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Nigeria’s Apex Bank To Introduce USSD Code To Improve eNaira

By
Elizabeth Williams
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The Central Bank of Nigeria plans to introduce the Unstructured Supplementary (USSD) code as part of steps to improve the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

This was disclosed by the Deputy Governor of the CBN, Kingsley Obiora, at the IMF African Department Speakers Series held virtually on Friday.

Obiora said that Nigeria was doing well based on a PwC report which showed that Nigeria was number one in terms of adoption, adding that the CBN would keep growing and improving on the system.

He added that the introduction of the USSD code became necessary to improve financial inclusion in the country and to ensure people without smartphones could still transact on the eNaira platform.

He said “We have made serious progress in the last seven to eight years because when the current governor resumed in 2014, one of the pillars of his vision was to significantly improve financial inclusion. So at the time, we were at 48 per cent of our population within the financial system and given several policies that he conceived and implemented, we are almost at 70 per cent.” That still leaves us with about 30 per cent of our population out of the financial system and we believe the CBDC can help reduce that number even more. A lot of people might not have smartphones but that is essentially the next step of our improvement in the CBDC, to introduce the USSD code, so those that do not have smartphones can still transact.”

The CBN deputy governor said that the barrier to entry on the CBDC platform was low, which made it possible for everyone with a Bank Verification Number (BVN) to be on boarded into the eNaira platform in a few minutes.

Obiora stated that the USSD code was introduced to increase financial inclusion in the country and to ensure that those without cellphones could still interact on the eNaira platform.

He stated that the CBDC would provide enormous benefits to Nigeria, which is why the CBN opted to implement it

Obiora cited the benefits as rapid financial inclusion, lower cash processing costs, direct welfare payments to citizens, and a reduction in the informal sector.

Others include increasing tax collection, increasing cross-border trade and remittances, lowering payment costs and enhancing payment efficiency, and simply encouraging economic growth in general.

He did, however, mention some of the primary dangers of establishing the CBDC, which include banking sector disintermediation, operational risks associated with knowing that there is continuous service, cyber security concerns, internet outages, and financial literacy.

Africa’s first digital currency, eNaira, has been ranked No 1 global retail CBDC, and app downloads have jumped to 756,000 from 700,000 seen in December 2021.

Money Laundering: ICPC Signs MoU With INTERPOL To Access Database

By
Elizabeth Williams
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Nigeria’s Anti-graft Agency, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), will be granted access to the database of the International Police (Interpol) which will be utilised in profiling Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), money laundering and suspects of illicit financial flows.

The Chairman of the ICPC, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, disclosed this in Lyon, France, at the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the international police and the ICPC, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC and other law enforcement agencies in Nigeria.

The Nigerian delegation to Interpol was made up of top officials of the National Central Bureau Abuja (NCBA), Nigeria Police, Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Person (NAPTIP) and the ICPC.

Under the MoU signed with the Interpol, the Nigerian law enforcement agencies will have unrestricted access to global criminal databases.

At the meeting, the ICPC boss discussed how the anti-corruption agency and Nigeria could take advantage of the Interpol database in profiling suspects.

“The Commission will develop the habit of issuing notices especially on high profile suspects. Such notices will be seen globally on PEPs in particular,” Prof. Owasanoye said.

The ICPC Chairman also disclosed that the Commission would join the Global Focal Point Network coordinated by Interpol as part of measures to tighten the noose around corrupt and criminal persons.

The Interpol is expected to support the law enforcement agencies in Nigeria through strengthening of information sharing, utilisation of the organisation’s database of global suspects, and prevention of incursion and influx of migrant terrorist fighters into Nigeria.

The Interpol briefed the Nigerian delegation on Operation Gemini, a special project focusing on trans-border organised crime involving migration, human trafficking, drug trafficking corruption and financial crimes.

The international police also held special sessions with the delegation which were devoted to international and regional cooperation in law enforcement, operational methods of interpol and strategies for data and informational sharing, Interpol policing capabilities, role of National Central Bureau (NCB) in Nigeria, and Nigeria Border Management strategies, integration of Nigeria Law Enforcement Databases with Interpol NCB.

