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Fidelity Bank boss advocates measures to curb e-fraud challenges

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Fidelity Bank Plc, Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe has called on the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum, NeFF to come with solutions to the challenges posed by electronic fraud to financial system.

According to a report published in Vanguard Newspaper, she made this call in Lagos while speaking at the 3rd quarter general meeting of NeFF.

Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe explained that e-fraud are activities carried out online to exploit individuals and business entities for financial gain.
She liste

d examples of e-fraud to include: Phishing; Advanced fee fraud (419); Online Auction Fraud; Identity Theft; Tech Support Scams; Online Romance Scam; Investment Scam; Business Email compromise; Ransomware; Online Rental Schemes; Pyramid Schemes; and Click Fraud.

Highlighting the rising trend of e-fraud in the country and the associated challenges, the Fidelity Bank boss said: “According to data released by NIBSS, the value of electronic payment transactions in Nigeria increased by 298% YoY from N34.04 trillion in Q1 2022 to N135.52 trillion in Q1 2023.

“As technology continues to advance at an unprecedented pace, our reliance on digital transactions has grown exponentially. However, with this rise in digital interactions, the threat of e-fraud has become a significant challenge affecting individuals, businesses, and industries alike.

“The banking industry lost a total of N14.3 billion to electronic fraud in 2022, up from the N12.7b reported in 2021. As at Q1 2023, the total fraud loss was N5b according to the NIBSS Annual Fraud Landscape reports.

“The Mobile channel is the most exploited channel by fraudsters in 2021 and 2022 with 42,821 and 45,090 reported fraud records respectively. Total fraud count in 2021 was 123,918 and 101,668 in 2022.

“E-fraud has permeated multiple industries, spanning from banking and finance to e-commerce and beyond.

These cybercriminals leverage advanced methods to exploit vulnerabilities, gaining unauthorised access to crucial data and funds.

The repercussions of e-fraud are not limited to financial losses; they also extend to eroding trust and eroding brand reputation.

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Business

BREAKING: Nigeria’s inflation hits 24.08% as food prices rise

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

Nigeria’s annual inflation rate rose to 24.08 per cent in July from 22.79 per cent in the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Tuesday.

The NBS said on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 4.44 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in July 2022, which was 19.64 per cent.

“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in July 2023 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., July 2022),” it said.

According to the report, the food inflation rate increased to 26.98 per cent in July from 25.25 per cent in June.

Although the prices of food have been on the rise across Nigeria in recent years, the situation deteriorated due to the impact of government policies such as the removal of subsidy on petrol, among others.

On 29 May, during his inauguration, President Tinubu announced the removal of subsidy on petrol. This development has caused hardship for many Nigerians with its attendant increase in the prices of goods and services.

Apart from the removal of subsidy, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also announced the unification of all segments of the forex exchange (FX) market as part of efforts to engender transparency in the markets and boost investors’ confidence.

The policy has been widely applauded as well-intentioned and necessary but it has put additional pressure on the local currency and manufacturers, with ripple effects on prices.

Inflation has remained high in Africa’s largest economy, prompting the apex bank to hike interest rates to their highest levels in nearly two decades.

In July, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), raised its benchmark lending rate to 18.75 per cent.

The bank said, “hiking the interest rate has made a lot of difference in moderating the rate of inflation”.

It noted that the option to continue the hike in the policy rate, albeit moderately, also presented a strong alternative premised on the expected liquidity injections into the economy from the recent efforts to unify the nation’s foreign exchange markets.

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Business

Nigerians, Ghana, Others To Earn More As Twitter Begins Payment For Tweets

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

Nigerians and twitter users from other African countries will begin earn more as the microblogging site X formerly known as Twitter has began payment through its ad revenue sharing program.

This was revealed when verified users took their appreciations to the microblogging site on Tuesday

Although the payouts started in July 2023 in the United State, the platform owner revealed that it will extend the payout to global users by the end of July 2023.

Verified users in Nigeria and across other countries who have met the threshold of impressions on their content are now getting paid.

The payout means that many who had decided not to pay for the blue badge but continuously post content that gets good impressions will now be motivated to pay for the subscriptions, which costs N3,560 per month.

