Nigeria’s Central Bank will begin the implementation of an amended 2015 Cybersecurity Act that will levy a 0.5% fee on all electronic transactions on May 20, an increase of 900% from an earlier levy of 0.005%. It means an electronic transfer of ₦1,000 will attract a ₦5 fee while a ₦100,000 transfer will attract a ₦500 fee. The value of electronic transactions in Nigeria rose by 66% to over ₦600 trillion in 2023, according to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS). The Cybersecurity Act was first passed in 2015 and introduced a 0.005% levy on electronic transfers. The cybersecurity levy will be remitted monthly to the National Cybersecurity Fund (NCF), managed by the NSA.

The Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives Company, Bismarck Rewane, said telecommunications companies need to increase tariffs to improve the quality of their services and attract more investments. The economist, who was a guest on Arise TV on Saturday, highlighted the urgent need for fresh investments to upgrade infrastructure and improve services. Rewane’s comments support the telcos’ push for cost-reflective tariffs, which they said were necessary due to adverse economic headwinds threatening their financial viability. He cautioned that failure to take prompt action could result in multiple telecom operators being forced to cease operations, thereby depriving millions of Nigerians of essential communication services. Izuagbe stressed that the current tariff regime is inadequate to cover the costs of service provision and urged regulatory bodies to address the industry’s challenges and provide support to operators to maintain service quality.

It’s no news that many candidates failed the just concluded Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). These are some common reasons you failed 2024 UTME. Lack of Adequate PreparationOne of the primary reasons students fail UTME is insufficient preparation. Neglecting Past QuestionsIgnoring past JAMB questions is a common mistake. Past questions provide valuable insights into the exam format, types of questions, and topics to focus on.

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The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, will now represent President Bola Tinubu at the 2024 US-Africa Business Summit in Dallas, Texas, not Vice President Kashim Shettima, as announced earlier. The US-Africa Business Summit aims to foster economic cooperation and explore investment opportunities between the United States and African countries. Besides the summit plenary, the Foreign Minister is expected to speak at the Roundtable on African Infrastructure Investment with a focus on impact and returns. He is also scheduled to speak on a high-level panel on agribusiness, focusing on transiting “from food insecurity to thriving agribusinesses”. He is also expected to attend other meetings and engagements on the sideline of the summit, the statement read.

One of the topics of the day was the seeming face-off between a former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. And that is the point those who have been clamouring for the EFCC to do a better job of the allegations against Bello have been making. He promised to tackle this, but he appears to have failed in his first major case involving Bello. Even Olukoyede confirmed this when he said that his invitation to the former Kogi State helmsman was via a personal telephone call. Otherwise, the political connotation being read into the Bello case will refuse to go away.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has released a new tariff order for May 2024, which will see a reduction in electricity rates for consumers. The revised tariff order, which affects all eleven electricity distribution companies in the country, will lower the end-user tariffs for Band “A” customers from NGN225/kWh to NGN206.8/kWh. In response to the NERC’s order, the electricity distribution companies, Abuja, Ikeja, and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Companies, among others, have begun to reduce the tariff accordingly. The new tariff order is a reflection of the NERC’s commitment to its tariff methodology and its responsiveness to changes in the economic landscape. “The statement read, “Pursuant to the tariff methodology adopted by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, a revised tariff order covering the month of May 2024 has been issued by the Commission to the eleven (11) electricity distribution companies.

ADVERTISEMENTNigerian companies who have downsizedThe affected companies include;1. Dangote Sugar RefineryThe report noted that Dangote Sugar Refinery came tops in the list as over 675 staff left the company during the period. Nigerian Breweries PLCDuring the period in review, about 380 employees of Nigerian Breweries were downsized. CadburyCadbury Nigeria lost 21 employees during the period in review. ConoilADVERTISEMENTConoil employees dropped to 149 from 168 reported in 2022 showing the company lost just 19 employees during the period.

