15092022

Banks’ customers pay N45.9b as account maintenance
fees in H1’22 MONEY MARKET •As e-banking charges rises 21%
By Elizabeth Adegbesan (YoY) rise when compared to YoY by 21 per cent to N246.77
N36.29 billion paid in the corresponding
period of 2021. billion in H1’21.
billion in H1’22 from N203.51
CUSTOMERS of leading
commercial banks in Nigeria
paid N45.9 billion as acmission
data in the H1 ’22 Finan-
paid for electronic banking ser-
Findings from the fees and com-
The data also showed that fees
count maintenance fees in the first cial Statements of the banks vices rose by 21 per cent YoY to
half of the year (H1’22). This represents
a 26 per cent year-on-year sion income of the nine banks rose N71.38 billion in
showed that net fees and commis-
N86.52 billion in H1’22 from
H1’21.
CONFERENCE — From left: Social Impact Manager, Project Management Institute (PMI),
Laura Davidson; Executive Director, Anzisha Prize, Josh Adler; Executive Secretary, MTN Foundation,
Odunayo Sanya, and Managing Director, Sub-Saharan Africa, Project Management Institute
(PMI), George Asamani at the 7th annual Project Management Institute (PMI) Africa
Conference held on Tuesday, September 13, 2022, in Eko Hotels, Lagos.
Nigeria’s GDP to reach 4% by 2023
—Moody’s
By Elizabeth Adegbesan
MOODY’s Investor Service has
forecasted a 4.0 per cent
Gross Domestic Product, GDP, for the
Nigeria’s economy in 2023.
However, the global finance and
investments analytics company also
indicated that in overall the GDP
growth in Nigeria and other leading
African economies would be muted
by macroeconomic headwinds which
would in turn hamper banks’
profitability.
Disclosing these yesterday in a
statement titled: “Banks – Africa:
Higher inflation will weigh on
CURRENCY BUYING SELLING
US
DOLLAR
POUNDS
EURO
FRANC
YEN
CFA
WAUA
RENMINBI
RIYAL
RAND
217.60 - 6.35
2347.00 - 3.00
118.30 - 0.08
94.75 +1.55
87.47 -0.31
427.81 428.31 428.81
501.7783 502.3648 502.9512
435.4678 435.9767 436.4857
450.0894 450.6155 451.1415
3.0106 3.0141 3.0177
0.6426 0.6526 0.6626
557.1523 557.8034 558.4546
61.7633 61.836 61.9086
113.7944 113.9274 114.0604
25.1388 25.1682 25.1976
CBN Exchange rate as at 14/09/2022
•Says rising inflation, interest rates will reduce lending
ECONOMY
African banks’ profitability”,
Moody’s stated: “Higher inflation
and interest rates will hamper
investment and economic activity,
and slower real growth will, in turn,
weaken banks’ business generation
and loan quality.
“In 2023, we forecast real GDP
growth of 4.0 per cent in Nigeria, 4.5
per cent in Egypt, 1.5 per cent in South
Africa,3.5 per cent in Morocco and
5.3 per cent in Kenya.”
Moody also projected widening of
net interest margins saying,”Net
interest margins will widen,
with banks with short-term
or floating-rate loans
benefiting most.
“South African margins
will benefit the most as
interest rates rise; the impact
for Nigerian and Kenyan
banks will be more modest.
“South African banks’
margins will benefit the
most from higher interest
rates, given the faster
repricing of their assets
relatively to their liabilities,
while gains for Nigerian and Kenyan
banks will be smaller, given the
already high interest rates on their
loans.
“We expect the impact on Nigeria
and Kenyan banks to be more limited
because their lending rates are
already high and the transmission of
policy rates to lending rates is slow in
both countries.”
Moody’s also noted that rising
inflation coupled with increasing
interest rates will reduce the quality
of banks’ lending in Africa.
According to the company,
higher inflation would diminish
borrowers’ repayment capacity
because income would be needed
to meet other competing and rising
costs.
It stated:”Higher interest and
inflation rates will increase loanloss
provisions across the board.
“We expect a bank’s exposure to
sectors most vulnerable to inflation,
such as households, will be a key
factor impacting their provisioning
costs. Higher inflation will
diminish the borrowers’ repayment
capacity because income will be
needed to meet other competing
and rising costs.”
Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2022 —21
The rise in electronic banking
services fees indicates that more
Nigerians are embracing the
cashless policy of the Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Data released by the Nigeria
Inter-Bank Settlement Systems
(NIBSS) revealed that transactions
worth N33.2 trillion were
performed electronically in August
through the NIBSS Instant
Payment Platform (NIP) bringing
the total value of e-payment deals
Expert proffers solution to challenges
in real estate investment
By Cynthia Alo
REAL estate investments
may be facing challenges
in return on investment as potential
investors, especially Nigerians
in diaspora, are said to
be diverting to holding foreign
currency assets in Nigeria.
