Business News
CBN opposes telcos’ plan to start charges on the use of USSD code
The CBN has reacted to the recent announcement by MTN Nigeria to start charging N4:00 per 20 seconds on USSD access to banking services.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reacted to the recent announcement by MTN Nigeria to start charging four naira (N4:00) per 20 seconds on USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service) access to banking services from October 21.
During a media briefing on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund holding in Washington DC, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele strongly opposed this action as he said that such a move would kick against the CBN’s financial inclusion drive.
[READ MORE: CBN exempts federation accounts, microfinance banks, ministries, others from new Cashless Policy]
“About five months ago, I held a meeting with some telecom companies as well as the leading banks in Nigeria and the issue of USSD came up.
“At that time, we came to the conclusion that the use of USSD is a sunk cost, which is not an additional cost on the infrastructure of the telecom companies. But the telecoms companies disagreed with us and said it is an additional investment and they needed to impose it,” he said.
Emefiele made known that he had appealed to the telcos on the need for the charge to be reviewed and reduced but instead, they had gone ahead to increase it by 300%.
“I opposed it and I have told the banks that we will not allow this to happen; the banks gave this business to the telecoms companies, and I leave the banks and the telecom companies to engage,” he added.
Speaking further, the CBN said that if push comes to shove, he had instructed the banks that they should do business with only telcom companies that are ready to charge the lowest service rate for the service if not zero cost.
[READ ALSO: Yet again! another directive from the CBN]
The Ministry of Communications as Nairametrics reported has issued a statement directing the Nigerian Communications Commission to ensure that the telcom operators suspend plans on purposing a new policy until the ministry is properly briefed as it is currently not aware of such development.
Coronavirus
COVID-19 Update in Nigeria
On the 28th of November 2020, 110 new confirmed cases were recorded in Nigeria
The spread of novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria continues to record significant increases as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reveal Nigeria now has 67,330 confirmed cases.
On the 28th of November 2020, 110 new confirmed cases were recorded in Nigeria, having carried out a total daily test of 7,101 samples across the country.
To date, 67,330 cases have been confirmed, 62,819 cases have been discharged and 1,171 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. A total of 756,237 tests have been carried out as of November 28th, 2020 compared to 749,136 tests a day earlier.
COVID-19 Case Updates- 28th November 2020,
- Total Number of Cases – 67,220
- Total Number Discharged – 62,686
- Total Deaths – 1,171
- Total Tests Carried out – 756,237
According to the NCDC, the 110 new cases were reported from 11 states- Lagos (26), FCT (23), Kaduna (20), Katsina (11), Ogun (7), Ekiti (6), Plateau (5), Rivers (4) Kano (3), Nasarawa (3) and Niger (2).
Meanwhile, the latest numbers bring Lagos state total confirmed cases to 23,190, followed by Abuja (6,767), Plateau (3,857), Oyo (3,721), Kaduna (3,064), Rivers (2,977), Edo (2,696), Ogun (2,222), Delta (1,824), Kano (1,794), Ondo (1,728), Enugu (1,332), Kwara (1,096), Ebonyi (1,055), Katsina (1,025), Osun (945), Gombe (938). Abia (926), Bauchi (770), and Borno (745).
Imo State has recorded 662 cases, Benue (496), Nasarawa (491), Bayelsa (445), Ekiti (365), Akwa Ibom (339), Jigawa (331), Niger (298), Anambra (285), Adamawa (261), Sokoto (165), Taraba (159), Yobe (94), Kebbi (93), Cross River (90), Zamfara (79), while Kogi state has recorded 5 cases only.
READ ALSO: COVID-19: Western diplomats warn of disease explosion, poor handling by government
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, Nigeria’s 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.
On Monday, 29th June 2020 the federal government extended the second phase of the eased lockdown by 4 weeks and approved interstate movement outside curfew hours with effect from July 1, 2020. Also, on Monday 27th July 2020, the federal government extended the second phase of eased lockdown by an additional one week.
On Thursday, 6th August 2020 the federal government through the secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 announced the extension of the second phase of eased lockdown by another four (4) weeks.
READ ALSO: Bill Gates says Trump’s WHO funding suspension is dangerous
Tech News
MTN, Vodacom launched 5G in sub-Saharan Africa in 2020 – GSMA Report
Vodacom and MTN launched their first major 5G networks in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2020, according to the GSMA 2020 report.
The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA) 2020 report revealed that Vodacom and MTN launched their first major 5G networks in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2020.
