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CBN Releases N607bn Agriculture Credit for 587 Projects

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Food Security - Investors King
  • CBN Releases N607bn Agriculture Credit for 587 Projects

The Central Bank of Nigeria has released a total of N607.87bn credit to selected Deposit Money Banks to disburse for 587 agricultural projects, latest figures from the CBN have shown.

In its most recent economic report, the apex bank stated that the money was under its Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme, adding that a total of N345.06bn had been repaid by beneficiaries of the scheme.

The bank further noted that its agriculture credit guarantee to farmers increased by 98 per cent within the space of one month to N342.7m.

It said, “At end-April 2019, the total amount released by the CBN under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme to participating banks for disbursement amounted to N607.87bn for 587 projects, while total amount repaid stood at N345.06bn.”

In its latest economic report for April 2019, the CBN stated that Zenith Bank Plc, UBA Plc, Sterling Bank, and First Bank of Nigeria disbursed the highest amount to beneficiaries of the scheme.

The banks disbursed N122.66bn, N83.06bn, N72.17bn and N52.52bn, respectively, with 20 banks participating in the agriculture credit scheme.

On the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme, the CBN stated that ACGS guaranteed a total of N342.7m to 2,022 farmers in April 2019.

It said, “The amount represented an increase of 98 per cent and 22.1 per cent over the respective levels in the preceding month and the corresponding period of 2018, respectively.

“Sub-sectoral analysis showed that food crops got the largest share, amounting to N184.7m (53.9 per cent) guaranteed to 1,217 beneficiaries, followed by livestock, N48.3m (14.1 per cent) guaranteed to 191 beneficiaries.”

It added, “The sum of N42.6m (12.4 per cent) was guaranteed to mixed crops sub-sector, in favour of 329 beneficiaries. Cash crops, fisheries and others received N29.8m (8.7 per cent), N26.5m (7.7 per cent) and N10.8m (3.2 per cent), guaranteed to 189,55 and 38 beneficiaries, respectively.”

Analysis by states showed that 25 states and the Federal Capital Territory benefitted from the scheme in April 2019, with the highest and lowest sums of N46.6m (13.6 per cent) and N0.6 (0.2 per cent) guaranteed to Ogun and Kogi states, respectively.

On the agricultural sector as a whole, the bank stated that weather conditions in the Northern states were relatively drier in April 2019.

It stated that consequently, agricultural activities in the region were mainly preparation of land for the 2019 wet season farming.

“However, the Southern states experienced improved moisture as a result of the commencement of early rainfall, which led to planting activities in the region,” the apex bank said.

It added, “In the livestock sub-sector, herders continued with the migration of cattle to Southern states in search of greener pastures, while poultry farmers re-stocked birds to replace sales during the Easter festive season.

“Also, in a bid to control the spread of the contagious Bovine Pleuro Pneumonia cattle lung disease, which broke out in Kaduna State, infecting 1,850 cattle and killing 367 herds, the Kaduna state government immunised 215,000 cattle in the affected areas.”

Is the CEO and Founder of Investors King Limited. He is a seasoned foreign exchange research analyst and a published author on Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, Nasdaq, Entrepreneur.com, Investorplace, and other prominent platforms. With over two decades of experience in global financial markets, Olukoya is well-recognized in the industry.

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Banking Sector

Zenith Bank Enhances E-Channel Services for Customers

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Zenith Bank - Investors King

Zenith Bank, one of Nigeria’s leading financial institutions, has restored improved services across its electronic transaction channels, ensuring customers have seamless access to banking services.

In a statement released on Thursday via its X handle, the bank confirmed that customers can now conveniently conduct transactions across various platforms following a recent upgrade. These enhancements follow temporary glitches caused by routine IT maintenance aimed at optimizing service delivery.

Zenith Bank reiterated its commitment to providing improved services and highlighted the various channels available for customer transactions, including:

– Zenith Bank Debit, Credit, and Prepaid Cards
– Automated Teller Machines (ATMs)
– Point of Sale (POS) Terminals
– Zenith Bank Mobile App
– Internet Banking Platform
– Zenith Agents nationwide for agent banking

Customers are also encouraged to visit any of the bank’s branches across the country for in-person transactions.

Zenith Bank reassured further improvements in service delivery following the IT infrastructure upgrade. Customers with bulk payments and salary requests are encouraged to present payment mandates at any Zenith Bank branch nationwide for expedited processing.

Zenith Bank remains dedicated to enhancing customer experience and ensuring reliable banking services across all platforms.

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Banking Sector

Nigerian Banks Face Soaring Wage Bills Amid Rising Inflation

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First Bank

Many Nigerian commercial banks have been spending more on hiring staff, fresh data has revealed.

Following worsening inflation in the country, some banks have to pay more for their newly hired workers, thus doubling the banks’ wages and salaries in just over a year and putting pressure on their operating costs.

The data showed that wages and salaries incurred by 10 banking groups in the first half of 2024 (H1 2024) stood at N615.8 billion, representing a 96 percent growth from the N314.4 billion incurred in H1 2023.

