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Access Bank Nigeria: Bolaji Agbede replaces Wigwe

Bolaji Agbede is Access Bank's most senior founding executive director
Bolaji Agbede is Access Bank’s most senior founding executive director

 

Access Bank, one of Nigeria’s largest banks, has appointed a temporary replacement for CEO Herbert Wigwe, who died alongside five others in a helicopter crash last Friday.

Bolaji Agbede, Access Bank’s most senior founding executive director, will assume the CEO position in acting capacity, the bank’s parent company, Access Holdings Plc, announced in a statement.

Ms Agbede joined Access Bank in 2003 and has nearly 30 years of experience in banking and business consultancy, the company said.

Wigwe’s chartered helicopter was on its way from Palm Springs to Boulder City in Nevada in the US when it went down, about 96km (60 miles) from Las Vegas.

According to Nigerian media, the 57-year-old banker was on his way to Las Vegas to attend Sunday’s Super Bowl.

Wigwe founded Access Bank in 1989. It became the largest bank in Nigeria in 2018 after it acquired its main competitor, Diamond Bank.

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Business Finance

Dangote Refinery: Timeline to begin production not known yet

The oil refinery in Lagos took nearly seven years to build
The oil refinery in Lagos took nearly seven years to build

 

After seven years, Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has completed the construction of his multi-billion dollar refinery in Lagos, Nigeria.

The delivery of a million barrels of crude oil to the huge new refinery in Nigeria marks a major milestone in the process towards the country being able to produce fuel itself. But there is no timeline yet for oil production to begin in the facility. For years, the oil-rich nation has not been able to refine the product. Importing refined oil has imposed some extra costs on the country.

It is not clear when the mammoth Dangote refinery will start working but once running, it will be a big step in reaching energy self-sufficiency.

The delivery of the first one million barrels of crude will be followed by five million more, which should then allow the plant to begin producing fuel.

When fully operational, the $19bn (£15bn) facility in Nigeria’s commercial hub, Lagos, is predicted to produce about 650,000 barrels per day.

It will begin by making diesel, aviation fuel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) before progressing to the production of petrol.

Africa’s richest man and president of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said on Friday that the “focus over the coming months is to ramp up the refinery to its full capacity. I look forward to the next significant milestone when we deliver the first batch of products to the Nigerian market.”

The company boasts it will be eventually able to provide for 100% of Nigeria’s requirements of all refined product and also have surplus for export.

The continent’s largest economy, and one of its largest oil producers, has faced challenges in the supply of fuel, including foreign currency shortages, which have contributed to the frequent bouts of scarcity in the country.The cost of fuel has also become a major political issue.

For years, the price had been subsidised – one of the few perks that many Nigerians had felt that they got from the state.

But the subsidy cost the government a lot of money and this year the newly elected President, Bola Tinubu, removed it. This led to an increase in fuel prices of over 400%.

Although labour unions have pressured the government to reverse its decision and alleviate the plight of most Nigerians, President Tinubu has maintained that it was a move that had long-term benefits.

In November, the government said it had saved over $1.8bn between June and September this year through the removal of the subsidy which will be channelled into social development projects.

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Business Finance Latest News

African Development Bank Slashes Africa’s Economic Forecast for 2023, 2024

African Development Bank President, Akinwunmi Adesina
African Development Bank President, Akinwunmi Adesina

 

The African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) has revised its short to medium-term macroeconomic forecast for Africa, for 2023 and 2024 downwards to 3.4% and 3.8%, from 4.0% and 4.3%.

The slightly lower figures reflect the persistent long-term effects of COVID-19, geopolitical tensions and conflicts, climate shocks, a global economic slowdown, and limited fiscal space for African governments to adequately respond to shocks and sustain post-pandemic economic recovery gains.

The updated data were published on Thursday, 29 November in the 2023 Africa’s Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook (MEO) update, a follow-up to the Bank Group’s 2023 Africa Economic Outlook (https://apo-opa.co/3N6vYsH) released in May.

