Newscast - Africa

The Central Bank of Nigeria says it will bring up a regulatory policy framework for the implementation of cryptocurrencies in the country.
The CBN would consider the development of a regulatory framework for the potential implementation of ‘Stablecoins,”.
The bank added that It would also continue its watching brief on Initial Coin Offerings as well as work with the Security Exchange Commission to jointly develop a regulatory framework in the event of the adoption of an ICO-based investment solution.
The Acting Director, of Corporate Communications, CBN, Osita Nwanisobi, says the ban on such transactions would not have any negative impact on fintech.

The Central Bank of Nigeria says that the sale of Polaris Bank followed due process and has urged the public to disregard what it described as a misleading online publication stating otherwise.
The apex bank says contrary to online reports, the divestment from Polaris Bank was supervised by a Divestment Committee comprising senior representatives of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria and the CBN as well as reputable legal and financial advisers.
The CBN added that the divestment mode, process, and decision received requisite board and regulatory approvals.

The Federal Government says that it will stop the payment of fuel subsidy by the end of June 2023.
The Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, says that in the 2023 fiscal period, the government has made provisions of N3. 36 trillion naira for fuel subsidy payments to cover the first six months of this year.
The minister noted that the nation’s revenue performance as of November 2022 stood at 6. 5 trillion nairas, representing 87 percent of the set target of 7. 8 trillion naira for the year.
An analysis of the key contributors to the revenue collection includes a 586 billion collection from the Federal Government, Customs – N15 billion, an independent revenue collection of N1.3 trillion as well as a N3.7trillion collection from other sources of revenue.

The head of the International Monetary Fund has warned that a third of the global economy will be in recession this year.
Kristalina Georgieva says 2023 will be tougher than last year as the US, EU and China see their economies slow.
It comes as the war in Ukraine, rising prices, higher interest rates and the spread of Covid in China weigh on the global economy.
Ms Georgieva says countries that are not in recession would feel like recession for hundreds of millions of people.

US regulators have issued their first-ever joint warning to banks over the risks associated with the cryptocurrency market.
The watchdogs told financial institutions to be wary of potential fraud, legal uncertainty, and misleading disclosures by digital asset firms.
The US Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said they were closely monitoring the crypto activities of banking organizations.
The regulators also said that issuing or holding crypto tokens, which are stored on public, decentralised networks was highly likely to be inconsistent with safe and sound banking practices.

The former boss of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX has officially denied charges that he defrauded customers and investors.
Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty in a US court to claims that he took customer deposits at FTX to fund his other firm, Alameda Research, buy a property and make political donations.
Two of Mr Bankman-Fried's closest colleagues have pleaded guilty already and are cooperating with the investigation, which has shaken the entire cryptocurrency industry.
Prosecutors accused Mr Bankman-Fried of misappropriating FTX customer funds to pay debts at his other company, Alameda, and to make other investments.

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has lifted a ban after six years on opposition political rallies outside of election campaigns.
President Samia made the announcement during a meeting with leaders from all 19 of the country’s registered political parties.
Ms. Samia says their duty as a government will be to offer protection for the rallies which are going to be conducted in a civil and mature way and avoid trading insults.
The lifting of the ban is part of the president’s political reconciliation and reform drive which she initiated after taking power in 2021 following MagufuIi’s death.
President Samia says her government would try to restart a stalled constitutional review process.

Mozambique replaced Kenya at the UN Security Council with a promise to prioritise the fight against terrorism and will serve at the council as a non-permanent member for the next two years.
Mozambican ambassador to the UN, Pedro Comissário says they are going to deal a lot with terrorism.
Mr Comissário says the country would also push for reforms at the Security Council to address African concerns.
Mr Comissário says It is necessary to pay attention to reforming the Security Council to reflect African concerns, a region that has suffered historical injustice. We have no permanent member on the Security Council.

The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit is set to announce new guidelines on cash withdrawals from all government accounts on Thursday, January 5, 2023.
The Director and Chief Executive Officer, NFIU, Modibbo Tukur says because of the consistent devaluation of the naira and the introduction of a new naira policy, section one of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act is automatically activated.
Tukur further stated that most cash withdrawals from government accounts including payments for estacode are often more than the cash withdrawal limit provided by the Money Laundering Act.
He says this exposed innocent public servants to be liable to imprisonment.

President Muhammadu Buhari met with Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma at the State House in Abuja.
The Imo governor revealed that President Buhari approved the deployment of technology to combat insecurity in the South-East.
He stated that the approved technology expected to be deployed immediately consists of surveillance equipment among other things to potentially control crime and insecurity, with minimal collateral damage.
Uzodinma maintained that he is not responsible for the insecurity in Imo, saying the challenge is not peculiar to the state.
He says those fighting him simply instigate an atmosphere of insecurity out of desperation and not because of underdevelopment or corruption.