In its bid to encourage and boost digital payments adoption and financial inclusion in the country, the Central Bank of Nigeria has granted a Payment Solution Service Provider (PSSP) license to Cellulant Nigeria Limited. With this development, Banks, online merchants, payment processors, retailers, governments agencies and consumers can now connect to Cellulant’s payment infrastructure to meet their electronic payment needs. This approval makes Cellulant Nigeria, one of the PSSP companies that make up the underlying e-Payment infrastructure in Nigeria. Mr. Bolaji Akinboro, Cellulant Corporation’s Co-founder and the CEO of Cellulant Nigeria believes that the future of Africa’s payment landscape is digital.…
Author: Temitope Nlewemchi
Africa’s global bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, and leading Pan-African Payments Company Cellulant have announced a partnership that will extend payment services for merchants and consumers across 19 key African countries in which UBA operates. These countries include Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, Republic of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Liberia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and Senegal. This network represents one of the primary tools in bringing together Africa’s fragmented payments ecosystem, ensuring Cellulant’s Payment Gateway, Tingg, is available to a vast number of merchants and consumers in…
Doubts in Europe have pushed up energy prices, and Nigeria may be forced to deal with high food inflation and inflated prices for diesel and other unsubsidized energy imports for a while. Specifically, Russia is a significant supplier of energy products, thus western sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its onslaught on Ukraine are impacting the availability of supplies. Consequently spreading the adverse effects of the ongoing war to other countries such as Nigeria. From a European perspective, due to low inventory and the relatively high dependence on Russia for energy needs, the sanctions on Russian oil imports (including…
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says it is putting structures in place in terms of upgrading and deploying the National Production Monitoring System (NPMS) facility towards curbing crude oil theft in Nigeria. Chief Executive, NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, spoke recently in Abuja on efforts by the commission to address the menace of crude oil theft. He said the deployment of NPMS, which is an electronic system that is used to monitor oil and gas production in Nigeria, was being carried out in collaboration with other relevant agencies. According to him, this ensures accurate and reliable reporting of crude oil…
The Oak Holdings, a hybrid financial institution group, has launched into the Nigerian financial industry Oak Homes, The Oak Capital, the Oak Digital Bank and The Oak Asset Management to provide services to different clients in the financial services industry. Speaking at the launching ceremony in Lagos over the weekend, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the group, Olukayode Olusanya, said the company’s multi-asset strategy combines different types of assets, including equities, fixed income securities, private/mutual funds, indexing, money market instruments among others to create a more nimble, broadly diversified portfolio for its proprietary investment objectives. Olusanya explained that…
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has kept its key oil market projections for 2022 unchanged, but it expects to adjust the forecasts in the coming weeks when there is more clarity on the impact of the conflict in Ukraine. “Given the latest developments, which are still only beginning to unfold, it is clear that uncertainty will dominate in the remaining months of 2022,” OPEC said in its latest Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR). “Uncertainty with regard to the scope and impact of the current geopolitical turmoil, restrictions and restructuring of production and trade flows, uncertainty as to what…
The Federal Government has said it sees massive revenue of about $1 billion from the sale of leather and leather products by 2025. Director-General, Nigerian Institute of Leather Science and Technology (NILEST), Prof. Mohammed Yakubu, disclosed this at the ongoing technology and innovation Expo 2022 on Wednesday, in Abuja. Noting that the leather sub-sector recorded over $800 million revenue for the country in 2009, Yakubu said the continuous export of leather was not in the best interest of the country. He appealed to the authorities concerned to enforce a total ban on export of leather. Yakubu said: “What we want…
The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group will today disclosed the outcome of $58 billion deal offers for 42 critical projects in Africa, including the proposed highway connecting Lagos to Abidjan through Cotonou, Lome and Accra as well as the Nigerian film academy. The deals were curated by AfDB and opened to investors since Tuesday at the ongoing three-day Africa Investment Forum (AIF) Virtual Boardroom sessions. President, African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, said the bankable projects would open up Africa to economic prosperity and make the continent great. Adesina described the sessions as a rare opportunity to “make deals”.…
The Federal Government has outlined measures it plans to implement to boost the volume of export in the country. This was made knownby Dr Jumoke Oduwole, the Special Adviser to the President on the Ease of Doing Business/PEBEC secretary, during a media briefing in Abuja. According to her, the government has put in place measures to eliminate multiple cargo examinations, encourage priority and free movement of designated export containers to boost the volume of export. She said, “A reform in the payment and verification process will boost Forex inflow from export if exporters have unfettered access to the foreign exchange…
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has as part of its wide-ranging orders against unlicensed and illegal online money lending banks, has instructed them to stop compounding interest and loan collection practices that are presently undergoing investigations. This is as Nigerians have reacted to its ongoing enforcement exercise across the country against these illegal online banks with their unfair practices with the shutting down of some of these firms. Irukera in the statement warned that violators of this order will be subjected to the full extent of the law including prosecution (without option of administrative regulatory resolution).
