The Central Bank of Nigeria has granted temporary permission to Bureau de Change operators, to purchase up to $25,000 in foreign exchange weekly from the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market, which was launched earlier this month.

The arrangement will be in effect from December 19, 2024, to January 30, 2025.

A circular dated December 19, 2024, and signed by T.G. Allu, on behalf of the CBN’s acting Director, Trade and Exchange Department, explained that this move is designed to meet seasonal retail demand for forex during the holiday period.

The circular noted that transactions will occur at the prevailing NFEM rate, and BDCs are required to adhere to a maximum 1 per cent spread when pricing forex for retail end-users.

According to the circular, BDCs may purchase forex from a single authorised dealer of their choice, provided they fully fund their accounts before accessing the market.

All transactions conducted under this scheme are expected to be reported to the CBN’s Trade and Exchange Department.

The circular read, “To meet expected seasonal demand for foreign exchange, the CBN is allowing temporary access for all existing BDCs to the NFEM for the purchase of FX from authorised dealers, subject to a weekly cap of USD 25,000.00 (Twenty-five thousand dollars only). This window will be open between December 19, 2024 to January 30, 2025.

“BDC operators can purchase FX under this arrangement from only one authorised dealer of their choice and will be required to fully fund their account before accessing the market at the prevailing NFEM rate. All transactions with BDCs should be reported to the Trade and Exchange department, and a maximum spread of 1 per cent is allowed on the pricing offered by BDCs to retail end-users.”

The CBN assured the public that Personal Travel Allowance and Business Travel Allowance remain available through banks for legitimate travel and business needs.

These transactions are to be conducted at market-determined exchange rates within the NFEM framework, as the apex bank reiterated its commitment to ensuring a fully functional and liquid foreign exchange market while addressing price volatility.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu welcomes Shell and its partners’ announcement today of the Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Bonga North Deep Offshore Field. This landmark development, Nigeria’s first deepwater oil project in over a decade, underscores the transformative impact of the President’s policies and reforms in attracting investments in the oil and gas sector.

The Bonga North oilfield, located 130 kilometres offshore in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 118, represents an impressive estimated $5 billion investment and is expected to yield approximately 350 million barrels of crude oil. Shell holds the largest operational interest, with 55%. Its other partners are the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, and Eni.

The FID signals renewed confidence in Nigeria’s energy sector and demonstrates the effectiveness of the Tinubu administration’s strategic focus on engendering a robust and competitive investment climate.

President Tinubu remarked: “The Renewed Hope Agenda fundamentally focuses on attracting investments to transform the Nigerian economy and deliver prosperity to our people. We designed our policies and reforms from the start of my administration to achieve this goal. Shell and its partners’ decision to invest in Bonga North affirms the success of our efforts. We will continue to offer the necessary support to ensure their success and the realisation of Nigeria’s energy potential.”


President Tinubu’s strategic engagement with global energy stakeholders has been instrumental in this renewed wave of investments.

In July 2023, at the first of several high-level meetings with Shell’s global leadership, President Tinubu declared, “We are open for business and serious about creating a stable, predictable, and investor-friendly environment.”

Presidential Directives issued in early 2024 reinforced this commitment by fast-tracking regulatory approvals, reducing operational costs, and introducing competitive fiscal incentives.

The Bonga North project is the second of the blueprint projects President Bola Ahmed Tinubu selected to drive the implementation of the transformative Presidential Directives 40, 41, and 42 issued in the first quarter of 2024.

These directives, aimed at enhancing regulatory clarity, accelerating project timelines, and incentivising investment in Nigeria’s energy sector, have yielded remarkable results. Earlier this year, the Ubeta oilfield (OML 58), the first blueprint project under this initiative, achieved a Final Investment Decision (FID) through a partnership between TotalEnergies and NNPC Limited. Dormant since its discovery in 1965, the Ubeta project will produce 350 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, bolstering domestic supply and expanding Nigeria’s presence in the global energy market.


With both blueprint projects now achieving FID, the success of these initiatives underscores the effectiveness of the President’s strategic vision for Nigeria’s energy future.

Ms Olu Arowolo Verheijen, Special Adviser to the President on Energy, commented on the Bonga North milestone: “The Bonga North FID dispels the misconceptions about International Oil Companies leaving Nigeria. Instead, we are witnessing a strategic pivot of IOCs-powered capital and technical capacity to deepwater and integrated gas projects, which align with President Tinubu’s vision of transforming Nigeria into a global energy hub. The divestments from onshore operations create opportunities for local oil and gas companies to expand and thrive, building a strong foundation for Nigeria’s energy future.”