Recall that Musk had announced that all verified accounts must remit the sum of N3,560 per month. The announcement was met with lots of controversies.

However, this decision will only be beneficial to accounts that are verified and remitted to the microblogging site monthly.

Proof of the payment shows that the amount was paid in Dollars, Euros, pounds amongst others.

Proof of the payment shows that the amount was paid in Dollars, Euros, pounds amongst others.

Showing their appreciation are various account revealing that Musk has given them reasons to remain on the platform and to continue creating engaging content.

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BusinessHeadlines

EVP Gas at NNPCL foresees revenue surge through gas commercialization in Nigeria 

by Leading Reporters
written by Leading Reporters

Mohammed Ahmed, the Executive Vice President of Gas, Power and New Energy at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has said that upcoming gas projects in the country will generate a lot of revenue for the government through taxes and royalties. 

He said this in an interview last week during the NNPCL program; Energy and You, airing weekly on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Network. 

According to him, Nigeria is aiming for gas commercialization through various projects that will see the populace making use of gas for industrialization, cooking and auto use, as opposed to flaring it. 

He said the NNPCL is working to ensure that those who produce the gas will have visibility as to the revenue they will get from their investments and customers will also be sure that once they begin to use gas, there is affordability and sustainability.    

He said: 

  • “The gas, power and new energy directorate in the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s basic objective is to ensure the commercialization of our gas assets across the country and this is not only for the domestic market but for exports. 
  • “In doing that we also have the new energy attached to it, we look at renewables and hydrogen, and all these come together to form what we call the energy transition mix.  
  • “Our focus is to ensure that there is gas availability, sustainability and affordability across the country.”  

According to him, there are various projects that are expanding the horizon of gas supply in the country, through functioning infrastructure that will take more gas into the domestic market.  

He said: 

  • “The Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline corridor for instance has three major power plants, the minimum of which is 900 megawatts (MW), these power plants are aimed at sucking up available gas, putting it into use and generating power. 
  • “This will go a long way to ensuring that industries and factories that are facing the challenge of energy availability, will be happy to suck up the energy from these power plants.”  

He also spoke about upcoming gas projects like the Assa North Ohaji gas project.

He said that the project has the capacity to produce Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), thereby making firewood as cooking fuel a thing of the past in the country.  

He also said that the project will help to further commercialize the gas that is available in the domestic market. Note that in its latest clean cooking report, the International Energy Agency (IEA) stated that LPG as a cooking fuel in Africa has gained some ground in countries like Kenya, and Nigeria.  

However, a lack of natural gas storage and distribution systems in many urban areas in Africa, makes LPG a lower-cost solution than building new pipelines.    

During the interview, Mr. Ahmed said that the NNPCL has received several requests from developed and developing countries who wish to collaborate with NNPCL, to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Nigeria. 

This is because Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited is incapable of converting all the country’s gas into LNG.  

According to him, several gas projects will help transition Nigeria from a petrol-dependent country to a gas-dependent country. 

Note that this has been the aim of the government from the administration of former president Muhammadu Buhari who signed off on the decade of gas initiative in 2021.  

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Business

GSK, producers of panadol shut down operations in Nigeria after 51 years

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc has announced plans to shut down its operations in the country.

This was disclosed in a press statement issued on Thursday and filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited. It was signed by the Company Secretary, Frederick Ichekwai.

The company, whose primary activities include marketing and distribution of consumer healthcare and pharmaceutical products, said that its parent company, GSK Plc UK, had revealed its intent to cease commercialization of its prescription medicines and vaccines through its Nigerian subsidiary.

Part of the statement read, “In our published Q2 results we disclosed that the GSK UK Group has informed GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria PLC of its strategic intent to cease commercialization of its prescription medicines and vaccines in Nigeria through the GSK local operating companies and transition to a third-party direct distribution model for its pharmaceutical products.”

The company said it will be briefing its employees, whom it promised to “Treat fairly, respectfully and with care, meeting all applicable legal and consultation requirements.”

In responsibility to shareholders, the statement said that the “Board is conscious that shareholders will have many questions; we have been working assiduously with our professional advisors to agree on the next steps and we will be shortly submitting to the Securities and Exchange Commission, a draft Scheme of Arrangement which may, if approved, see shareholders other than GSK UK, receive an accelerated cash distribution and return of capital.”