While inflationary pressures are receding globally, they are persistent in Africa and continue to weigh heavily on the continent’s short-to-medium-term economic performance, according to the update. Africa’s inflation is now projected to average 18.5% and 17.1% in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

The Bank Group’s Chief Economist and Vice President, Prof. Kevin Urama said: “The challenging global economic environment and multiple shocks continue to shape Africa’s macroeconomic performance. The entrenched inflationary pressures threaten to reverse all the macroeconomic gains made since the easing of pandemic risks while the continued depreciation of domestic currencies in many countries has exacerbated debt service costs.”

“In the face of regional and global shocks, the Bank remains resolute in supporting African countries to better navigate these challenges and put economic growth back on track,” he added.  

In the short term, the MEO update urges countries to continue to implement restrictive monetary policies to contain inflation. This should be supported by fiscal policies that promote economic diversification and remove supply-side constraints.

Over the medium- to long-term, it calls on governments to scale up efficient investment in human capital and physical infrastructure to boost productivity, regain momentum in economic growth, and create opportunities for more inclusive and sustainable development.

The revised inflation rates represent an acceleration of 3.4 and 7.6 percentage points, respectively, from the earlier projection. Ongoing inflationary pressure has largely been fuelled by supply shocks in agriculture, stronger imported inflation due to weaker local currencies, relatively high commodity prices, and the persistence of fiscal dominance in several African countries.

The elevation of cost-of-living pressures has eroded Africans’ purchasing power, stoking the risk of further increases in the incidence of poverty.

Among the update’s findings: slow global economic growth is impacting demand for Africa’s exports, a trend that is projected to persist for much longer than previously anticipated.

It also stressed that the projected economic slowdown in advanced economies and lacklustre growth in China relative to historical trends have weighed down global growth.

“This has placed additional strain on African countries, especially those dependent on the Chinese market for commodity exports. Stronger policy support in China could bolster global economic recovery and trigger positive spillovers to African countries for which China remains a major trading partner. These factors can help moderate adverse risks to the economic outlook,” the report notes.

On the downside, the 2023 MEO update observes that climate shocks coupled with deepening geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the prolongation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could lead to deeper disruptions in global trade and foreign investment flows. This can trigger another round of prolonged tightening of global financial conditions that could further exert depreciation pressure on domestic currencies, increase debt-service costs, and exacerbate the increase in debt service costs and compound the continent’s funding squeeze.

Staying afloat amid local and global shocks

The MEO update notes that coordinated monetary and fiscal policies underpinned by a reduction in fiscal dominance will be essential to rebuild buffers against the shocks.

Targeted and sequenced investments to address supply constraints, including addressing structural weaknesses, would help reverse the downturn in the momentum of economic recovery and put African economies on a higher and more sustainable growth trajectory.

To sustainably reduce inflationary pressures, the report urged African countries to remove the obstacles preventing domestic supply from responding to higher international commodity prices and to boost labour productivity through targeted infrastructure and human capital investment.

Tackling impediments to increased domestic resource mobilisation will help address the current funding squeeze.

Launched in January 2023, Africa’s Macroeconomic Performance and Outlook report complements the African Development Bank’s annual African Economic Outlook report, which focuses on key emerging policy issues relevant to the continent’s development. The MEO is published in the first and fourth quarters of each year; the update comes ahead of the 2024 edition of the MEO, which highlights the evolution of macroeconomic conditions in the face of multiple and unprecedented shocks.

Click here (https://apo-opa.co/4a9zJaWfor more information and to download the report.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).
 

Media Contact:
Emeka Anuforo
Communication and External Relations Department
media@afdb.org

About the African Development Bank Group:
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is Africa’s premier development finance institution. It comprises three distinct entities: the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Development Fund (ADF) and the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF). On the ground in 34 African countries with an external office in Japan, the AfDB contributes to the economic development and the social progress of its 54 regional member states. For more information: www.AfDB.org  

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Business Finance Latest News

Nigeria: Old, New Naira Notes To Remain Legal Tender Till Further Notice

Old and New Nigerian Currency
Old and New Nigerian Currency

 

Nigeria’s Supreme Court, on Wednesday, ruled that old and new Naira notes will co-exist as legal tender until further notice.

In March 2023, the apex court had extended the deadline to phase out old Naira notes to December 31, 2023.

Also, on November 21, the federal government had filed an application before the Supreme Court seeking an extension for old Naira notes to remain in circulation.

