Business

El-Rufai Floats $100m Firm, Company Begins Operation January

Published

5 months ago

December 4, 2023

Editor

…says what young people need is mentoring

Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on Monday, announced that his venture capital/private equity firm, Afri-Venture Capital Company Limited, will begin operations in 2024.

In a post on X, El-Rufai said through the firm, he hopes to finance, nurture, and mentor Nigerian innovators and entrepreneurs to become the next Dangote Group shortly.

The former governor said he would be working with private sector partners, including the co-founder of Excredite Consulting Limited, Eyo Ekpo, among others.

“I can confirm that our VC-PE firm, Afri-Venture Capital Company Ltd will by the Grace of God, begin operations initially in Abuja in January 2024 with Jimi Lawal, Hafiz Bayero, Eyo Ekpo and Kabir Yabo as founding directors and initial shareholders. I am privileged to be the part-time Chairman of the Board.

“Please, pray for our success and the Nigerian (and in the near future African) innovators and entrepreneurs we hope to finance, nurture, and mentor to be the Dangote Group of the future,” the former governor wrote on X.

The plan, he said, was to launch a $100 million venture capital fund for startups in Nigeria, particularly those in the Kaduna tech ecosystem, according to BusinessDay.

The PUNCH reports that El-Rufai had taken a break from the public scene after the Senate, in August, refused to confirm his nomination as a minister.

Other nominees rejected include a former Managing Director of Nexim Bank, Stella Okotete (Delta State); and Abubakar Danlandi, a nominee from Taraba State.

El-Rufai was replaced by Abbas Balarabe as a minister after his nomination was rejected by the Senate.

But speaking on the new firm and his plans, El-Rufai said Nigerian youths need mentoring and financing to achieve the needed breakthrough.

“What young people need is essentially mentoring and financing to get things going. They develop the idea and see whether it is viable. And we will open doors for them because they don’t have contact.

“They don’t know or have access to ministers, presidents, or regulatory agencies. We do. We know the minefields that they have to navigate. We know that they need to give them appointments and we can provide them with the startup funding and in return we take an equity position.

“We don’t want to take your business; we want to develop it. But if we take the risk on you, we will take a percentage of the business,” El-Rufai told BusinessDay in Marrakech, Morocco, in November during the Africa Investment Forum.

According to BusinessDay, El-Rufai is willing to stake $2 million of his money for the offtake of the ($100m) fund and plans to convince investors to provide the remaining funding.

“The investors will mostly be those who believe in us but don’t have the capacity or the time to do the analysis and evaluation. But they trust our judgment and they will come with us,” El-Rufai said.

Business

CAC Opens Centre For Registration Of PoS Operators

Published

1 day ago

May 9, 2024

Editor

The Corporate Affairs Commission has inaugurated a centre for bulk registration of Point of Sale operators in its database.

The CAC Registrar-General, Hussaini Magaji, said this while inaugurating the centre stationed at its Federal Capital Territory Office in Abuja on Wednesday.

According to Magaji, the importance of registering the PoS operators in the commission’s database cannot be over emphasised.

He said the centre was well equipped with all the necessary facilities to operate 24 hours a day and ensure the commission’s achievement of its purpose.

“What we did was accommodate the request from the Fintechs.

“We have allowed them to integrate with the Corporate Affairs Commission; they have developed their structure, and we gave them access.

“Once they supply the necessary details for registration on their platform, the certificate is generally generated and transmitted directly to their platform without them having to contact anyone.

“We have done this to ensure that everyone gets it easy without hitches, but if they choose to apply manually, we have a secretariat open for them to do so,” he stated.

Recall that the Federal Government through the CAC on Tuesday issued a two-month registration deadline to Point of Sales companies, to register their agents, merchants, and individuals with the commission in line with legal requirements and the directives of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Meanwhile, at the event, the registrar-general reiterated that the centre would be opened to all operators in the fintech industry who voluntarily submitted their agents and merchants for regularisation with the CAC.

Magaji said that the registration was in line with President Bola Tinubu’s desire to ensure financial inclusion for the youth and strengthen the fight against fraud, finance and other crimes in the country.

He further expressed his resolve to ensure compliance with the provisions of Section 863 (1) of the Companies and Allied Matters, CAMA 2020, and the CBN guidelines for Agent Banking, 2013.

On security, the CAC boss said that if a crime were committed using the PoS, the government would easily trace the perpetrators to the CAC data platform if such machines were registered.

