Economy
Buhari Reaffirms Resolve to Tackle Illicit Financial Flows
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
“For my administration, fighting corruption and Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) in Nigeria is non-negotiable,” President Muhammadu Buhari has assured former President of South Africa and Chair of the AU/ECA High-Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, Mr Thabo Mbeki.
Mr Mbeki was in Abuja to meet Mr Buhari, who is also the current Champion of AU Anti-Corruption Campaign, to follow up on the efforts of AU Member States to implement the recommendations of the High-Level Panel Report (endorsed by the AU in 2015) and ultimately tackle IFFs nationally.
The visit also saw the Chair call upon the President in his capacity as the AU Anti-Corruption Champion to lead the efforts to engage action from other AU Member States towards tackling IFFs at the national, regional and continental level.
Prior to the Presidential visit, Mr Mbeki met with representatives of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government of Nigeria which deal with Financial and legislative matters to gain an understanding of the country’s ongoing efforts to tackle Illicit Financial Flows.
In his remarks to the MDAs, the Mbeki recalled the 2015 Special Declaration to address IFFs, which was a realization by African leaders of the excessive losses due to illicit outflows. “The view was that the continent was losing resources which should have been available for its development to these illicit outflows,” he said. He emphasized the level of losses from IFFs, which at the time of the Panel’s Report was 50bn USD annually, but has now grown to about 80bn annually. He also indicated on a more positive note that, “Africa has led this agenda and brought it to global attention. This was evident when the African Heads of States asked our Panel to help address this issue”.
Mr Mbeki highlighted some of the recommended actions to address these IFFs saying that Nigeria and in turn, all other AU member states need legislation to deal with money laundering, financial intelligence and tax evasion. He underlined that this issue also requires action from global partners stressing, “since these funds leave the continent to destination countries, this problem cannot be solved by Africa alone. He acknowledged the capacity constraints nationally and continentally, saying, “As Africans, we must say that having identified the nature and size of the problem, we must work to address the issue. We need to act on this matter in any capacity necessary.”
The Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Abdalla Hamdok for his part said that as a result of the Chair’s leadership, Africa was able to put the challenge of illicit finance on the global map. He referred to the Panel’s work and Report, whose impact has led to several important continental and global frameworks, including the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, as well as its inclusion in the Sustainable Development Goals.
As the Chair is required to report back to the AU Assembly of Heads of States and Government annually on the progress of implementing the recommendations of his Panel’s Report, Mr Hamdok said, “Several actions are being carried out, including this visit to Nigeria to determine the state of reaction to this issue, as well as “a technical project which is being worked on by the ECA to help capacitate AU member states against IFFs. Mr. Hamdok also stressed that all these efforts and those not yet mentioned are still, however, based on political will, which is crucial to reducing IFFs from the continent.
Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Abubakar Malami, for his part elaborated on Nigeria’s efforts to implement strategies to curb corruption and reduce IFFs. “We have taken major multi-dimensional policy decisions relating to institutions, legislations…and above all, recognizing the need for international collaboration as it relates to the fight against corruption and the minimization of illicit financial flows”. He noted that through legislative processes, Nigeria has “succeeded in establishing and capacitating institutions which are mandated with the statutory role of working to enforce financial regulations as well as tackle various misconducts including corruption and IFFs.”
He also detailed the efforts of the country in fighting corruption and IFFs through the deployment of relevant technology and international collaboration. Additionally, he highlighted the need for collaboration to make it more difficult for IFF perpetrators to move freely, invest in businesses and benefit from the proceeds of crime. He stressed that “we must work to repatriate these funds from the external perpetrators while working to detain them.
Permanent Secretary of Finance, Mahmoud Isa-Dutse delivered remarks on behalf of the Minister of Finance for Nigeria. In the speech, he commended the Chair and Panel for fighting this plague saying that IFFs have robbed Africa of the required wealth to help build schools, hospitals, roads and other necessary infrastructure. He added that the quest for Africa’s financial development will be accelerated if the efforts to recover these lost funds are successful and the continent’s development will no doubt receive a necessitated boost. In this regard, he spoke about the work of the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI), which is being led by the Minister of Finance. This effort has helped the country recover lost assets from taxes because of the increased transparency.
The two-day event culminated with a technical workshop with Thabo Mbeki. Raymond Baker, President, Global Financial Integrity and Member of the High-Level Panel as well as the Secretariat of the Panel meet with the representatives of the financial agencies and departments. Part of the objectives of the workshop was to discuss the ECA’s proposed Development Assistance Project which aims to support Nigeria and other member states in the fight against IFFs. Following this visit, the Secretariat is expected to further engage the government of Nigeria and foster collaboration to build its capacity to stem IFFs from the country.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three bellwether stocks lifted the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.62 per cent on Friday, December 12 with the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) jumping by 22.20 points to 3,600.43 points from 3,578.23 points.
In the same vein, the market capitalisation of the trading platform increased by N13.28 billion to close at N2.154 trillion from the previous day’s N2.140 trillion.
