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Accion Microfinance Bank appoints new Chair

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One of the national microfinance banks, Accion Microfinance Bank, has appointed Mrs Adenike Laoye as its new board Chair.

Established in 2006, Accion MfB Limited began operations in May 2007 after obtaining the Central Bank of Nigeria’s licence, and had continuously empowered and supported business owners in Nigeria over the years.

A statement said Laoye was appointed a Non-Executive Director representing Ecobank Nigeria on the board of Accion Microfinance Bank on January 5, 2017. She has a law degree and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1991.

She joined EcobankGroup in 1993, where she rose to become the head of legal and regulatory unit of Ecobank Nigeria in 2000, and subsequently the company Secretary/Chief Legal counsel in 2002.

She has had over 30 years of experience as legal counsel in a financial services company, 17 years of which, was as Chief Legal Counsel.

In March 2019 she took up the role of Chief of Staff to the group Chief Executive Officer, of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Lome, Togo, the parent company of the Ecobank Group. She also doubled as Group Head, Corporate Communications.

As Chief of Staff, Laoye coordinated and effectively took charge of the office of the GCEO of the Ecobank Group whose direct reports included 33 Managing Directors from across 33 African countries, gaining strong exposure to finance, banking, and macroeconomics across the African continent.

In the role, she also had close interaction with several international multilateral agencies.

She has attended executive programmes at INSEAD, Harvard, and Cranfield among others.

She is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) as well as an honorary member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).

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Regulation of crypto, digital assets under full control – SEC DG

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The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says the regulation of crypto-currencies and other digital assets are under its full control and regulation.

The Director-General of SEC, Dr Emomotimi Agama, said this at the first Annual Conference of the Association of Capital Market Academics of Nigeria (ACMAN) on Thursday in Abuja.

Agama described crypto assets as digital or virtual assets utilised by cryptography for security.

He said there were over 15,000 crypto currencies created which had Bitcoin as the most popular.

The director-general said that the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrency was not yet firm even in the United States.

According to him, Nigeria’s crypto transaction volume had reached $56.7 billion between July 2022 and June 2023, hence the efforts by SEC.

Agama quoted a survey which said that 33.4 per cent of Nigerians were using or owned crypto currencies.

”Secrecy of crypto usage is what is driving its adoption by the youth.

”Some people don’t have bank accounts but they have crypto wallet.

”Crypto is like an air, can you cage it, No. What you can do is to build a risk management around it, ”he said.

Agama said the commission would continue to educate investors on the risks associated with digital assets to be able to make wise investment decisions.

Chief Osita Izunaso, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Capital Market, said the country required effective crypto regulation to benefit from the gains of the market.

Izunaso said the absence of effective regulation on crypto currencies had exposed so many investors to fraud.

He called for synergy from all stakeholders to harness opportunities in the crypto space.

The Director-General of the Debt Management Office, Ms Patience Oniha, called for awareness creation to educate investors to make informed decisions.

Mr Bello Hassan, the Managing Director of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, said that crypto currencies had come to stay as younger people were patronising the market.

Hassan called on SEC to constantly update investors with unbiased information of the associated risks of trading in the crypto market.

Prof. Uche Uwaleke, the President, ACMAN, said the conference was aimed at considering the possibilities of expanding the financial sector regulations.

Uwaleke said the conference would also explore ways to accommodate crypto assets within the regulatory space.

ACMAN conferred awards on many stakeholders in the financial and capital markets for their various contributions in moving the markets forward.

The conference was organised by ACMAN in collaboration with SEC.

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Naira remains stable against Dollar at official forex market

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By Opeyemi Abdulsalam

The Nigerian currency, Naira, maintained its stability against the United States dollar at the official foreign exchange market on Wednesday, trading at N1,507.83 per dollar.

According to data from FMDQ, this represents a marginal change of N0.04 from the previous day’s rate of N1,507.79 per dollar.

At the parallel market, the naira also maintained its exchange rate of N1,505 per dollar, unchanged from the previous day.

Bureau de Change operators in the Wuse Zone 4 area of Abuja confirmed the rates, with one operator, Dayyabu Ashiru, stating that they sell at N1,505 per dollar and buy at N1,495.

“We sell at N1,505 per dollar and buy at N1,495,” Dayyabu Ashiru, a Bureau de Change operator in Wuse Zone 4 told a source on Wednesday.

The stability of the naira comes on the heels of recent reforms implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which have attracted a significant inflow of $24 billion into the country in the first quarter of 2024, according to the CBN Governor’s recent interview with Bloomberg Television.

In a related development, the CBN on Tuesday issued a fresh directive permitting International Money Transfer Operators and all banks to pay diaspora remittances in naira.

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Launch of American Express cards in Nigeria met with high demand — O3 Capital

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O3 Capital, a leading Nigerian fintech and the country’s first non-bank credit card issuer, has disclosed that the launch of its four American Express (‘Amex’) cards have been met with huge demand both in and out of Nigeria.

Chief Executive Officer of O3 Capital, Abimbola Pinheiro, in a statement said, “We are delighted with the amazing response to our launch of American Express cards in Nigeria.

“The success of the Green and Platinum cards, in particular, shows the market’s enthusiasm for modern financial solutions. We are proud to support both individual and corporate customers in their financial journeys.

“Our cards launch has also struck a major chord with established banks and fintechs – many of whom have approached us to partner with them. The future for O3 is exciting.

“We are also pleased to have received a positive acknowledgment from the Government of Nigeria, to our exciting developments – and which is aligned with the Financial System Strategy 2020 of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the main thrust of a ‘cashless Nigeria’,” he stated.

Abimbola further said the acknowledgment underscores the importance of O3 Capital’s contribution to the country’s financial ecosystem.

In May 2024, O3 Capital announced an agreement with American Express to issue four new American Express credit cards: the O3 American Express® Green Card for consumers, the O3 American Express Gold Card for consumers, and the O3 American Express Platinum® Card for consumers; and the O3 American Express Gold Business Card for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

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