Business

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

President Muhammadu Buhari has unveiled the redesigned naira notes in Abuja.

The President unveiled the new naira notes on Wednesday morning at the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC ) at the state house, Abuja.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele was also in attendance during the unveiling ceremony.

While addressing the FEC members after the unveiling ceremony, the CBN governor debunked the rumours that the early unveiling of new notes is a means to target any Nigerian.

He therefore appealed to the public to refrain from perpetuating such rumours.

He added that the CBN will intensify the monitoring process and interrogate the process of withdrawals.

He stated that there will be strict restriction on the volume of cash that people can withdraw over the counter, as it works with the EFCC to monitor the purpose of any heavy transactions.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

In order to allow customers to return old naira notes, the Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered commercial banks around the nation to open on Saturdays through January 31, 2023.

The N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes will be redesigned by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and released by December 15, 2022.

The present notes will continue to be legal money until January 31, 2023, when they will no longer be, according to CBN Director of Corporate Communications Osita Nwasinobi, who was speaking at the CBN exhibition on Thursday in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State.

Represented by the acting Director of Corporate Communications, CBN, Akpama Uket, the director said, “They [the banks] have also been instructed to receive the existing banknotes beyond the threshold stipulated by the Cashless Policy without charges to customers.

“Consequently, you must return all the current N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes to your bank before the expiration of the deadline.”

By Abdulhalim Ishaq Ringim

Yes, there’s about N2.73 trillion outside bank vaults. This figure represents 85% of the N3.23 trillion in circulation. However, it only represents 6.5% of more than N49 trillion that is in circulation.

Now, let’s consider Nigeria’s unbanked population which stands at 64 million according to World Bank’s “The Global Findex Database 2021: Financial Inclusion, Digital Payments, and Resilience in the Age of COVID-19” report.

What financial intelligence, as a matter of specificity, does the CBN have regarding the magnitude of the money circulating within this highly populous unbanked system. If we were to assume all the N2.73 trillion is in the hands of these unbanked population, then the amount of money on a per capita basis would be about N42,000. Is that too much?

But we all know this assumption is far from reality because the banked population also hold cash for transactionary and precautionary purposes(as in the case of emergencies). So let’s extend our assumption by adding 50% of the banked population to the unbanked population and let the final figure be the number of people who hold cash either because they are unbanked or because of other purposes as transactions and precautions. The per capita cash amount would reduce to N28,000. Is that also too much?

For the hoarding claims, economically speaking, what is the incentive of hoarding cash in Naira considering the continuous devaluation and inflationary trend that has been wiping the value of the Naira against the dollar when there are various hedging options available? Does the CBN have any tentative intelligence that suggest massive hoarding or is this just another trial and error policy?

But let’s also assume there’s indeed hoarding and some people are holding suspicious money. Have the CBN thought of the possibility that the hoarders might now be forced to consider hedging options by flooding the market with money in exchange for hedging-compatible commodities? Have they considered the inflationary tendencies of such an eventuality? Check Dr. Adamu Tilde’s most recent post to appreciate the happening in real world markets. Is the recent sharp rise of the dollar value also a consequence of such tendencies?

The risk of counterfeiting has always been present. The CBN confiscated N64.7 million and N56.8 million in 2019 and 2022 respectively. Compared to the money in circulation, are these figures significant enough to evoke the need for a currency redesign?

If it is for the purpose of managing inflation and ensuring the CBN contractionary monetary policies become more effective, then let’s assume they succeed in mopping up most of the cash outside banking vaults. Is it increased money circulation that actually causes inflation or increased money supply? Isn’t the CBN culpable in the expansion of money supply through their unhealthy tendencies of printing money for government spending via ways and means? What are they doing about the money supply? What is the government also doing about deficit spending and the projected budgetary deficit for the coming year?

Is our inflation strictly a consequence of the Demand-pull Effect(caused by an increase in money supply or credit with commensurate increase in demand for goods and services and resultant price increases) or is it a consequence of a combination with the Cost-push Effect as a result of increase in Oil prices and other commodities(mostly as a result of global events plus local events e.g insecurity, oil theft, floods etc) that is gradually rippling and causing increase in the prices of production process inputs? Does the CBN also not think that the hike in the prices of commodities as a result of the consequence of hedging(possibility of which has been painted by Adamu Tilde in his recent post) would also contribute in aggravating the Cost-push as a result of hikes in production process inputs?

What is the CBN tackling exactly?

Abdulhaleem Ishaq Ringim writes from Zaria.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

Jack Dorsey, the creator of Twitter and former CEO, has introduced a brand-new social networking platform called “Bluesky.”

This is only a week or so after business tycoon and investor Elon Musk bought Twitter.

Within two days of the announcement, over 30,000 individuals had already signed up for the new app’s beta testing, which is still in its testing phase.

According to reports, Bluesky allows designers the opportunity to build independently from platforms and developers while also giving users authority over their algorithms, allowing them to choose the experience they want.

On April 14, 2022, Musk started the acquisition of Twitter and completed the deal on October 27, 2022.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) made a passionate plea to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to inscribe the Arabic text, Ajami, on all naira denominations just as they had been.

The MURIC Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, made this disclosure in a statement he made available to journalists.

Professor Akintola said the Muslim body supports the move by the Central Bank of Nigeria to redesign the naira notes.

However, he said, “the Arabic inscription, known as Ajami, must be inscribed on all the naira denominations.

