The report of N950bn new domestic borrowing between January 2022 and March 11, 2022 by the Nigerian government is one of the trending stores in Nigerian newspapers on Monday.
The Punch reports that the Federal Government has incurred N950bn new domestic borrowing between January 2022 and March 11, 2022, the Debt Management Office has revealed.
The fresh borrowing was disclosed on March 17 in the presentation of the Public Debt Data as of December 31, 2021, by the Director-General of the DMO, Patience Oniha.
In the document, Oniha disclosed that the Federal Government was considering all options to raise funds externally.
She said, “All options for raising funds externally are being considered. These include funding from multilateral and bilateral sources, the International Capital Markets and the $3.35bn Special Drawing Rights allocated by the International Monetary Fund to the Central Bank of Nigeria.”
According to the document, the Federal Government still plans to borrow an additional N1.6tn, while the 2022 debt target for domestic borrowing is N2.57tn.
There is also a plan to borrow N2.57tn from foreign creditors, while N1.16tn is expected from multilateral/bilateral drawdowns.
In total, the Federal Government plans to add N6.3tn new debts to the current debt stock, which would push the country’s total debt stock to N45.86tn by December 2022.
The newspaper says that the Peoples Democratic Party, on Sunday, warned that the ongoing fuel crisis might snowball into nationwide protests worse than the October 2020 #EndSARS protests.
In a statement signed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, titled ‘Fuel crisis: APC is kneeling on the necks of Nigerians – PDP’, the main opposition party accused the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), of “kneeling on the necks of Nigerians.”
The PDP stated, “There is a limit to what the people can bear under an administration that remains insensitive to their plights. President Buhari needs to be reminded of his duty to Nigerians, to in the least, show some empathy, competence and concern as our country rapidly drifts towards a looming precipice.
“The frustration in the country is already degenerating into a nationwide restiveness that may result in the breakdown of law and order if allowed to fester. With petrol now selling between N400 and N500 per litre, diesel at over N800 per litre, kerosene at over N750 and aviation fuel at N670 per litre, millions of businesses, employment and sources of livelihood have collapsed in both urban and rural areas, resulting in acute hardship and widespread social tension across the country.
“Our party fears that the situation is getting to a boiling point and can trigger a nationwide agitation that might be worse than the October 2020 #EndSARS protests if not addressed immediately.”
It also accused the President of abdicating his duties and being “aloof” and “absent” at a time the country battles “a collapsed national grid, protracted fuel crisis, distressed aviation sector, plummeting currency, crippled production and commercial activities.”
The Guardian reports that the Nigerian Navy has arrested a vessel named ”Motor Tanker Harbor Spirit” and 13 Nigerians on board conveying a fortified and auctioned crude oil from MV KOME XVIII with a forged document.
This is contained in a statement issued by the Director of Information, Naval Headquarters, Commodore Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan in Abuja.
Ayo-Vaughan said that both the vessel and the suspects have been handed over to the Forward Operating Base Bonny for further investigation.
”The vessel has been subsequently boarded by the NN and her 13 crew men, all Nigerians, have been arrested and handed over to the Forward Operating Base (FOB) Bonny, for further investigation and possible handover for prosecution.
“The arrest came barely two days after the arrest of MT QUEEN OF PEACE for unauthorised possession of petroleum product without valid documents.
“It is indicative of the resolve of the NN to rid Nigeria’s maritime environment of all infractions and illegalities for legitimate maritime activities to strive towards the economic growth of Nigeria.”
The newspaper quoted the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report as saying that the Navy launched Operation ”Obangame Express”, consisting of multi-national maritime exercise in West Africa with 32 other countries participating in their respective maritime area.
The newspaper says that Cellulant and United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc have announced a partnership that will extend payment services for merchants and consumers across 19 key African countries where UBA operates.
The countries are Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, Republic of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Liberia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and Senegal.
This network represents one of the primary tools in bringing together Africa’s fragmented payments ecosystem, ensuring Cellulant’s payment gateway, Tingg, is available to a vast number of merchants and consumers in each of these markets.
Already, over $15 billion in gross value payments are processed by Cellulant across the shared markets – and this partnership has the scope to expand the numbers significantly.
“We are delighted to welcome the United Bank for Africa as a new banking partner,” said Group CEO at Cellulant, Akshay Grover.”
He said as the payments landscape in Africa continues to evolve, “we believe that fintech and banks need to have a deeper collaboration in expanding opportunities that will help ease payments and collections for businesses and their consumers across all sectors of the economy.
“The partnership with UBA extends our unparalleled reach across the continent and gives merchants and consumers in our shared network the opportunity to enjoy streamlined digital payments services directly through their bank.”
Speaking on the partnership, Group Deputy Managing Director, UBA, Oliver Alawuba, said: “We are happy to welcome Cellulant to Nigeria for this MoU signing and most importantly into UBA’s expansive landscape. UBA is ready; we are indeed set to dominate the entire digital banking space in Africa.
The Nation reports that Nigeria’s fast-developing Islamic banking system has been selected as a study model for the emerging Islamic banking in The Gambia.
Delegates from The Gambia were at Nigeria’s premier non-interest bank, Jaiz Bank Plc to understudy the successful banking model of the premier Islamic bank.
With average yearly growth rate of 40 per cent and a balance sheet of N300 billion last year, Jaiz Bank has grown over the decade to become a stable financial institution. It has a strong financing structure for agriculture while nearly a quarter of its portfolio is in small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
The Gambian government, through its Ministry of Agriculture and with the support of Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), is implementing the model to boost its agricultural sector and the entire economy.
On the introduction of Al Huda Center of Islamic Banking and Economics (CIBE), a consultant of the IsDB’s project for Islamic microfinance in The Gambia-”Small Ruminant Production Enhancement Project (SRPEP)”, the delegates were taught on various Islamic products and services and on how to structure financing in accordance with the dictates of Islamic banking principles. The SRPEP Programme is being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, The Gambia.
The knowledge-sharing session also included aspects of the various financing products, particularly ‘Murabaha’, ‘ServiceIjara’, ‘Istisna’ and ‘Ijara waIqtina’.
The Managing Director, Jaiz Bank Plc, Hassan Usman said the bank was ready to work with the team and The Gambian government to share knowledge on Islamic banking and best practices.
GIK/APA