Nigeria

South Africa and Nigeria have been placed on a global financial watchdog’s so-called gray list denoting nations with shortcomings in tackling illicit financial flows, a move that scars their international reputations and may raise costs for banks and asset managers, Bloomberg News reported. The decisions were announced by the Financial Action Task Force on Friday. While South Africa’s inclusion on the list was widely flagged as a risk, the possible addition of Nigeria attracted little attention. Morocco and Cambodia were taken off the list after improving their controls.

Nigeria’s sovereign-risk premium jumped the most in three months on Monday after Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the country deeper into junk, Bloomberg News reported. The extra yield investors demand to own the West African country’s dollar debt rather than Treasuries widened 49 basis points to 780, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. data. The rate on the nation’s 2032 bonds jumped 56 basis points to 12%, also the most since October. Forward contracts on the currency traded 28% weaker than the official rate on the one-year tenor.

Nigeria's central bank on Tuesday raised its benchmark lending rate by 100 basis points to 17.5%, as monetary authorities seek to rein in inflation without choking off lending to the private sector, Reuters reported. Nigerians will head to the polls on Feb. 25 to choose a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari and the state of the economy is a major issue for voters grappling with double-digit inflation. The central bank's decision came after inflation dipped for the first time in 11 months in December to 21.34%, compared with 21.47% in November.

Experts on Wednesday raised concerns over a new policy announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria that heavily limits withdrawals of money in a push for a cashless economy, the Associated Press reported. The monetary policy, which applies to ATMs, banks and cash back from purchases, follows the launch of the West African nation’s newly designed currency notes to control the money supply. The central bank limited weekly over-the-counter cash withdrawals to 100,000 naira ($225) for individuals and 500,000 naira ($1,124) for corporations, with a processing fee required to access more.

Nigeria's central bank raised its main lending rate for the fourth straight time to 16.50% from 15.50% on Tuesday as policymakers seek to rein in inflation slowing economic growth ahead of elections next year, Reuters reported. Inflation and the state of Africa's biggest economy will be major issues when voters choose a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari, who will step down after the February polls. Nigeria continues to face inflationary headwinds, which analysts expect will be worsened by the impact of floods on food prices and from a weakening exchange rate.

Clem Oladehin, an economist and investment banker, has warned that Nigeria is edging toward bankruptcy, regretting that President Muhammadu Buhari’s government is making political decisions at the expense of the economy, Hallmark News reported. Oladehin pointed out that the continued payment of fuel subsidies is having grievous effects on the economy, even as he noted that policy inconsistencies on the part of the government are hampering investor confidence. “Subsidies are undermining the little growth achieved before,” said Oladehin.

Nigeria has launched a digital currency which the Central Bank of Nigeria says is a “major step forward in the evolution of money” in Africa’s most populous country, the Associated Press reported. President Muhammadu Buhari said at the launch Monday that the digital currency and the blockchain technology it uses can foster economic growth and increase the GDP of Nigeria’s economy, one of Africa’s biggest, by $29 billion over the next 10 years.

Following a revelation that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) incurred a N9 billion deficit in three years as a result of market meltdown by the Director-General, Alhaji Lamido Yuguda, the Senate has raised the alarm over imminent insolvency, if nothing was done to salvage the situation, the Nigerian Daily Post reported. Yuguda explained that the global economic meltdown occasioned by coronavirus has affected the fortunes of Securities and Exchange Commission.

Nigeria will work with Bitt Inc as a technical partner in its bid to launch its own cryptocurrency, the "eNaira", the Central Bank said on Monday, Reuters reported. The Central Bank announced plans to launch its own digital currency later this year after Nigeria barred banks and financial institutions from dealing in or facilitating transactions in cryptocurrencies in February. Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele has said the eNaira would operate as a wallet against which customers can hold existing funds in their bank account.

Nigeria will return to international capital markets next month to offer a portion of its planned $6.2 billion Eurobond sale, Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed said, according to a Bloomberg News report. The amount to be issued will depend on market conditions, Debt Management Office Director-General Patience Oniha said on Aug. 5. “We expect to issue in September, but that will depend on the advice of book runners and financial advisers,” Oniha said in an emailed response to questions on Thursday.