News
Afreximbank Targets $250bn Balance Sheet Growth in 10 years
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank)’s shareholders have set an ambitious target to grow the balance sheet of the bank to $250 billion within 10 years. George Elombi, president of Afreximbank said this in his inaugural speech in Cairo, Egypt, reaffirming his faith in Africa’s ability to achieve the goal.
He said, “When we consulted with leaders, including President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt, who is both a staunch supporter and a major shareholder, he challenged us to aim for $350 billion,” Elombi said. “That challenge is not about numbers; it is a call for greater impact.”
“Only a strong, well-capitalised institution can make the scale of investments required to transform Africa’s trade and development landscape,” he said. “As we invest in export processing zones, we will face critics who misunderstand our mission. Ignore them. Unless we process, nothing will change. To do that, Africa must have a strong financial institution. You have built one, and we will make it stronger,” he said.
He outlined his strategic priorities for the next five to ten years. The first, he said, is to promote value addition and strategic minerals processing. “We will no longer finance the export of Africa’s raw wealth,” he declared. “No more raw Nigerian bauxite, no more raw Cameroonian or South African manganese. We will focus on domestic processing.”
He emphasised that processing minerals locally would create jobs, boost foreign exchange earnings, and stimulate infrastructure development.
“We will establish a strategic minerals development program to finance entire value chains from extraction to refining and manufacturing finished goods,” he said, pledging to collaborate with the African Finance Corporation and the Trade and Development Bank in Nairobi to achieve this.
The second focus, he said, is to deepen intra-African trade and regional integration. “Our value addition agenda will succeed only if we secure markets for the goods we produce,” he explained.
He pledged to work with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat to dismantle trade barriers and foster the free movement of goods, services, capital, and people across Africa.
In a pointed message to governments, he said, “Fear not your own people. Africans fear African people more than they fear foreigners. Open your borders. Your people will do you no harm.”
Elombi’s third priority is to develop trade-enabling infrastructure. “We cannot have trade without infrastructure,” he said, emphasising the need for investments in roads, railways, ports, pipelines, energy, and logistics hubs.
He announced plans to create a shared, integrated infrastructure ecosystem for trade, leveraging existing assets across borders to reduce costs and boost connectivity. He also underscored the importance of embracing digital and technological innovation. “Africa must not be left behind,” he said, pledging investments in digital infrastructure, e-commerce platforms, payment systems, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
He hinted at exploring “a Pan-African digital currency” and called for mobilising global African capital to finance development.
Elombi stressed that mobilising global African resources and capital, whether held by diasporans, sovereign wealth funds, or private African businesses was essential for development.
“This is not just about finance; it is about ownership. It is about redefining the narrative of African development. It is time for Africa’s wealth, wherever it resides, to work for our own future,” he said.
Turning to the legacy of Afreximbank, Elombi said the institution, created 32 years ago, had achieved remarkable growth. “In just the last 10 years, total assets and guarantees grew more than eightfold to $43.5 billion,” he stated.
Total revenues, he said, rose sevenfold to $3.2 billion, while net income reached $1 billion at the end of 2024, representing a 700 percent increase over a decade.
The bank’s total capital rose from $1 billion in 2015 to $7.5 billion in 2024, with callable capital increasing from $450 million to $4.5 billion.
He also highlighted the creation of subsidiaries such as the Fund for Export Development in Africa, based in Rwanda, and others, which he said are becoming additional sources of revenue. Contrary to some critics, he argued, these subsidiaries are “not wasting funds” but rather “building the capital base needed for larger interventions.”
Elombi reaffirmed his commitment to preserve and deepen these achievements. “Our mission is to transform the structure of African trade,” he said. “Africa’s trade remains too dependent on commodity exports, and that must change. We must process, we must produce. Unless we produce, we will not trade among ourselves, and trade itself is not the end, it is the means to develop.”
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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