The spread of novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria continues to rise as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reveal Nigeria now has 9,855 confirmed cases.

On the 30th of May 2020, 553 new confirmed cases and 12 deaths were recorded in Nigeria.

To date, 9855 cases have been confirmed, 2856 cases have been discharged and 273 deaths have been recorded in 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory having carried out 60,825 tests.

Covid-19 Case Updates- May 30th 2020

• Total Number of Cases – 9,855
• Total Number Discharged – 2,856
• Total Deaths – 273
• Total Tests Carried out – 60,825

The 553 new cases are reported from 15 states – Lagos (378), FCT (52), Delta (23), Edo (22), Rivers (14), Ogun (13), Kaduna (12), Kano (9), Borno (7), Katsina (6), Jigawa (5), Oyo (5), Yobe (3), Plateau (3), Osun (1).

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Western diplomats warn of disease explosion, poor handling by government

The latest numbers bring Lagos state total confirmed cases to 4755, followed by Kano (951), Abuja at 616, Katsina (364), Edo (284), Oyo (280), Borno (271), Jigawa (270), Ogun (259), Kaduna (244), Bauchi (236), Rivers (204), Gombe (156), Sokoto (116), Plateau (104).

Kwara State has recorded 87 cases, Delta (80), Zamfara (76), Nasarawa (62), Yobe (52), Akwa Ibom and Osun (45), Ebonyi (40), Adamawa (38), Imo (34), Kebbi (33), Niger (30), Ondo (25), Ekiti (20), Taraba and Enugu (18), Bayelsa (12), Anambra (11), Abia (10), Benue (7), while Kogi state has recorded 2 cases.

Lock Down and Curfew

In a move to combat the spread of the pandemic disease, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days, which took effect from 11 pm on Monday, 30th March 2020.

The movement restriction, which was extended by another two-weeks period, has been partially put on hold with some businesses commencing operations from May 4. On April 27th, 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari declared an overnight curfew from 8 pm to 6 am across the country, as part of new measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19. This comes along with the phased and gradual easing of lockdown measures in FCT, Lagos, and Ogun States, which took effect from Saturday, 2nd May 2020, at 9 am.

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No doubt, the Blockchain technology, along with the adoption of cryptocurrencies, is getting bigger. The business end of the market is expected to reach $21 billion over the next five years.

Expectedly, professional services giants are now taking a larger role in tackling new challenges in the market, the Big Four firms and other leading brands are working with several crypto and blockchain firms on ways to combat interoperability, regulatory challenges and development of the technology.

Henri Arslanian, PwC’s global crypto leader, told Cointelegraph that the Big Four firms majorly have a vital role in the advancement of the cryptocurrency ecosystem, saying:

“Although Bitcoin was designed with a trustless ideology, the reality is that the industry still requires trusted entities to catalyze the development of the ecosystem.”

READ ALSO: Positive outlook as Africa FinTech attracts over $100 million in investments

Arslanian added that when he first joined PwC years back, few people took crypto seriously. However, he saw an increasing demand for crypto assets, with some businesses starting to accept Bitcoin payments from clients.

“Over the last couple of months, we’ve expanded our work. We recently closed the first-ever crypto fundraising deal at PwC, in which we led a $14 million Series A round for a Swiss-based crypto firm with Asian family offices. We are also the auditor for BC Group, a publicly listed crypto company in Hong Kong.”

BC Group CEO, Hugh Madden, also said that BC’s vision was to make use of crypto assets in Asia’s financial market. In turn, BC Group must set standards for compliance, security, and performance. Madden buttressed on the role of audits play by saying:

“Auditing, like regulatory clarity, provides confidence to all stakeholders that companies are operating transparently and adhering to expected industry standards. As the business of digital assets continues to grow and mature, and compliance and regulatory standards become more robust, auditors will continue to play a pivotal role.”

READ MORE: Blockchain technology expected to tackle Africa’s challenges across industries

KPMG United States blockchain audit leader, Erich Braun, further contributed by saying that a business’s blockchain system should be developed with the intent to meet both accounting and operational needs to meet with accounting standards:

“SEC issuers will want to design blockchain technologies to support the entity’s internal control over financial reporting. Being able to prove how these technologies achieve their aims in a well-controlled environment is critical to a successful blockchain strategy. If the technology is not auditable, the immense benefits it brings, such as increasing efficiencies and cutting costs, may not be realized.”

Henri Arslanian, added in his closing remarks that the Big Four firms are indeed the most important players for the crypto asset space. He said:

“I believe the Big Four firms will serve as the bridge between the crypto ecosystem and the institutional world. It is good for both the crypto ecosystem and for professional services firms like ours as a new source of clients that we can help.”

If like me you follow Nigerian Banks across social media networks, then like me you must have rebroadcasted some of their colorful advertising telling the world of their low-interest loans to fight COVID- 19, and hopefully restart the economy. One thing you must have noticed, however, during those rebroadcasts is how highlights of the advertisements- rates, tenor, and target industries- are the same no matter the brand.

Well, that is because the Banks are all advertising the same product; CBN’s intervention funds.

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What does that mean?

CBN in a bid to reclaim the economic frontiers already lost to the COVID- 19 pandemics is releasing cheap funds to strategic sectors of the economy to hopefully restart the economy and possibly save the Nation from looming recession.

In April 14, 2020, a press release by the CBN Governor titled “Turning the COVID- 19 tragedy into an opportunity for a new Nigeria”, he highlighted a three-phase approach to tackling the pandemic to include an immediate, short term and medium term timelines of 0-3months, 0-12months and 0-3 years respectively. Critical to these phases are different aspects of the economy that need to be tackled in each phase. These key sectors include the health sector, manufacturing, and infrastructure, while others include agriculture and power.

(READ MORE: Covid-19: Timeline of every pronouncement made by Nigeria to support the economy)

To this end, the CBN has provided easily accessible loans to businesses in these sectors at below the market rate. These loans could either be overdrafts or long term loans that come with a moratorium, are accessible through the DMBs who assess the prospective borrower’s creditworthiness, and pass the same to the CBN for ratification and approval.

The intervention funds are placed in the following categories: Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF), Commercial Agric Credit Scheme (CACS), and the Real Sector Support Facility (RSSF) which funds the N100billion credit support intervention for the health sector.

All the loans are reasonably priced at 9% except for the health sector loans which are presently 5% and will revert to 9% in March of 2021.

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Why the intervention?

Because the CBN believes that by accompanying these funds with the necessary policies and regulatory backings that they can revamp the Nigerian economy by fast-tracking the development of the Nigerian economy through these sectors. A move that will generate employment, diversify revenue base, provide input for the industrial sector and ultimately increase foreign exchange earnings.

This is what the CBN is all about.

What’s in it for the Banks?

Apart from the obvious- a spread on the loan amount, commissions on transactions, and other ancillary charges, the Banks are also playing their roles in working towards a better economy where we can all thrive.

So, when next you come across such advertisements… tell the next person. Let’s build a better economy together.