Local news platforms report that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had also recently said old and new Naira currencies remained legal tender indefinitely.

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Cybercrimes cost Nigeria, Others $7trillion in 2022, Says ISACA Chief, Omoke

Mr. Emmanuel Omoke, Abuja Chapter President of ISACA delivering his paper at the FIRS Headquarters, Abuja
Mr. Emmanuel Omoke, Abuja Chapter President of ISACA delivering his paper at the FIRS Headquarters, Abuja

In 2022 alone, global economy lost $7 trillion due to breaches occasioned by cybercrimes. This is as average cost of a single cyber breach could cost as much as $4.25million and the effect could be devastating for the global economy, the Abuja Chapter President of the Information System Audit and Control Association, Mr. Emmanuel Omoke has warned.

Omoke made these revelations in Abuja on Wednesday in a paper he presented to mark the 2023 Information Security Week at the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

In his lecture titled: Mitigating Insider and Outsider Threats to Information Security, Omoke urged organisations, both public and private to take the issue of information security serious as a little negligence could cost a fortune.
In his presentation, the information security expert revealed that Insider Threats to information security is always higher, accounting for about 22 percent of all threats. This he explained comes from activities of disgruntled employees of an organisation. According to him, external hackers account for about 14 percent of all threats while syndicates account for six percent.

“Cybercrimes cost the global economy as much as $7 trillion in 2022. Average cost of cyber breach is $4.25million. cybercrime is now ranked third largest economy behind United States and China, according to the World Economy Forum (WEF).
“Hackers are always associated with individuals who possess technical skills and knowledge related to computer systems and networks, but their interest and intentions can vary widely”, he said.

He enumerated types of hackers to include: White hackers, Black hackers, Grey hackers, Script kiddies, State sponsored hackers, Malware authors, Phreakers, Social engineers and Hacktivists.

“The term Hacktivism, that is Hack+activism refers to hacking into computer systems socially or politically motivated reasons. The targets of hacktivists are political groups, religious groups, social movements, big corporations and government organisations. Their motivations include to teach the targeted group a lesson and really get their attention and to provoke, question and challenge organisations or groups that represent moral values that conflict with their own”, he added.
Omoke emphasized that organisations should pay greater attention to insider threats as well as the outsider threats as their costs could be massive.

Mr. Omoke, first from right, and other guests at the FIRS Headquarters in Abuja
Mr. Omoke, first from right, and other guests at the FIRS Headquarters in Abuja

“Cost of threats include the worth of lost data, damage to equipment, loss of money, cost of fixing vulnerability that was exploited, loss of revenue from downtime, loss of revenue due to loss of customer trust and company image, legal fees and court costs as well as considerations related to restitution to customers, injury, death and national security”, he said.

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Finance Latest News Law

Nigeria: Tinubu’s ally, Ibori’s lawyer gets UK court order to pay $36m

Ibori
Ibori

 

A court in London has ordered the lawyer for a former Nigerian governor to pay around $36m (£28m) for helping him hide funds.

Ibori is a close ally of Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu

Bhadresh Gohil was convicted in 2010 of money laundering linked to his role in helping the former governor of oil rich Delta State, James Ibori, to hide the proceeds from criminal activities.

Both men have already served prison sentences in the UK for money laundering.

On Friday, Mr Ibori who now lives back in Nigeria was ordered to hand over $130m of stolen money.

The London court said both men would face further prison sentences if they failed to pay.

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Finance Latest News Law

Ghanaian Minister arrested after she reported theft of $1.5m to police

Ms Dapaah
Ms Dapaah

 

A Minister in Ghanaian government may have raised suspicion for herself after she reported to the police, a theft of about $1.5 million USD by burglars suspected be her domestic staff.

The minister  must have thought she was doing the right thing by going to the police to report a theft at her house, but it backfired spectacularly when she was arrested.

According to a court charge sheet dated last Thursday relating to those accused of the theft, Cecilia Abena Dapaah had a vast amount of money stolen.

It describes a “cash sum” of $1m (£780,000), as well as 300,000 euros ($333,000) and 350,000 Ghana cedis ($30,000), plus other personal items including handbags valued at $35,000 and $95,000-worth of jewellery.