It is expected that this fresh collaboration will boost the capacity of law enforcement agencies in Nigeria to fulfill their mandates.

Rising Gas Prices Threaten Adoption of Clean Energy in Rwandan Schools

By
Elizabeth Williams
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The Rwanda Ministry of Education has revealed, the use of gas for cooking in schools is being constrained by its increasing prices, which is making it difficult to adopt use of this clean energy.

Some school head teachers who spoke to The New Times also expressed concern that though the use of cooking gas has advantages, including hygiene in the kitchen and ease of work, its cost is prohibitive.

Currently a 12-kilogramme cooking gas cylinder costs at least Rwf18, 500, an increase of about a half, compared to Rwf12, 600 in 2020.

“During the construction of kitchens [in line with expanding school feeding programme last year], cooking gas use was piloted in 30 schools, but as you all know, the price [of gas] increased these days,” Education Minister, Valentine Uwamariya told lawmakers during budget hearing last week, while responding to their proposal to use gas with aim to cut firewood consumption in schools.

Pascal Sindahabo, head teacher at G.S. Ndera, located in Gasabo District, Kigali, told The New Times that the school was still using firewood to cook for its 2,856 pupils and students from nursery to secondary, indicating that the high cost of gas hindered its plans to adopt this clean cooking fuel.

He indicated that the estimates the school made last year, even before the gas prices shot up, suggested that it would be spending twice as much on cooking if it used gas compared to firewood.

“We spend Rwf600, 000 on firewood for cooking per term (three months), and that cost would rise to Rwf1.2 million if we switched to cooking gas,” he said, underscoring that firewood consumption was bad for the environment and hygiene.

Movie Director, Akinmolayan Wants Marketing Firms To Take On Nollywood Films

By
Koko Lawrence
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Niyi Akinmolayan, Nigerian filmmaker, director and media consultant best known for directing the highest-grossing Nigerian film of all time, The Wedding Party 2, which starred Banky Wellington, Adesua Etomi and Enyinna Nwigwe has called on filmmakers to incorporate Nollywood films into business.
The Filmmaker who took to social media on Saturday lamented the lack of movie marketing firms in Nollywood.

He lamented that in 2022, Nollywood is 40% of the Nigerian box office yet the country does not have any marketing outfit dedicated to films.
He tweeted, “It’s 2022. Nollywood is 40% of the Nigerian box office. Yet we don’t have any marketing outfit dedicated to films.

“You have to study the industry well as films aren’t commodities like food. Lots of emotionally charged marketing. Audiences are crazy.
“The film distributors aren’t well equipped for this. But this is also an opportunity for a startup. How can you best position a film to be exciting for the audience?

“It’s true a good film will get help via word of mouth but a good film might lose its opening weekend opportunity cos no one knew it existed. Think about these things.
“I’m willing to work with a marketing company who takes on this challenge for my future films.

“I really just want to make films…and even though I’m really good at getting everyone excited about seeing my film, it takes too much time and energy I could be using for other stuff.”

India Resolute On Protecting Farmers, Fisherfolk Interests At WTO 12th Ministerial Conference

By
Elizabeth Williams
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The 12th WTO Ministerial Conference begins Sunday in Geneva, after a gap of almost five years. The position of India, which will be represented by a delegation led by Union Minister Piyush Goyal, on three key areas — agriculture , fisheries, and e-commerce, is very clear, and focused on protecting small farmers and fisherfolk, and the country’s interests, three people familiar with matter said ahead of the 12th ministerial of WTO.

India will push for a new method to calculate food subsidies for a permanent solution to its public grain stockpiling programme, one of the prickliest issues at the ministerial conference starting June 12 in Geneva.

According to current WTO rules, a member country’s food subsidy is capped at a ceiling of 10% of the value of production based on 1986-88 prices. India will propose amendments in the formula to calculate the food subsidy limit with support from G33, which, despite its name, is a grouping of 48 nations.

