Business

Govt Moves To Revive Few Moribund Ports

Published

4 years ago

January 21, 2022

The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission and the Nigerian Shippers’ Council are set to revive six moribund ports whose contracts were signed in 2006.

To commence the process, ICRC on Wednesday held a meeting with NSC, which is the owner of the projects, and the concessionaires, according to a statement.

The purpose of the meeting was to get the six inland container depots located in each of the geopolitical zones of Nigeria to become operational.

The statement quoted the commission’s acting Director-General, Mr. Mike Ohiani, as saying that when completed, these ICDs would bring the required benefit to the country Nigeria.

“We are not unaware that at the material time that the contracts were signed, ICRC as a commission had not been set up, so no proper outline business cases were done for the projects like we now do, but I want us to have a frank discussion so that we can chart a way forward,” he said.

The commission reminded the concessionaires and that NSC that by its Act, it is to take custody of all PPP contracts including the ones for the ICDs.

The states where the ports are located and the level of progress by the concessionaires were listed as Oyo State (10 per cent), Abia State (five per cent), Plateau State (29.7 per cent), Kano State (55 per cent), Katsina State (68 per cent) and Borno State (five per cent).

According to the statement, the concessionaires told the ICRC that the 16 years’ journey had been fraught with various challenges that had hampered any progress that could have been recorded.

It said the concessionaires complained of poor cooperation from state governments, which they said mostly delay in meeting their own part of the agreement, citing land provision as an example.

They said another major challenge was the lack of narrow gauge rail lines in and out of the dry ports, which they noted was important to make the operation of the ports efficient.

They added that access to funds also remained a major issue as banks and foreign investors made unreasonable demands for assets and bank bonds before the release of funds.

The concessionaires unanimously stressed the need for the ports being constructed to be given the status of port of origin and destination and also to be registered with the International Chamber of Commerce upon completion.

(PUNCH)

Business

CBN Sets POS Maximum Transactions In Fresh Guidelines

Published

3 hours ago

October 8, 2025

Editor

The Central Bank of Nigeria has rolled out fresh guidelines for agent banking, known as Point of Sales, across the country.

The apex also in the guidelines pegged daily POS transactions at N1.2 million per agent and N100,000 per individual.

CBN disclosed this in a circular signed by its Director of the Payments System Management Department, Musa Jimoh.

The guidelines further mandate all financial institutions to publish the list of all their POS agents on their website and to display it in their branches.

CBN noted that the guidelines would take effect from April 1, 2026.

“The Guidelines aim to establish minimum standards for operating agent banking in Nigeria, enhancing agent banking to provide financial services and promoting financial inclusion, encouraging responsible market conduct and improving service quality in agent banking operations.

“This circular takes effect from the date of release, while the implementation of agent location and agent exclusivity shall be in effect from April 1, 2026.

“POS agents are restricted to a maximum of N1.2 million per day. Individual customers are limited to N100,000 in daily transactions.

“These limits are intended to curb misuse, enhance financial integrity, and protect consumers within the agent banking framework,” it stated.

Business

Naira Records First Appreciation Against US Dollar At Official Market

Published

3 hours ago

October 8, 2025

Editor

The Naira recorded appreciation on Wednesday against the United States dollar at the official market, the first time in three days this week.

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s exchange rate data showed that the Naira strengthened to N 1,470.62 per dollar on Wednesday, up from N1,471.09 traded on Tuesday.

This means that the country’s currency firmed up slightly by N0.47 against the dollar on a day-to-day basis.

Monday and Tuesday, the Naira recorded negative sentiment at the official foreign exchange market.

However, at the black market, the Naira remained unchanged at N1,500 per dollar on Wednesday, the same rate exchanged on Tuesday.

The apex bank data indicated that the country’s external reserves, a determinant of the exchange rates, stood at $42.57 billion as of October 7, 2025.

Business

SEC Warns Nigerians Of AfriQuantumX Ponzi scheme

Published

3 hours ago

October 8, 2025

Editor

Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has named AfriQuatum, with a claimed worth of N76 billion, as a Ponzi scheme.

The regulator also urged the public to be cautious about investing with the firm.

SEC disclosed this in a recent statement.

According to the SEC, any person who places an investment or engages with the entity does so at his or her own risk, adding that its operations exhibit characteristics commonly associated with fraudulent Ponzi schemes.

“The attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission has been drawn to the activities of AfriQuantumX, which holds itself out as an investment platform trading on and selling cryptocurrency and stocks to investors in Nigeria.

“The Commission hereby informs the public that AfriQuantumX is not registered by the Commission either to solicit investments from the public or operate in any capacity within the Nigerian capital market,” SEC stated.