The 68-year-old disputes the figures given in the court document but the revelations outraged many in Ghana.

The country’s currency has been losing value rapidly in recent months, with those in charge of the troubled economy blaming dollar hoarders for the woes of the cedi.

It was shocking for many to learn that a government minister may have been holding foreign currency herself.

Ms Dapaah resigned as minister of sanitation and water resources, a post she had held for the last five years on Saturday in order, she said, not to distract from the work of government. She added that she was sure that any investigation would show she had acted with integrity.

That did not quell the anger. By Monday she was under arrest.

The Office of the Special Prosecutor, which deals with graft allegations against high-level officials, announced that it had arrested and was questioning Ms Dappah for “suspected corruption and corruption-related offences regarding large amounts of money and other valuable items reportedly stolen from her residence”.

She was released on bail late on Monday evening after her official and private residences in the capital, Accra, were searched.

The saga began with a burglary – or possibly a series of burglaries – at the minister’s private home, which she shares with her husband and daughter.

Two women, who worked as domestic workers for the family, are at the centre of the accusations. One is alleged to have operated as a look-out, while the other allegedly stole the cash and other goods. They – as well as the three others accused – have not commented on the charges.

The “brief facts” of the investigation, which are attached to the charge sheet, say that last October Ms Dapaah’s husband, Daniel Osei Kuffour, returned home and heard “an unusual noise” from his bedroom and then found one of the accused hiding behind the door.

It was afterwards that the couple realised that things were missing but they only went to the police seven months later.

It is not clear why there was such a long delay, but in that time the accused are alleged to have gone on an extravagant spending spree.

One allegedly bought a three-bedroom house on the outskirts of Accra as well as items to go in it: a double-decker fridge, a television, a washing machine, a chest freezer, a gas cooker and a water dispenser. She allegedly gave money to her boyfriend to buy two cars – a Hyundai Elantra and a Honda Civic.

The couple are also accused of renting another three-bedroom house in a different city and a store room.

The other former employee of Ms Dapaah is alleged to have spent some of her share of the stolen money on building her own three-bedroom house.

But for the former minister herself, the source of the money that funded this alleged huge shopping bill was a mystery.

In her resignation letter, Ms Dapaah said the reports that she had “various huge sums of foreign currencies and millions of Ghana cedis… do not represent correctly what my husband and I reported to the police”.

President Nana Akufo-Addo’s response disappointed anti-corruption campaigners as it appeared to prejudge the outcome of the investigations.

“I am confident… that at the end of the day, your integrity, whilst in office, will be established,” he wrote to Ms Dapaah.

She had served as a minister since President Akufo-Addo was first elected in 2017, initially in aviation and a year later she was switched to water and sanitation.

Ms Dapaah was well known as she was one of just three women in the president’s cabinet.

Now her political future hangs in the balance as the special prosecutor investigates whether she really had such huge amounts of cash in her house and if so, where it came from.

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Business Finance Law

Protests, tear-gas in Kenyan over proposed tax hikes

Protests in Kenya, tear-gas in Kenya over proposed tax hikes
Protests in Kenya, tear-gas in Kenya over proposed tax hikes

 

Police have fired tear gas to disperse Kenyan protesters demonstrating in the capital against some of the government’s proposed measures to impose new or higher taxes on items including fuel.

One of the key contested measures in the unpopular finance bill is a new 3% housing fund levy for all salaried workers and to increase value added tax on fuel to 16%.

The bill also calls for taxes on beauty products, crypto-currencies and earnings by social media influencers. They are among the measures that have been opposed by many Kenyans.

The dozens of protesters had sought to gather at a park in the centre of Nairobi before marching to parliament to urge MPs to reject the tax proposals.

Local media reported that some of the protesters were arrested.

Legislators are set to debate the bill on Thursday, amid warnings issued by President William Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua against those opposed to the proposals.

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Finance

AfDB says Natural capital option for Africa to finance Sustainable Devpt.

AfDB President, Akinunmi Adesina
AfDB President, Akinunmi Adesina

 

Africa must use all its comparative advantages to mobilize the resources it needs to finance its sustainable development ambitions. Since 2010, official development assistance has declined, falling to its lowest level of $34 billion in 2022, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates. Access to international capital markets remains constrained and costly due to investors’ perceptions of high risk.

