Photo by Ochefa / Ohibaba.com; 28 January 2026

The leadership of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), on Wednesday accused the nafdac to have misled the Senate to approve the ban on sachet alcohol and PET bottles.

The leadership of the association made accusations on the occasion of the 10th edition MAN Media Personality Awards/ Presidential Media Luncheon, held in Lagos.

Francis Meshioye, the president of the association, and Segun Ajayi-Kadir, Director -General of MAN, emphasised that NAFDAC didn’t provide the Senate with empirical data showing the negative impacts of alcohol on children.

“Business is based on data and logic. Not sentiment. Data is key. Bring your data. Alcohol is not produced for children.

It is clearly written on the sacrhet it is for people 18+;  the companies producing them have done the campaigns; they have NAFDAC numbers. So NAFDAC should do its job.

They misled the Senate they didn’t give enough information to the Senate,” said Ajayi – Kadir.

Meshioye urges the government to prevail on the regulator to suspend the ban, because, “When manufacturing thrives, Nigeria thrives..when manufacturing wins, government wins.”

• CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has upgraded the licenses of major FinTech companies and Microfinance Banks, including Opay and Moniepoint, to national status, allowing them to operate across the country following compliance with regulatory requirements.

The upgrade applies to key players such as Moniepoint MFB, Opay, Kuda Bank, Palmpay, and Paga, which have grown rapidly through mobile technology and agent networks, effectively outgrowing their previous regional licenses.

The Director of the Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department, Yemi Solaja, confirmed this development in Lagos at the annual conference of the Committee of Heads of Banks’ Operations,

He said: “Institutions like Moniepoint MFB, Opay, Kuda Bank, and others have now been upgraded. In practice, their operations are already nationwide.”

Solaja emphasized the importance of physical presence for customer support, noting “Most of their customers operate in the informal sector.

They need a clear point of contact if any issues arise.

”With national licenses, these FinTechs are subject to higher capital requirements, for example, N5 billion for national MFBs, and must maintain offices for dispute resolution while continuing to drive financial inclusion.

The reform follows previous enforcement actions, including 2024 penalties of N1 billion each on Moniepoint and Opay for KYC non-compliance, underscoring the CBN’s ongoing efforts to strengthen standards in digital finance

African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has terminated its credit rating relationship with Fitch Ratings.

In an announcement on its website, Afreximbank explained that it’s decision follows a review of the relationship, and its firm belief that the credit rating exercise no longer reflects a good understanding of the Bank’s Establishment Agreement, its mission and its mandate.

The bank maintained that it’s business profile remains robust, underpinned by strong shareholder relationships and the legal protections embedded in its Establishment Agreement, signed and ratified by its member states.

Reuters, in an additional report , said that Afreximbank has been in a battle over whether it must take losses on loans to debt-defaulted countries, including Ghana and Zambia, which turns on whether it enjoys so-called “preferred creditor status”.

Fitch cut Afreximbank’s credit rating to one notch above “junk” status last year, citing high credit risks and weak risk-management policies, and put it on a “negative outlook” – rating agency terminology for another downgrade warning.

It has also said that any ‌weakening of preferred creditor status at institutions like Afreximbank “could lead to negative rating action.”