Last year, India invoked a so-called peace clause it enjoys (for third time in case of rice) at the WTO for exceeding the 10% ceiling on the subsidy it offers to its farmers, critical for the country’s food security.

India’s stand has been that public stockpiling is critical for its food security and total subsidies given by the US and EU far exceed those offered by India, based on India’s updated calculations.

One of the proposals India is likely to advance is to recommend a re-calibration of the “external reference price”, adjusting it for current global inflation rates, to arrive at the minimum support price ceiling of 10% of the total value of crop production.

Another critical stand of India will be to include all subsidized food programmes introduced after 2013, which are currently not recognized by the WTO, as well as food aid given under the World Food Programme.

“India’s proposal is to update the outdated 1986-88 external reference price and base it on current global prices,” a government official said, asking not to be named.

Further, India will push for subsidy calculations to be based on “actual procurement and not all eligible production”, the official said. This shift will benefit all developing countries who have public stock-holding programmes. “Our proposal is to calculate subsidies with a more relevant method that is fair to all countries.”

According to the existing method of calculations, India has told the WTO that the value of rice subsidies in 2019-20 was $6.31 billion, which is 13.7% of its value of rice production in that year, which stood at $46.07 billion.

ASUU Industrial Action: Nigerian Students Bemoan Lingering Strike

By
Precious Obazee
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Some students of Nigerian public universities have expressed frustration over the lingering strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Some of the students in an interview with newsmen in Port Harcourt appealed to the Federal Government to meet at least 50 per cent of ASUU demands to end the strike.

Greatness Nnamdi-Ikpo, a third year student of the University of Port Harcourt, who is studying gas engineering, said that the ongoing strike was impacting negatively on the future plans of Nigerian students.

He said although he enrolled for a five-year programme in 2017, he was still in the first semester of the third year because of ASUU constant strike and the pandemic lockdown measures put in place in the country.

He said “I am appealing to the Federal Government to put in some efforts to meet the demands of ASUU, at least 50 per cent and this will also make the lecturers not to depend on students for their upkeep.”

Similarly, Gift Nwafor, a student of the University of Calabar who studying education psychology, said that the ongoing strike had frustrated and setback her studies.

Nwafor expressed displeasure at the ongoing strike, saying that the action was leading some students into crime.

ASUU Chairman at the Abia State University, Victor Nkemdirim, attributed the strike to the non-revitalisation of public universities in the country.

Nkemdirim told newsmen that ASUU was fighting for the revitalisation of the institutions.

He said since 2009 the government has been unable to implement its agreements with ASUU.

He added that government had always reneged on the Memorandum of Understanding and the Memorandum of Action it signed with the lecturers.

He stated that since the founding of some public universities, government`s presence there had been minimal, except for projects embarked on by the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) which came about as a result of ASUU agitations.

Nkemdirim said if not for the Union’s continued struggles, most of the states and federal universities would have gone under by now.

He also recalled that ASUU had continued to oppose the Integrated Pay Roll and Personal Information System(IPPIS) , a foreign-based platform, which he said the Federal Government was servicing yearly with N7 billion.

He further explained that “This (IPPIS) platform contravenes the university autonomy which means that the council of the universities do not have the right to employ or dismiss staff.

“ASUU was asked to develop a platform that is congenial to the university system and it came up with University Transability and Accountability Solution (UTAS) which in all tests, including integrity test, scored 99.7 per cent pass mark.”

Tenants Grapple With Rent Hikes Amid Inflationary Pressures

By
Elizabeth Williams
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At a time when rising gasoline and food prices in the United states are already straining Americans’ budgets, many apartment tenants are grappling with soaring rents.

The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metropolitan area in Florida saw overall median rent soar over 50% in April from a year ago, to $3,045 a month, according to Realtor.com.

The next biggest increase? The central Florida metropolitan area made up of Orlando, Kissimmee and Sanford, where the median rent jumped 32.9% from April last year to $1,927, the firm said.

Nationally the median rent climbed to $1,827, an increase of about 17% versus the same month last year, according to Realtor.com, which tracks rental listings in the 50 biggest U.S. metropolitan areas.

