E-Financial
CBN Sets September Deadline for Mutilated Notes
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said banks now have between June 3 and September 2, to collect and sort all mutilated notes in their possession for reissuing.
Mr Isaac Okorafor, central bank’s Director of Corporate Communications, who made the disclosure while engaging with leaders of organised labour in Lagos, said that “The CBN has given banks between the 3rd of June and September 2, to bring back all the mutilated notes for us to reissue them,” he said.
“And we are telling customers, including labour, that they should return all the notes to their bank. And that the banks will bring those notes to us for reissue.
“If any bank is refusing to take back the notes, they should call us and we will take action.”
In April, the bank had introduced a Clean Note Policy to put an end to the circulation of mutilated naira notes.
Meanwhile, at the engagement activity, which was part of CBN’s communication efforts to dialogue with key stakeholders in the economy, an Executive Member of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Issa Aremu, described CBN’s “creative intervention” in the Nigerian economy as “highly commendable.”
“CBN is working today because we have a competent hand,” he said. “Mr Emefiele is a man of vision, but he is also passionate about Nigeria, he is patriotic; we need to replicate that kind of public officer.
“Also, in terms of engagement, I haven’t seen the CBN engaging in any sort of controversy; he doesn’t go outside his mandate. What happens is robust engagement, such that both the executive and legislature agreed that he should go for another term. And the facts are all verifiable.
“They all talk about jobs that have been created; so you need similar kinds of personnel in the next cabinet of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
But Aremu noted that for the Nigerian economy to improve on its current growth levels, all hands must be on the deck.
“CBN is doing its own side of the bargain, but the other fiscal authorities must also complement the effort of the CBN,” he said.
For example, “CBN can’t do much to stop smuggling; so you have improvement in rice production, but by the time the farmers reach the market, it has been overwhelmed by smuggled rice.
“The same thing with textiles. So Customs must also sit up. Energy is also important. We need uninterrupted power supply. So we need the same activism that we are witnessing at the apex bank, at Customs, at the Ministry of Power. The Ministry of Trade and investment must sit up also; Ministry of Labour must sit up as well, because they are the ones to find out whether the funds are made available to investors in this sector are actually used for production and employment is being created.”
He added that “organised labour is committed to partnering with CBN to make sure that all these creative initiatives, in terms of development financing, are sustainable.”
The CBN Governor recently said the policies of the apex bank in the past five years had been focused on protecting the purchasing power of the poor and vulnerable persons in the country. According to Emefiele, the apex bank is very comfortable staying on the side of the weak, vulnerable, and poor masses and protecting their purchasing power.
He had argued the central bank’s development finance initiatives and foreign exchange intervention were targeted at supporting vulnerable persons in the society.
“The poor masses are the ones that bear the brunt of losing purchasing power of the meagre salaries they receive, ever so infrequently.
“Indeed, given the current resistance to pay increased minimum wage of N30,000, one wonders how the fixed income earner would survive the consequences of inflationary pressure arising from the pass-through from exchange rate depreciation being proposed by the naysayers,” he had said.
Emefiele said the task of building a stronger economy was far from complete; with the pace of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth still very fragile and badly lagging behind population growth rate of 2.7 per cent. He reiterated the fact that the level of credit to the private sector by financial institutions was still very low.
According to the CBN Governor, domestic industries particularly high employment generating sectors like textile and garment sectors have continued to deal with rampant smuggling and dumping of materials through our borders.
“These challenges no doubt call for action by the monetary and fiscal policies through the implementation of policies; the spirit and letter of which must be respected by all,” he added.
Fidelity Bank Plc, one of Nigeria’s leading Tier-1 financial institutions, has announced a remarkable financial performance for the first quarter of 2025, recording a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N105.8 billion, representing an impressive growth of 167.8% compared to N39.5 billion in Q1 2024.
Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, MD/CEO, Fidelity Bank Plc
The bank’s unaudited financial statements, released on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on April 30, 2025, highlight a substantial increase in Gross Earnings, which rose to N315.4 billion, marking a year-on-year growth of 64.2% from N192.1 billion in the same period last year.
Growth in interest income was primarily led by 38.6% yoy (7.4% ytd) expansion in earning assets base, while the increase in non -interest revenue came from FX-related income, trade and commission on banking services, etc., supported by increased customer transactions.
Commenting on the bank’s performance, Dr. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe,OON, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank Plc, stated, “We started the year with triple-digit growth in profit and sustained the momentum in our earning assets growth.
This performance shows the resilience of our business model and reinforces our confidence in delivering a better result in the 2025 financial year.”
Other areas of the unaudited financial statements, equally show a marked improvement with Total Deposits growing by 11.1% ytd to N6.6tn from N5.9tn in December 2024, driven by 10.6% ytd growth in low-cost deposits to N6.1tn, which represents 92.2% of total customer deposits. Local currency deposits increased by 2.0% ytd while foreign currency deposits increased by 21.4% from $1.9bn in December 2024 to $2.3bn.
