Tag: CBN

Aiyedatiwa denies seizing Ondo cocoa farmers’ land for private firm

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The Ondo State Government has refuted claims by some cocoa farmers in Odigbo Local Government Area that it had sold their farmland in Oluwa Forest Reserve to a private firm, thereby ejecting them from their means of livelihood. Hundreds of farmers in the council area on Sunday staged a protest against the private firm SAO Agro-Allied Services Limited and the state government, accusing them of destroying their farm plantation in Oluwa Forest Reserve in Odigbo LG in a bid to take over the land. During the protest, the aggrieved farmers…

AI key for health, education, innovation, says Bill Gates

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Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has said that artificial intelligence will play a key role in unlocking new tools for health, education and agriculture. The philanthropist stated this at a meeting with Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto on Wednesday. Gates visited Subianto and Indonesian philanthropists in the capital, Jakarta, where he spoke about his optimism that AI-driven innovation will help tackle global challenges. He said, “AI is going to help us discover new tools. And even in the delivery of health, education and agriculture advice, we’ll be using AI. “Once we finish…

Tinubu presents ₦1.78trn FCT budget to N’Assembly

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President Bola Tinubu has presented a ₦1.78 trillion budget proposal for the Federal Capital Territory to the National Assembly. Tinubu, in a letter read on the floor of the Green Chamber on Tuesday by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, urged the lawmakers to fast-track its passage to facilitate critical development projects in the nation’s capital. Tinubu stated that the budget presentation was in compliance with Section 299 of the Nigerian Constitution, which empowers the president to lay the FCT’s budget before the legislature. In his letter, the…

NELFUND under fire over loans to ex-students

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Some graduates from public tertiary institutions have raised concerns over the delayed disbursement of student loans, revealing that funds were sent to their schools months after they had already graduated. They also continue to receive N20,000 monthly upkeep stipends despite no longer being students. In separate interviews , the affected individuals explained that while they had applied for the Nigeria Education Loan Fund  before graduating, disbursements were delayed, forcing them to seek alternative means to pay their fees. To their surprise, the loans were eventually paid to their institutions long…

Interest boom: Nine local banks generate N14tn from loans

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Nine Nigerian banks raked in a combined interest income of N14.26tn in 2024, an analysis of the audited financial results of the financial institutions shows. As the banks made trillions of naira from the interest on loans given to customers during the review period, manufacturers counted their losses, groaning under the weight of soaring borrowing costs totalling N1.3tn for the same period. An analysis of the audited financial results of First Holdco, Guaranty Trust Holding Company, Zenith Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa, FCMB Group, Fidelity Bank, Stanbic IBTC Holdings,…

Epileptic electricity: FG to inject 1,900MW solar power into grid

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•Govt sets 8,000MW power goal by 2027, taps private sector for grid expansion The Federal Government has revealed plans to construct modular solar power plants with a combined capacity of 1,900 megawatts for the 19 northern states, as part of efforts to boost renewable energy adoption and expand the national grid. It also disclosed its target to generate and distribute about 8,000MW of electricity before the end of President Bola Tinubu’s first term in office in 2027. The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, announced this during the sixth edition of…

Naira shed 2.6% in March despite $668m CBN intervention

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The naira depreciated by 2.4 per cent and 2.6 per cent in March at both the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market window and the parallel market compared to the previous month. According to the latest Afrinvest Monthly Market Report titled ‘Analysing Global and Nigerian Economies & Financial Markets’, the naira dropped to N1,536.82/$ and N1,530.00/1.00 at the NAFEM window and parallel market, respectively. AIICO Capital, in its monthly macroeconomic market report in March, also confirmed that the naira came under a lot of demand pressure despite interventions by the Central…

LG autonomy: Govs block council chairmen from opening CBN accounts

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The challenges facing the implementation of the Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy have assumed a new dimension, with some state governors explicitly warning their council chairmen against opening an account with the Central Bank of Nigeria for the direct payment of their allocations from the Federation Account. The latest development represents yet another significant hurdle, nearly nine months after the Supreme Court granted full autonomy to the 774 local governments across the country, paving the way for direct payment of federal allocations. As part of the Federal Government’s…

CBN’s $10.50m funding not loan but grant – World Bank

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The World Bank has clarified that the planned $10.50m financing to the Central Bank of Nigeria is a grant, not a loan. According to a source at the World Bank who spoke to our correspondent under the condition of anonymity on Friday, the amount is being provided under the Finance for Development Multi-Donor Trust Fund as part of a partnership between the World Bank and the CBN. It was earlier reported that Nigeria had approached the World Bank for a $10.50m loan to enhance the CBN’s technical capacity and modernise the…

Nigeria’s public debt hits N144.67tn

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Nigeria’s total public debt rose to N144.67tn ($94.23bn) as of December 31, 2024, representing a 48.58 per cent increase compared to N97.34tn ($108.23bn) recorded at the end of December 2023. The Debt Management Office disclosed this in its latest report on the country’s public debt profile. The report also revealed a quarter-on-quarter rise of 1.65 per cent from the N142.32tn ($88.89bn) recorded at the end of September 2024, highlighting the continuous increase in the nation’s debt burden during the final quarter of the year. An analysis of Nigeria’s public debt on…