“The fact that rents are rising much higher than we’ve seen historically is a reflection of the unique time that we’re in, where the economy is adjusting to a couple of extraordinary years and shifts in preferences,” said Danielle Hale, Realtor.com’s chief economist.

National median rent has set new all-time highs for 14 months in a row. At the current pace of increases, it could hit $2,000 by August, Hale said. Rents as measured by the U.S. consumer price index haven’t risen this fast since May 1991.

In a recent survey of renters and landlords by Realtor.com more than 66% of tenants said higher rents were the biggest strain on their finances, while about 76% noted they’re unable to save as much money every month as they did a year ago.

Tenants are likely to see further rent hikes this year. About 72% of the landlords surveyed said they were planning to increase rents within 12 months.

Landlords have the leverage to ask for higher rents because demand is strong. Years of rising home prices and the recent surge in mortgage rates have left many would-be homebuyers with little choice but to keep renting.

Developers are responding by ramping up apartment construction to the fastest pace in decades.

Newly started construction of apartment buildings climbed to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 612,000 units in April, according to the Commerce Department. That’s up 42.3% from a year earlier and the fastest seasonally adjusted annual rate since April 1986.

That additional supply should help eventually, but it can take months or years for projects to hit the market, especially given supply chain and labor constraints that have delayed all manner of construction during the pandemic.

While the national homeownership rate is around 65%, there are more renters than homeowners in many large metropolitan areas, such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, Hale said.

And the burden of sharp rent increases tends to fall mostly on a segment of the population that tends to be younger and less financially flexible.

Ecuador Still In World Cup As FIFA Rejects Chile Complaint

By
Koko Lawrence
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Ecuador kept their place in the Qatar World Cup after football governing body FIFA on Friday closed an inquiry sought by non-qualifying Chile into the eligibility of a key player.

The FIFA disciplinary committee said in a statement it had decided to “close the proceedings” against the Ecuador Football Federation (FEF) after Chile disputed the nationality of full-back Byron Castillo.
If Chile had been successful, they would have leapfrogged Ecuador into direct World Cup qualification.

The Chilean football federation (FFCh) said it would appeal the decision all the way to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if need be.
“The eloquent and substantiated evidence we showed was not enough. Surprisingly the ruling was not in our favour,” FFCh president Pablo Milad told reporters in Santiago.
“We are 1-0 down, but there is still the second half.”
The FFCh last month lodged a complaint with FIFA against Ecuador over what it claimed was the “use of a fake birth certificate, false declaration of age and false nationality” in the case of Castillo.
It claims to have evidence that the player is actually Colombian.

Under FIFA rules, a player cannot represent a country of which they do not hold nationality.
Castillo, 23, played in both Ecuador’s World Cup qualifying matches against Chile: a 2-0 victory in Quito in September 2021 and a 0-0 draw in November.
Chile finished seventh in the single South American World Cup qualification table, seven points behind Ecuador in the fourth and final automatic berth for Qatar.
FEF president Francisco Egas said Chile’s allegations had “hurt us a lot” and did not rule out legal action.
“This is a subject to be analyzed by our lawyers,” he told reporters.
Ecuador is in Group A with Qatar, the Netherlands and Senegal at the World Cup finals later this year.

WTO Chief Predicts ‘Bumpy’ Road As Ministers Work To Reach Global Agenda Policy Deals

By
Elizabeth Williams
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The Director-General World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, predicted a “bumpy and rocky” road as the trade body opened its highest-level meeting in 4-1/2 years Sunday, with issues like pandemic preparedness, food insecurity against the backdrop of Russia’s war in Ukraine and overfishing of the world’s seas on the agenda.

At a time when some experts question WTO’s future and relevance, head of the World Trade Organization hopes the meeting involving more than 120 ministers from the organization’s 164 member countries yields progress toward reducing inequality and ensuring fair and free trade.

