INEC issues certificate to Niger governor-elect
Niger Governor elect Umar Bago of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has received a certificate of return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Bago was declared the winner of the governorship election in the state held on March 18.
Others that received certificates on Thursday in Minna are the deputy-governor-elect, Alhaji Yakubu Garba, and 27 state assembly members- elected.
Bago, in his acceptance speech, said that his administration would tackle insecurity and youth restiveness to ensure rapid development of the state.
“We will not rest until Niger state becomes a development model,” he said.
He assured the people of the state that they would be given equal opportunities to discover their talents and also contribute to the development of the state. (NAN)
Read also: INEC shifts Adamawa, Kebbi, other supplementary elections to April 15
NDIC assures Nigerians of safety of bank deposits
The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) on Thursday in Enugu assured depositors of the safety of their money against unusual bank failures.
The assurance was given by the Managing Director of the NDIC, Bello Hassan, who was represented by the Senior Manager, Enugu Zonal Office of the NDIC, Othman Afolayan, at the NDIC Day at the on-going 34th Enugu International Trade Fair.
He said the corporation was determined to enhance public confidence in the financial system by ensuring that customers’ deposits in banks were safe and protected.
He explained that the NDIC, in conjunction with the CBN, supervised money deposit banks to ensure that they were run in a safe and efficient manner.
This, he added, was done in line with extant laws and regulations, ensuring the resolution of distress in banks to reduce instances of failure.
First Bank changes names of UK, Africa subsidiaries
In a statement titled, “FirstBank announces a name change of its subsidiaries, reiterates its commitment to boosting cross-border business opportunities in Africa and the world,” signed by Folake Ani-Mumuney, the Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, First Bank, on Thursday, it was stated that First Bank of Nigeria Limited will change the names for its subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The bank disclosed that “FBNBank UK, FBNBank Sierra Leone, FBNBank Gambia, and FBNBank DRC are the first set of subsidiaries effecting the name alignment.
“They are now known and addressed as FirstBank UK, FirstBank Sierra Leone, FirstBank Gambia, and FirstBank DRC. The Ghana, Senegal, and Guinea subsidiaries will be next in the phased name change implementation.”
The bank said that the name change was necessitated to align the subsidiaries with the parent brand and to enjoy the strong heritage and brand equity built by FirstBank Nigeria in its 129 years of banking leadership.
Egypt’s central bank raises interest rates by 200 bps to tame inflation
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) raised its overnight interest rates by 200 basis points (bps) on Thursday following a meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), saying it aimed to bring high inflation into check.
The bank set the lending rate at 19.25 percent and the deposit rate at 18.25 percent.
In February, headline inflation soared to a five-and-a-half-year high of 31.9 percent from 25.8 percent in January. Core inflation in February rose to a record high of 40.3 percent.
“The MPC stresses that achieving a tight monetary stance is a necessary condition to attain the CBE’s upcoming inflation targets of 7 percent (± 2 percentage points) on average by 2024 Q4 and 5 percent (± 2 percentage points) on average by 2026 Q4,” it said in a statement.
Domestic supply chain disruptions, a depreciating Egyptian pound, demand side pressures “as evidenced by developments in real economic activity relative to potential capacity” and high broad money growth outturns fuelled inflation, the statement said. (Reuters)
Increased China factory activity boosts oil prices
Expansion in factory activity in China, the second largest economy in the world, boosted oil prices in early Asian trade on Friday.
Brent futures, which have risen nearly 6 percent this week, were up 15 cents, or 0.19 percent, at $79.42 a barrel at 0146 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 17 cents, or 0.23 percent, to $74.54, gaining about 8 percent this week.
According to a Reuters poll, China’s manufacturing activity rose in March at a slower pace compared with a record-breaking expansion in February but still exceeded expectations.
Industrial activity in China has become a key determinant of prices in recent weeks following the end of coronavirus-related restrictions, amid weaker global demand.
