News
UK Confirms 3,000-pound Bond for Nigerians, Other ‘High-Risk’ Visitors
Britain’s Home Office confirmed Monday it will demand a 3,000-pound ($4,630) refundable bond for visas for “high-risk” visitors from six former colonies in Africa and Asia — a pilot scheme that has brought warnings at home and abroad that it will damage trade.
Britain said in a statement Monday that it will go ahead with the pilot scheme despite the outrage, charges of discrimination and warnings of retaliation.
The statement sent by email did not say when the pilot programme would start. But it said it could apply the scheme in the future for all visas and any country.
“The pilot will apply to visitor visas, but if the scheme is successful we’d like to be able to apply it on an intelligence-led basis on any visa route and any country,” it said.
The Associated Press reported that for now, the targeted countries are Nigeria, Ghana, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Government data shows citizens of those countries applied for more than half a million visas to Britain last year.
Khaled Mahmud, owner of a Bangladeshi travel agency in Dhaka that deals with British student visas, charged the scheme was racist. “It smacks of a deep-rooted racial attitude,” he told The Associated Press on Monday.
In the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, computer businessman Syed Shahid Ali said the “painful and unbearable” new policy would have a negative impact on British tourism and business.
“How can someone who wants to visit the U.K. for a couple of days for business meetings or something else afford to set aside 3,000 pounds” said Ali, who travels there frequently. “He will simply prefer to go and do business elsewhere in Europe instead of getting into this problem of giving a bond and getting reimbursed.”
Haider Abbas Rizvi, a former Pakistani lawmaker, said the British government should review its decision because it would hurt a lot of Pakistanis who have family members living in Britain and who cannot afford the bond.
“There are just a few people who deviate from the system or break the law, so instead of bringing common travelers and law-abiding people under the possible financial burden, there should be strict surveillance on the violators of law in the U.K. or elsewhere,” Rizvi told the AP.
Nigeria’s government made a formal demand last month that Britain renounce the proposal.
Olugbenga Ashiru, foreign affairs minister called in the British high commissioner to express “the strong displeasure of the government and people of Nigeria” over the “discriminatory” policy.
Ashiru warned the move would “definitely negate” the two country’s commitment to double trade by 2014.
Figures from Nigeria’s Ministry of Trade and Commerce show trade between the two countries increased nearly five-fold from $2.35 billion in 2010 to $11.57 billion last year, with the value of Nigerian imports of British goods doubling in that time.
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation and a huge market with its more than 160 million people.
There was such an outcry in Nigeria when the scheme first was mooted last month that British High Commissioner Andrew Pocock put out a statement assuring that the pilot scheme would not affect most Nigerians.
“The vast majority would not be required to pay a bond,” Pocock said. He added that more than 180,000 Nigerians apply to visit Britain each year and about 70 percent — around 126,000 — get visas.
There were protests in India last month when British Prime Minister David Cameron visited, causing him to declare that a final decision had not been taken on the policy.
The Home Office said it hopes the bond system deters overstaying of visas and recovers costs of foreign nationals using public services like hospitals and schools.
Immigration was a key issue in Cameron’s election campaign for his Conservative Party. Cameron has pledged to cut net immigration from 252,000 a year in 2010 to 100,000 a year by 2015.
One move that has come under heavy criticism recently has been a government campaign targeting people who overstay their visas. Billboards were put on two vans for a week in six of London’s boroughs. Their message said: “In the UK illegally? Go home or face arrest.” Leaflets with the same message will be distributed for a month.
The Home Office statement said the visa bond “is the next step in making sure our immigration system is more selective, bringing down net migration from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands while still welcoming the brightest and the best to Britain.”
Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) has launched the NGX Net-Zero Programme to guide listed companies toward clear carbon reduction pathways and enhanced climate disclosures aligned with global investor standards.
NGX
The high-level launch engaged chief executives of quoted firms alongside development partners including German Investment Corporation KfW, DEG, and African Foresight Group (AFG), NGX’s implementation partner. Issuers and investors discussed financing decarbonisation, sustainability practices, and attracting climate-aligned capital.