This was disclosed by Keji
Giwa, the founder of Digital
Landlords and ShortletHomes,
who noted that Nigerians in
Diaspora are not just high-income
earners, but significantly
contributing a whopping five
per cent to Nigeria’s Gross
Domestic Product, GDP.
He said: “While the diaspora
market clearly presents a huge
opportunity to fund the Nigerian
real estate, there is little
attraction for investors to want
to invest today out of the funds
remitted to Nigeria each year
from the diaspora market.
in the last 8 months to N238.7 trillion.
According to NIBSS, the data
showed that the August 2022
record came as an all-time high e-
payments value recorded in a
month since the deployment of the
platform.
Compared to the N29.3 trillion
recorded in July, the August figure
showed a 13.3 per cent month-onmonth
growth.
YoY, the e-payment value increased
by 50 per cent compared
to N22.1 trillion recorded in
August last year.
NIBSS noted that the value of e-
payment recorded was a reflection
of the increase in the volume of
deals within the month.
The NIP volume rose to 448 million
in August, showing a 10.6 percent
increase over 405 million recorded
in July.
ECONOMY
“The bad news is that investments
into real estate have
started to dwindle as more
people start to realise it is better
to invest in dollars or pounds
rather than in naira.”
Commenting on how to fix the
current issues, he said: “Developers
hold the key to making real
estate in Nigeria attractive to
Nigerians in diaspora. Nigeria
is fast becoming the destination
hub for indigenous tourist every
easter, summer and what is
now called dirty December.
Property developers should focus
on recreational real investment
to attract tourism and recreational
activities. This will
boost the recreational short let
market which can generate as
30 per cent Return On Investment
for investors.”
FCCPC tasks Nigerians on
sustainable consumption
By Yinka Kolawole
THE Federal Competition
and Consumer Protection
Commission (FCCPC), has
called on Nigerians to embrace
the culture of sustainable consumption,
even as Nigerians
are said to use and dispose
about 60 million plastic sachets
every day.
Vice Chairman/Chief Executive
Officer, FCCPC, Mr
Babatunde Irukera, said this at
a one-day stakeholders’ workshop
on National Sustainable
Consumption and Waste Management
in Nigeria in Lagos.
Irukera noted that the sustainable
consumption initiative was
borne out of a decision reached
Heirs Insurance, Heirs Life Assurance commence
Bancassurance with UBA
By Cynthia Alo
HEIRS Insurance
Limited (HIL)
and Heirs Life Assurance
(HLA) have commenced
a bancassurance partnership
with global
banking group, the
United Bank for Africa
(UBA).
The partnership will
permit the distribution of
affordable and dependable
insurance
products for all, at UBA
Nigeria branches, providing
a wider range of
financial security options
for individuals, families, and
businesses, whilst driving financial
inclusion starting mid next
month.
Speaking on the rollout, the
Group Managing Director,
UBA, Oliver Alawuba, said:
“This partnership with Heirs
Insurance Limited and Heirs
Life Assurance helps us once
again to significantly expand
our branch and digital offering,
to the benefit of our customers
and advance our commitment to
driving financial inclusivity.”
Adaobi Nwakuche, Managing
Director, Heirs Insurance, said:
“This partnership will offer millions
of people nationwide the
•As Nigerians dispose 60m plastic sachets daily
INSURANCE
financial security that is so
needed. We are committed to
our transformative path of improving
the lives of Nigerians,
while ensuring that insurance
is made accessible to all”.
Managing Director, Heirs Life
Assurance, Niyi Onifade, said:
“We promised Nigerians accessibility
to insurance, and this
bancassurance partnership is
one of the key ways we are fulfilling
that promise. The new
bancassurance partnership with
UBA reaffirms our shared digital-first
approach and innovation
culture, which inspire us to
provide the utmost value to our
customers.”
INDUSTRY
by stakeholders during the 2020
World Consumer Rights Day.
“They decided that we should
set up a taskforce that will address
the question of sustainable
consumption. They have been
working for the past two years
and they have come up with an
action plan” he stated.
The FCCPC boss said that the
advocacy aspect involved engaging
consumers more on handling
waste generally, particularly
plastic, which does not decompose
as well as managing it in a
manner that promotes recycling
and saves the environment.
His words: “The level of plastic
waste management in the
country is high and we have a
big problem with that. We also
need to find more cost effective
ways of distributing products and
at the same time get consumers
to be sensitive to their own habits.”
In her presentation, a consultant,
Funke Adekola, stated:
“70% of Nigerians consume at
least one bag of sachet water
daily. This amounts to about 60
million plastic sachets that are
being used and disposed off
each day.
“Plastic waste pollution in Nigeria
is exacerbated by the general
overdependence on plastic
packaged consumer goods,
which is influenced by factors
such as sachetization of consumer
goods; on-the-go consumption
habits; economic Influences;
and lack of suitable alternatives.”