Browsing: Nigeria Central Bank

• Nigeria’s cost of living crisis has been the worst in decades, exacerbated by worsening food insecurity and record inflation. 
• The lack of enough resources has led to insecurity in Nigeria as people fight for scarce resources and food.
• In response to Nigeria’s cost of living crisis, Tinubu announced a state of emergency in July and intends to begin grain distribution in the coming weeks.

Tinubu’s Reforms worsen Nigeria’s cost of living crisis

Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is grappling with the worst cost of living crisis in decades and a worsening food security situation. A significant portion of the population is experiencing extreme food insecurity. After assuming power in May 2023, Bola Tinubu’s administration adopted bold but unpopular reforms that further strained the already-battered economy.

Nigeria imports food and fuel and was buffeted by rising commodity prices due to a glim global economic situation in the last two years. President Tinubu …

• The raid conducted by Nigeria’s anti-graft commission on Dangote’s office on January 4 is sending chills across the boardrooms of businesses in the country.
• Manufacturers in Nigeria express concern that if such an event can happen to Dangote, Africa’s richest man, then it could happen to any one of them.
• The raid is believed to be part of an extensive probe into Dangote, a former Central Bank governor, and the foreign exchange transactions that he oversaw.

A raid conducted by anti-graft agents on the offices of Aliko Dangote on January 4 is sending chills across the boardrooms of businesses and investors in Nigeria, even though sector players were anticipating it.

Dangote, arguably the richest person in Africa by far, owns an empire that controls the Nigerian corporate world and is the former head of Nigeria’s Central Bank.

In May 2023, Dangote completed a massive oil refinery with considerable fanfare, just …

• The Nigerian Central Bank (CBN) has taken a significant step in the financial sector by lifting the ban on cryptocurrency transactions. 
• Nigeria has emerged as a leader in cryptocurrency adoption in Africa, with an estimated 22 million cryptocurrency owners.
• The growing trend of cryptocurrency ownership in Africa reflects the continent’s increasing adoption of digital assets.

Nigeria lifts ban on cryptocurrency transactions

The Nigerian Central Bank (CBN) has taken a significant step in the financial sector by lifting the ban on cryptocurrency transactions, a move that is expected to reshape the country’s digital economy landscape. This decision comes after a two-year restriction, reflecting a broader trend toward the adoption and regulation of cryptocurrencies globally.

According to a circular issued on December 22, 2023, signed by Haruna Mustafa, the Director of the Financial Policy and Regulation Department at CBN, the bank has directed all financial institutions to comply with new operational …

• Nigeria’s inflation rate has remained high for the past 9 years, way before COVID-19 and the disruptions it imposed.
• Experts have argued that Nigeria’s inflation results from excess money supply in the economic system chasing too few goods.
• Nigeria’s inflation climbed to a new 18-year high in November, matching a record level last seen in 2005.

In 2021, the global economy experienced an inflation surge. This was the first time in many decades that inflation hit double digits in most developed and emerging economies. In the United States, inflation peaked at 9.1 per cent in July 2022, the highest in 40 years.

Such high levels of inflation were unusual and uncomfortable, and the Central Banks in the affected countries tackled it ruthlessly. The applied policy actions paid off and inflation has been moderating fast.

However, what obtains in Nigeria paints a starkly different image from what the rest of the …

Regionalising the power balance between central and commercial banks can address the risks associated with the adoption of CBDCs in Africa. Commercial bank digital wallets can thus reduce the costs underlying the correspondent banking channels. These wallets can also promote cross-border trade in Africa by restricting the focus of central banks to the B2B and interbank payment ecosystems. Central banks have traditionally managed this well while incorporating these systems across borders. In such a scenario, each actor—public and private—does what it does best.…

Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy which performed well in the fourth quarter of 2019, since the 2016 recession, could contract in the second quarter in 2020.

The possibility of a contraction is backed by, three gauges of business activity that pointed to difficulties the central bank face in trying to stave off a recession in Africa’s largest economy, according to information from Bloomberg News.

As Nigeria struggled to recover from a 2016 contraction is set to slow down economically, due to the lockdown rolled in to curb coronavirus spread.

According to Stanbic IBTC Bank and IHS Markit’s purchasing managers index rose slightly to 40.7 in May from 37.1 the previous month, suggesting economic conditions are worsening even as the government relaxes a lockdown in key cities to curb the spread of the virus.

READ: Nigeria records high quarterly GDP growth in the fourth quarter

However, according to Bloomberg News, Gbolahan Taiwo, …