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Nigeria’s central bank to punish banks for rejecting outdated dollar bills

Published

3 months ago

July 3, 2024

The Central Bank of Nigeria has issued a warning to its regulated firms in Nigeria on their continued rejection of older series and lower-value US dollars. Lenders who refused the currencies faced threats from the bank.

This was stated in a June 27 circular that was just posted on the apex bank’s website and was signed by Solaja Olayemi, the acting director of the currency operations department.

The public, Deposit Money Banks, and Bureau De Change operators were all warned not to continue rejecting the older series and smaller denominations of the US dollar in the circular.

The CBN stated that the new circular came about as a result of its consumer market intelligence, which showed that banks and other authorized forex dealers were still refusing to accept older or smaller denominations of dollar bills.

“Kindly be reminded that the Central Bank of Nigeria circular referenced COD/DIR/INT/CIR/001/002 and dated 9th April 2021, which explicitly frowned at this selective acceptance of deposit, is still in force and must be adhered to and complied with by all relevant parties.

“For the avoidance of doubt and further guidance on the circular, the content is hereby reissued as follows for strict compliance: All DMBs /authorized forex dealers should henceforth accept both old series and lower denominations of United States Dollars that are legal tender for deposit from their customers. The CBN will not hesitate to sanction any DMB or authorised forex dealers who refuse to accept old series/lower denominations of US Dollar bills from their customers,” the circular partly read.

Authorized forex dealers were also cautioned in the circular not to tamper with or deface US dollar banknotes because they consistently fail authentication checks when being processed and sorted.

On April 9, 2021, CBN initially sent out the warning in a circular that was signed by Ahmed Umar, the department’s then-director of currency operations.

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VenturesNow

Kenya urges IMF to probe corruption after Western pressure

Published

22 hours ago

October 4, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following pressure from Western countries, Kenya’s government has requested that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conduct an official evaluation of the country’s governance and corruption problems.

Kenya has battled debt that has risen to dangerous levels in recent years. Its decision to back out of planned tax increases earlier this year in response to violent protests made it more difficult for the country to receive a $600 million payment from the IMF.

The countries must request the so-called “governance diagnostic,” which examines if corruption and governance flaws are sapping revenue or causing other issues with state finances.

“We have received a governance diagnostics request from the authorities,” an IMF spokesperson said in response to written questions.

“The government of Kenya aims to strengthen its governance and anti-corruption policies. They intend to utilize these diagnostics to enhance public spending efficiency, boost competitiveness, foster growth, and inclusively reduce poverty.”

According to a person with knowledge of the matter, the assessment would be a gesture of goodwill in the nation’s attempts to get its finances back on track even though it was unrelated to the payment.

President William Ruto was forced to rescind $2.7 billion in proposed tax increases in June as a result of widespread protests centred around perceived waste and corruption in the government.

Requests for comments were not answered by Kenya’s finance ministry. The news that Western countries were pressuring for the IMF review was originally broken by Reuters on Tuesday.

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TotalEnergies CEO to meet Mozambique president for further project discourse

Published

2 days ago

October 3, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

To discuss the company’s proposed LNG project in Mozambique with the nation’s new president, CEO Patrick Pouyanne has announced he will travel to Mozambique later this month.

“The project remains profitable, we remain committed,” Pouyanne said at an investor presentation.

The $20 billion Mozambique LNG project has been delayed because of worries about violent upheaval in the area, although Pouyanne claimed there had been “progress on security” recently.

On October 9, Mozambicans will cast their votes in presidential and legislative elections that will almost certainly prolong the fifty-year rule of the ruling Frelimo party, which is fighting a protracted Islamist insurgency in one of the largest gas reserves in Africa.

Pouyanne went on to say that lenders had affirmed between 70% and 80% of a $14 billion finance package that supports the project.

“We are waiting on the green light on financing from three credit agencies, some are in Western countries where rules on gas have changed … as soon as that is in place we will move,” Pouyanne said.