News
Sterling Bank Partners Farafina to Premiere Anthology of Nigerian Literature
Sterling Bank Plc has collaborated with Farafina Books, Nigeria’s leading independent literary publishers, to launch a premier anthology of the best of Nigerian writings spanning 200 years, from 1789 to 2018.
L-R: Chief Marketing Officer, Sterling Bank Plc, Dapo Martins; A Nigerian Writer of Short Stories and Author, Africanwriter.com, Eghosa Imasuen; Associate Director of Alumni Relations, Concordia University, Temilade Aina; Moderator, Faniyi Kayode; A Nigerian Writer of Short Stories and Novels, Adrian Igonibo Barrett; and Past, Present & Future by Naja, Gift Osiomwan, during the Presentation of a Possible Future in Lagos on Friday.
The anthology, titled: “A Possible Future,” was curated to preserve the gems of Nigeria’s literary history, promote a reading culture in the country as well as to support featured authors in the distribution of their timeless books. The 411-page book features some of the best works of 46 literary authors in the country.
Featured authors include Olaudah Equiano, D.O. Fagunwa, Gabriel Okara, Cyprian Ekwensi, Obotunde Ijimere, Chinua Achebe, Duro Ladipo, Chukwuemeka Ike, Christopher Okigbo, Elechi Amadi, Wole Soyinka, Ola Rotimi, J.P. Clark-Bekederemo, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Isidore Okpewho, Mobolaji Adenubi, Buchi Emecheta, Femi Osofisan, Niyi Osundare, Tanure Ojaide, Odia Ofeimun and Ben Okri.
Others are Uzor Maxim Uzoatu, Dulue Mbachu, Ikeogu Oke, Biyi Bandele, Sarah Ladipo Manyika, Aisha Osori, Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi, Yemisi Aribisala, Lola Shoneyin, Teju Cole, Yejide Kilanko, Eghosa Imasuen, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Niran Okewole, A. Igoni Barret, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Taiye Selasi, Jowhor Ile, Tope Folarin, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Helen Oyeyemi, Uche Okonkwo, Gbenga Adesina and Wale Lawal.
Addressing lovers of literature, authors, influencers, and other stakeholders at the event, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman, Chief Executive of Sterling Bank said the institution decided to collaborate with Farafina on the project because ensuring continued literacy, being a key component of education, is in line with the education component of the bank’s HEART strategy. The other sectors are health, agriculture, renewable energy, and transportation.
He said besides this, the Bank has for some time now been supporting the literary arts through the Ake Arts and Books Festival, an initiative of the Book Buzz Foundation, which is driven by Lola Shoneyin, an award-winning writer and poet among others.
Also, in the foreword to the book, Mr. Suleiman noted that, “In the long stretch of time between 1947 when Professor Molly Mahood declared that Nigeria, at the time, had no literature and today, the country’s literary tradition has established itself as a force in the world.
“This is not to agree with Mahood that Nigerian literature is only as old as British involvement in the country’s affairs. In fact, by the time British colonialism invaded the geographical space that would later become Nigeria, there was already a deep-rooted literary tradition in the north of the region going as far back as the 15th century. So, we had literature long before we practiced the art in the colonial tongue.”
He said, “Modern Nigerian literature may have been ‘founded’ by the English based on an assumption – a falsehood, in fact – but the lie does not have to hold any longer. When we decided to believe in ‘A Possible Future,’ we did so with the understanding that Nigerian literature was already of age. While its story is still unfolding and the yardage of its potential still vast, nay infinite, the baby Emecheta, Nwapa and Tutuola once nurtured in verse, prose and on stage, no longer crawls.
A possible Future is a primer for anyone – and I cannot imagine who, in this age – just getting introduced to Nigerian literature.”
According to him, “Kachifo Limited and Farafina Trust have created a definitive, yet not conclusive text that summarises our literary journey and gestures to its destination. The details of which we do not know yet except that, in that future, everything is excellent, anything is possible and we are here for it.”
The Sterling Bank CEO also read excerpts from Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe, which featured on pages 41 to 42 of the anthology. Temilade Aina, a lietrature curator, took the second reading from the works of Biyi Bandele’s Burma Boy.
The event also featured a panel session made up of Professor Niyi Osundare, Eghosa Imasuen, A. Igoni Barrett, Wale Lawal and Temilade Aina. The session was moderated by Faniyi Kayode, a writer, book critic and editor.
The panel commended the anthology and described it as a premier national work and expressed the hope that subsequent ones will accommodate the works of other writers which are not covered now.
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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