Okonjo-Iweala acknowledged the Geneva-based trade body needs reform,

“The road will be bumpy and rocky. There may be a few landmines on the way,” Okonjo-Iweala told reporters Sunday before the opening of the four-day meeting. “We’ll have to navigate those landmines and see how we can successfully land one or two deliverables.”

The WTO chief insisted that trade has lifted 1 billion people out of poverty, but poorer countries – and poor people in richer ones – are often left behind.

She pointed to the food emergency caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, where blockaded ports have impeded exports of between 22 million to 25 million tons of grain from a key European breadbasket.

Ministers at the meeting will consider whether to commit to lifting or easing export restrictions on food to help alleviate pressures on countries facing a shortage of wheat, fertilizer and other products because of the war. They also will decide whether to support the U.N.’s World Food Program get supplies to feed needy countries around the world.

Okonjo-Iweala hopes the member nations, which make decisions by consensus, also can strike an agreement about whether to temporarily waive WTO’s protections of intellectual property on COVID-19 vaccines.

Supporters say the move would give developing countries better vaccine access without harming protections and incentives for innovators. The topic has generated months of contentious negotiations.

The World Trade Organization, created in 1995 as a successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, has seen a slow unraveling — not least because U.S. objections have largely hamstrung its dispute-resolution system. The objections center on how the system is structured.

Ekiti Gubernatorial Election: IGP Deploys Adequate Personnel, Operational Assets

By
Koko Lawrence
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0

Police authorities say the Inspector General, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, has ordered the mobilization and deployment of adequate police personnel, Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), and technical capabilities of the Police Airwing, for the Ekiti State Gubernatorial Elections slated for the 18th of June, 2022.

Also deployed by the IGP are the Force Marine, Mounted Troops, K-9 Section, and other operational assets.
“The deployment would see selected seasoned Strategic Commanders from the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police and above for effective supervision of security personnel and operations in the Election,” the authorities say.

Force spokesman, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi in a statement on Sunday said the IGP also deployed Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), DIG Johnson Babatunde Kokumo, to Ekiti.
DIG Kokumo who doubles as supervisory DIG for the South-West Geo-Political Zone is to coordinate security components for the Election.
DIG Kokumo would be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Operation Order evolved from the Election Security Threat Assessment, to ensure a peaceful and conducive environment devoid of violence and to guarantee law abiding citizens are secured freely to perform their civic responsibilities without molestation or intimidation.

He will be assisted by four (4) Assistant Inspectors-General of Police (AIGs), three (3) Commissioners of Police (CPs), five (5) Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) and eighteen (18) Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACPs).

The senior officers are to coordinate human and other operational deployments in the three (3) Senatorial Districts, sixteen (16) Local Government Areas and the 2445 polling units in Ekiti State.

IGP Usman Alkali Baba noted that the Force has carried out these necessary operational deployments as part of actions aimed at creating a conducive and enabling environment that will guarantee the peaceful and proper conduct of the election in Ekiti State.

The police boss further noted that the personnel, comprising conventional police officers, Police Mobile Force (PMF), Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU), Special Forces personnel, Explosives Ordinance Unit (EOD), Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB), INTERPOL, Special Protection Unit (SPU), Force Public Relations Department (FPRD), as well as Police Medical Teams, will be on ground to guarantee free, fair, credible and acceptable election.
In addition, five (5) Armored Personnel Carriers for patrol as well as four (4) helicopters and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for aerial surveillance amongst other unique operational capabilities.

IGP Alkali Baba reassured the nation and the international community that the Force is adequately prepared for the Gubernatorial Election in Ekiti State which is scheduled to hold on June 18, 2022.

He reiterated that the Force will do everything within its powers to work with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and all stakeholders to protect democratic values, provide level playing field for all political actors, ensure adequate protection of voters, INEC officials, equipment, accredited observers, both domestic and international, and other key players in Ekiti State.
The police chief admonished the people of Ekiti State to be law-abiding and comply with the restriction of movement order which will be announced by the Commissioner of Police as at when due.
He equally called on the citizens to come out en-masse and exercise their franchise as adequate security has been emplaced by the police and other security agencies to protect them before, during and after the election.

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