Business

SEC to Licence Crypto Exchanges as FIRS Seeks Regulation

Published

9 months ago

August 20, 2024

The Abuja-based Securities and Exchange Commission is looking to issue its first licenses for digital service and tokenized assets this month, Director-General Emomotimi Agama said.

“Being a crypto enthusiast and fintech enthusiast, I can tell you without doubt that this is going to happen sooner than you think,” Agama said in an interview on Bloomberg Television.

“We must support the youths of this country to be able to achieve the benefit that is accruable in fintech.

The market size is huge and it is growing. The figure is just “the tip of the iceberg’ considering many transactions are not reported, Agama said.

He said that the SEC wants “to provide a platform where people can formerly do these things and we can get all of the information that we need.

“What we will not encourage is the use of cryptocurrency to manipulate our currency,” Agama said.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji, said that an Executive Bill which seeks to overhaul revenue administration in Nigeria, including regulation of the cryptocurrency industry, is being put together for transmission to the National Assembly.

Adedeji, during a stakeholders’ engagement with a joint committee of the National Assembly on Finance, said: “We cannot run away from the cryptocurrency ecosystem because it is the in-thing.

But as it stands in Nigeria today, no law regulates cryptocurrency operations. We need a law that regulates that area of our economy.

This is why we are having this engagement with the legislators. We will regulate it in a way that is not injurious to the economic development of Nigeria.

“Bloomberg commented that the start of regulation will align Nigeria with other jurisdictions, including the European Union, South Africa and Botswana, which have taken steps to govern the asset class.

Regulators across the globe are seeking better ways to rein in crypto following a 2022 crash in prices that led to a slew of bankruptcies, scandals and billions in investor losses.

Nigerian authorities banned banks from supporting crypto transactions due to concerns that traders on digital-currency platforms are manipulating the exchange rate for the naira, which has depreciated about 70% against the dollar since June last year.

The government in February blocked access to the world’s biggest crypto exchange operated by Binance Holdings Ltd. and later prosecuted its executives over allegations of illicit flows and speculation on the naira, which it said deprived the nation of tax revenue and weakened the local currency.

The crackdown on Binance hasn’t deterred young, tech-savvy Nigerians, who have moved to the Bitkoin Africa Inc. and Quidax platforms for their Bitcoin transactions, Agama said in June.

The volume of crypto transactions in the country climbed 9% to $56.7 billion in June 2023 from a year earlier, Chainalysis said in a report.

Business

Lagos Marks 39 Building in Lekki Axis for Demolition

Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, explained that government swung into action following a series of petitions on encroachment of the Ikota River.

Published

13 hours ago

May 12, 2025

OhiBaba

Lagos State government has marked no fewer than 39 buildings located in two highbrow estates for demolition for building on the Right of Way, RoW, of Ikota River, at Eti-Osa Local Government Area. Ikota is part of the Maroko Okun Alfa Ward in the Lekki axis.

This is coming as the state government issued indefinite quit notices to affected occupants to enable them move their properties and families before the demolition exercise commences.

The affected buildings, located at Oral Extension Estate, Westend and Megamound Estate, Eti-Osa, LGA, include 20 buildings to be totally removed, eight marked for partial removal, while 13 buildings are to go down at Westend Estate.

Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, explained that government swung into action following a series of petitions on encroachment of the Ikota River.

Wahab said: “We had several complaints. We have been on this for a while now, and we found out at the ministry level that while we are engaging to find a win-win solution that will mitigate the negative impact on the environment and they don’t affect the people so much. Some developments were also going on to further push back the RoW, and the alignment of the Ikota River.

Business

Senate Constitutes Abdullahi Yahaya Tax Harmonisation Committee

Altogether, the four Tax Reform bills were Executive Bills transmitted by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the two chambers of the National Assembly in November last year.

Published

3 days ago

May 9, 2025

OhiBaba

The Senate on Thursday constituted a committee saddled with the responsibility of harmonizing its amendments to the tax reform bills with the House of Representatives version for final transmission to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced this during plenary after the passage of the bills.

Akpabio named senator Abdullahi Yahaya (Kebbi North) as chairman of the committee.

The members of the committee as announced by the Senate President are Senate Minority Leader, Abba Moro (PDP, Benue South), Chief Whip, Tahir Mongumo (APC, Borno North), Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia South), Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara), and Solomon Adeola (APC, Ogun West).

Earlier, the remaining two Tax Reform Bills — the Nigeria Tax Bill 2025 and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill, 2025.

This was in addition to passage of the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, 2025, and the Nigerian Tax Administration Bill, 2025.

Altogether, the four Tax Reform bills were Executive Bills transmitted by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the two chambers of the National Assembly in November last year.

The passage of the bills was sequel to the consideration and adoption of a report of the Senate Committee on Finance presented by its Chairman, Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East).

Business

Meta’s Exit to Throw 20 million Nigerian MSMEs Out of Business

The Global System for Mobile Communications Association reported that Nigerian MSMEs rely heavily on Facebook and Instagram for sales, customer engagement, and brand visibility.

Published

3 days ago

May 9, 2025

OhiBaba

A Digital Marketing Consultant at EssenceMediacom, Olayinka Shobola, believes that a shutdown of Facebook and Instagram operations in Nigeria would deal a serious blow to Nigeria’s digital economy, especially millions of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The Global System for Mobile Communications Association reported that Nigerian MSMEs rely heavily on Facebook and Instagram for sales, customer engagement, and brand visibility.

“Meta Platforms’ threat to halt operations in Nigeria could devastate 56 percent of the nation’s 39.6 players in the information technology space,” Shobola said, stressing that such an exit would erode tax revenues and force businesses to seek costly alternatives, as a $290 million fine dispute with regulators intensifies.

“Businesses that built their brands on Meta’s platforms would face immediate challenges.

The platforms have become essential tools for business survival and growth in Africa’s largest economy, where SMEs contribute nearly 50 per cent to GDP and represent more than 96 per cent of registered businesses.

“Most likely affected businesses will pivot to platforms like X or TikTok for short-term survival, but long-term, they’ll need to invest in standalone e-commerce or offline channels,” Shobola said.

“Jobs will take a hit; marketers, influencers, and agencies will lose contracts overnight.”

Statista forecasts a $148.2m social media ad market in 2025, with Facebook commanding up to $120m, driven by 38 million ad-reachable users.“My shop practically lives on these platforms, especially Instagram,” Lagos-based baker Fatima Tunde said. “If it’s gone, I’m out of business.”