In its effort to boost innovation in the banking industry, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued the regulatory framework for Open Banking in Nigeria. Open banking is a practice whereby third-party financial service providers are given access to customer banking, transaction, and other financial data which is expected to drive competition and enhance access to banking and payments services. The guidelines are contained in a document titled “Operational Guidelines For Open Banking In Nigeria”.

The crypto market especially bitcoin has continued to plummet for the last four days and has now fallen below $31k, its lowest since July 2021. El Salvador, popularly known as the Bitcoin nation has now utilised the current bear of the crypto market and bought 500 Bitcoin at an average price of $30,744 each.

The volatility of the crypto market and its popularity have pushed the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to set New rules (drafts) for the virtual assets service providers (VASPs). Although the market at the moment is bearish weeks after experiencing a sharp selloff, driven by a strong dollar that has reached new highs in two decades, resulting in cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin and Ethereum breaking their key support levels of $40K and 3K respectively.

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) said it will issue Petroleum Prospecting Licenses (PPL) to successful investors of marginal oil fields in the 2020 bid round. Marginal oil fields are smaller oil blocks located onshore and in shallow waters which have not been exploited in the last ten years. They are usually developed by indigenous companies.

The Federal Government (FG) has begun the implementation of excise duty of N10/liter on all non-alcoholic, carbonated, and sweetened beverages. This was disclosed on Thursday by the Chief Superintendent of Customs, Department of Excise, Free Trade Zone, and Industrial Incentives, Dennis Ituma at a policy meeting.

President Muhammadu Buhari is seeking the Senate’s confirmation of his nomination of Mohammed Shehu as the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC). The President’s request was contained in a letter read by the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan during Wednesday’s plenary.

The fintech subsidiary of MTN Nigeria, Momo Payment Service Bank Limited (MomoPSB) has filed a suit in the Federal High Court seeking to compel 18 commercial banks to refund about N22.3billion that was mistakenly transferred in 700,000 transactions into accounts belonging to about 8,000 bank customers on May 24, 2022.

President Muhammadu Buhari has apologized to Nigerians over the total blackout and the protracted long queue in filing stations which has caused the citizens untold hardship. The Senior Special Assistant to Mr. President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, in a statement last night conveyed Mr. President’s sincere regrets for the inconvenience caused to citizens of the country. “The administration knows the fuel shortage has placed a strain on Nigerian citizens and businesses, but relief is on the way.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced the launch of cash collection centers called Bank Neutral Cash Hubs (BNCH) to be set up by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) or registered Cash Processing Companies (CPCs). CBN made this known in a guideline for the registration and operation of BNCHs in Nigeria. According to the CBN, BNCHs would provide an efficient platform for customers to deposit and receive cash regardless of the bank the customers’ account is domiciled, adding that BNCHs would be located in areas with a high frequency of cash transactions and business activities.