Meanwhile, GSK said it will appoint a third-party distributor in Nigeria for the supply of its consumer healthcare products.

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc was incorporated in 1971. 46.4 per cent of the shares of the Company are held by Setfirst Limited and Smithkline Beecham Limited (both incorporated in the United Kingdom); and 53.6 per cent by Nigerian shareholders. The ultimate parent and ultimate controlling party is GlaxoSmithKline Plc, United Kingdom (GSK Plc UK). GSK Plc UK controls the Company through Setfirst Limited and Smithkline Beecham Limited.

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Meta starts blocking news, over law on paying publishers Leading Reporters
BusinessHeadlines

Meta starts blocking news, over law on paying publishers

by Leading Reporters
written by Leading Reporters

Meta Platforms (META.O) has begun the process to end access to news on Facebook and Instagram for all users in Canada, it said on Tuesday, in response to law requiring internet giants to pay news publishers.

The Canadian government quickly denounced the move as “irresponsible,” and said the world is watching the process play out in Canada.

The Online News Act, passed by the Canadian parliament, would force platforms like Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O) and Meta to negotiate commercial deals with Canadian news publishers for their content.

“News outlets voluntarily share content on Facebook and Instagram to expand their audiences and help their bottom line,” Rachel Curran, Meta’s head of public policy in Canada, said. “In contrast, we know the people using our platforms don’t come to us for news.”

Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge, who is in charge of the government’s dealings with Meta, said in a Tuesday statement: “This is irresponsible.”

“They would rather block their users from accessing good quality and local news instead of paying their fair share to news organizations,” St-Onge said.

“We’re going to keep standing our ground. After all, if the Government can’t stand up for Canadians against tech giants, who will?” she added.

In a campaign against the law, which is part of a broader global trend to make tech firms pay for news, both Meta and Google said in June they would block access to news on their platforms in the country.

Canada’s public broadcast CBC also called Meta’s move irresponsible and that it was “an abuse of their market power.”

The Canadian law is similar to a ground-breaking law that Australia passed in 2021 and had triggered threats from Google and Facebook to curtail their services.

Both the companies eventually struck deals with Australian media firms after amendments to the legislation were offered.

But on the Canadian law, Google has argued that it is broader than those enacted in Australia and Europe as it puts a price on news story links displayed in search results and can apply to outlets that do not produce news.

Meta had said links to news articles make up less than 3% of the content on its users’ feed and argued that news lacked economic value.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had said in May that such an argument was flawed and “dangerous to our democracy, to our economy.” NewsCredit Reuters

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Business

Fidelity Bank reclassified as medium price stock

by Leading Reporters
written by Leading Reporters

Following a bullish run in the stock market in recent months, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (“NGX”) on Friday announced the reclassification of Fidelity Bank Plc. from small price stock to medium price stock.

A statement by the NGX said the reclassification became necessary because Fidelity Bank Plc. shares have been trading above the N5.00 mark since February 2023.

“Rule 15.29 of the Rulebook of The Exchange, 2015 (Dealing Members’ Rules) notes that equities priced above N5 per share for at least four of the most recent six months of trading, or new security listings priced above N5 per share at the time of listing on NGX are classified as medium price stock,” the statement said.

“According to NGX, Fidelity Bank Plc. traded above the N5.00 mark on 20 February 2023 and has remained above the N5 mark up until close of business on 30 June 2023.

“This indicates that FIDELITYBK has been trading above N5 for at least four (4) months in the last six (6) months. Therefore, it should be reclassified from small price stock to medium price stock.”

The Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe-led bank has continued to post commendable financial performance every quarter as it cements its position amongst tier-one banks in the country.

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BusinessHeadlines

Agusto & Co. affirms Fidelity Bank’s ‘A’ rating, with a Stable Outlook

by Leading Reporters
written by Leading Reporters

Pan-African credit rating agency, Agusto & Co. has affirmed the ‘A’ rating assigned to Fidelity Bank Plc and assigned an ESG score of ‘2’ in reflection of the agency’s view that environmental, social and governance issues have minimal contribution to the Bank’s credit rating.