But the continent is not short of options. For example, it could draw on its immense potential in terms of natural capital, including fresh water, forests and extensive mineral deposits to attract investment and accelerate economic growth. This is what the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank Group (https://apo-opa.info/3Ap2TC9), scheduled to take place from 22 to 26 May 2023 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, intend to demonstrate.

For example, around 30% of global mineral reserves are in Africa, including 60% of world cobalt reserves and 90% of platinum-group metals. The continent contributes substantially to the world’s annual production of six key minerals: 80% of platinum, 77% of cobalt, 51% of manganese, 46% of diamonds, 39% of chromium and 22% of gold.

Africa also holds 7% of the world’s natural gas and oil reserves. The continent also has more than 60% of the world’s undeveloped arable land and is home to 13% of the world’s population; 60% of its people are under 25 years of age, the youngest population in the world. About 75% of African countries have maritime access, offering significant opportunities in the blue economy which has a global potential, if sustainably managed, of an estimated $1.5 trillion.

Over the years, hundreds of internationally listed junior mining companies have mobilized considerable capital by promoting the value of their exploration or extraction licenses for African deposits on markets. Too often governments fail to harness this natural potential to mobilize resources. Further, hundreds of millions of people exploit natural capital in an ad hoc manner, for instance, in the charcoal industry, which relies on an economic model of deforestation.

However, some countries are effectively taking advantage of natural capital. Morocco, for example, has established huge solar and wind energy plants. In 2022, British renewable energy company Xlinks announced the construction of a 3800-kilometer submarine cable to allow the UK to take advantage of this energy. Egypt harnesses the Nile River and the Suez Canal in various ways. The country also has the Benban solar photovoltaic power plant, launched in 2018, which is contributing to increasing the renewable energy output to 42% of the total by 2035.

Benban is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by two million tonnes per year. When running at full capacity, it will generate 3.8 terawatt-hours of electricity per year, equivalent to 90% of the electricity produced by Aswan High Dam.

The Bank Group’s Annual Meetings will feature discussion of how Africa’s natural capital can, in addition to private sector investment, be an important financing vehicle for the continent’s climate change adaptation and mitigation actions and its green growth ambitions. The discussions will feature climate change and natural capital experts, African ministers, and Bank governors.

In addition to discussions about local content and value addition, dialogue will also focus on trade and regional integration; infrastructure, finance and investment policies; human capital and skills development; and technology upgrading.

In September 2021, the African Development Bank launched a new initiative to integrate natural capital into development financing in Africa. The meetings in Sharm El Sheikh thus provide an opportunity to review this project and its first achievements. The meetings also provide a platform for host country, Egypt, to share its successes in tapping its maritime and freshwater assets.

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Business Finance

Nigeria: Old and New Currencies to Co-exist Till Year-End

old and new naira note remain legal tender till end of year
old and new naira note remain legal tender till end of year

 

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says old banknotes will remain legal tender until the end of the year in line with a judgement made by the supreme court earlier this month

Banks have also been directed to comply with the court’s decision that allowed for old and new naira notes to run concurrently until 31 December.

A lack of newly designed naira notes led to a cash shortage in a country where 40% of the population don’t have bank accounts.

Long queues were witnessed at banking halls and cash machines with many unable to access the new banknotes. This led to protests in some parts of the country.

In February, some state governors took the federal government to the court, challenging the implementation of a 10 February deadline to phase out the old notes.

President Buhari on 16 February ordered the central bank to recirculate the old 200 naira notes only until 10 April, insisting the old 500 and 1,000 naira notes were no longer legal tenders.

But the supreme court’s judgement overruled this directive.

On Monday, the presidency denied public sentiments that he had instructed the CBN governor and the attorney-general to disobey the court orders.

“The directive of the President, following the meeting of the Council of State, is that the Bank must make available for circulation all the money that is needed and nothing has happened to change the position” he said in a statement.

Last October, the central bank redesigned the higher banknotes to combat counterfeiting, cash hoarding and insecurity fuelled by kidnaps for ransom.

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