Electron Native

Nigerian bond yields fell slightly on Wednesday, a day after the central bank unexpectedly announced an interest rate cut aimed at stimulating growth in Africa’s biggest economy, traders said. Central Bank of Nigeria According to Reuters, Nigeria’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 13.5 percent on Tuesday, its first reduction in four years. The rate has been held at 14 percent since July 2016 to support the naira and curb inflation. Bond yields dropped to around 13 percent across maturities on Wednesday on minor buying interest, traders said. They later recovered to 14.15 percent. The most liquid one-year treasury yield fell 15 basis points to 12.75 percent. “The markets opened lower but no one is buying as investors adjust their bids,” one trader said. ADVERTISEMENT Traders said low liquidity on the interbank market hampered deals, adding yields have already fallen from as high as 15 percent last month after the central bank l...

Trading in the shares of Diamond Bank Plc has been placed on full suspension following the court sanction of the Scheme of Merger with Access Bank Plc. The Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) in a notification to its dealing members posted on its website on Wednesday said that the full suspension takes effect from March 20. “Dealing members are hereby notified that following the court sanction of the Scheme of Merger (Scheme) between Access Bank Plc and Diamond Bank Plc, trading in the shares of Diamond Bank has been placed on full suspension,” it stated. The exchange said that the suspension was required to prevent trading in the shares of the bank in order to determine shareholders who would qualify to receive the scheme consideration. It noted that Diamond Bank obtained the court sanction of the scheme on March 19, being the effective date of the scheme. The NSE stated that the bank’s shareholders passed a resolution approving the merger between Diamond Bank and Access Bank Plc at th...

T he Acting Managing Director, Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), Niyi Ajao says that the company has upgraded its systems to accommodate an increase in the volume of Point-of-Sale (PoS) transactions. Ajao said told newsmen on Tuesday in Lagos that the company anticipated a rise in the volume of PoS transactions following the 285 million recorded in 2018. Point-of-Sale (PoS) Mobile Machine He said that the company’s plan was to double the growth recorded in 2018 with a projected 600 million PoS transaction volume in 2019. Ajao said: “In 2018, we had 285 million PoS transactions volume and that was the highest ever recorded in the country. “We are expecting that the figure will double in 2019 because we had half of 2018’s figure in 2017 and that was why we embarked on an upgrade of our systems.” On a system glitch that occurred between December to March while there was a system, Ajao noted that efforts were taken to ensure the issues were resolved ...

The issue of 5G licences marks a major step in the expansion of internet access in Germany, Jochen Homann, head of the Federal Network Agency, said in the western city of Mainz. Source: Dailymail.co.uk “The auction of the licences, which kicks off on Tuesday, will contribute to the gigabit society,’’ Hoffman said at a news conference in the city. Homann, when aAddressing concerns at the lack of mobile coverage in rural areas, said he was confident that mobile services would improve. He noted that conditions had been attached to the auction stipulating that all motorways had to have fast internet coverage. The auction is expected to last no less than three weeks and to result in revenues between 3 and 5 billion Euros (3.4 to 5.7 billion Dollars) for the state. Three established network operators and one newcomer have indicated an interest, including Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefonica, who already operate networks, and 1&1-Drillisch. Germany is looking to 5...

A home grown means of funding for Nigerian starts ups is now a possible, via Itanna. Itanna, is the Venture Capital Platform of Honeywell Group and it has earmarked 300,000 Dollars to boost growth of technology start-ups in 2019. The Director of Itanna, Tomi Otudeko, made this known on Monday in Lagos. Itanna is a platform to support technical start-ups through investment and mentorship programmes, nurturing their ideas, visions, expertise as well as resources. She said that the 300,000 Dollars would be invested in 10 start-ups across Africa. Otudeko said that the 2019 edition of its Accelerator Programme, which was the second edition had begun, hence, applications are needed from technology-enabled start-ups. She said that Itanna was launched in 2018 with four cohort companies chosen after a selection process that began with more than 200 applications. The director said that the 2018 cohort companies were Accounteer, KoloPay, Tradebuza and PowerCube while thre...

Delegates to China’s parliament are urging the overhaul or even scrapping of controversial family planning rules, they say steps are needed to “liberate fertility’’ and reverse a decline in births and a rapidly shrinking workforce. Guangdong Province Delegate, Li Bingji, said in a proposal that population was China’s number-one priority for the next four decades. With its ageing population  as a result of longer lifespans and a dwindling number of children, the world’s most populous nation decided in 2016 to allow all couples to have a second child. Chinese family This had relaxed a tough one-child policy in place since 1978. But birth rates plummeted for the second consecutive year in 2018. Policymakers now fret about the impact a long-term decline in births will have on the economy and its strained health and social services. In proposals submitted at the National People’s Congress, delegates from across the country urged leaders to improve healthca...

China’s automobile sales fell 13.8 per cent in February from the same month a year earlier, the country’s biggest auto industry association said on Monday, marking the eighth consecutive month of decline in the world’s largest auto market. China auto sales fall 14% in February, mark 8th month of decline Source: Reuters The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said sales fell to 1.48 million vehicles last month, after declines of 16 per cent in January and 13 per cent in December. Reuters report that sales of new energy vehicles, such as electric cars, rose 53.6 per cent year-on-year in February, the group said. “The trend experienced last year has continued into this year, and the economic situation has also been weak. This has dragged down consumption,” CAAM’s Deputy Secretary General Shi Jianhua told reporters at a news briefing in Beijing. “Consumers are also waiting for more government policies,” he said. China plans billions of dollars in ...