Business

CBN limits cash withdrawals to N100,000 weekly

Published

2 years ago

December 7, 2022

N500,000 for corporate organisations, N100,000 for individualslN20,000 maximum daily ATM withdrawal
*It’ll put us out of business — Mobile money agents

LAGOS — The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has restricted cash withdrawals from over-the-counter, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) to N100, 000 and N500, 000 per week for individuals and corporate organizations, respectively.

The apex bank disclosed this yesterday in a circular to all deposit money banks (DMBs) and other financial institutions (OFIs), signed by the Director, Banking Supervision Department of CBN, Mr. Haruna Mustafa, adding that daily withdrawal from ATMs will now be N20,000 subject to N100,000 per week.

The CBN also directed DMBs and OFIs to load only N200 and lower denominations into their ATMs.

However, these positions were not acceptable to mobile money operators as well as the organised banks’ customers, who have now threatened to take steps to express their opposition to the new regulations.

The CBN circular had stated: “Further to the launch of the redesigned naira notes by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, November 23, 2022, and in line with the cashless policy of CBN, all deposit money banks and other financial institutions are hereby directed to note and comply with the following: the maximum cash withdrawal over the counter by individuals and corporate organizations per week shall henceforth be N100,000 and N500,000 respectively.

“Withdrawals above these limits shall attract processing fees of 5.0 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively; third-party cheques above N50,000 shall not be eligible for payment over the counter, while extant limits of N10 million on clearing cheques still subsist; the maximum cash withdrawal per week via Automated Teller Machine shall be N100,000 subject to a maximum of N20,000 cash withdrawal per day.

“Only denominations of N200 and below shall be loaded into the ATMs; the maximum cash withdrawal via the point of sales terminals shall be N20,000 daily.
“In compelling circumstances, not exceeding once a month, where cash withdrawals above the prescribed limits are required for legitimate purposes, such cash withdrawals shall not exceed N5 million and N10 million for individuals and corporate organisations, respectively, and shall be subject to the referenced processing fees in (1) above, in addition to enhanced due diligence and further information requirements.

“Further to (6) above, you are required to obtain the following information at the minimum and upload same on the CBN portal created for the purpose.”

Banks warned on devices that reject cards
Meanwhile, the apex bank also, in another circular yesterday, signed by the Director, Payments Systems Management Department, Mr. Musa Jimoh, warned banks and acquirers to desist from the practice of deploying devices that discriminate between payment cards during banking transactions.

The regulator noted that this practice was against the provisions of the Guidelines on operations of Electronic Payment Channels in Nigeria (June 2020).

It stated: “CBN has observed that a number of the acceptance devices deployed by banks discriminate between payment cards.

“For the avoidance of doubt, all certified payment acceptance devices deployed in Nigeria are required to accept all transactions arising from any card issued by any Nigerian bank.

“This circular serves as a reminder of the following provisions of the Guidelines on Operations of Electronic Payment Channels in Nigeria (June 2020): Section 2.4.1.3

“This serves as a notice to all banks and acquirers to desist from the practice of discrimination, as observed breaches will attract appropriate regulatory sanctions,” CBN stated.

“Meanwhile, the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN) has kicked against the CBN’s cash dispensing policy, sayin it will not fly, and protested that it will dampen business for mobile banking agents.
Commenting on the new policy, President of AMMBAN, Mr. Olojo Victor said: “They want to send us out of business. We are against this. It is counter-productive. It does not represent what the CBN initially stood for in terms of financial inclusion. This is not driving us forward.

“It is a punishment for an average Nigerian. A bag of rice is N48,000. That means if I want to go to the market I can’t take cash. How will I do the transaction?

“We don’t have the technological infrastructure to support this policy. Nigerians have not been sensitized. There is no alternative and you are taking out cash. You are running a cash-dominant economy as we speak.

“Cash still remains king whether we like it or not. Go to the average market we still have more cash transactions than PoS and suddenly you want to seal cash without bringing alternatives and education and sensitizing Nigerians on how the alternatives work. This will not fly. It is not suitable. It is a good idea but not at the right time.”

Good but implementation is difficult – BCAN

However, the President, Bank Customers Association of Nigeria, BCAN, Dr. Uju Ogubunka, commended the CBN on the policy.
He, however, noted that such policy cannot function in a country where most of its citizens are market women who cannot make use of electronic payment channels.

“What they are telling us is that we should use online banking more than we use cash. They are not stopping us from using the money in our accounts. What they are saying is that we should focus more on using electronic payments to do more of the transactions.
“But given the level of our people and even the use of mobile applications for banking transactions, it might be a big challenge. Like I was telling somebody earlier today if I want to buy vegetables in the market, how do I transact that business without cash. It will be very difficult. We don’t expect that we will be carrying phones to transfer money to market women.

