E-Financial
AfDB Champions Africa’s Premier Investment Marketplace for Economic Transformation
To help Africa find the path to its long-deserved economic fortune, the African Development Bank is championing the region’s premier investment market.
The Bank is providing collaborative leadership for a new 100% transactional initiative – the Africa Investment Forum (AIF) – which provides Africa’s best opportunity so far to encourage accelerated economic transformation.
The African Development Bank is working with the world’s leading financial institutions to de-risk investment through the platform and make it a springboard for Africa’s economic transformation.
The President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, told key Government and private sector leaders at a breakfast session on the sidelines of the 2018 Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan on March 27, 2018, that the AIF would be exclusively about transactions and investment deals.
“This is not a talk shop. There will be no political speeches. It provides an open platform to organise efforts among multilateral institutions, governments and private sector to improve a pipeline of projects capable of transforming the continent,” he said.
The first Africa Investment Forum will be held from November 7-9, 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
It will then be held yearly to enable and facilitate interactions to broker and accelerate deals, for candid discussions with policy-makers to shape the business and regulatory environment, as well as to track the implementation of commitments.
Adesina noted that the cost of doing business in Africa is improving. “Last year, and the year before, at least 30% of all the business and regulatory reforms that were done globally were not done in Asia. They were not in Latin America.
They were done in Africa. If you look at what is happening in terms of foreign direct investments coming to Africa, it continues to rise. Why are they rising? This is because of the greater political stability that is found on the continent.
“So there is a lot of optimism about our continent and in fact there is a discussion among our leaders towards an Africa beyond aid,” he said.
He highlighted Africa’s human and material resources, stressing how they could be harnessed to make Africa the powerhouse of the world. “I think that the sovereign wealth of Africa is actually not being invested in Africa.
It is being invested outside of Africa. And if Africa doesn’t invest enough, then who is going to invest? One of the reasons this happens is because people have a perception of risk. But the issue is not risk. It is about how you manage risk.”
On the AIF platform are the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, among others, who are working with the African Development Bank to set up a “mutualized co-guarantee platform” to de-risk investments.
“We also have those that are working on pipelines – Africa50 and others – that are very actively involved in this,” Adesina said.
Ghana’s Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, stressed that the bond market should be a strong part of the new move to mobilize resources for Africa’s economic transformation and lauded the idea of the African Development Bank and partners coming together through AIF to de-risk investment.
“The reality for the world is that Africa has to be, and will be, the best place to invest in future. What do we do for ourselves so that we unlock our own potential for investments? I think the emphasis now is on increasing infrastructure so that we open up the continent for investment opportunities to be properly exploited,” he said.
The Chief Executive Officer of one Africa’s largest distributor of consumer goods, Massmart, Kuseni Dlamini, called attention to the need for Africa to move from risk to opportunities and to take advantage of the many investment opportunities presented on the continent.
“The time to talk transaction is indeed now. I think that Africa has a lot to offer and we need to take advantage of opportunities,” he said.
Tigui Camara, Chief Executive Officer of Tigui Mining Company, said she was delighted that the African Development Bank was leading the investment initiative and called for more support for women in the informal sector.
Alain Ebobissé, the Chief Executive Officer of Africa50 – the Pan-African infrastructure investment platform – called on African Governments to create the right environment to attract investors to the continent.
The breakfast session was well attended by top Government officials, industry leaders and financial institutions, including the President of African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank), Dr. Benedict Okey Oramah.
The Africa Investment Forum will focus on improving the ease of doing business in Africa by advancing and promoting investment-friendly regulation. It will also champion ethical business practices in Africa.
Federal government has halted the implementation of the controversial turnover-based annual dues imposed by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and has introduced a N25 million cap for Public Interest Entities (PIEs) in the private sector.
This was disclosed on Sunday by Dr Jumoke Oduwole, minister Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.
“To provide immediate clarity, the Minister has directed the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) to apply an interim cap on annual dues payable by private sector PIEs at N25m, aligned with the cap already in place for publicly listed entities under the legislation.
“This directive creates a stable environment for compliance for affected companies in the short term and reflects the Ministry’s commitment to prioritizing transparency, investor confidence, and regulatory equity while allowing the Ministry of Justice to appropriately determine the longer-term path for seeking legislative amendments on behalf of the Federal Government, if required,” the ministry announced.
The decision followed sustained pressure and advocacy from leading industry groups, including the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS), the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), and the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), who expressed serious concerns about the Financial Reporting Council (Amendment) Act 2023.
