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BUSINESS ROUNDUP: NNPC spends N13bn on entertainment; UK payment firm suspends USD transfers to Nigeria; other stories

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

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:

· Sanusi demands disbandment of NNPC

· NNPC spends over N13bn on entertainment in 2 years

· UK payment firm suspends USD transfer to Nigeria

· Nigeria rules out privatisation of transmission company

· Reps direct CBN to suspend sale of troubled Polaris Bank

Summary:

The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido, on Saturday demanded the disbandment of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).

Sanusi made the call at the 7th edition of the Kaduna Investment Summit (KADinvest 7.0) organised by the Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency.

The deposed Emir of Kano, and the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, have been pushing for the disbandment of the company over several years of underperformance.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) spent over N13 billion on entertainment for its staff in two years.

READ ALSO:NNPC spends over N13bn on entertainment in two years

This is according to the analysis of the oil company’s financial statement for 2021 published on its website.

The development raises more questions about the frugality of the oil company amid revenue challenges.

Reactions have trailed the decision of UK money transfer company, Wise, to remove Nigeria from its payment routes due to reliability issue on foreign exchange.

In an email sent to some Nigerian users, Wise, formerly known as TransferWise, said Nigeria hasn’t been reliable when it comes to sending money.

Wise is mostly used by freelancers, companies, amongst others receiving payment from business partners or clients in foreign countries.

The Federal Government has described as outright falsehood reports on the planned privatisation of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the federal government said there was no plan to sell or privatise the TCN and reaffirmed its commitment to an uninterrupted power supply in the country.

The clarification came at a time President Muhammadu Buhari declared the federal government’s readiness to sell national assets in a bid to raise capital to fund the budget deficits.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been ordered by the House of Representatives to immediately halt the sale of Polaris Bank Plc.

The House ruled, on Wednesday, that the suspension should last until the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) have completed all procedures for an open, transparent, and competitive bid process.

It also stated that this should be in accordance with best practices and protocol for divestments of this kind.

On NSE ROUND UP: Stocks value rises by N24.3bn amidst investors’ interest in GTCO, Honeywell

The value of stocks in the Nigerian capital market rose by 0.09 percent at the close of trading on Friday.

This means the equity capitalization rose by N24.32 billion from N25.88 trillion to N25.90 trillion on Friday.

Similarly, the All-Share Index rose by 44.66 basis points to close with 47,569.04, up from 47,524.38 posted the previous day.

Investors traded 124.43 million shares worth N4.27 billion in 3,101 deals on Friday.

This surpassed the 86.54 million shares worth N2.09 billion traded by shareholders in 3,264 deals on Thursday.

On the tech scene, Yellow Door Energy, Moko Home + Living, NorthOne, Greenbles, Lifestores Healthcare, FlapKap, Stears Business, Yardlink, Mindshift were some of the names that made the headlines in the tech ecosystem this week.

Lagos-based agtech startup, Greenbles, has launched an electronic service portal as it looks to push its mission of leveraging technology to solve Africa’s food problem.

Also, during the week, a US-based fintech startup, NorthOne, has announced securing $67 million in Series B funding to expand technological infrastructure.

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