“With the proviso that all the denominations must contain Arabic inscriptions just as they had been before, Arabic Ajami was conspiratorially and unjustly removed from some denominations. “The removal provoked Muslims and caused division within the country. Only its return to all denominations can heal the wound,” Akintola said.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The social media app, Twitter, plans to start charging $20 dollars per month for users whose Twitter accounts are verified.

According to reports by The Verge, verified users would have 90 days to subscribe or lose their blue tick badge.

This is coming after Elon Musk completed the acquisition of Twitter. It is believed to be amongst the many policies expected from Twitter’s new owner.

Musk has been critical of Twitter’s verification process before acquisition. He announced in a tweet on Sunday, October 30, 2022, that the the entire verification process is currently being revamped.

“The whole verification process is being revamped right now ” He tweeted

Employees working on the new features were reportedly given a deadline of November 7 to complete their task or get fired by Musk.

By Uzair Adam Imam

There have been up and downs concerning the re-design of the Naira note in Nigeria as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning continue to trade words over the development. 

The minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed argued that the CBN’s proposal to redesign the Naira might not yield any good result. Ahmed stated that the redesign would have serious negative effects on the country’s crippling economic growth. 

However, the Spokesman of the CBN, Osita Nwanisobi, challenged Ahmed, who said her ministry was not carried along.

Nwanisobi reiterated that CBN duly sought for the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari which he granted immediately. 

The Daily Reality recalls that the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele announced the intention of the CBN to redesign, produce, release and circulate new series of N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes.

Re-designation of Naira portends serious consequences – Ahmed

“Distinguished senators, we were not consulted at the Ministry of Finance by CBN on the planned Naira redesigning and cannot comment on it as regards merits or otherwise.

“However as a Nigerian privileged to be at the top of Nigeria’s fiscal management, the policy as rolled out at this time portends serious consequences on [the] value of Naira to other foreign currencies.

“I will however appeal to this committee to invite the CBN governor for required explanations as regards merits of the planned policy and rightness or otherwise of its implementation now,” she stated. 

CBN was surprised by what Ahmed said 

However, the CBN spokesperson,  Nwanisobi expressed surprise at the minister’s claim, stressing that the CBN remains a very thorough institution.

He said the decision of the CBN management is in line with provisions of section 2(b), section 18(a), and section 19(a)(b) of the CBN Act 2007.

He also urged Nigerians to support the currency redesign project.

By Salisu Uba, FCIPS

I spoke on unlocking Nigeria’s innovation potential for economic growth and prosperity at the Digital Nigeria International Conference #DigitalNigeria2022 Innovation and Ecosystem Day in Abuja, held on the 28th of October, 2022. 

I focused on what innovation is in Tech and examined the top ten innovative countries; the difference is that they prioritise human capital development, infrastructure, and knowledge-based approaches to innovation. 

I emphasised Nigeria’s competitive landscape, which includes a youthful population, ICT-savvy people, low labour costs, the recent Startup Act, digital economy leadership, and internet access, as key drivers that can transform Nigeria into an innovative nation. 

I also stressed the importance of understanding how to diffuse innovation using the well-known Roger’s diffusion of innovation model. Surprisingly, despite technological advancements, the model remains applicable. 

I also discussed what young people could do to get to the point of developing and commercialising their ideas, emphasising the importance of equipping themselves with skills, networking, and openness. I consider these as factors that will propel one to success. 

More than 1000 people from all over the world attended the conference, which featured speakers from Europe, Asia, America, and the Middle East.

The full presentation and panel session can be found on the websites of Digital Nigeria and NITDA.

Salisu Uba, FCIPS, is a blockchain expert and supply chain and commercial leader from Glasgow, United Kingdom. He can be reached via salisuuba@ymail.com.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

A new core investor, Strategic Capital Investment Limited (SCIL), has finished the processes involved in purchasing or acquiring Polaris Bank from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In a statement, Osita Nwanisobi, the CBN’s director of corporate communications, said that the investment business received 100% stock holdings in Polaris Bank.

SCIL reportedly paid N50 billion upfront to purchase the shares, according to the statement released on Thursday. 

Since the apex bank intervened to suspend the former Skye Bank Plc’s licence in 2018 and established a bridge bank to take over its assets and some of its liabilities, the bank has been operating as a bridge bank.

CBN Governor Mr Godwin Emefiele was quoted as saying, “This sale marks the completion of a landmark intervention in a strategic institution in the Nigerian banking sector by the CBN and AMCON. We commend the outgoing board and management for their vital role since the bridge bank was established; in stabilising the Bank’s operations and its balance sheet and implementing strong governance structures to address the issues that led to the intervention.

“This process has provided the CBN with an unprecedented opportunity to recover its intervention funds in full and promote financial stability and inclusive growth. We wish SCIL well as they implement growth plans to build the bank from the strong foundations that have been established.”

Meanwhile, it can be recalled that Polaris Bank was recently enmeshed in a controversial drama characterised by a viral screenshot of an email allegedly from a supervisor of the bank, in which some Muslim employees were queried for attending a Juma’at service.

The email provoked an uproar from the Muslim faithful and forced a number of them to withdraw their money from the bank.

By Sumayyah Auwal Ishaq

The popular shopping center in Kaduna metropolis, Ramat Shopping Mall is currently on fire.

For now the cause of the fire outbreak is yet to be ascertained.

More details later.