At the heart of the outcry was the reclassification of large private companies as PIEs, which subjected them to annual dues ranging from 0.02 per cent to 0.05 per cent of turnover—without any upper limit.
This was in stark contrast to the fixed ₦25m levy applied to publicly listed companies, regardless of their size or market value.
Responding to these concerns, the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment convened a high-level stakeholder engagement in March 2025, aimed at addressing the implications of the amended Act and preserving a fair regulatory environment.
Following a formal public consultation held on March 26, 2025, the Ministry announced an administrative pause on the implementation of the turnover-based levies.
The ministry explained, “In line with this commitment, the Technical Working Group coordinated by the Ministry, comprising NECA, MAN, ALTON, NACCIMA, PFPTRC, CAC, and SEC, along with a robust team from the FRCN, met six times over a three-week period for stakeholder consultations.”
The ministry narrated that after six rounds of stakeholder meetings over a three-week period, the Working Group submitted a detailed report to the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment on April 17, 2025.
The Minister subsequently briefed President Bola Tinubu, highlighting the disproportionate burden the policy placed on affected companies and its potential to harm investor confidence.
It added, “These engagements culminated in a report assessing the implications of Section 33D of the FRC (Amendment) Act 2023 submitted to the Honourable Minister on April 17, 2025, the Minister of industry trade and investment provided a detailed briefing to Mr. President on the critical concerns raised by organized private sector stakeholders prior to the implementation of the administrative pause and made recommendations based on the submitted report and affirms that the administrative pause will be maintained in the mid- to long-term, pending a broader legislative review.”
Guaranty Trust Bank Ltd. (GTBank) will close all its branches across Nigeria earlier than usual on today (Monday, June 30), according to email sent to customers at the weekend.
According to the message, the early closure allows for the bank’s scheduled half-year audit activities.
The statement read, “Please be informed that our branches nationwide will close to customers early on Monday, June 30, 2025, for our half-year audit.”
It also specified different closure times for locations based on geographical locations in the country.
“Kindly note the early closure time below: Upcountry Branches – 2.00 pm; Lagos Branches – 3.00 pm,” the bank stated.
GTBank advised customers to use its digital banking channels for transactions during the period of early closure.
GTBank assured that its branches will resume operations at regular business hours on Tuesday, July 1.
It appreciated customers for their understanding and continued patronage during the audit period.
Shareholders have condemned the recent decision by the National Assembly to pass legislation requiring the transfer of all unclaimed dividends from company registrars to accounts managed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as opened by the Debt Management Office at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
In a statement issued under the aegis of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), shareholders strongly rejected the position of the National Assembly, describing the move as an unconstitutional transfer of unclaimed dividends to the CBN.
They noted that this action constitutes a gross violation of shareholders’ rights, a betrayal of investor trust, and a dangerous precedent that threatens the sanctity of private property and the integrity of the capital market.
Giving reasons for their rejection, the shareholders emphasized that unclaimed dividends are not government revenue; they remain the legal property of individual investors and their heirs, regardless of the time elapsed.
They argued that the attempt to centralize and manage these funds under SEC control amounts to indirect expropriation.
They added that this law would erode investor confidence in Nigeria’s capital markets, as both local and international investors require assurance that their returns will be protected—not seized under the guise of state policy.
The statement, jointly signed by Moses Igbrude and Mr. Eke Chibuzor, national coordinator and general secretary respectively of ISAN, criticized the passage of the law without broad consultations with shareholders, registrars, and capital market stakeholders, calling it a troubling disregard for participatory governance and due process.
“There are no clear frameworks for how the SEC intends to manage these funds, what returns will be offered to rightful owners, or how and when claims will be honored. This is a recipe for bureaucratic mismanagement and corruption,” the statement read. It added that instead of simplifying the process for claiming unclaimed dividends, the law introduces additional layers of opacity and complexity—especially for rural and aging investors who already face significant challenges.
Shareholders, therefore, demanded the immediate suspension of the law’s implementation and urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to assent to the bill. If already signed, they called for its immediate suspension pending judicial review.
They also noted that the association is mobilizing legal resources to challenge the law in court, describing it as unconstitutional, unjust, and economically harmful.
Instead, they proposed that efforts should focus on reforming the claims process at the registrar level through technology, public education, and standardization—not through centralization and state appropriation.
The group concluded that the future of Nigeria’s investment climate must be built on fairness, property protection, and inclusive growth—not arbitrary power grabs. They called on all shareholders to unite in rejecting this injustice.
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