CBN’s cashless policy extends to all states July 1

WorldStage Newsonline-- The cash less policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria is to be extended to all states in the country by July 1, 2014.

The Branch Controller of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Kaduna Branch Alhaji Mohammed Gusau said at the 2014 Annual Dinner of the Kaduna Bankers’ Committee, Gusau that the decision to extend it to the remaining states was because of the success recorded so far by the policy, adding that the cashless policy is expected to reduce the cost of banking services, drive financial inclusion, reduce risk associated with handling cash and enable more transparency in payments.

According to him, the bank is planning to organise a sensitization for all stakeholders in Kaduna on Thursday, April 3 in preparation for the commencement of the policy in the state.

He disclosed that the with effect from July 1, 2013, the clearing activities of the apex bank witnessed a transformation from the usual exchange of instruments at the Central Bank of Nigeria Clearing Houses to a more robust and automated system of Clearing by the introduction of Cheque Truncation System.

According to him, “the Cheque Truncation System is a system whereby physical clearing instruments are truncated into electronic format and transmitted to the Central Clearing Centre.

Interbank Rates Rise on Liquidity Shortfall

The Nigerian Interbank Offered Rates (NIBOR) increased significantly to an average of 18.5 per cent on Friday, as against the 10.24 per cent it closed the preceding Friday, due to a decline in the level of liquidity in the system.

According to dealers, the interbank market, which is a market for short-term borrowing among commercial banks recorded withdrawals than injection last week.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold treasury bills worth N100 billion via Open Market Operations (OMO). A breakdown of the fixed income instrument sold showed that it comprised of 147-day bills worth N50 billion; 121-day bills worth N20 billion; and 122-day bills worth N30 billion. The monetary policy measure was basically to reduce the volume of money in circulation.

In addition, there were also withdrawals for purchase of forex put at about N124.23 billion as well as federal government bonds worth N90 billion that was sold last week.

Zenith Bank Remains Resilient

Zenith Bank Plc kicked off the earnings season for Nigerian banks last week as it released its full year 2013 financial results.

Most financial market analysts said the results were in line with forecasts, despite the harsh operating environment that confronted banks last year.

Last year, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised the cash reserve requirements (CRR) on public sector deposits to 50 per cent from 12 per cent. It also reduced and removed a number of fee income lines, including ATM and CoT charges. In the same breath, the AMCON levy was raised to 0.5 per cent from 0.3 per cent, amongst others.

However, Zenith Bank’s 2013 results showed profit before tax (PBT) and profit after tax (PAT) of N110.6 billion and N95 billion in 2013 respectively. This represents a PBT growth of 8.3 per cent and a six per cent drop in the PAT.

Its gross earnings also climbed by 14.4 per cent to N351.4 billion at the end of 2013, compared to the N307 billion it was at the end of 2012, while its interest income jumped by 17.5 per cent to N260.1 billion, as against the N221.3 billion it was the previous year.

NGC empowers entrepreneurs in NNPC pipelines host communities

The Nigerian Gas Company (NGC), a subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has organised a human capacity development workshop for 40 women drawn from different communities that host NNPC pipelines.

This is part of efforts targeted at poverty alleviation and job creation in accordance with its Corporate Social Responsibility. This human capacity development workshop organised for women entrepreneurs drawn from communities in both Lagos and Ogun States that host NNPC pipelines and infrastructure was, however, focused on skills acquisition training, including catering, make-up artistry, fashion designing, hair dressing, computerisation, among other vocations.

Speaking in Abeokuta on the human capacity development training, Saidu Mohammed, managing director, NGC, disclosed that the workshop was organised to appreciate and reciprocate communities’ efforts in protecting NNPC pipelines from vandalism.

The programme tagged ‘2014 Nigerian Gas Comapny Women Empowerment Workshop’, according to Mohammed, who was represented by Gabriel Ahanmisi, director of operations, had been executed in over 200 communities where the company has its facilities, adding that the 2014 edition would not only develop participants’ capacity, but would also provide start-off tools for them.

“The decision to organise this workshop is to empower the women in our host communities in Ogun and Lagos States in becoming more efficient in managing their businesses and therefore make them self-sufficient in all facets of their lives. Our community relations philosophy views the host communities as partners with the desire that they buy into our business opportunities,” he said.

Also, Comfort Adepoju, head, public affairs, NGC, while making remarks at the end of the week-long training held in Ogun and Lagos States, disclosed that the participants were nominated by chiefs and elders of the concerned communities, adding that the participants were also allowed to choose desired vocations.

“The selection of the participants was made by the leaders of the communities involved in Lagos and Ogun States. The vocational skill training also was their own consent; we didn’t impose anything on them, it was their choice,” she explained.

Source: BusinessDay

Huge opportunities await Indian health investors in Africa (News Analysis)

At the just concluded 10th CII-EXIM Bank Conclave on India-Africa project partnership, the High Commissioner of Nigeria, Ndubuisi Amaku, gave an interesting bit of information. He said Nigerians last year spent around $350 million to access healthcare in India.

Speaking on the sidelines of the meet, he said the amount was spent by just about one percent of the Nigerian population who could afford to pay for quality healthcare in India.

Amaku asked Indian entrepreneurs to consider investing in facilities in Nigeria to provide healthcare to patients who may find it difficult to travel to India due to the high airfare and other logistics issues.

The data furnished by the High Commissioner indicates the huge healthcare market that is waiting to be tapped by Indian healthcare providers and drug manufacturers. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Sub-Saharan region alone accounts for 11 percent of the world's population and yet bears 24 percent of the global disease burden, and commands less than one percent of global health expenditure.

CBN approves closure of 83 micro-finance banks

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved the liquidation of 83 micro-finance banks, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, the Managing Director, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), said on Tuesday in Abuja.

Ibrahim, who made the disclosure when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency to defend NDIC’s  2014 budget, said the licences of the 83 banks had been revoked by CBN.

He said that the closure of the 83 micro-finance banks became necessary because it was discovered that some of them existed only on paper, while others were used to defraud Nigerians.

He added that there were up to 900 micro-finance banks operating in the country, out of which, 83 had been listed for liquidation.

According to him. NDIC is already working to determine the number of depositors and how much each deposited in the banks in order to pay them.