“If an incident happens and they report it to CAC, if we do not have the operator’s details, we cannot respond, and that is the essence of this registration.

“The registration ensures that every detail of the person is provided, including NIN, passport photograph and all other useful documents.

“And it is an opportunity for more people to be captured into the formal sector,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Special Adviser to the President on ICT Development and Innovation, Tokoni Peter attended the event.

The event was attended by Dr Salihu Dasuki, the Special Adviser to the President on ICT Policy Office, the PoS operators, and other stakeholders.

(NAN)

Business

FULL LIST: CBN Publishes List Of Licensed Deposit Money Banks

Published

2 days ago

May 8, 2024

Editor

The Central Bank of Nigeria has released a comprehensive list of licensed Deposit Money Banks operating within the country.

The list, which was made public on the CBN’s official website on Tuesday, provides insights into the banking landscape in Nigeria.

Banks with international authorisation include Access Bank Limited, Fidelity Bank Plc, First City Monument Bank Limited, First Bank Nigeria Limited, Guaranty Trust Bank Limited, United Bank of Africa Plc, and Zenith Bank Plc.

Commercial banks with national authorisation include Citibank Nigeria Limited, Ecobank Nigeria Limited, Heritage Bank Plc, Globus Bank Limited, Keystone Bank Limited, Polaris Bank Limited, Stanbic IBTC Bank Limited, Standard Chartered Bank Limited, Sterling Bank Limited, Titan Trust Bank Limited, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Unity Bank Plc, Wema Bank Plc, Premium Trust Bank Limited and Optimus Bank Limited.

Commercial banks with regional licenses are Providus Bank Limited, Parallex Bank Limited, Suntrust Bank Nigeria Limited, and Signature Bank Limited.

Players in the non-interest banking sector with national authorisation include Jaiz Bank Plc, Taj Bank Limited, Lotus Bank Limited, and Alternative Bank Limited.

In the merchant banking category, the apex banks listed, are Coronation Merchant Bank Limited, FBN Merchant Bank Limited, FSDH Merchant Bank Limited, Greenwich Merchant Bank Limited, Nova Merchant Bank Limited, and Rand Merchant Bank Limited.

The financial holding companies listed were Access Holdings Plc, FBN Holdings Plc, FCMB Group Plc, FSDH Holding Company Limited, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, and Sterling Financial Holdings Limited.

The Mauritius Commercial Bank Representative Office (Nigeria) Limited was listed as the sole representative office.

Business

[ICYMI]FULL LIST: 16 Banking Transactions Exempted From CBN’s New

Published

3 days ago

May 7, 2024

Editor

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday directed all banks to commence charging a 0.5 per cent cybersecurity levy on all electronic transactions within the country.

The apex bank stated this in a circular signed by the Director, Payments System Management Department, Chibuzo Efobi; and the Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Haruna Mustafa; a copy of which was obtained by The PUNCH.

The circular, which was directed to all commercial, merchant, non-interest, and payment service banks, among others; noted that the implementation of the levy would start two weeks from Monday, May 6, 2024.

“The levy shall be applied at the point of electronic transfer origination, then deducted and remitted by the financial institution. The deducted amount shall be reflected in the customer’s account with the narration, ‘Cybersecurity Levy,’” the circular partly read.

In this piece, The PUNCH highlights all the 16 banking transactions that are exempted from the CBN’s new cybersecurity levy:

Loan disbursements and repayments
Salary payments
Intra-account transfers within the same bank or between different banks for the same customer
Intra-bank transfers between customers of the same bank
Other Financial Institutions instructions to their correspondent banks
Interbank placements,
Banks’ transfers to CBN and vice-versa
Inter-branch transfers within a bank
Cheque clearing and settlements
Letters of Credits

Banks’ recapitalisation-related funding – only bulk funds movement from collection accounts
Savings and deposits, including transactions involving long-term investments such as Treasury Bills, Bonds, and Commercial Papers.
Government Social Welfare Programmes transactions e.g. Pension payments
Non-profit and charitable transactions, including donations to registered non-profit organisations or charities
Educational institutions’ transactions, including tuition payments and other transactions involving schools, universities, or other educational institutions
Transactions involving bank’s internal accounts such as suspense accounts, clearing accounts, profit and loss accounts, inter-branch accounts, reserve accounts, nostro and vostro accounts, and escrow accounts.