The telecoms operators offered 5G mobile and fixed wireless access (FWA) services in several locations across South Africa – this appears to be a welcome development, as the South African government had already assigned temporary spectrum in the 3.5 GHz range in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Obviously, the proximate opportunity to be harnessed for the 5G in South Africa is to use FWA to bridge the gap in fixed broadband connectivity for homes and businesses.
According to the report, there has been 5G trial runs in almost all the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda but the possibility of mass deployment of the 5G network is still not guaranteed, as there are significant levels of unused 4G capacity. Also, the 4G adoption rate is still relatively low, creating opportunities for the operators to increase their stakes in 4G.
As a boost to mop up the unused 4G capacity, the partnership between Safaricom and Google to finance the acquisition of 4G smartphones, provides the desired momentum as low-income consumers pay for 4G devices in convenient and flexible daily installments.
According to the report, it is expected that over the next five years, the number of smartphone connections in Sub-Saharan Africa will almost double to reach 678 million by the end of 2025 — an adoption rate of 65%.
What you should know
- It is expected that by 2025, there will be a little below 30 million mobile 5G connections in Sub-Saharan Africa, equivalent to almost 3% of total mobile connections.
- The mobile market in the region will reach several important milestones over the next five years: half a billion mobile subscribers in 2021, 1 billion mobile connections in 2024, and 50% subscriber penetration by 2025.
- The achievement of these critical milestones would be predicated on the operators’ commitment in providing reliable infrastructural networks across the region.
- Between 2019 and 2025, the operators in the region would have expended/invested about the sum of $52billion in infrastructure rollouts.
- The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting more than 750 operators with almost 400 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organizations in adjacent industry sectors.
Financial Services
Stamp Duty on Nigerian Stock market transactions pegged at 0.08% from December 7
The NSE has given clarifications on the public notice released by the FIRS, itemizing contract notes at an ad valorem rate of 0.08%.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange has given clarifications on the public notice released by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in July, itemizing contract notes at an ad valorem rate of 0.08% up from 0.075%, effective 7th December 2020.
The circular released by the Nigerian Stock Exchange reads:
“In reference to the Public Notice in the Business Day Newspaper of Monday, 20 July 2020, captioned ‘Clarification of Administration of Stamp Duties in Nigeria’ issued by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) (A copy is attached as Appendix A for ease of reference).
“The Public Notice provided, amongst other things, information on dutiable instruments and the applicable flat or ad valorem rates, with Contract Notes 1 itemized at an ad valorem rate of 0.08%. As you know, this is at variance with the current rate of 0.075% administered in the Nigerian Capital Market.”
To that extent, Dealing Members of the Nigerian Stock Exchange are to note the following:
- Effective December 7, 2020, the Central Securities Clearing System Plc. (CSCS) will adjust its system to implement the automated deduction of the Stamp Duty rate of 0.08%.
- Dealing Members are required to immediately engage their software vendors for the required adjustments to their technology applications, to reflect the 0.08% rate ahead of the effective date of 7 December 2020.
- Dealing Members are required to communicate the changes above to their clients immediately, ahead of the effective date.
What you should know
Nairametrics revealed that the FIRS listed at least 50 types of transactions that are eligible for stamp duty deductions.
Some of the listed chargeable transactions include bank deposit or transfer, loan agreement, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), sales agreement, will, tenancy/lease agreement, and all receipts.
The FIRS noted that the recently inaugurated FIRS Adhesive Stamp is not the same as the postage stamp administered by NIPOST for the purposes of delivery of items and documents.
The Stamp Duties Act, 19391 defines Contact Notes as “the note sent by a broker or agent to his principal, or by any person who, by way of business, deals, or holds himself out as dealing, as a principal in any stock or marketable securities, advising the principal, or the vendor or purchaser, as the case may be, of the sale or purchase of any stock or marketable security, but does not include a note sent by a broker or agent to his principal where the principal is himself acting as broker or agent for a principal.”
See the circular below:
COVID-19 Update in Nigeria
MTN, Vodacom launched 5G in sub-Saharan Africa in 2020 – GSMA Report
Stamp Duty on Nigerian Stock market transactions pegged at 0.08% from December 7
Covid-19: UK to approve Pfizer, BioTNech vaccine, to start immunization December 7
Cornerstone Insurance Plc projects PAT of N537.4million in Q1 2021
COVID-19 Update in Nigeria
Covid-19: UK to approve Pfizer, BioTNech vaccine, to start immunization December 7
$385 million worth of Bitcoin moved by unknown identity
Exited N-Power beneficiaries to apply for CBN empowerment options
Emefiele tells economists to stop “overdramatizing” analysis that can create Panic