There are areas you can apply electronic banking and there are areas you cannot apply it.”
Ogubunka also said that the banking sector does not have adequate infrastructure in place to back up the CBN’s policy and that such policy will dampen business this festive season.
He further warned against the possibility of rise in fraud through electronic payment channels and increase in failed bank transactions.
“This policy will result in reduced business patronage especially for those who may not be able to use mobile banking applications. Because of I have to buy things using cash and the cash is not available and there is nothing I can do about it, it will restrict me from buying or buy on credit, that is if you have sellers who will be magnanimous to do that for you these days. It is certainly going to dampen cash-related businesses.

“Until we are able to get the infrastructure that will be able to give us seamless transactions and things like that.

“Right now, the infrastructure we have is not as much as one would expect and that is why customers complain of failed transactions and all of that.

“ Also, many people have been complaining about failed transactions for instance when they do transfers and make payments online they end up saying those transactions didn’t get to the beneficiaries. I know these things because I have been to the banks myself to ask questions and customers als complained to the association. Quite a number of fraud, uncertainties, lack of trust we still have a lot of that in the system.

“If we have real infrastructure for these things, we won’t have problems. Until that is done, what the policy is telling us is that we cannot do business beyond that level in a week.”

CBN did not consult enough – MICRO ENTREPRENEURS GROUP

Also, the President of the Association of Micro Entrepreneurs of Nigeria, AMEN, Prince Saviour Iche, has expressed his reservations with the new cash policy, but, noted that what the CBN is trying to do is to make Nigerians adopt the cashless policy.

He, however, stated: ‘‘The problem we are having is that most of these policymakers do not consult the stakeholders in most of their policies. They don’t. The problem of this country is the wrong policies.

‘‘If the CBN governor has engaged the civil society group and the businessmen and women I believe that we would have been able to put heads together. For instance, a business friend of mine was telling me last week that he doesn’t do transfer, he believes in going to the bank to do all his transactions because he is afraid of losing his money. He is not an illiterate but a business person, who is trying to be careful. So, what happens to people, who do daily business?

“What CBN doesn’t understand is that people would be afraid to take their money to the bank, they would rather stock it at home to run their businesses. I believe the policy is for only withdrawals, but, if it is for transfer too or deposits, then there would be serious problems.

“Some market women who engage on daily business and carry cash around, they go to bank almost daily to safeguard their money, what happens.”

Business

Businesses count losses amid power outage in Bauchi, Gombe, and Jigawa

Published

2 months ago

October 28, 2024

Matthew Eloyi

Business owners in Bauchi, Gombe and Jigawa are recording losses due to week-long blackout ocassioned by vandalism of the power transmission line in parts of northern Nigeria.

The sudden disruption in electricity supply in the past days, also affected essential services such as water, sanitation, street lighting and healthcare delivery as most hospitals have been operating without light.

Some of the affected businesses including shop keepers, millers and artisans, who spoke while reacting to a survey by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), described the situation as “pathetic”.

The survey examined the perennial collapse of national grid and the need for alternative power supply in the country.

Rice millers in Gombe had decried the impact of the erratic power supply on their businesses.

A Miller, Musa Arab, at Nassarawo Industrial Layout in Gombe, said the trend was crippling their operations as they relied on electricity supply from the grid to process paddy.

He said the mills were not operational power outage as they could not afford exorbitant pump prices of petrol or diesel to run their machines.

This, he said, reduced the volume of rice supply to the market and posed serious challenge to food security.

“We must invest in power because it is the biggest determining factor for industries to thrive.

“I have over 20 workers in my mill, and we have 100 mini rice mills here, so you can imagine those who have no jobs for the past 10 days.

“Government must go tough on those responsible for the perennial grid collapse because some persons may be benefitting from it,” he said.

Also, Yusuf Ibrahim said the situation might trigger the already fragile inflation, as prices of local varieties would shot up ocassioned by the diminish supply.

He said that some had jerked up their charges to cover the expenses on diesel thereby affecting rice prices.

A check by NAN at the Gombe Main market showed that a 100 kilogramme of rice was sold for between N120,000 and N160,000, as against N110,000 and N150,000, before the blackout.

Mr Usman Sani, a rice dealer, attributed the hike in price to low supply of the produce to the market in spite of the number harvest recorded this cropping season.

He said the prices had decreased slightly at the onset of the harvest, however, it showed sprawling increase due to power outage.

“The price of rice is already dropping as a result of harvest but the trend reverse since the blackout in the past days “ he said.

Ugochukwu Daniel, a bartender in Bauchi, decried the epileptic power supply in the country, adding that lack of durable energy supply would retard Nigeria’s quest to attain social and economic greatness.

Daniel said that she spent much on fuel to run power generator for refrigrator and lightening the beer parlour, to enable her to keep the business running.

He said that businesses could only thrive in an enabling environment with stable electricity supply, to enhance wealth creation and reduce poverty among Nigerians.

