Connect with us

Business

BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Naira falls 1.3% against dollar; Buhari orders end to estimated billing; See other stories that made our pick

Published

on

Private sector got over N46trn in loans from banks in 9 months –NBS

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

Here are the Headlines:

  • Naira falls 1.3% against dollar after plans to sell forex to BDCs
  • Pension directorate delists 21,227 unverified pensioners
  • CBN outlaws special treatment for payment service banks
  • Buhari orders end to estimated billing

 Summary:

The naira depreciated by 1.3% against the United States dollar on the official market on Friday, one day after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced plans to restart forex sales to Bureaux de Change (BDCs) as the country prepares to reopen its airports for international travel.

The local currency opened for trade at N385.50 per dollar on the market, supported by the CBN. It later recovered later to close at N381 per dollar, where it had been stagnant since July, Eikon Refinitiv data showed. Read more

The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) said it would expunge 21,227 unverified parastatal pensioners currently on the directorate’s payroll and who had not shown up for verification with effect from October.

It made the disclosure in a statement issued on Friday and titled ‘PTAD Removes Unverified Parastatals Pensioners from Its Payroll.’ PTAD said the list of the affected pensioners had been handed to the pension unions, associations, agencies and institutes in July for dissemination and sensitisation of their members and to give feedback to the directorate. Read more

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has barred parent companies or any other associated entities of Payment Service Banks (PSBs) from providing preferential treatment, which nullifies fair competition, to its subsidiaries.

PSBs are a new category of banks with smaller scale operations and absence of credit risk and foreign exchange operations. PSBs can also offer payments and remittance services, issue debit and prepaid cards, deploy automated teller machines and other technology-enabled banking services in an effort to drive financial inclusion and bring banking services closer to the unbanked population. Read more

Read also: BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Oil prices fall on slow coronavirus recovery; Pension assets hit N11.08tn; See other stories that made our pick

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the players in the power sector to carry out mass metering of unmetered customers nationwide.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) disclosed this on its Twitter handle on Wednesday night. The commission also declared that it had not approved any increase in electricity tariffs. Read more

On NSE ROUNDUP: Market adds N46bn amidst improved liquidity

The equity section of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) posted gains on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday but recorded a loss on Thursday day, resulting in a weekly appreciation of N45.648 billion.

All the key market performance indicators closed higher. A negative market breadth was recorded this week as 36 losers emerged against 29 gainers. The All Share Index (ASI) and the Market Capitalisation simultaneously advanced by 0.35% to 25,309.37 basis points and N13.203 trillion respectively. Read more

MEANWHILE, Ghanaian startup Nokwary has displaces 600 others to win Ecobank Fintech Challenge. The contest, which saw the participation of over 600 startups, revealed the competitive spirit of startups across Africa.

With Ecobank’s vision to help empower tech entrepreneurs, Nigerian (alongside other) startup founders and co-founders stand to benefit greatly in subsequent editions should they lead the pitching contest.

One promising potential in this is that these startups can leverage Ecobank’s network to expand their footprints, given the fact that the bank has it’s network of branches across 30 African countries. Beyond the $10,000 prize money, the contest is one of those few which founders should always look forward to.

Thanks for joining the roundup this week. See you next week for another serving of Business Roundup. Don’t forget, for the latest news and updates from around the globe, keep reading Ripples Nigeria.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now