BUSINESS ROUNDUP: A’Ibom confronts Keystone, Heritage banks; PenCom recovers N25.13bn unremitted pension; Other stories

Hello, and welcome to Business Roundup this week. Here, we bring you highlights of events that happened during the week —from the capital market to the mainstream business activities, while not forgetting the tech/economy build up.

Here are the Headlines:

• PenCom recovers N25.13bn unremitted pension contributions
• Tinubu entices investors with improved forex liquidity
• Fidelity Bank signs $40m AFREXIM Bank deal with JohnVents for cocoa export
• Akwa Ibom govt may sell off Keystone, Heritage banks properties to recover N228m debt

Summary:

President Bola Tinubu said on Monday his government has taken steps to improve foreign exchange liquidity in the country.

The president, according to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, stated this at the 29th Nigerian Economic Summit (NES) held in Abuja.

He expressed that the government would achieve the planned $3 trillion national infrastructure stock in 10 years with the support of the private sector.

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) says it has recovered N25.13 billion from defaulting employers which comprises of N12.80 billion principal contributions, and N12.33 billion penalties for delayed payments.

The Commission, in a report on Wednesday, said the amounts were recovered between June 2012 and September 2023.

In the report titled “The Pension Reform Act of 2014 (PRA 2014)”, the body noted that the act stipulates that eligible employees must maintain a Retirement Savings Account (RSA) with a Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) of their choosing.

Fidelity Bank, a Nigerian deposit money bank, has signed a tripartite $40 million pre-export finance facility with AFREXIM Bank in favour of JohnVents Industries.

READ ALSO:BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Inflation rate hits 26.72%; Tinubu eyes $1.5bn World Bank loan; Other stories

The loan deal was signed at the second edition of the Fidelity International Trade and Creative Connect (FITCC) holding in Houston, Texas, United States of America.

The FITCC, co-hosted by Fidelity Bank, brought together a broad range of businesses, regulators, members of the diplomatic corps and other guests.

The Akwa Ibom State Internal Revenue Service has sealed the two branches of Keystone Bank and another one belonging to Heritage Bank for their alleged failure to remit outstanding tax liabilities of N228.6m to the state government.

The banks were shut down on Thursday during an exercise conducted by the board’s Enforcement and Recovery Department, following an order of Notice of Distrain from the Akwa Ibom State High Court, Eket Judicial Division.

The board stated that if the affected banks do not settle the debts within 14 days, it had to mandate of the court to dispose of their property to recover the amounts owed.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, said on Saturday the rehabilitation of the Kaduna Refinery would be completed by December 2024.

The 110,000 barrels per day (bpd) capacity Kaduna Refinery is one of the four refineries in Nigeria.

The remaining three refineries are located in Port Harcourt in Rivers, and Warri, Delta State.

ON TECH SCENE, Sukhiba Connect, Contract Understanding, Anava, Olive Gaea, Neo Mobility, Greenbles, SettleQuick, X, Verod Capital, Circadian, were some of the names that made the headlines this week.

Ghanaian battery network solutions company, Kofa, during the week has announced partnering with TAILG Group, a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, to launch the Jidi electric motorcycle.

Also, BayWa r.e. Energy Ventures has taken a lead in a funding round, estimated at 1.25 million Euros ($1.3M), to support the Berlin-based and Africa-focused energy startup, Circadian.

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