Business

Mother Earth Day: Dangote Cement Intensifies Measures to Curb Environmental Degradation

Published

2 years ago

April 25, 2022

Eric

As the world celebrates the United Nations International Mother Earth Day, leading Cement manufacturer in Africa, Dangote Cement Plc has reiterated its commitment to protecting the earth through efforts aimed at mitigating environmental degradation.

Speaking on the planned activities to observe the Earth Day in Lagos, the global headquarters of the Cement Company, the Group Managing Director, Mr Michel Puchercos noted one sure way to address the problems of the environment is through the conversion and co-processing of waste as alternative fuel.

He remarked that poor waste management is a known environmental challenge on the continent and that “Dangote cement is addressing this problem through co-processing of various alternative fuels. He recalled that last year alone, the Cement Company co-processed 89,000 tonnes of wastes as an alternative fuel, in the form of biomass, scrap tyres, fly ash, spent oil and greases, just to mention a few.
Emphasizing that adequate measures were being taken to checkmate environmental degradation, he lamented the environmental challenges the world faces, which stem from climate change, drought, desertification, deforestation, famine, violence, improper disposal of solid and chemical waste as well pollution of various degrees.

The key message for Earth Day, according to him is to act in a bold way, innovate in a broad way, and implement climate action in an equitable manner which supports Dangote Cement’s contributions to SDG 13 and aligns with the Environment pillar of the Dangote way.

In his remark, the Head, Alternative Fuel Project, Dangote Cement Plc, Mr. Peter Anagbe said this year’s Earth Day offers Dangote Cement the opportunity among others to “demonstrate our contribution to sustainable waste management and the inclusion of local communities in our value chain through the Alternative Fuel (AF) Project. This is our response to the UN’s call to action to promote harmony with nature and mother earth.”
He listed several circular economy initiatives to be implemented such as a community stakeholder enlightenment campaign to communicate the importance of managing and reusing waste responsibly. As part of the initiative, a visit will be conducted to communities where AF material is sourced and prevented from going to landfills.

Also speaking on the occasion of the World Earth Day, the Head, Sustainability, Dr. Igazeuma Okoroba explained that Dangote Cement has done a lot to protect the mother earth through strategic actions to protection of the environment from further pollution and degradation.

It would be recalled that the United Nations 2015 established the sustainable development goals. These goals are inclusive of climate change, responsible consumption and production, sustainable cities and communities, affordable and clean energy, clean water and sanitation. All of which bear on environmental issues.

Business

CBN Releases 16 Banking Transactions Not Affected by Cybersecurity Levy

Published

6 days ago

May 7, 2024

Eric

Following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s directive that all banks should commence charging a 0.5 per cent cybersecurity levy on all electronic transactions within the country, below are 16 banking transactions that are exempted from the CBN’s new cybersecurity levy:

Loan disbursements and repayments
Salary payments
Intra-account transfers within the same bank or between different banks for the same customer
Intra-bank transfers between customers of the same bank
Other Financial Institutions instructions to their correspondent banks
Interbank placements,
Banks’ transfers to CBN and vice-versa
Inter-branch transfers within a bank
Cheque clearing and settlements
Letters of Credits
Banks’ recapitalisation-related funding – only bulk funds movement from collection accounts
Savings and deposits, including transactions involving long-term investments such as Treasury Bills, Bonds, and Commercial Papers.
Government Social Welfare Programmes transactions e.g. Pension payments
Non-profit and charitable transactions, including donations to registered non-profit organisations or charities
Educational institutions’ transactions, including tuition payments and other transactions involving schools, universities, or other educational institutions
Transactions involving bank’s internal accounts such as suspense accounts, clearing accounts, profit and loss accounts, inter-branch accounts, reserve accounts, nostro and vostro accounts, and escrow accounts.

Business

CBN Directs Banks to Charge 0.5% Cybersecurity Levy on Electronic Transfer

Published

6 days ago

May 7, 2024

Eric

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed banks and other financial institutions to implement a 0.5 percent cybersecurity levy on electronic transfers.

This is contained in a circular signed by Chibuzor Efobi, Director of Payments System Management and Haruna Mustafa, Director of Financial Policy and Regulation on Monday.

The directive was issued to commercial, merchant, non-interest and payment service banks, as well as mobile money operators.

CBN said the policy would take effect in two weeks and charges would be described as ‘Cybersecurity Levy’.

According to the apex bank, the deduction and collection of the cybersecurity levy is a sequel to the enactment of the Cybercrime (prohibition, prevention etc) Amendment Act of 2024.

“Following the enactment of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) (amendment) Act 2024 and under the provision of Section 44 (2)(a) of the Act, “a levy of 0.5% (0.005) equivalent to a half percent of all electronic transactions value by the business specified in the second schedule of the Act, is to be remitted to the National Cybersecurity Fund (NCF), which shall be administered by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA),” CBN said.

CBN said the charges would be remitted to the national cyber security fund, which would be administered by the office of the NSA.

“Deductions shall commence within two (2) weeks from the date of this circular for all financial institutions and the monthly remittance of the levies collected in bulk to the NCF account domiciled at the CBN by the 5th business day of every subsequent month.”

CBN said failure to remit the levy is an offence which attracts a fine of not less than 2 percent of the annual turnover of the defaulting business, amongst others.

“Finally, all institutions under the regulatory purview of the CBN are hereby directed to note and comply with the provisions of the Act and this circular.”

Meanwhile, earlier, banks announced the reintroduction of 2 percent charge on deposits above N500,000.

Business

Naira Slumps to N1,399/$1 in Official Window, N1,430/$1 in Parallel Market

Published

2 weeks ago

April 27, 2024

Eric

The Naira continued its slump against the American dollar for the seventh consecutive day on Friday, in both the official and parallel windows.

The domestic currency traded at N1,399.23/$1 and N1,430/$1 respectively.

This is according to data sourced from the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) window.

At the end of trading on Friday, the Naira lost N89.35 against the dollar when compared to the previous exchange rate of N1,309.88/$1 on Thursday, April 26, 2024.

The intra-day high and low recorded during the day were N1,410/$1 and N1,05/$1 respectively, representing a wide spread of N359/$1.

Similarly, the Naira slumped against the dollar at the parallel section of the market for the seventh consecutive day to trade at N1,430/$1 representing a loss of N10 when compared to the N1,420/$1 it traded the previous day.

However, the Naira gained against the pound. The domestic currency appreciated by N50 against the British Pound to trade at N1,650/£1 as against the previous trading price of N1,700/£1 representing a gain of N50 for the local currency,

The Canadian dollar however closed flat against the Naira to trade at N1,000/CA$1 same as the previous trading day rate.

The Euro also slumped against the Naira to trade at N1,450/€1 as against the rate of N1,500/€1 the previous trading rate indicating a gain of N50 for the Nigerian currency.