Author: Citynews

In furtherance of the need to promote the business activities of its foremost agent banking platform – Firstmonie Agents – Nigeria’s leading financial inclusion services provider, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, has announced the provision of loan facilities – up to one million naira – to its banking agents. The Bank currently has over 86,300 Firstmonie Agents, spread across the country’s 772 Local Government Areas. With its location in every neighbourhood, Firstmonie Agents have been integral to filling the financial exclusion gap, providing convenient banking services that are easily accessible, thereby saving time and travel costs for individuals in the…

By Reginald Onabu The year 2020 was an unusual one in every sense of the word. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic made sure of this. To remove any doubt about the threat that the virus posed to every country in the world, the World Health Organisations (WHO) recognised the COVID-19 as a global pandemic. Today, the impact of COVID-19 pandemic is global. There is hardly anyone who has not been affected by the pandemic to some degree. In a country like Nigeria, it has precipitated mental, emotional, social, business-related and financial impact. Nigeria is home to over 230 million people, the bulk of…

Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun has ordered the security agencies in the state to investigate the recent clash between herdsmen and farmers in the Yewa area of the state that led to the loss of a life and destruction of properties. In a Press Statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin, on Saturday in Abeokuta, Governor Dapo Abiodun has also set up a Special Task Force that will maintain presence in all areas of the state prone to herders/farmers conflict to maintain peace and quickly respond to any form of violence or crimes. “The government is immediately…

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has advised the Federal Government to have a rethink on its directive on cryptocurrency transactions in the country.This advice, which was contained in a statement on Saturday, was in reaction to the directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to banks and other financial institutions to close accounts of any individual who transact in cryptocurrency.The CBN had told the regulated institutions that dealing in cryptocurrencies or facilitating payments for cryptocurrency exchanges was prohibited.But Atiku stated that it was wrong to issue such a directive at this time, saying the number one challenge facing Nigeria…

By Tolu Oyekan As of this writing, the spread of COVID-19 in many African countries has been more contained, and the death toll lower, than some had expected in 2020. The economic fallout of the pandemic for Africans, however, will be different and could be more dire than for the rest of the world. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for more than half of the world’s populations living at or below the poverty line. A recent World Bank scenario estimates that COVID-19 could push up to 40 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa into extreme poverty, seriously eroding the progress that African countries…

The Federal Government has concluded plans to kick start the last two schemes of the MSMEs Survival Fund component of the National Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP). The schemes are namely, the Guaranteed Offtake Scheme (GOS) and the General MSMEs Grant. In a media briefing on Thursday, the Minister of State Industry, Trade and Investment, Amb. Mariam Yalwaji Katagum said the two new schemes is to complement other programmes all geared to rejuvenate the nation’s economy. According to the Minister, the two new schemes will launch at 11:59pm on Tuesday, 9th February, 2021 to Thursday, 18th February, 2021 for applications from…

The immediate past Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Southwest, Chief Eddy Olafeso, on Friday, met with Members of the State Executive Committee and Local Government Chairmen of the party in Ondo State to seek their supports ahead of the Southwest Zonal Congress. Olafeso who is seeking a second term for the office of the National Vice Chairman of the party in Southwest decided to return home to seek the support of his people after receiving the backing of prominent leaders of the PDP in five states of the Southwest which includes Oyo, Ekiti, Osun, Ogun and…

Stakeholders have expressed divergent views on the recent approval of the additional 20 private universities in the country by the Federal Government. They expressed their views on the development in separate interviews with the Newsmen Abuja on Friday. It would be recalled that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had on Wednesday given the approval of the establishment of the universities, bringing the number of private universities to 99. Prof. Gregory Ibe, the Chairman, Proprietors of Private Universities in Nigeria, described the establishment of the new institutions as a giant stride and commended President Muhammadu Buhari and the executive council for the…

It is bad news for investors of cryptocurrency in Nigeria the Central Bank says with immediate effect, account for persons and entities dealing in cryptocurrency are to be closed. This directive was handed down in a circular by the apex bank and signed by the directors of banking supervision as well as the payment systems management department to all Deposit Money Banks, DMBS, non banking financial institutions, and other financial institution. In the circular, institutions were warned that failure or breaches of the directives to identify and close cryptocurrency exchange accounts will attract severe regulatory sanctions. This is not the…

By Adeyemi Obadimu In line to eradicate poverty in Ogun State, Igbalaye Ayodele Foundation ( IAF) has empowered Nothing less than 100 People in Abeokuta South Local Government, Ogun State Capital today as part of his contribution to boost the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the State. IAF was founded by the Former Labour Party Candidate in the last election who is also the Registrar of ESTG University. Hon Igbalaye Ayodele Wasiu Popularly Known as (IWA) In a press release made available to journalists by his media adviser, Adeyemi Obadimu said SMEs play a mojor role in most economies,…