China- and Netherlands-based sales firm Fortissimo Films has picked up the international rights to new Chinese sports feature film “Wild Punch.” It will launch the film in territories outside mainland China next week at the Cannes Market. Both with something to prove, the two will have to face each other in the ring. Since 2017, Momo Pictures has produced since several films including “The Best Is Yet to Come,” which played at Venice and Toronto IFF, “A Long Shot,” which was a Tokyo festival prize-winner, and “The Boy who Counted Cars.” This is the first collaboration between Momo Pictures and Fortissimo Films. Popular on VarietyFortissimo recently announced that it is to handle sales of Shen Jie’s Chinese animation film The Umbrella Fairy. Fortissimo was also responsible for selling rights to cutting edge Chinese animation “Deep Sea” by Tian Xiaopeng.

The Nigerian Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has called for urgent coordinated action and strategic interventions to effectively address the fuel scarcity presently being faced by Nigerians. “Like a sore that has refused to heal, the recurrent issue of fuel scarcity has reared up its ugly head again, notwithstanding the removal of fuel subsidy. “The fuel subsidy removal, among other things, was supposed to liberalise the market and ensure the free flow of the product. The ongoing scarcity, with attendant loss of productive man hours as a result of endless hours spent at filling stations, defies logic,” the association stated. “Idle capacity will eventually trigger low production and profit, leading to retrenchment or layoffs of workers,” the association added.

The Ogun State Police Command has arrested a 40-year-old male worshipper identified as Abiola, otherwise known as Aro, who was accused of defiling a 14-year-old minor (name withheld) at the Olorunloba Mosque restroom located on Ondo Road in the Ijebu-Ode area of Ogun State. Before Saturday’s incident, the suspect had been a member of the mosque for more than 15 years, according to information obtained exclusively by PUNCH Metro. He was said to have then allegedly shoved her back into the restroom and forced her up against the wall. A related incident occurred on April 26, 2024, according to PUNCH Metro report, when the command detained two brothers, Olamijuwon Noibi and Lukman Olatunbosun, for suspected gang rape in Oke-Eri, Atan-Ijebu. Noibi was said to have also filmed the moment his brother was allegedly having unlawful sexual intercourse with the survivor.

Labor has announced changes to the way Hecs and Help student debts are indexed, with the change likely to deliver a saving to most debtors. You can use this calculator to see an estimate of how much such a credit could be, based on your Help or Hecs debt and your income:Help/Hecs changes credit calculator This shows an estimate of how the government's changes to Hecs/Help indextion may affect you, based on preliminary figures. Put in your current Help debt and your annual income to get a rough estimate of how long it could take you to pay off your debt. The chart shows the money added from indexation each year , compulsory and voluntary repayments each year , and then the total debt over time . This model assumes wage growth increases steeply after graduation, then tapers downwards over nine years to the historical average wage growth.

Majority of the world’s insurers and biggest banks are using external GenAI tools, and about a fifth of them have yet to decide where responsibility for AI lies. This is contained amongst the findings of an ORX survey of 26 of the world’s biggest banks and insurers, of which most were using Microsoft Copilot, followed by ChatGPT and Google Bard/Gemini. However, it seems that more needs to be done within some firms to effectively communicate these policies. Steve Bishop, research and information director at ORX comments, “Only last October, the picture regarding the use of GenAI in daily operations was very different, with many banks and insurers taking a cautious approach or even blocking access, mainly to ChatGPT. Since then, we’ve seen a slight shift and some firms have been using pilot exercises to explore the value of these tools and understanding use cases.

Israel’s government has moved to shut down the operations of the Al Jazeera television network in the country, branding it a mouthpiece for Hamas. Al Jazeera called claims it was a threat to Israeli security a “dangerous and ridiculous lie”. The shut down of Al Jazeera in Israel has been criticised by a number of human rights and press groups. Foreign journalists are banned from entering Gaza, and Al Jazeera staff there have been some of the only reporters on the ground. Qatar, where Al Jazeera is headquartered, is mediating talks between Israel and Hamas over the now almost seven-month-long conflict.

The Mayor of Brampton, Patrick Brown, has stated his admiration for Lagos State when he visited in the year 2007. I went to Lagos and I fell in love with the country. “There’s a lot of love for Nigeria in my city,” he said. Also, a member of the Provincial Parliament in Brampton North, Graham McGregor, tweeting as @BramptonGraham, on Sunday, wrote, “In Brampton, we’ve got one of the fastest growing Nigerian-Canadian communities. And to the connections we’re building here with the Nigerian-Canadian community, we want to make sure Nigerians are part of it.”