The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has taken the sensitisation drive of e-Naira to women during the Law Ladies Day programme at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Yaba Lagos.

The move according to the apex bank, is to further promote the adoption of e-Naira into the country’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), and to sensitise women, students, law students and other Nigerians who gathered for the 2023 Law Ladies Day programme.

In line with the Law Ladies Day programme themed: ‘Defying Stereotypes: Celebrating the Different Shades of Femininity’, CBN used the occasion to reach out to students and others within the university campus to sensitise them on the benefits and importance of e-Naira transactions and why they should use the channel.

Mary Fasheitan, the Special Adviser Payment Systems to the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, who took women through the importance of e-Naira, advantages and opportunities the digital currency offers to the financial community and women, stated that it was high time women embraced e-Naira  for transactions.

According to her, e-Naira offers financial freedom and women inclusivity where other financial instruments do not provide and offers fast transaction time, cross board payment option and gives women financial inclusion.

She said: “e-Naira provides a unique form of money denominated in Naira. e-Naira serves as both a medium of exchange and a store of value, offering better payment prospects in retail transactions when compared to cash payments. It has an exclusive operational structure that is both remarkable and nothing like other forms of central bank money.”

She observed that the whole world was going digital, hence the CBN was responding appropriately to the innovation by introducing a lot of cashless policies, of which e-Naira is one, noting that the apex bank is the first to introduce e-Naira in Africa and only the second in the world.

Fasheitan encouraged female law students to embrace e-Naira and transact with it because it is safe, secure and fully digitalised. “You have nothing to be afraid of because it is one of the most secured channels from the apex bank for transactions,” she assured.

Also speaking at the event, the Managing Partner of Hilton Top Solicitors, Deborah Enyone Oni, said e-Naira remained a great innovation of CBN that should be lauded.

According to her, “e-Naira offers various advantages and opportunities to its users. Its block chain technology feature also enables users to make cross border transactions easily.”

She reiterated that the e-Naira will foster women financial and economic empowerment. Enyone Oni added: “We have partnered with the CBN on the e-Naira and one of our main focuses is to leverage the opportunity to empower women by sensitising them on the advantages of the e-Naira in light of digitalisation.”

Shareholders of leading financial institution, Fidelity Bank Plc, have commended the board and management of the bank for delivering an exceptional performance in FY 2022.

This was made known at the bank’s 35th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held virtually on Tuesday, May 23, 2023.

Speaking at the AGM, the Chairman Emeritus of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Sir Sunny Nwosu applauded the bank’s management for “listening to shareholders and declaring an interim dividend”.

On his own part, National Chairman of The Progressive Shareholders Association Mr. Okezie Boniface lauded the bank for coming to customers’ aid during the period of the Naira redesign policy, explaining that the bank’s branches and Automated Teller Machines (ATM) always provided customers with Naira notes. He also commended the bank’s leadership for prioritizing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives across its focus areas of youth empowerment, health and social welfare, education and environmental conservation and sustainability.

According to the bank’s 2022 annual report uploaded on its website and distributed to shareholders, the bank grew by double digits along all the major indicators. Customer deposits increased by 27.4% from N2.0 trillion in 2021FY to N2.6 trillion. Net Loans and Advances rose by 27.6% from N1.7 trillion in 2021FY to N2.1 trillion in 2022 FY. Total Assets grew by 21.6% from N3.3 trillion in 2021 FY to N4.0 trillion in the period under review.

Giving his remarks at the meeting, Mr. Mustafa Chike-Obi, Chairman, Board of Directors, Fidelity Bank Plc said, “When we set the audacious target of attaining Tier 1 status a few years ago, we did not expect a smooth ride due to the endemic challenges in our operating environment.

However, we were able to weather the storm because our business is built on a foundation of good corporate governance, effective risk management and shareholders’ value enhancement.

In response to a shareholder’s question on the deployment of capital raised during the recent private placement exercise, Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe said, “The bank is growing in leaps and bounds and the capital would enhance our capacity to accommodate the business volumes coming our way.

This is in addition to improving our technology especially in the light of the Cashless drive and creating more secured platforms that can handle the challenges posed by cybercrime.

Several resolutions were considered at the AGM including the declaration of a final dividend of 40kobo, re-election of non-executive directors -Mrs. Amaka Onwughalu and Chief Nelson Nweke, election of an Executive Director -Mrs Pamela Shodipo; amongst others.

Fidelity Bank is a full-fledged customer commercial bank operating in Nigeria with over 8million customers serviced across its 250 business offices and digital banking channels.

The bank was recognized as the Best Payment Solution Provider Nigeria 2023 and Best SME Bank Nigeria 2022 by the Global Banking and Finance Awards.

The bank has also won awards for the “Fastest Growing Bank” and “MSME & Entrepreneurship Financing Bank of the Year” at the 2021 BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards.

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revoked the operating licences of 132 microfinance banks, four primary mortgage banks, and three finance companies in the country.

The revocation exercise was disclosed in the official gazette of the Federal Government published on the website of the CBN on Tuesday.

According to the gazette, the licences of the financial institutions were revoked because they ceased to carry on in Nigeria, the type of business for which their licences were issued for a continuous period of six months.

They were also alleged to have “failed to fulfil or comply with the conditions subject to which their licences were granted; or failed to comply with the obligations imposed upon them by the Central Bank of Nigeria in accordance with the provisions of Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020, Act No. 5.”

The four primary mortgage banks whose licences were revoked are Resort Savings & Loans, Safetrust Mortgage Bank, Adamawa Savings & Loans and Kogi Savings & Loans.

The finance companies whose licences were revoked include HHL Invest & Trust Limited, TFS Finance Limited and Treasures & Trust Limited.

Some of the microfinance banks listed include Bluewhales Microfinance Bank, Igangan Microfinance Bank, Mainsail Microfinance Bank, Everest Microfinance Bank, Merit Microfinance Bank, Musharaka Microfinance Bank, Nopov Microfinance Bank, among others.

The gazette showed that Godwin Emefiele, governor, CBN revoked the licences in the exercise of the powers conferred on the Central Bank of Nigeria under Section 12 of BOFIA 2020, Act No. 5.