The banking groups are Access Holdings, UBA, FBN Holdings (First Bank), GTCO (GT Bank), Zenith Bank, Stanbic IBTC Holdings (Stanbic), Wema Bank, FCMB Group, Sterling Holding Company (Sterling), and Jaiz Bank.

It showed that Access Holdings incurred the highest wage bill among the banks, with N151.5 billion, up by 145 percent from the N61.9 billion reported in H1 2023 while First Bank’s personnel expenses for H1 2024 hit N134.2 billion, marking a 110 percent year-on-year increase from the N63.9 billion personnel expenses incurred in H1 2023.

For UBA, its wage bill grew by 92 percent year-on-year to N126.6 billion during the six months, up from N65.9 billion as of H1 2023. Also, Zenith Bank’s wage bill soared by 64 percent year-on-year to N63.5 billion, from N38.6 billion in H1 2023. Stanbic incurred wage expenses of N40.6 billion during the six-month period, up from N28.2 billion in H1 2023.

GT Bank’s wage bill almost doubled, increasing by 98 percent year-on-year to N39.3 billion, up from N19.9 billion in H1 2023. FCMB Group’s wage bill grew by 74 percent to N26.6 billion in H1 2024, up from N15.2 billion reported in the corresponding period of 2023.

In the same vein, Wema Bank’s wage also went up by 77 percent to N15.6 billion, from N8.8 billion in H1 2023. Sterling Bank’s wage bill also jumped by 41 percent year-on-year to N12.5 billion, from N8.9 billion as of H1 2023.

Jaiz Bank’s wage bill went up by 78 percent to N5.5 billion, from N3.1 billion in H1 2023.

The data showed that for some of these banks, the increase in employees also contributed to their rising wage bills, though, marginally.

For example, Zenith Bank increased its employee count by 511 to 8,146 between H1 2023 and H1 2024. UBA’s employee count between H1 2023 and H1 2024 increased marginally by 3 percent or 338, from 9,751 to 10,089.

While some companies downsize their staff strength, due to the harsh economy in the nation, the few available workers have been overloaded with work.

With inflationary pressures hitting hard on individuals and businesses, companies have been forced to substantially increase the wages for the few available staff.

For banks, apart from their staff wages, they have also had to incur increased outsourcing costs. Outsourcing costs relate to expenses incurred when a bank hires third-party contract staff.

GT Bank’s outsourcing costs increased by 69 percent year-on-year to N14.5 billion during the half-year, in contrast with N8.6 billion in H1 2023. First Bank’s outsourcing costs jumped by almost 300 percent year-on-year during the half-year to N16.4 billion, from N4.3 billion in H1 2023. Wema Bank also saw a dramatic increase in its outsourcing costs, posting N8.85 billion for the category in H1 2024, representing a 272 percent year-on-year growth from N2.38 billion as of H1 2023.

The jump in labour costs for banks has positioned some of them as the top-paying employers in the country. For instance, in H1 2024, Stanbic IBTC Holdings posted a wage per employee of N2.11 million per month. Zenith Bank had a wage per employee of about N650,000 per month, a stark comparison with UBA’s N2.09 million per month. However, UBA’s foreign operations employ about 4,150 staff members.

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Banking Sector

Zenith Bank Apologizes for Service Disruption, Assures Customers of Improved Operations

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Zenith Bank - Investors King

Zenith Bank Plc has tendered an apology to its customers for the poor services experienced on its banking platforms.

Investors King reported that the service disruption which lasted for days left customers frustrated.

Despite the notice from the bank notifying its customers that it would perform maintenance from September 29 to October 1, many customers took to social media to register their disappointment with the bank.

Also, on Monday, September 30, angry customers converged at Zenith Bank, Ijaiye Ojokoro branch in Lagos, demanding access to their money.

A customer, Segun, who said that his main goal was to transfer his funds to another bank after being unable to access his money through any means revealed that for two days, he had tried to withdraw or transfer money through the bank’s mobile app, but nothing worked.

“My family nearly went hungry yesterday because of this issue,” he said, adding that his ATM card wasn’t working either.

However, on Thursday, Zenith Bank issued an apology via its official X handle to its customers.

The bank revealed that it had completed its maintenance upgrade and apologized for the inconvenience caused during the process.

Zenith Bank disclosed that the upgrade was aimed at improving the bank’s quality of service to its customers, emphasizing that customers can now perform transactions conveniently on all its banking channels, including mobile app, internet banking platform, debit card, agent banking, and branches nationwide.

The statement read, “Dear Valued Customer,

We sincerely apologise for the service disruptions you experienced recently on our banking channels. This was due to an information Technology upgrade aimed at improving the quality of service we provide.

We have made significant progress with the upgrade and you can now perform transactions conveniently with the following Zenith bank Channels:

Your Zenith Bank Debit Card
The Zenith Bank Mobile App
The Zenith bank Internet Banking Platform
Zenith Agents nationwide (Agent Banking)

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