The Lagos State Government has disclosed that the Lekki Concession Company’s plan to return to official tolling after the Lekki Shooting incident is irreversible, stating that the company owes local and foreign investors, and needs to fulfil its debt obligations. This was made known by Gbenga Omotosho, Lagos State Commissioner for information, in an interview with Arise TV on Wednesday. He added that most people against the opening of the Lekki Toll Gate are people who do not even live in Nigeria. He stated that there has been no public resistance towards the reopening of the toll gate, citing the encouragements…
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has commenced the deployment of Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) solution with upgrade of emergency communication centres as operation centres increase. This development is in continuation with its vision and strategy to ensure promptness, effectiveness and efficiency in the handling of emergency call services through the Emergency Communication Centres (ECC). This disclosure is contained in a press statement issued by NCC’s Director for Public Affairs, Ikechukwu Adinde, on March 16, 2022, and can be seen on its website. Adinde said that this bolstering of the capacity of emergency response agencies is coming on the heels of…
Speaking on the network expansion and upgrade exercise, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Airtel Nigeria, Surendran Chemmenkotil, said Airtel is focused on ensuring that customers continue to enjoy the best experience on the network, while also noting that the company is committed to taking mobile broadband everywhere including the remotest rural location in the country. “Our commitment is to our customers and we are focused on ensuring that they continue to get the right and best experience on our network. This exercise is inspired by the fact that we want to serve our customers better and we also want…
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Richard Adeniyi Adebayo, has established that Nigeria received a cumulative investment of $20 billion from Free Trade Zones in 30 years. The Minister stated this at the commissioning of the new Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) facility and unveiling of NEPZA’s new special economic zone security unit in Lagos. According to him, despite the generous fiscal incentives associated with the Free Zone, the scheme remains a veritable source of economic development with the figures it generated in 2021 He said over N250 billion was generated in both Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)…
The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has begun a review of its Zero Oil Plan (ZOP) as part of the country’s aspiration to diversify its revenue sources. Other items on the review plan include the NEPC Corporate Strategy 2019-2013, which has become a tool for effective performance monitoring. The NEPC Executive Director, Dr. Ezra Yakusak in Abuja, disclosed this, yesterday. Declaring open a five-day retreat for NEPC top management and board members, Yakusak implored officers to fully participate in building a virile organisation for the benefit of all and the growth of the nation’s economy. While outlining the corporate goals…
This is coming as Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc won an award, having been ranked as the leading company with significant strides in institutionalising large-scale food fortification best practices. The pledge was made at the 4th yearly CEO Forum of Food Processing & Nutrition Leadership themed ‘Ensuring Improved Health and Nutrition Through Cross-Sectoral Leadership’ organised collaboratively by TechnoServe; Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Lagos. President of Dangote Group and Chairman of the ADF, Aliko Dangote, who chaired the meeting, said food fortification is a health issue that members of the Forum are committed to complying…
The Lagos State Police Command has disclosed the arrest and arraignment of the prime suspect who gave out kegs of petrol as souvenirs during a party held at Havilah Events Centre, Victoria Island on March 4, 2022. This is coming about 10 days after the Lagos State Government ordered an investigation into the incident after its viral video trended on various social media platforms. This disclosure is contained in a statement issued by the command and signed by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Lagos State Command, CSP Adekunle Ajisebutu, on Tuesday. Ajisebutu in his statement said that the prime…
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has served wide ranging orders on Google LLC (Play Store) and Apple Inc. (App Store) to enforce withdrawal of certain money lending applications from their stores. This was made public by the agency in a statement issued by Babatunde Irukera, it’s Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer. According to the statement, the duo Tech firms are expected to withdraw certain lending app firms where evidence has established inappropriate conduct or use of the application in violation of the rights of consumers. It stated, “The Commission has entered and served wide ranging orders on Google…
The Federal Government has established that the total number of Nigerians evacuated from Ukraine is now at 1,531, as the FG puts more efforts to evacuate more Nigerians. This was disclosed by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) in a statement on Tuesday morning. The Diaspora Commission brought back students from Romania via a Turkish Airline flight. NIDCOM announced a new batch of evacuation that landed in Nigeria on the 14th of March 2022 from Romania It stated, “Federal Government received another 31 Returnees from Ukraine through Romania aboard Turkish Airlines, which landed at about 06:30a.m at the Nnamdi Azikwe…
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), has warned that Nigerian manufacturers are set to face issues with production of goods as the cost of diesel hits N730 per liter. This was disclosed in a statement by Mr Lanre Popoola, Chairman, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Oyo, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo on Sunday, according to the News Agency of Nigeria. He also urged for the government’s intervention through palliatives to enable manufacturers to handle the costs. Popoola said, the current costs of diesel has made it difficult to ensure production at this time, as diesel has gone up to N720 and…