Banking

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s third-largest lender by market value named a new chairman after investors wrestled for control of the 127-year institution. FBN Holdings Plc, owner of First Bank of Nigeria, on Friday received approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria to appoint Ahmad Abdullahi to the role, after Remi Babalola resigned, pressured by a “contest by some significant shareholders for control,” the regulator’s spokesman Osita Nwanisobi said by phone from the capital, Abuja. An FBN spokeswoman…

LAGOS (Capital Martket in Africa) -Cash in circulation in Nigeria rose to a record in October despite a push by authorities to engender cashless transactions and control money supply in Africa’s most populous nation. The amount of naira notes and coins circulating in the economy increased 4.6% to 3 trillion naira ($7.3 billion) in October from the previous month, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria data. Broad money supply, or M2, surged to a record 41.4…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africsa) – A senior Senate Democrat suggested that uncertainty over who will run the Federal Reserve has limited action to rein in U.S. inflation and urged President Joe Biden to renominate Fed Chair Jerome Powell for another term. “I think we’ve got issues revolving around inflation that he can’t do much about as long as he’s not confirmed,” Montana Senator Jon Tester said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. Powell “needs to…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bank of England policy maker Jonathan Haskel injected a note of caution into the debate about whether to raise interest rates in the U.K. Speaking at a Resolution Foundation event, Haskel said the economy was “firing on two cylinders” and that it’s “too early to declare success” in getting those on furlough back into work. While Haskel said he wasn’t commenting on monetary policy, the remarks highlight the case…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigerian central bank’s digital currency has lured about half a million users three weeks after it was introduced in a move to entice people away from crypto currencies. Adoption rate for the Central Bank of Nigeria digital currency called eNaira “has been excellent,” according to Osita Nwanisobi, spokesman for the Abuja-based lender. More than 488,000 people have downloaded the consumer wallet — that’s needed to transact eNaira — while about 78,000…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africsa) – Tomi Somefun still recalls the shock in 2015 when she was summoned to meet the board of Unity Bank Plc and offered the position of chief executive officer. That made her the only female CEO of a Nigeria-based lender — the second woman to occupy the top position. But she’s no longer an outlier. Women now make up almost one-third of the CEOs of Nigeria’s commercial banks, well ahead of African peers…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The pace of transition in futures and options markets has sped up with total Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) exposure beyond 2023 rising quickly. The pace of the transition to the new U.S. interest rate benchmark, the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), has picked up dramatically in recent months, with the additional impetus coming from July’s successful launch of the SOFR First initiative by U.S. regulator the Commodity Futures…