Category: Business

Turkey secures $1bn from China swap to boost reserves

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The People’s Bank of China has transferred $1 billion worth of funds to Turkey in, Beijing’s biggest support package ever for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Bloomberg reported at the weekend. The cash infusion boosted Turkey’s foreign reserves around the time of Istanbul local elections that had left international investors fretting about the country’s political and financial stability. The Chinese funds also show Turkey is making headway in its efforts to diversify sources of foreign investment amid unprecedented tensions with the West. Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak has said the…

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Verve, Discover Global Network partner on ‘Global Card’

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Interswitch’s Verve and Discover Global Network, the payments brand of Discover, have launched the Verve Global Card that will be accepted in more than 190 countries and territories. The event which took place in  New York City, saw  senior executives from First Bank, Access Bank and Fidelity Bank purchasing  various items from Swarovski using their Verve Global Card on the Discover Global Network. The agreement with Discover Global Network will facilitate new international and cross border transaction capabilities for Verve Global Card customers, meeting the needs of its increasingly global customer base. Holders…

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EMVCo releases proposed changes for payment systems

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 Payment card standards body, EMVCo, at the weekend released proposed specification changes for payment systems to accommodate longer number on credit and debit cards for identifying the card issuer. The issuer identification number, as it is called, is the first part of the 10- to 19-digit primary account number that appears on the front of debit or credit cards and identifies the card issuer. Currently, the Issuer Identification Number (IIN) consists of the first six digits of the Personal Area Network (PAN) but will transition to being eight digits long…

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Experts:  External reserves will slide to $43bn

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The country’s external reserves have been on a downward trend in recent weeks mainly due to decline in oil prices. Data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) shows that the reserves stood at $44.5billion as at August 14, 2019 compared with $45billion a month earlier. In a report obtained by Newsfieldglobal at the weekend, the FDC also forecast that the country’s oil revenue would drop to $9-$10billion in the third quarter of this year even as it predicted that oil prices will hover around $60-$62 in this month.…

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AfCFTA: Nigeria, others record 5.6% imports

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  There are indications that Nigeria’s volume of trade in terms of total imports coming from African countries in the last 10 years was only 5.6 per cent, a survey emanating from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has revealed.       Particularly, the MAN report explained that the country’s trade integration within Africa was so small compared to bilateral trade with other countries, thus signifying that the recent passage of African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) needs policy framework to achieve the proposed trillion dollars continental trade revenue.…

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Inactive GSM lines rise to 84.7m

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Despite the monthly growth in subscriptions across the GSM networks, 84.7 million mobile lines have become inactive, New Telegraph has learnt. This means less revenue for the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) amidst aggressive push for SIM sales.   According to the latest data posted by Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), telephone lines so far sold by the MNOS hit 258.5 million as at June this year.   However, only 173.7 million of the 258.5 million mobile lines are still actively being used by telecoms consumers to access voice services from their…

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NNPC, Dangote parley over $12bn refinery

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), owner of ailing refineries in Nigeria, on Wednesday agreed to a collaboration with Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote over his $12 billion refinery. The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, and Dangote made this know when President and Chief Executive Officer of the Dangote Group paid a courtesy visit at the NNPC Towers in Abuja. The national oil company, Kyari said according to a statement, was not in contest for market share with the forthcoming Dangote Refinery but rather providing support…

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Youth employment gains traction with solar energy

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The global craze for renewable energy has offered jobless Nigerian youths alternative employment as solar energy panel installation gains ground. Sunday Ojeme reports The long wait by Nigerians for the Federal Government to get its acts right as regards electricity has continued to unearth the ingenuity in Nigerians. While some have capitalised on the unfortunate situation to become overnight importers of power generating sets, a few others are resorting to alternative and cheaper mean to get their businesses and life going. Amid the various steps taken by each group is…

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Stock market closes July bearish with N51bn loss

Chris Ugwu

As Nigerian Stock Exchange launches factbook NEGATIVE All-Share Index lost 588.14 points or 1.89 per cent to close at 30,557.20 Trading activities on the floor of the Nigerian stock market yesterday finished the last trading day of July negative as market capitalisation shed N51 billion following sell pressure. The market capitalisation dropped to N13.507 trillion from N13.558 trillion, accounting for a decline of N51 billion or 0.37 per cent. Also, the All-Share Index lost 102.31 points or 0.37 per cent to close at 27,718, as against 27,820.57 recorded the previous…

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Ecobank Nigeria rids Lagos of 2m plastic bottles

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Ecobank Nigeria has  successfully  removed  over two million plastic bottles in exchange for cash from the streets of Lagos. The campaign, which started in May, targets to remove at least four million bottles from the environment.it is part of the bank’s environmental sustainability campaign. Ecobank had in May told Lagos residence to exchange  plastic bottles for cash at designated location  across the state. Commenting on the initiative and success achieved so far,  the Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwuntan, stated that the lender was committed to support the sustenance of the environment…

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