According to a note on the Agusto & Co. website, “The rating reflects Fidelity Bank’s improved profitability, strong ability to refinance, adequate capitalisation and low level of impaired credits.”

Fidelity Bank is a full-fledged commercial bank operating in Nigeria with over 7.5 million customers serviced across its 250 business offices and digital banking channels. The bank was recognized as the Best Payment Solutions Provider, Nigeria, 2023 and Best SME Bank, Nigeria, 2022 by the Global Banking and Finance Awards. The bank had previously also won awards for the “Fastest Growing Bank” and “MSME & Entrepreneurship Financing Bank of the Year” at the 2021 BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards.

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Africa & WorldBusiness

JUST IN: UK Increases Visa Fees, Health Surcharge, Nigeria Affected

by Leading Reporters
written by Leading Reporters

United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced an increase in visa application fee paid by immigrants.

He also said the surcharge paid for the state-funded national health service (NHS) by visa applicants by immigrants will “increase significantly”.

The announcement is coming a few weeks after the United States embassy said it is increasing fees for processing non-immigrant visa (NIV) applications.

The US embassy, according to a statement on its website said the new fees for various visa categories will be implemented from June 17, 2023.

Sunak explained that this was “entirely right” as these fees have not been increased recently.

He said: “If we’re going to prioritise paying public sector workers more, that money has to come from somewhere else because I’m not prepared to put up people’s taxes and I don’t think it would be responsible or right to borrow more because that would just make inflation worse

“So, what we have done are two things to find this money. The first is, we are going to increase the charges that we have for migrants who are coming to this country when they apply for visas and indeed something called the immigration health surcharge (IHS), which is the levy that they pay to access the NHS.

According to Sunak, this move will have no effect on inflation because there would be no new borrowing or spending to fund the increases.

He said the government believes it is appropriate given that the costs have risen since the last hike.

In a tweet, Sunak said: “I just announced a fair way to end the strikes – and already all teaching unions are backing it. It’s a fair deal for workers. And a fair deal for the British taxpayer. This is a major breakthrough for parents and families across the country.”

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Business

Unilever to Stop Producing Omo, Sunlight, Lux

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

Unilever Nigeria Plc says it is stopping the production of the legendary OMO, Sunlight and Lux home care brands as it struggles to sustain its operations in Nigeria.

The company is “exiting the Home Care and Skin Cleansing categories to concentrate on higher growth opportunities,” according to a statement it issued on March 17.

Unilever began trading in Nigeria in 1923, introduced the OMO brand in 1960, and opened a production facility to manufacture the popular laundry brand locally in 1964. In 1982, it opened a factory in Agbara, which still operates to date.

Formerly known as Lever Brothers (West Africa) Limited, the company changed its business name to Unilever Nigeria Plc in 2001.

“We’re the longest-serving manufacturing company in the country, marking 100 years in Nigeria in 2023,” the company stated.

“The exit of these two categories over 2023 will boost the vision to make Unilever Nigeria great, building on the impressive progress made in other key aspects of the business, and is envisaged to result in overall improvement in profitability, growth and a more sustainable Unilever Nigeria Plc business.

“The Company will in due course review the optimal treatment of redundant resources and assets, in accordance with due process,” Unilever stated.

Unilever had shocked most Nigerians when it announced it was cutting back operations of some of its production in the country.

The announcement to cut production of the key product lines came just two years after the fast-moving-consumer-goods (FMCG) spun off its tea businesses (e.g. Lipton) to a separate legal entity under the Unilever global group.

Stopping operations in some product lines is part of a global brand strategy for Unilever’s parent company to improve profit margins.

Stears, an online new medium, reported that the group had sold off its entire tea business for €4.5 billion, and the Nigerian unit, Unilever Nigeria Plc, earned a one-off income of €6.3 million (i.e. N2.8 billion) — which helped boost profitability in 2021.

In 2017, Unilever had sold off its spreads business, the Blue Band butter, for €6.8 billion, and in February 2023, the British-owned FMCG warned that customers would buy fewer of its products, following a 2.1 per cent decline in volume growth in 2022 and expectations of worse volume growth this year, the reported added.

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