NGX Group Chairman Dr Umaru Kwairanga described the initiative as concrete climate action, commending partners for two years of groundwork. “Today marks leadership and decisive action. Climate change has become a core business imperative, with capital markets mobilising capital and setting standards,” Kwairanga said.
He positioned NGX Net-Zero to support emissions measurement, disclosure, capacity building, and sustainable finance access, urging CEOs to embrace it strategically rather than as compliance. Kwairanga reaffirmed NGX’s goal to make Nigeria’s capital market Africa’s green finance hub.
Group CEO Temi Popoola called climate action a business imperative, noting sustainability-embedded firms attract capital, manage risks, and stay competitive. DEG Management Board Member Monika Beck highlighted partnerships scaling impactful, commercially viable climate solutions.
The event closed with a ceremonial gong marking the programme launch and send-off for outgoing DEG Regional Director Bernd Telemann.
Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) has hailed Nigeria’s removal from the European Union’s list of high-risk third countries for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) as a landmark achievement endorsing the nation’s reform efforts.
Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU)
NFIU CEO Hafsat Abubakar Bakari said the delisting, contained in European Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) C (2025) 8460 adopted December 4, 2025 and effective January 29, 2026, affirms sustained AML/CFT and Counter Proliferation Financing (CPF) reforms.
The move follows Nigeria’s exit from the FATF Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring after addressing strategic deficiencies, alongside Burkina Faso, Mali, Mozambique, South Africa and Tanzania.
Bakari noted the European Commission recognised Nigeria’s strengthened AML/CFT effectiveness, closed technical gaps, and fulfilled FATF Action Plan commitments leading to grey list removal in June and October 2025.
The delisting eliminates enhanced due diligence requirements for EU financial transactions, easing compliance, boosting cross-border flows, and enhancing Nigeria’s appeal for European trade, investment and partnerships.
The NFIU attributed success to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s political will and collaboration among National Assembly, law enforcement, regulators, judiciary, private sector and development partners.
The agency reaffirmed commitment to ongoing FATF, GIABA, EU engagement and domestic framework resilience to maintain international confidence in Nigeria’s financial system.
The Federal Government has directed all banks and fintechs to collect and remit 7.5 per cent value-added tax on certain electronic banking services, effective Monday, January 19, 2026, according to an email notice issued by payment platforms.
The VAT will apply to electronic banking charges, including mobile money transfers, USSD transaction fees, and card issuance fees, according to an email notice on Wednesday shared with customers by Moniepoint.
For example, if a bank charges N100 to make a transfer, the 7.5 per cent VAT will be applied to that service fee, not the money being sent.
“From Monday, January 19, 2026, we are required to collect a 7.5 per cent VAT, to be remitted to the Nigerian Revenue Service (formerly known as the Federal Inland Revenue Service).
“VAT will apply to certain banking services that include electronic banking charges such as mobile banking fees (transfers), USSD transaction fees, and card issuance fees,” the email read.
Other operators are expected to issue similar notices to their customers in the coming days. Services that will remain exempt include interest earned on deposits and savings, meaning customers will not pay tax on the returns from their accounts.
The NRS, formerly known as the Federal Inland Revenue Service, has set the deadline to ensure that all commercial banks, microfinance banks, and electronic money operators comply with the collection and remittance requirement.
Moniepoint stressed that this is not a price increase but a statutory obligation. “Moniepoint is required to collect and remit VAT to the Nigerian Revenue Service,” the company said in a statement.
The move is part of the government’s broader efforts to standardise VAT collection on digital financial services and expand revenue generation amid Nigeria’s growing digital economy. VAT on banking transactions is not entirely new; the NRS is now enforcing uniform collection rules across all platforms, ensuring compliance across the sector.
Customers have been assured that the new tax will be clearly itemised, with the VAT shown separately on transaction statements and reports.
In December, several commercial banks informed customers that the N50 stamp duty would be deducted on electronic transfers of N10,000 and above, following the commencement of provisions of the new Tax Act.
The charge, previously known as the EMTL, has now been formally reclassified as stamp duty and will be applied as a one-off fee on qualifying electronic transfers.
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