Global payment platform, Stripe Incorporated’s valuation fell to $50bn from its $95 valuation in March 2021.

This was as the company announced on Wednesday that it had signed agreements for more than $6.5bn in a Series I round of funding with existing investors such as Andreessen Horowitz and Founders Fund, and new ones such as Singapore-based GIC and Temasek, and Goldman Sachs Asset and Wealth Management.

Stripe had already received $2.2bn in funding, according to Crunchbase.

Stripe said that “The funds raised will be used to provide liquidity to current and former employees and address employee withholding tax obligations related to equity awards, resulting in the retirement of Stripe shares that will offset the issuance of new shares to Series I investors.

“Stripe does not need this capital to run its business.”

READ ALSO: Currency In Circulation Now N982bn – CBN

Stripe said in Wednesday’s release that 100 businesses now handle more than $1bn through its platform.

Stripe in 2020 acquired Nigeria’s payment platform, Paystack, in a $200m deal.

Meanwhile, as Africa continues to experience rapid technological growth and increasing internet penetration, the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Kashifu Inuwa, has called on governments to collaborate to minimise the impact of cyberattacks on the continent’s critical infrastructure, national security, reputation and economy.

According to a statement issued on Friday by the agency, Inuwa made the call while speaking on ‘Strategies for Boosting Africa’s Cyber Resilience’ at the ongoing GISEC Global, a leading gathering for the cybersecurity community in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The DG said that to protect citizens and assets and genuinely harness the benefits of an increasingly complicated digital reality, Africa cannot afford to be apathetic towards cybersecurity, adding that with the right strategies and approaches, Africa can enhance its cybersecurity posture and build resilience against cyberattacks.
PUNCH

The Federal Government, through its Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, has increased the supply of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, to independent oil marketers, in a bid to avert a further hike in the pump price of the commodity.

Oil marketers confirmed on Friday that the national oil company listened to their demands for an increase in the volumes of PMS released to independent filling stations, so as to curb the widening disparity in the cost of petrol.

They told our correspondent that the move by NNPCL had now improved the availability of products in retail outlets operated by independent marketers, adding that the national oil firm also promised to sustain this.

READ ALSO: Fuel Subsidy Now Above N400bn Monthly – NNPCL

On Wednesday, it was reported that oil marketers warned that there could be an imminent hike in fuel price due to the poor supply of the commodity by NNPCL.

They cautioned that the disparity in the pump price of petrol would further widen due to the incomplete delivery of products to many filling stations.

According to the report, dealers under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, said there was a lopsided pattern in the distribution of PMS lately, stressing that this would cause scarcity and worsen the price disparity in retail outlets.

“Here in Port Harcourt, for instance, we have Oando and NNPC Retail, and they have products in some private depots. Master Energy and Liquid Bulk also have products, but there is no volume for independent marketers,” the National Public Relations Officer, IPMAN, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, had stated.

READ ALSO: 2023: I’ll Remove Fuel Subsidy If Elected President – Tinubu

He added, “Independent marketers have no volume in all these depots and we have over 3,400 tickets lying and waiting at the NNPC Retail account.

“This new system is now making independent marketers beg for petroleum products from NNPC Retail. The lopsided distribution pattern will continue to cause scarcity and price disparity in retail outlets.”

But when asked on Friday whether the NNPCL had listened to the demands of oil marketers, in order to avert the imminent price hike, Ukadike replied in the affirmative.

He said, “The NNPCL supplied 13 million litres and informed us about it. This is to cushion the effect of the poor supply in the affected areas. They also promised that they will ensure that marketers are given products back-to-back.”

The IPMAN official assured PMS consumers that with the sustenance of adequate supply by NNPCL, the cost of petrol at filling stations operated by independent marketers, would always revolve around the government-approved price.

READ ALSO: Subsidy: I’m Sorry For The Next President – Sanusi

NNPCL is the sole importer of PMS into Nigeria and this has continued for several year. Other marketers stopped importing the commodity due to the difficulty in accessing the United States dollar for PMS imports.

The marketers now source the commodity from NNPCL at a subsidised cost, for onward distribution to consumers across the country.

“That is the situation of things now. The recent supply of PMS has really helped in making the product available in many retail outlets across the country. So, with enough supply, the issue of unnecessary price disparities would be addressed,” Ukadike stated.

On Thursday, The PUNCH reported that the consumption of petrol in Nigeria had risen to about 80 million litres daily, pushing up subsidy on the commodity to an estimated N484bn monthly.

The report stated that an analysis of PMS weekly evacuation/dispatch data from March 4 – 10, 2023, obtained from NNPCL, indicated that a total of 558.83 million litres of petrol was evacuated during the period, translating to an average daily consumption of 79.83 million litres.

Around mid-last month, the Group Chief Executive, NNPCL, Mele Kyari, said about 66 million litres of petrol was pumped daily into the market by the oil firm, as the company was spending about N202 on every litre of PMS consumed across the country.

The currency in circulation in the country dipped by a 235.03 per cent to N982.09bn at the end of February from N3.29tn at the end of October 2022, on the back of the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Figures obtained from the CBN revealed that N2.3tn was mopped up from circulation during the period under review.

According to the CBN, the currency in circulation moved from N3.16tn to N3.29tn and N1.38tn in November 2022, December 2022 and January 2023 respectively.

READ ALSO: Old Naira Notes Being Used For Vote Buying In Kaduna – Shehu Sani

The Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, had in October 2022, announced plans to redesign the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes.

Emefiele also announced deadlines for Nigerians to swap their old notes with the new notes.

The governor decried the challenges associated with currency management, including the hoarding of banknotes by members of the public, with statistics showing that over 80 per cent of currency-in-circulation was outside the vaults of commercial banks.

Other challenges, he added included a shortage of clean and fit banknotes with an attendant negative perception of the CBN and increased risk to financial stability and increasing ease and risk of counterfeiting evidenced by several security reports.

In the last few years, the CBN has recorded significantly higher rates of counterfeiting, especially in regard to the higher denominations of N500 and 1000 notes, he said.

At the expiration of the deadline for the old notes, due to the scarcity of the new naira notes, which subjected Nigerians to hardship President Muhammadu Buhari approved the continued use of the old N200 as legal tender till April 10.

However, after some state governments sued the Federal Government over the naira redesign policy, the Supreme Court in its ruling on March 3 extended the legal tender status of the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes to December 31.

On Tuesday, 10 days after the Supreme Court judgement, the CBN officially ordered commercial banks to comply with the court verdict.

According to the CBN, currency-in-circulation is defined as currency outside the vaults of the central bank; that is, all legal tender currency in the hands of the public and in the vaults of the Deposit Money Banks.

The CBN stated that it employed the “accounting/statistical/withdrawals and deposits approach” to compute the currency in circulation in Nigeria.

READ ALSO: Naira: CBN Has No Reason To Disobey Court Orders — Presidency

This approach involved tracking the movements of currency in circulation on a transaction-by-transaction basis.

It said for every withdrawal made by a DMB at one of CBN’s branches, an increase in the CIC was recorded, adding that for every deposit made by a DMB at one of CBN’s branches, a decrease in the CIC was recorded.

The transactions are all recorded in the CBN’s CIC account, and the balance on the account at any point in time represents the country’s currency in circulation.

The apex bank said analysis of the currency in circulation showed that a large and increasing proportion of the naira outside the commercial banking system was held by the public who hoard a lot of the new banknotes.
PUNCH