During the session, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went up by N2.53 to close at N39.71 per share compared with the previous day’s N37.18 per share, Geo-Fluids Plc added 35 Kobo to its price to finish at N5.00 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N4.65 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by 23 Kobo appreciation to sell at N60.23 per share versus N60.00 per share.
It was observed that yesterday, the price of Golden Capital Plc went down by N1.05 to N9.45 per unit from N10.50 per unit, and UBN Propertiy Plc declined by 21 Kobo to N2.01 per share from the N2.22 per share it was traded a day earlier.
There was a significant improvement in the level of activity for the day, as the volume of transactions increased by 6.2 per cent to 37.4 million units from the previous day’s 35.2 million units, the value of trades went up by 265.1 per cent to N4.9 billion from N1.4 billion, and the number of deals soared by 13.80 per cent to 33 deals from 29 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc ended the last trading day of this week as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, the second spot was taken by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units traded for N9.5 billion, and third space was occupied by a new comer in MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units worth N4.9 billion.
InfraCredit Plc also finished the session as the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units valued at N420.3 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 537.0 million units sold for N524.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The bullish run on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited continued on Friday with a further 1.00 per cent growth buoyed by gains recorded by Guinness Nigeria, Champion Breweries, and others.
Data showed that the consumer goods space expanded by 1.53 per cent during the last trading session of the week, as the insurance counter grew by 0.51 per cent, and the industrial goods sector marginally gained 0.01 per cent.
However, the banking index depreciated by 0.54 per cent due to a pocket of profit-taking, and the energy industry shrank by 0.09 per cent, while the commodity sector closed flat.
Guinness Nigeria gained 10.00 per cent to trade at N217.80, Morison Industries rose by 9.84 per cent to N4.69, Champion Breweries jumped by 9.69 per cent to N14.15, Austin Laz grew by 9.66 per cent to N2.27, and C&I Leasing appreciated by 9.62 per cent to N5.70.
Conversely, eTranzact lost 10.00 per cent to finish at N12.60, Chellarams slumped by 9.00 per cent to N13.20, Eunisell depleted by 9.89 per cent to N75.15, Africa Prudential moderated by 9.77 per cent to N12.00, and DAAR Communications decreased by 9.18 per cent to 89 Kobo.
The busiest stock on Friday was Access Holdings with 107.6 million units sold for N2.2 billion, Consolidated Hallmark traded 59.9 million units worth N245.8 million, Zenith Bank transacted 48.2 million units valued at N3.1 billion, Transcorp Power transacted 42.8 million units for N13.1 billion, and Champion Breweries exchanged 36.4 million units valued at N510.2 million.
At the close of business, a total of 602.8 million units worth N30.7 billion exchanged hands in 20,550 deals yesterday, in contrast to the 529.7 million units valued at N12.3 billion traded in 18,159 deals on Thursday, representing a surge in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 13.80 per cent, 149.59 per cent, and 13.17 per cent apiece.
Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) soared during the session by 1,485.89 points to 149,436.48 points from 147,950.59 points and the market capitalisation moved up by N945 billion to N95.264 trillion from N94.319 trillion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
An intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the foreign exchange (FX) market eased the pressure on the Naira on Friday.
The apex bank sold forex to banks and other authorised dealers in the official window to defend the domestic currency, helping to calm the FX demand pressure, with the Nigerian currency appreciating against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by 0.11 per cent or N1.57 to sell at N1,454.50/$1 compared with Thursday’s closing price of N1,456.07/$1.
Also, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N3.95 to close at N1,946.15/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,950.11/£1 but lost 10 Kobo on the Euro to quote at N1,706.46/€1 compared with the N1,706.36/€1 it was exchanged a day earlier.
At the black market segment, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the Dollar during the session at N1,470/$1 and also traded flat at N1,463/$1 at the GTBank forex counter.
Despite the sigh of relief, demand pressures outweighed the robust supply from the CBN and inflow from offshore players looking to participate at the OMO bills auction.
Gross FX reserves increased for the twenty fifth consecutive week, growing by a strong $396.84 million week-on-week to $45.44 billion.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it was down on Friday as pressure remained after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s speech on Wednesday, which hinted at a possible rate cut pause in January. As a result, markets now expect only two rate cuts in 2026 instead of three.
However, Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee, who was against a December rate cut, said he expects more in 2026 than the current median projection.
Ethereum (ETH) slumped by 5.1 per cent to $3,090.61, Solana (SOL) declined by 4.5 per cent to $132.79, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 3.8 per cent to $0.4103, and Dogecoin (DOGE) dropped 2.5 per cent to trade at $0.1373.
In addition, Bitcoin (BTC) lost 2.4 per cent to sell at $90,342.74, Litecoin (LTC) tumbled by 1.9 per cent to $81.86, Binance Coin (BNB) fell by 0.6 per cent to $886.93, and Ripple (XRP) slipped by 0.5 per cent to $2.02, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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