“My trade is about chill drinks and it survives on electricity to operate otherwise you will out of bussiness.

“Without electricity there is nothing you can do, and not only business but about everything. We depend on it,” he said.

Similarly, Samuel Adamu, said the persistent power outage had forced him to patronised charcoal for ironing clothes in spite of its high cost and cumbersome processes.

He said that most cleaners in the area had resorted to fabricated iron charcoal in spite of hike in its prices which suddenly jumped from N5,000 to N15,000.

Adamu said the situation also encouraged division of labour in laundry to cut cost and make some gains.

“Presently, I do wash the cloth, and engage someone for ironing. The charge is N300 per set as against N150”.

While advocated development of renewable energies to enhance power supply in the country, Adamu urged security agencies to entensify efforts towards electrical installations in the country.

In the same vein; Mr Muhammad Adamu, Chairman, Jigawa State House Assembly Commitee on Power and Energy, said the Jigawa Electricity Law 2024, made sound provisions to improve power generation and distribution in the state.

This, he said, was an offshoot of the devaluation brought about by the 5th alteration of the constitution, where removed power from the executive legislative list and to the concurrent list.

“It empowered the state houses of assembly to enact laws on power.

“The committee has also carefully pursued the bill and reviewed its structure and the promise it holds for the state power sector, infrastructure and the overall economy of the state.

“The new law will pave way for the establishment of Jigawa Electricity Commission, to regulate the state’s electricity market,” he said.

According to Adamu, the law will protect residents and investors in the energy sector through ensuring prepaid meter installation and possibility of recouping investor’s funds as well as address vandalism.

“The law will lead to provision of reliable, affordable and sustainable power, essential for development of all sectors of the economy, particularly in rural areas,” Adamu said.

“Vandalism will be over because we pay Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) money for powered supplies, but whenever there is problem of damages or broken down transformers, it is either the communities or individuals that pay for the repairs”.

Business

Mercedes urges delay of EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles

Published

2 months ago

October 21, 2024

Matthew Eloyi

Mercedes urges delay of EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles

The head of German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz, has called for the European Union to de-escalate the dispute with China over tariffs on electric cars.

“We need more free trade instead of new trade barriers.

“That is why it is important to find a solution that suits both the EU and China,” chief executive Ola Källenius told the Monday edition of Bild newspaper.

“The negotiations for this take time. In order not to jeopardise them, the EU should postpone the enforcement of the planned tariffs,’’ he said.

At the start of the month, a majority of EU countries paved the way for additional tariffs of up to 35.3 per cent on battery-powered electric vehicles imported from China.

Germany, however, voted against the measure amid concerns over retaliatory actions which could hurt the country’s giant car industry.

The European Commission had pressed for extra tariffs after an investigation accused Beijing of subsidising domestic electric car manufacturers, and thus distorting the market in the EU.

But whether the import tariffs would actually come into force at the beginning of November is still up to the commission.

The plans can still be dismissed if Brussels reaches a solution with China at the negotiating table.

Business

ACCI moves to promote business connections, balance work-life

Published

2 months ago

October 16, 2024

Matthew Eloyi

ACCI moves to promote business connections, balance work-life

The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), is taking innovative steps to enhance professional relationships and promote a healthy work-life balance.

The President of ACCI, Dr Emeka Obegolu, said this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

Obegolu said ACCI was committed to creating environments where professionals could connect beyond the confines of traditional boardrooms.

He said the upcoming “Business Meets Golf’’ Tournament epitomises this vision.

“Scheduled for Oct. 18 to Oct 19 at the IBB Golf Club, the tournament will gather industry leaders, top executives, and key decision-makers for a unique networking experience.

“This two-day event aims not only to strengthen business ties but also to foster partnerships that can drive economic growth.

“The ACCI’s initiative reistates the importance of maintaining a balance between professional achievement and personal well-being.

“By encouraging corporate cultures that prioritise relaxation and self-care, the Chamber acknowledges that such balance is vital for productivity and overall success,” he said.

According to Obegolu, the event will feature a range of activities designed to facilitate both business engagement and relaxation.

“Highlights include a Business-to-Business (B2B) cocktail on the first day, followed by the golf tournament and additional networking opportunities on the second day.

“The tournament will culminate in an awards ceremony recognising outstanding golfers among the participants.

“‘Business Meets Golf’ exemplifies our dedication to fostering innovative networking opportunities.

“We aim to create spaces for meaningful discussions that can lead to impactful collaborations,” Obegolu said.

The ACCI boss said in addition to promoting business connectivity, the council aimed to restate the importance of relaxation and a balanced lifestyle.

Obegolu said through events like this, the Chamber continued to play a pivotal role in supporting trade and industry in Nigeria while driving sustainable growth within the private sector.

He said to raise awareness about this landmark event, ACCI was partnering with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and Media Trust Limited, to ensure broad visibility and engagement from leading brands.