TheCable

Here are the seven top business news you need to track this week — February 27 to March 3

NIGERIA DECIDES 

The popularity of the major political gladiators was put to the test as the Nigerians went to the polls on Saturday to elected their preferred candidate who will govern the Nigeria — the most populous black nation in the world.

The presidential and national assembly elections held on February 25, 2023. But the final results is yet to be announced as tensions heighten on who would win the contest.

Although collation of results is ongoing (a process fraught with overt dissatisfactions by many political parties), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is expected to announce the winner of this year’s elections this week.

The winner, who would officially take over the country’s leadership, is expected to have the blueprint to leapfrog Nigeria out of its overwhelming economic constraints.

NGX SIGNS MOU WITH PAPSS

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) is to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Pan-African Payment Settlement System (PAPSS) on Tuesday, February 28, 2023.

Holding virtually the event will feature Benedict Oramah, president of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), and Lamido Yuguda, director general, securities and exchange commission (SEC), Nigeria, among other key stakeholders.

The MoU with PAPSS to enable efficient cross-border payments across capital markets in Africa by providing a faster, easier, and cheaper means of transferring funds in cross-border securities transactions within the continent.

NBS REPORT

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is expected to release a report on Nigerian capital importation for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2022.

It also intends to release reports on sustainability and development goals.

SUPREME COURT VERDICTS NAIRA REDESIGN

The supreme court is also expected to deliver judgment in the suit challenging the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on March 3.

The governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had argued that the policy was aimed at making the ruling party unpopular ahead of the elections.

The suit was initiated by Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara before the supreme court on February 6.

Rivers, Kano, Niger, Jigawa, Nasarawa, and Abia later joined the suit when it came up for hearing — making a total of 16 states.

The states are seeking to restrain the federal government from giving effect to the deadline on the use of old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes.

NIGERIA’S OIL PRODUCTION TO IMPROVE BY 58,000BPD 

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says the awarded marginal fields would increase oil production by about 58,000 barrels per day (bpd).

The commission had on Wednesday, disclosed plans to revive shut-in oil wells in efforts to boost the country’s oil output.

“In the short/medium term, we expect an estimated incremental volume of 461,000bpd and 565mmscf/d from new wells and well re-entry. In the long-term, we expect an estimated incremental volume of 162,000bpd and 868mmscf/d from FDPs, which have been approved and are at various stages of execution, ” NUPRC said. 

CBN INTRODUCES NEW E-NAIRA FEATURE 

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently the development of new eNaira to enhance services and address challenges faced by unbanked Nigerians.

The new feature enables customers to use the unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) code *997*50# to carry out all banking transactions.

Also, customers can fund their eNaira wallets with cash-purchased vouchers like GSM recharge cards or from a funded bank account.

Meanwhile, Nigerians are still faced with the challenge of accessing cash and are expected to deposit old N500 and N1000 notes at their designated banks.

FINANCIAL TASK FORCE ADDS NIGERIA TO ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING WATCHLIST 

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) added Nigeria and South Africa to its “grey list” of countries that need to intensify efforts to tackle money laundering and terrorism financing.

The inclusion of a jurisdiction to its grey list means that the country has committed to swiftly resolving the identified strategic deficiencies within agreed timeframes and is subject to increased monitoring.