Africa Business News

Latest figures from the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) show that patronage of electronic payment channels that go through the GhIPSS platform, increased by 81 percent in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year.
According to GhIPSS, the total volume of transactions spanning January to June 2020, stood at over 29 million compared to about 16 million transactions for the same period in 2019.
It also stated that specific channels such as GhIPSS Instant Pay (GIPS) saw a huge growth of almost 600 percent, while Mobile Money Interoperability grew by over 444 percent in the first half of this year.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GhIPSS, Mr. Archie Hesse said the increase is driven mainly by transfers from account to wallet which represented 86% of GIP transfers.
He also stated that the country is making steady progress towards becoming a cashlite society, as about 60 per cent of all financial transactions were initiated and completed on the various electronic platforms in use.
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The total amount disbursed to farmers under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme from inception in 2009 rose to N635.39bn as of the end of March 2020.
The Central Bank of Nigeria disclosed this in its Economic report for the first quarter of 2020 on agriculture, on Wednesday.
The report reads, at end-March 2020, the total amount released, since inception by the CBN under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme to the participating banks for disbursement, amounted to N635.39bn for 608 projects, while the total amount repaid since inception stood at N406.29bn at end-March 2020.
The CBN stated that a total of N539.8m loans was guaranteed to 3,161 farmers under the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme in the first quarter of 2020.
The CBN stated that the initiative was capable of boosting the structural transformation of the economy by providing opportunities for public and private sector investments.
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The Debt Management Office said the Federal Government Bonds for the month of July worth N130bn, which were auctioned on Wednesday, were oversubscribed by N340.13bn.
The total subscription received for the bonds was N470.13bn, comprising of N71.97bn for the 12.5 per cent FGN January 2026 bonds; N60.32bn for the 12.5 per cent FGN March 2035 bonds; N130.27bn for the 9.8 per cent FGN July 2045 bonds; and N207.57bn for the 12.98 per cent FGN March 2050 bonds.
The auction results published on the DMO site on Wednesday said that 36, 58, 70 and 29 were successful bids for the total bids for each bonds auction of 97, 87, 131 and 189 bids.
According to the DMO, successful bids for the 12.5000 per cent FGN January 2026, 12.5000 per cent FGN March 2035, 9.80 per cent FGN July 2045 and 12.9800 per cent FGN March 2050 were allotted at the marginal rates of six per cent, 9.5 per cent, 9.8 per cent and 9.95 per cent respectively.
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Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises who are members of the organised private sector have decried their inability to access the loan offered by the Central Bank of Nigeria for MSMEs and household impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Many who applied for the loan through NISRAL’s online platform did not get an acknowledgement of their applications while only a few got feedback from the organisation.
The acting Director-General, MAN, Ambrose Oruche, while sharing the experiences of manufacturers who tried to access the loan said 12 of MAN’s members who applied for the loan were not credited.
According to him, there was no acknowledgment from the NISRAL microfinance bank.
He said they had 12 companies that qualified; they prepared their business plans and sent their applications. The microfinance bank however did not acknowledge the application not to talk of giving out the loan.
He added that the N50bn loan did not get to manufacturers but mostly to households and traders.
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The Oyo State Government has approved N100bn private bond tagged the Oyo Prosperity Bond to facilitate the execution of priority projects in a bid to drive the state’s economic development.
This was disclosed in Ibadan by the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Dr Wasiu Olatubosun, after the weekly State Executive Council meeting.
The SEC meeting was held virtually in compliance with the COVID-19 protocols.
According to Olatubosun, the fund would be raised in two tranches of N50bn each for the construction of the 50-kilometre Iseyin-Ogbomoso Road, the Ibadan Circular Ring-Road and the upgrade of the Ibadan Airport.
The fund will also cover the development of Ibadan Dry Port and the rail corridor which would serve as economic hubs of the state.
The commissioner stated further that the state would upgrade one government hospital in each of the three senatorial districts of the state.
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Oil prices fell on Wednesday as the United States government data showed a surprise rise in the country’s crude inventories, and as tensions escalated between the US and China.
According to Reuters, the international oil benchmark, Brent crude, fell 55 cents, or 1.2 per cent, to $43.77 per barrel by 10:56 EST (1456 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 56 cents, or 1.3 per cent, to $41.36.
The Energy Information Administration on Wednesday said US crude and distillate inventories rose unexpectedly and fuel demand slipped in the most recent week, as the sharp outbreak in coronavirus cases has started to hit US consumption.
Crude inventories rose by 4.9 million barrels in the week to July 17 to 536.6 million barrels, compared with expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.1 million-barrel drop. Production rose to 11.1 million bpd, up 100,000 bpd.
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The International Monetary Fund on Monday said it had approved $7.6 million debt relief to Burundi to help address the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It said the relief for three months would be potentially raised to $24.97 million over the next 21 months, if resources are available.
The IMF in a statement said IMF debt relief will help free up resources for public sector health needs including other emergency spending and help mitigate the balance of payments shock posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The IMF said it has revised downwards economic growth projections for 2020 by 5.3 percentage points to -3.2 percent this year.
It said the pandemic has exacerbated preexisting economic challenges and creates significant external financing needs in 2020 and 2021, mainly as a result of lower exports, elevated imports needs, and reduced remittances inflows.
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The Institute of Energy Security, IES, says fuel prices will be marginally stable for the second pricing window for July 2020 across various pumps in the country.
According to them, the stability of the cedi against major currencies and a rise in the prices of Gasoline and Gasoil on the international market, will be the main factors for the marginal increase.
A litre of petrol or diesel is currently pegged at 4 Ghana Cedis, 82 pesewas.
In an interview with Citi Business News, Executive Director of IES, Nana Amoasi VII (the 7th), said competition between Oil Marketing Companies to control and gain more market share and mounting pressure on government to reduce fuel prices may result in prices remaining largely stable in the second Pricing-window for July.
He however added that, prices are likely to go up again due to the increases BDCs place on their prices before selling to the OMCs.
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The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana, COPEC, says government would have to be more serious about broadening the tax net especially by capturing the informal sector if it hopes to make up for the revenue shortfalls created by fallen crude oil prices.
According to COPEC, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented an opportunity for government to include the informal sector in tax issues as the sector also has a lot of potential in contributing immensely to revenue generation.
Executive Director for COPEC, Duncan Amoah, said the presentation of the Mid-Year Budget Review on Thursday July 23, should provide an opportunity for the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to come up with a policy direction stating alternative measures to collect revenue and ease the burden on the petroleum sector.
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According to currency exchange operators, the Federal Government’s move to unify multiple exchange rates in the country will attract over $25bn diaspora remittances.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, had recently hinted of the Federal Government’s plans to unify the multiple exchange rates to generate more local currency from its dollar inflows and further achieve naira stability.
The President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, while outlining the benefits of the unification, said It will attract over $25bn diaspora remittances, lead to increase liquidity and discourage speculation and hoarding.
According to him, the unification of exchange rates is a mechanism for a shift in the static exchange rate regime to a flexible exchange rate regime, and remains the only solution to forex market rate stability.
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