BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Digital payments drop to N38.77tn; Kenya drops fraud charges against Flutterwave; other stories

Hello, and welcome to the 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:

· Digital payment drops to N38.77tn amid scarcity

· Naira redesign to promote financial inclusion, tackle banditry — CBN

· Market cap down by -0.05% as investors lose N17.7bn in five hours

· CBN warns banks against terrorism-related transactions, updates blacklist

· Kenyan govt drops fraud charges against Flutterwave ahead of IPO

Summary:

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said on Saturday the redesign of the naira notes was initiated to make Nigeria’s monetary policy decisions more effective, and promote financial inclusion.

The CBN’s Director of Communication, Osita Nwasinobi, who disclosed this at the 44th Kaduna international trade fair in Kaduna, said the policy would complement the efforts of security agents in their fights against bandits and other criminal elements in the northern part of the country.

Nwasinobi, who was represented at the fair by CBN’s Director of Capacity Development, Mohammed Abbah, advised Nigerians to make use of alternative payment channels such as eNaira and internet banking for their daily transactions.

The equity capitalization in the Nigerian capital market crashed by -0.05 percent at the close of trading on Friday.

This represented a N17.7billion dip in the market capitalization from N29.60 trillion to N29.59 trillion after five hours of trading today.

The All-Share Index dropped by 32.6 basis points to close at 54,327.3, down from 54,359.9 achieved by the bourse on Thursday.

Instant electronic payment dropped to N38.77 trillion in January 2023 despite the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) hoping the Naira redesign policy would push digital transactions up.

The electronic payment fell by -7.75 per cent month-on-month from N42.03 trillion recorded in December 2022 to N38.77 trillion, according to data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS).

Drop in digital transactions occurred amid a struggle among Nigerians to withdraw from commercial banks after the Naira redesign policy of the CBN led to a scarcity of the country’s currency.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed commercial banks and other financial institutions (OFIs) under its regulation and payment service providers to search through their database in search of any transaction that could be tied to a wanted terrorist.

The apex bank in a circular signed by the Director, of Financial Policy and Regulation Department, CBN, Harry Audu, stated that one Abdul Rehman Makki should be added to the ISIL and Al-Qaida sanction list.

The circular stated: “The United Nations Security Council (UNSC), had on January 16, 2023 listed Abdul Rehman Makki as being associated with ISIL or Al-Qaida and has accordingly been added to the ISIL (Da’esh) & Al-Qaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities that are subject to assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo as set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 2610 (2021).”

Read also:BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Banks’ ATMs run dry; IMF raises Nigeria’s economic growth projection; other stories

The Kenyan government has dropped the financial impropriety charges against Nigerian Financial Technology company, Flutterwave.

The Kenyan government in July last year blocked 62 bank accounts with Sh6.2 billion ($59.2 million) belonging to Flutterwave and some other firms.

Another $3.3 million belonging to Flutterwave was also seized two months later amid accusations that the FinTech firm and some companies were involved in card fraud and money laundering.

On NSE ROUNDUP: UAC records N4.7bn loss amid high operating cost

UAC of Nigeria PLC (UAC) has recorded N4.7 billion loss in the full year of 2022, no thanks to high operating costs.

Checks on the company’s financial statement submitted to the Nigerian exchange show the loss recorded came on the back of N2.58 billion profit in the same period of 2021.

The Food and Beverage company with a portfolio in real estate and paint and logistics sectors of the economy said during the 12 months of 2022, running a business at N17.35 billion in expenses a 17% increase from N14.84 billion in the full year of 2021.

On the tech scene, Meta Platforms, Jendaya, Uber, Twitter, Sendmarc, Yodawy, PalmHr, Orange, Zoom, Zinox were some of the names that made the headlines in the tech ecosystem this week.

Microblogging platform, Twitter, on Thursday announced a new feature that will allow paying users to post longer tweets.

Also, a Video conferencing service company, Zoom, has announced plans to lay off about 1,300 employees as it reacts to the global market contraction.

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