Net Loans and Advances increased by 5.0% ytd to N4.6tn. The growth in the bank’s Loan Book was skewed to LCY Loans as cost of risk declined to 0.6% from 1.5% in 2024FY.
“Beginning the year with such positive momentum reinforces our commitment to supporting the growth of individuals and businesses, while enhancing our financial sustainability. As we go into the rest of the year, we remain focused on building a resilient banking franchise with a diversified earnings base,” Onyeali-Ikpe added.
Ranked among the best banks in Nigeria, Fidelity Bank Plc is a full-fledged Commercial Deposit Money Bank serving over 9.1 million customers through digital banking channels, its 255 business offices in Nigeria and United Kingdom subsidiary, FidBank UK Limited.
The Bank is the recipient of multiple local and international Awards, including the 2024 Excellence in Digital Transformation & MSME Banking Award by BusinessDay Banks and Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards; the 2024 Most Innovative Mobile Banking Application award for its Fidelity Mobile App by Global Business Outlook, and the 2024 Most Innovative Investment Banking Service Provider award by Global Brands Magazine.
Additionally, the Bank was recognized as the Best Bank for SMEs in Nigeria by the Euromoney Awards for Excellence and as the Export Financing Bank of the Year by the BusinessDay Banks and Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has unveiled a technology adoption assessment survey for registered capital market operators as part of efforts to deepen innovation and efficiency in the Nigerian capital market.
In a circular, the SEC stated that the exercise was designed to evaluate the level of adoption of advanced technologies among CMOs operating within the Nigerian capital market.
According to the notice, “The following technology adoption survey is designed by the Commission to assess the adoption of advanced technologies among registered Capital Market Operators.”
The SEC directed all registered operators to log into the e-portal at using their current access credentials to complete the survey. The exercise will run for two weeks, from 5 to 20 May 2025.
Speaking recently on the role of innovation in the capital market, Emomotimi Agama, director-general of the SEC, urged stakeholders to embrace technology as a catalyst for growth, improved transparency, operational efficiency, and market resilience.
He noted that the SEC recognises the emergence of new financial products and services driven by technological advancements, and remains committed to adapting its regulatory framework to meet the evolving needs of the market.
According to him, the commission’s approach to innovation is anchored on three pillars: investor safety, market deepening, and problem-solving aimed at building a robust and efficient capital market ecosystem.
Agama also highlighted the commission’s Regulatory Incubation Programme, which allows fintech startups to operate within a controlled environment for one year while appropriate rules are developed to govern their activities.
He said the programme is part of the SEC’s broader strategy to support innovation while safeguarding market integrity and investor interests.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) ,has confirmed that Nigeria has fully repaid about US$3.4 billion loan it got in April 2020 under the Rapid Financing Instrument to help alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sharp fall in oil prices.
IMF said the loan has been repaid as of April 30, 2025 in a statement issued in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital on Thursday.
However, IMF said Nigeria is still expected to honour some additional payments in forms of Special Drawing Rights charges hat will amount to US$30 million annually.
“In line with the IMF’s Articles of Agreements, these charges, levied at the SDR interest rate, which is updated at the beginning of each week, apply to the difference between Nigeria’s SDR holdings (SDR 3,164 million) (US$4.3 billion) and its cumulative SDR allocation (SDR 4,027 million) (US$5.5 billion)
“The net payment of the charges stops when Nigeria’s SDR holdings reach the cumulative allocation amount,” IMF said in the statement. Online fitness
Airtel Reveals Mechanism of Spam Alert Service
Nigerian Tech Prodigy sets World Record with Smallest GPS Tracker
Minister Seeks Digital Tech Adoption to Improve Agriculture, Boost Food Security
Africa Looks to Solar Amid Electricity Challenges
Fidelity Bank grows PBT by 167.8% to N105.8 billion in Q1 2025
News2 days agoTomato ‘Ebola’ May Disrupt Nigeria’s Agric Value Chain- Rewane
Broadcasting2 days agoMultiChoice vs FCCPC: Only President has Power to Fix Prices- Court
Telecom2 days agoSEO Secrets: How Media Professionals Can Make Their Blog Posts Rank High
News2 days agoLoan Controversy: Court adjourns Otudeko, others’ case to June 11
General News1 day agoFCMB Group Posts ₦35bn Q1 Profit as Revenue Surpasses Forecast
E-Financial2 days agoIMF Confirms Nigeria’s Full Repayment of $3.4bn COVID-19 Loan
E-Business2 days agoNEPC, NBS Sign MoU on Data Capturing
Telecom2 days agoAirtel Africa Records Customer Base Increase of 8.7Percent to 166.1m