide Obaseki over N60bn Printing Claim

18Apr

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Economy, Nigeria

APC Governors chide Obaseki over N60bn Printing Claim

Governors under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday ruled Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State off the track over his recent allegation that the federal government printed N60 billion to augment the March revenue allocation to states. The governors, in a statement in the name of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF), said Obaseki’s statement “does not reflect the true position of things.” The PGF admitted that although there was a shortfall in gross statutory revenues by N43.34 billion compared to the previous month “an augmentation was made in the sum of N8.65 billion from the Forex Equalization Fund Account, which brought the total distributable revenue to N605.59 billion.” Giving a background to the practice of revenue sharing in the country, the fo...

Okonjo-Iweala will drive Global Trade – World Bank

12Apr

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Economy, Interview, News, Nigeria

Okonjo-Iweala will drive Global Trade – World Bank

The international financial architecture is ‘skewed in favor of rich and creditor countries’, the World Bank said yesterday. President of the bank, David Malpass exposed the partial state of the architecture at the close of the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings 2021 Development Committee meeting, in Washington D.C. yesterday. He said the disturbing state of the global financial system was exposed last year by the COVID-19 pandemic, which made challenges and staggering needs of every country’s economy even clearer. Malpass said: “One major challenge is that the current international financial architecture is heavily skewed in favor of the rich and creditor countries. It is ever important that all voices are heard. I urge all of us to consider how we can restore growth in developing co...

Ghana Cedi Ranked Best Currency in Africa

5Apr

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Economy, Finance, Ghana, News

Ghana Cedi Ranked Best Currency in Africa

Ghana’s legal tender has been ranked the best performing currency in Africa for the first quarter of 2021. It appreciated at 0.6 per cent to the US dollar, bettering some other prevalent 15 currencies in Africa. Among the currencies are the Egyptian pound, Nigerian naira and the South African rand, Ghanaweb reports. A report by Joy Business monitored by GhanaWeb showed that the cedi's performance is almost similar to that of 2020. Also, the currency has benefitted from growth-related efforts such as diversified exports of cocoa, gold among others. Courage Martey, a Senior Economic Analyst at Databank Research, while adducing the rationale for the growth of cedi said, "the Ghana cedi ended the first quarter of 2021 with yet another impressive performance, similar to what it did ...

2Apr

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Economy, Finance, Infrastructure, News, Nigeria, Petroleum

Femi Adesina: Flying on Wings of Gas

By the time we remove hatred, malice, indecent politics, and all the ills that plague our country and its leaderships across different governments, President Muhammadu Buhari would go down in history as the one that pioneered different kinds of revolution in our national life: agriculture, infrastructure (roads, rail, bridges, airports etc.), and the latest; gas. In fact, Nigeria is set to fly on the wings of gas, courtesy of President Buhari. But let me give due credit for the headline of this piece, which is the brainchild of Mr Tony Attah, Managing Director of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG). At the conference on the Decade of Gas, flagged off by the President on Monday, Attah declared: “Gas is now everything for Nigeria. We must use what we have to get what we want. Saudi Ar...

Buhari, APC Have Failed to Deliver Campaign Promises – Fayemi

20Mar

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Corruption, Economy, News, Nigeria, Security

Buhari, APC Have Failed to Deliver Campaign Promises – Fayemi

Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti has submitted that his party, All Progressives Congress, APC, and President Muhammadu Buhari, have failed to fulfil all their campaign promises to Nigerians. The Governor stated that despite the fact that some of the challenges facing the country preceded Buhari’s administration, elected officeholders should assume responsibility for not delivering on campaign promises to the citizens. Fayemi in an interview with Channels Television said, "I'm not going to shy away from the expectations people had before we came to office. I was a leading player in the campaign that brought my principal (Buhari) to power. "We promised Nigerians quite a number of things, particularly centring on security, anti-corruption, and on economic growth. Have we been able to ...

CBN Introduces New Charges for USSD Services

17Mar

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Economy, Finance, News, Nigeria, Press Statement

CBN Introduces New Charges for USSD Services

The Central Bank of Nigeria has introduced new charges for customers using the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data services. The apex bank said effective Tuesday, customers will pay a flat fee of N6.98 per transaction every time they use USSD services. It said the new charges was part of the agreement reached when banks and telecommunication operators met on Monday to discuss the N42bn debt owed mobile operators by banks. This was contained in a statement released on Tuesday and jointly signed by the apex bank’s Acting Director, Corporate Communications, Osita Nwanisobi; and Director, Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission, Ikechukwu Adinde. The statement was titled, ‘Joint Statement By Central Bank Of Nigeria and Nigerian Communications Commission On Pricing Of...

CBN directs Banks to Start Scan-to-pay System

16Mar

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Economy, Finance, Interview, News, Nigeria

CBN directs Banks to Start Scan-to-pay System

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has requested Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to begin the adoption of the contactless payment service option. The NQR payment solution, launched yesterday on Monday rs instant value by simply scanning generated digital code to make payment. The new ‘touch-free’ payment method would help create and offer better customer experience to the public. Speaking during the launch in Lagos, CBN Director, Payment System Management, Musa Jimoh, said the NQR payment solution is an alternative payment plan that will eliminate direct contact between merchants and their customers. The innovative solution will catalyse to boost financial inclusion while providing access to faster, easier and secure financial services to Nigerians. It provides a “touch-free” optio...

Naira Trades at N481/$ at Parallel Market

16Mar

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Economy, Finance, News, Nigeria

Naira Trades at N481/$ at Parallel Market

The naira has further taken a fall at the parallel market by exchanging for N481/$. It exchanged for an exorbitant N412 at the Exporter and Importer forex window. Recall that Nigeria’s apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria had stated that the naira depreciated at the official market to N410 against the dollar. The CBN said, “In order to adjust for the decrease in supply of foreign exchange, the naira depreciated at the official window from N305/$ to N360/$ and now hovers around N410/$.”

Okonjo-Iweala Accepts Apology from Swiss Newspaper over ‘grandmother’ Remarks

1Mar

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Africa, Economy, Trade, United Nations, Women Empowerment

Okonjo-Iweala Accepts Apology from Swiss Newspaper over ‘grandmother’ Remarks

The first woman and first African to lead the World Trade Organization on Monday welcomed an apology from a Swiss newspaper that had dismissed the seasoned international professional as a grandmother. “It is important & timely that they’ve apologised,” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in a tweet. The development economist took over as the new WTO chief on Monday after a long, high-powered career serving as minister of finance and foreign affairs in her native Nigeria and 25 years at the World Bank. But when several Swiss newspapers announced her appointment last month, they decided the most noteworthy thing to mention about the new WTO chief was as a matriarch. “This grandmother will become the boss of the WTO,” read the headline of the article published by the Aargauer Zeitung and...