Five things to know to start your Monday

SMEDAN microfinance bank to begin early 2023 — Fasanya

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) says plans to commence operations of its microfinance bank early in 2023 have begun.

Olawale Fasanya, the Director-General of SMEDAN, stated this in an interview with the press on Sunday in Abuja.

Fasanya said that the microfinance bank of SMEDAN would help in addressing the challenge of access to finance faced by most Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), a major impediment to their growth in the country.

“We are in the process of launching a microfinance institution that will be lending at a single-digit interest rate.

“It will be run by the private sector, but we will be on the board so that we will be able to checkmate abuses and know how it is being run,” he said.

Fasanya said that money had been set aside to get the licence for the bank, and they were partnering with some business member organisations that would bring in funds to capitalise the microfinance institution.

Crude oil revenue rise by N308.6bn

The recent security arrangement between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and several indigenous security organisations in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria to end oil theft has resulted in a rise in crude oil earnings of N308.6 billion, the NNPCL has revealed.

Data obtained from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) on Sunday showed that the country’s oil earnings moved up between September and November this year.

EIB bank lends Tunisia 150m euro in emergency support for food security

The European Investment Bank (EIB), the lending arm of the European Union, has approved a 220 million euro ($233 million) loan for Tunisia, including 150 million euros in emergency support for food security, the Tunisian Ministry of Economy said on Sunday.

Tunisia has been in severe financial crisis since the start of the Russian-Ukraine war, which has resulted in shortages of many food commodities in recent weeks.

Mahmoud Elyess Hamza, the agriculture minister, said the loan will help Tunisia regularly supply soft wheat.

Crude oil rises on China demand hopes

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil price rose above $75 per barrel on Monday, snapping a two-day decline, as Chinese officials promised to increase consumption at a key economic policy meeting, reviving hopes of increased demand in the world’s top crude importer.

Added to China’s renewed consumption boost is the US emergency reserves replenishment, which is expected to start with a 3 million barrel, fixed price purchase, following a year of unprecedented releases from strategic reserves to counter soaring energy costs.

Another major event that has impacted the price is the price cap imposed by the Group of Seven and the European Union on Russian oil, which has so far been less effective.

Chinese business confidence falls to lowest in almost a decade on COVID

China’s business confidence fell to its lowest since January 2013, a survey by World Economics showed on Monday, reflecting the impact of surging COVID-19 cases on economic activity and the abrupt lifting of many pandemic control measures.
The index fell to 48.1 in December from 51.8 in November, according to World Economics’ survey of sales managers at over 2,300 companies conducted Dec. 1–16. The index was the lowest since the survey began in 2013.
The survey results were among the first indicators of how business sentiment has taken a hit in the world’s second-biggest economy, after the sharp relaxation of strict COVID containment measures on Dec. 7 triggered a still-growing wave of domestic COVID cases across China.
“The survey suggests strongly that the growth rate of the Chinese economy has slowed quite dramatically and may be heading for recession in 2023,” World Economics said. This is according to Reuters.