Business

What President Tinubu Tells World Leaders At Nairobi’s Summit

“Every single dollar that leaves our treasury to pay punitive interest rates is a dollar that did not go into our steel sector, textile mills, agro-processing plants or digital industries,” the President stated.

Published

2 months ago

May 13, 2026

OCHEFA

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President Bola Tinubu has called for a major shift in Africa’s economic structure, insisting that the continent must stop exporting raw materials and start building industries capable of competing globally.

Tinubu spoke on Tuesday at the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, where he led Nigeria’s delegation of top government officials and private sector leaders to discussions on industrialisation, trade and economic development across Africa.

The President said Africa’s continued dependence on exporting crude oil, minerals and agricultural commodities while importing finished products was damaging local industries and slowing economic growth.

“We export raw minerals, crude oil and agricultural commodities, and we import processed goods at a premium.

This pattern is not an accident. It is the product of a global financial architecture that starves our industries of affordable capital,” Tinubu said.

He argued that African countries still face unfair borrowing conditions despite implementing difficult economic reforms aimed at stabilising their economies and attracting investment.

According to him, Nigeria’s recent reforms, including fuel subsidy removal, exchange rate unification and banking recapitalisation, were necessary steps taken to reposition the economy for long-term growth.

Tinubu also used the summit to promote Nigeria’s maritime and blue economy potential, pledging stronger regional cooperation through the country’s Deep Blue Project to improve security in the Gulf of Guinea.

“Secure sea lanes, predictable regulation and functional courts are the preconditions that unlock private capital.

Nigeria is ready to work with other Gulf of Guinea states through shared maritime intelligence and coordinated enforcement,” he said.

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Business

Cardoso Urges Banks To Lend Out Idle Funds With CBN * Retains MPR at 26.5%

Cardoso made the call on Tuesday after the 306th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held in Abuja from July 20 to July 21.

Published

6 hours ago

July 21, 2026

OCHEFA

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Olayemi Cardoso , urged banks from keeping idle funds with the apex bank and encouraging increased lending into the economy.

Cardoso made the call on Tuesday after the 306th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held in Abuja from July 20 to July 21.

The apex bank retained the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), also known as benchmark interest rate, at 26. 5 percent.

This decision marks the second consecutive retention of the MPR at 26.5 per cent, following a 50-basis-point reduction in February from 27 per cent.

“The committee’s decision to maintain the current policy stand follows a thorough assessment of the balance of risk,” said Cardoso.

He emphasised that although headline inflation moderated marginally in June 2026, global uncertainties have heightened due mainly to the renewed hostilities in the Middle East.

The MPC also adjusted the asymmetric facilities corridor around the MPR to +50/-450 basis points—a move aimed at discouraging banks from keeping idle fund with CBN.

Furthermore, the committee maintained the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks at 45 per cent, retained the rate for merchant banks at 16 per cent, and kept the CRR on non-TSA public-sector deposits at 75 per cent for liquidity management considerations.

Cardoso said despite the global uncertainties, the Nigerian economy has “remained largely resilient to the external shocks”.

Business

CBN admits it opened domiciliary accounts for PFIPC agency

Represented by the Director of its Banking Services Department, Hamisu Ibrahim, the CBN said that the accounts are one in US dollars, the other in British pounds sterling, were opened following a mandate received from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

Published

15 hours ago

July 21, 2026

OCHEFA

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File photo : PFIPC agency DG, Adeniyi Adeyemi

The Central Bank of Nigeria had admitted that it opened two foreign-currency domiciliary accounts for the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).

The apex bank made the confirmation, yesterday, during the public hearing convened at the National Assembly Complex by the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the existence and operations of the PFIPC, chaired by Yusuf Gagdi and inaugurated by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.

He explained that on July 30, 2025, CBN received a mandate dated July 29, 2025 from the Office of the Accountant-General.

“We received the mandate to authorise two accounts, one a US dollar domiciliary account, the other a pound domiciliary account, for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council,” Ibrahim told the committee.

He explained the CBN’s verification process, “The process of opening an account requires a mandate from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

“Once we receive that mandate, we perform all the necessary verifications to confirm that this mandate is actually coming from that office.

The department that handles the mandate is different from the department that actually does the account opening,” he said.

Nevertheless, he noted that no one came to activate the accounts after they were opened.“We did not receive any correspondence, mandate, signature or mandate cards. We were not introduced to the authorising or approving officers.“Based on that, those accounts remain inactive, with zero balance. There have been no foreign exchange allocations.