APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The concerns raised by industry operators on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s proposal to initiate a new banking sector consolidation dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Monday.
The Punch reports that as the Central Bank of Nigeria’s proposal to initiate a new banking sector consolidation raises concerns among some industry operators, findings by The PUNCH indicate that major banks with foreign subsidiaries currently control N9.6 trillion capital base.
This is just data compiled by the papers showing that five key banks currently have capital above N1 trillion each.
An analysis of the current capital base data of leading commercial banks in Nigeria revealed that the proposed consolidation, which is yet to be fully conceptualized by the apex bank, will most likely affect national, regional and merchant banks.
A number of the national, regional and merchant banks have not grown their capital base over the years in the manner their counterparts with foreign subsidiaries have grown theirs.
The CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, had on Friday in his keynote address at the Bankers’ Dinner said the apex bank would be asking banks to raise their capital base.
He premised the need to increase the bank’s capital base on servicing the $1tn economy projected by President Bola Tinubu as well as the effect of currency devaluation on bank operations.
The newspaper says that the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has praised the decision of investors from the Republic of Mexico to visit Nigeria in search of investment in solid minerals.
In a statement signed by the Special Assistant to the Minister on Media, Segun Tomori, on Sunday, Alake said the administration of President Bola Tinubu has put in place incentives to ease business for investors in the industry.
The incentives include zero duty on equipment imported for solid minerals extraction, easy movement of profits to the countries of origin and tax holidays.
The Minister said investors in the mining industry are expected to sign the Community Development Agreement with the communities in the mining area to ensure the socio-economic development of the region that benefits the people.
He said the administration is currently sanitising the industry, citing the recent revocation of titles which failed to comply with the law on annual service fees.
Introducing the investors, Nigeria’s outgoing Ambassador to Mexico, Adejare Bello, assured the minister that the embassy had screened the investors and confirmed that they are genuine and serious businessmen whose investment will boost the economy.
Ambassador Bello said the Nigerian Embassy has been engaging the investors in talks for over two years and decided to lead them to the minister after it certified their status.
The Guardian reports that the African Development Bank (AfDB) has signified intention to loan Nigeria $134 million as an integral part of the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and AgroPocket (NAGS-AP) Project.
The facility is to expand the capacity of farmers to engage in the cultivation of key staples like rice, maize, cassava, and wheat across the country.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, announced this in Jigawa State, at the weekend, while flagging off this year’s Wheat Dry Season farming.
With the loan, according to him, crop yield will increase by at least 20 per cent, compared to the previous year. The high value staples, The Guardian gathered, will be joined by others like soybeans and sorghum in the wet season.
He added: “We do not expect a bed of roses; we know that our path will be riddled with challenges. Indeed, there have been quite a few already. But we are poised to take them on. We have been innovative in utilising Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to: target already proven irrigated farm clusters; deploy verified farmer data; and map the farmers to AgroDealer Redemption Centres. Thankfully, we have already gained grounds.”
The newspaper says that Ambassador of Switzerland to Nigeria, Nicolas Lang, has urged Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State to invest in the education, agriculture, and health sectors to boost service delivery in the state.
According to him, investment in education is the best recovery process of people’s livelihoods with social safety network in communities.
Speaking when the governor visited him in Abuja, at the weekend, the envoy warned that without “quality and functional education” there would be no development at the state and national levels.
Lang, however, noted: “I am happy to learn that Yobe government has engaged in training and retraining of teachers,” which, he noted, is part of the process of rejuvenating basic education.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, has addressed the challenges resolving around supply and pricing of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in the domestic market.
The intervention on cooking gas followed a rise in recent months in the price per kilogramme from about N700 to above N900 in parts of the country. The primary obstacle involves difficulties in obtaining foreign exchange for imports and inadequate supply to the domestic market.
He expressed concerns of President Bola Tinubu on the astronomical increase and attendant hardship on the citizenry, in a statement by his spokesman, Louis Ibah.
The minister, while highlighting Nigeria’s abundant gas reserves, expressed disapproval of multinational firms prioritising gas exports over allocating significant volumes for the domestic market, deeming it unacceptable.
GIK/APA