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Experts offer strategies to give Nigerians access to electricity

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Experts offer strategies to give Nigerians access to electricity

As demand for electricity increases, experts in the energy sector have offered strategies to get more Nigerians to access power.

Speaking at The Electricity Hub (TEH) power dialogue in Abuja, ‘Electrification Planning’, the experts recalled a World Bank report that said 92 million Nigerians (43 per cent) lack access to grid energy, one of the most significant global power access deficits.

The session had Yewande Olatunde, technical sales manager of Jinko Solar as moderator; Barbara Izilein, senior advisor to chief executive officer of Rural Electrification Agency (REA); Head of Solar Power Naija Programme at REA, Kabiru Adamu; General Manager of System Planning at Transition Company of Nigeria (TCN), Ifeoluwa Oyedele; Executive Director of Networks at Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) as panellists.

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Adamu said it is essential to acquire credible data to match the population demand and serve their demand.

Speaking on the level of demands to achieve energy access,  he said planning for each resource and understanding the best ways to take advantage of each resource was necessary.

He emphasised the challenges associated with data collation; he gave an instance of the energy sources for energy access, such as solar.

He noted that the government’s key responsibility is coordination and providing an enabling environment for the private sector to drive implementation due to its capital intensity.

He added the financial institutions that govern the industry must also be in good condition to allow investors to be comfortable with their investments.

He underscored the need for incentives as a robust regulatory framework to encourage policy consistency.

Experts offer strategies to give Nigerians access to electricity

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Naira gains further against dollar

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Naira gains further against dollar

The Naira rose further in the official market on Tuesday, trading at N1,382.95 to the dollar.

According to data from the FMDQ’s official trading portal, the Naira rose by N25.09, or 1.78 percent, from the previous day’s rate of N1,408 versus the dollar.

On Tuesday, total turnover was $245.58 million, up from $222.15 million on Monday.

Meanwhile, at the Investor’s and Exporters (I&E) window, the Naira traded between N1,486 and N1,300 against the dollar.

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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had, earlier on Tuesday at its 294th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), raised Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 200 basis points from 22.75 per cent to 24.75 per cent.

CBN governor Yemi Cardoso said that was meant to tackle the nation’s rising inflation.

Naira gains further against dollar

(NAN)

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CBN jacks up interest rate amid soaring inflation

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CBN jacks up interest rate amid soaring inflation

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday raised the interest rate from 22.75 per cent to 24.75 per cent amid soaring inflation.

Governor of the central bank, Olayemi Cardoso, made this known after the two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held on Monday and Tuesday.

The country’s latest annual inflation rate jumped to 31.70 per cent from 29.90 per cent for last month, fueled by a continuous rise in food prices.

Cardoso disclosed that the MPC voted to adjust the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +100 to -300 basis points.

He said the committee voted to retain the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 45 per cent for commercial banks and adjust the CRR of merchant banks from 10 per cent to 14 per cent.

The committee also voted to retain the liquidity at 30 per cent.

He said, “Members noted the continued rise in headline inflation driven largely by food prices, because of supply shortages, and high cost of Logistics and Distribution.

“The committee, therefore, was of the view that addressing food insecurity is key to containing current inflationary pressures.”

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Law enforcement agencies investigating $2.4bn unverified forex claims – CBN

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Law enforcement agencies investigating $2.4bn unverified forex claims – CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says law enforcement agencies are investigating $2.4 billion unverified foreign exchange claims.
Governor of the CBN Olayemi Cardoso disclosed this while speaking during a press conference on Tuesday after the 294th meeting of the monetary policy committee (MPC) in Abuja.
On February 5, the CBN governor said he inherited a $7 billion FX backlog when he became the head of the apex bank in September 2023.
However, it was discovered that $2.4 billion of the sum was invalid following an inquiry into the transactions.
Subsequently, the CBN said all outstanding FX obligations had successfully been settled.
Providing clarification on the unverified claims, the CBN governor highlighted various irregularities, such as the disbursement of large sums of FX for requests never submitted and allocations made without the necessary naira backing.
He said there was an absence of legal validity and adequate documentation in these transactions.
Cardoso also stressed the gravity of these irregularities, labelling numerous transactions under investigation as “clearly unlawful”.
“We brought in Deloitte management consultants who took time and this really did take months.
“This is not something that happened overnight and a lot of this work was going on and people didn’t know but they took months painstakingly to go through all the documents, all the documents and to ensure that you know, they would have a report, which we could rely on,” he said.
“In the course of that, of course, we determined that a number of these transactions did not qualify.
In some cases, you had some allocations that were made in millions of dollars, which were never requested for.
“We also had somewhere they had no naira and they were also allocated, you know, huge sums of foreign exchange and the list goes on. It was for that reason that we refused to validate those particular transactions.
“We refused to validate them because apart from the fact that documentation was not satisfactory, in many cases, they were outright illegal.
‘And the law enforcement agencies, of course, are now looking into those transactions that are, as far as we’re concerned, not valid to be paid.”

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