Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reportedly sacked about 300 staff members amongst them 14 directors.

The layoff of the staff brings the list of those so far disengaged from the bank under Olayemi Cardoso, governor, to over 500.

Another 200 have also been shortlisted for sack.

The affected directors according findings are Clement Oluranti Buari, Director, Strategy Management; Dr Blaise Ijebor, Director, Risk Management; Lydia Ifeanyichukwu Alfa, Director, Internal Audit; Jimoh Musa Itopa, Director, Capacity Development; Muhammad Abba, Director, Human Resources; Rabiu Musa, Director, Finance; Dr Mahmud Hassan, Director, Trade & Exchange; Dr Ozoemena S. Nnaji, , Director, Statistics; Dr Omolara Duke, Director, Financial Markets.

Others are Chibuike D. Nwaegerue, Director, Other Financial Institutions Supervision; Chibuzo A. Efobi, Director, Payments System Management; Haruna Bala Mustafa, Director, Financial Policy and Regulation; Rakiya Shuaibu Mohammed, Director, Information Technology and Benjamin Nnadi, Director, Reserve Management.

Hakama Sidi Ali, director of Corporate Communication, is yet to speak on the fresh sack as of Saturday morning.

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has made a clarification on the reported revocation of licenses of Bureau De Change (BDCs).

It was reported earlier that in the updated regulatory guidelines for BDC operations in Nigeria, the mandatory caution deposit of N200m for tier-1 BDC licence holders has been removed. Similarly, N50m for tier-2 licence holders has also been removed.

The non-refundable annual licence renewal fee has been withdrawn. Previously, tier-1 BDCs paid N5m, while tier-2 BDCs paid N1m for renewal.

The new guidelines introduce two categories of BDCs, Tier 1 and Tier 2, with minimum capital requirements of N2 billion and N500 million respectively. Furthermore, the bank set the application fee for Tier-1 license at N1 million and that of Tier-2 at N250 thousand. The licensing fees for Tier-1 and Tier-2 BDCs were set at N5 million and N2 million respectively.

Among other things, the new guidelines limited the foreign currency holdings of BDCs (Net Open Position, NOP) to 30 per cent of shareholders’ funds unimpaired by losses. It also limited total borrowing to 50 per cent of shareholders’ funds unimpaired by losses.

The apex bank also asked BDCS to meet the requirements of the Tier of license they are applying for within the next six months.

Making a clarification on this, the apex bank said the tier-based classification of Bureau De Change (BDCs) followed an earlier exposure draft circulated for public input earlier this year, which the Bank has now incorporated and posted on its website on Wednesday, May 22, 2024.

Hakama Sidi Ali, acting director of the corporate communications department, who spoke to reporters in Abuja on Thursday, May 23, 2024, said the new guidelines include two tiers of licencing.

She reiterated the Bank’s invitation to interested parties to apply for BDC licences, provided they meet the new guidelines, effective June 3, 2024, while existing BDCs will have a six-month grace period to meet the new requirements.

Sidi Ali also said the CBN remains committed to repositioning the BDC sub-sector to play its envisioned role in the foreign exchange market in Nigeria.

Mastercard and Payment24 are extending their engagement across Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (EEMEA) to help bolster security and drive innovation within the fleet and fuel payment industry across the region.

The EMV standard, now being implemented in over 80 markets, has dramatically reduced the incidence of counterfeit card fraud associated with magnetic strip cards, saving hundreds of millions in potential losses.

This partnership not only drives innovation in the fleet and fuel payments sector, but also aims to speed up the transition to the secure EMV standard and help fleet operators reduce the risk of fraud associated with magnetic strip fleet cards.

This expanded collaboration extends the geographical reach of a proven solution and delivers modern fleet and fuel payment solutions to banks and fleet card issuers throughout the region. While drivers benefit from a quick, secure, and seamless way to make payments, fleet operators can now monitor driver spending in real-time, set expense limits, and minimize the need for cash.

“By combining Mastercard’s leading payment technology with Payment24’s innovative and proven fuel payments platform, we deliver a solution for the region that enhances security and adds significant value and convenience for customers,” said Clyde Rosanowski, Senior Vice President of Commercial Solutions, EEMEA at Mastercard.

Through the partnership, customers will be able to take advantage of an end-to-end Fleet Management solution to help them rapidly deploy and scale their own secure fleet and fuel payment offerings. The offering is designed to deliver a suite of EMV-based payment products and extends to a host of modern payment mechanisms, including tokenized tags, e-wallets and vouchers that are all native to the Payment24 platform.

“We are exceptionally proud of how our partnership with Mastercard has developed. The expansion of this alliance to EEMEA highlights the urgent need to get ahead of fraud in the fleet and fuel payments industry. We believe that our combined offering will help customers in the banking industry to better mitigate risks associated with legacy technologies while enhancing transparency and flexibility,” says Shadab Rahil, Joint CEO of Payment24.

“Our deep understanding and tailor-made fuel and fleet technologies go beyond providing secure EMV cards. We deliver mobile payments, windshield tags for identification, and real-time tracking of vehicles and fuel via telematics, all integrated within a dedicated vehicle and fleet management platform. This allows customers to monitor fuel expenses and consumption and actively detect and prevent potential fraud,” adds Nolan Daniel, Joint CEO at Payment24.

Customers across the region can now be rest assured that each transaction is protected by Mastercard’s multiple security layers, fraud prevention technologies, dispute processes and underpinned by Payment24’s technical knowledge and in-depth understanding of fuel payment technologies.