Ms Verheijen further noted: “The success of Bonga North and Ubeta demonstrates the efficacy of the reforms and directives championed by the President. These projects will trigger broader investments to revolutionise Nigeria’s power generation, transportation, and manufacturing sectors. As we look ahead to 2025, we anticipate further FIDs from international and domestic players, marking a new era of growth and opportunity for Nigeria.”

The Tinubu administration remains steadfast in positioning Nigeria as a global leader in energy innovation and investment, ensuring that these efforts translate into tangible benefits for all Nigerians.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has delivered 375 per cent capital gains to investors in nearly five years, outperforming the average returns at the Nigerian stock market and the entire financial services sector.

Official data at the Nigerian stock market at the weekend indicated that investors in UBA have continued to earn an average annual return of about 75 per cent over some five years period. This highlights UBA’s impressive records as a high-yielding, inflation-hedging stock.

The trading report for the period between December 31, 2019 and December 06, 2024 showed that UBA recorded cumulative capital gain of 374.83 per cent during the period, representing average annual gain of 74.97 per cent.

This implies that an investor who had invested N500, 000 in the shares of UBA at the year’s opening price for 2020, now has a real, immediate market value of more than N2.374 million, due to accumulated capital gains. This excludes accrued cash dividends over the five-year period.

UBA, which pays dividends twice a year, is reputed as an investors’ friendly stock in terms of consistent and above-average cash dividend payment. It recently paid interim dividend of N2 per share on its first half 2024 results, the highest payout by any bank and one of the three highest yields in the entire stock market.

Such an investor who had invested N500, 000 at the 2020’s opening price would have received cash dividend of some N139, 860 as interim dividend for the 2024 business year, more than a quarter of his initial investment.

UBA is currently offering existing shareholders exclusive opportunities to increase their shareholdings in the bank with its ongoing N239.4 billion rights issue. The pan-African banking group is offering 6.84 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to existing shareholders at N35 per share. The rights issue is pre-allotted on the basis of one new ordinary share of 50 kobo each to every five ordinary shares held as at November 05, 2024. The rights issue is scheduled to close on December 24, 2024.


Shareholders have hailed the decision on a rights issue as a deliberate incentive. In a survey, minority retail shareholders, who constitute nearly three-quarters of UBA’s nearly 280,000 shareholders, were excited about the rights issue, with most indicating possibility of applying for more than their pre-allotted shares. Extant rules at the Nigerian market allow shareholders to apply for more shares and also for the company to consider such requests for additional shares. Shareholders can also trade their rights at the stock market.


The three-digit capital gain highlights UBA as a major driver of the bullish trend at the Nigerian stock market, which has sustained five years of consecutive positive returns.

The benchmark index for the Nigerian stock market, The All Share Index (ASI)- the value-based common index that tracks all share prices at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), has shown resilience over the past five years, closing on the top chart for the world’s best performing stock markets.


Average return for Nigerian equities in 2023 stood at 45.90 per cent, among the three world’s best-performing markets. ASI had posted average return of 19.98 per cent, 6.07 per cent and 50.03 per cent in 2022, 2021 and 2020 respectively.

Average year-to-date return for the ASI closed weekend at 31.34 per cent, with the market firmly on course for its fifth consecutive positive return. UBA is ahead of the market with average year-to-date return of 35.26 per cent, more than twice the average year-to-date return of 15.53 per cent for the banking sector.


UBA’s average capital gain so far this year is also considerably higher than several key indices at the stock market. The NGX 30 Index, which tracks the 30 largest quoted companies, closed weekend with average year-to-date return of 32.97 per cent.

The NGX Premium Index, which tracks a group of high-end companies with enhanced corporate governance and financial performance, closed with 30.43 per cent. UBA is listed among the premium stocks. The NGX Pension Index, which measures average return on stocks that meet the special investment criteria for pension funds, has recorded average gain of 33.95 per cent so far this year.


Nigeria’s benchmark interest rate- Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) stands at 27.25 per cent. Inflation rate stands at 33.88 per cent, according to the October 2024 Consumer Price Index (CPI) report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

UBA’s share price had opened 2020 at N7.15 per share, its closing price for December 31, 2019. It closed weekend at N33.95 per share, 35.26 per cent above its 2024’s opening price of N25.10 per share, its closing price for December 30, 2023.


Shareholders said UBA’s track records of solid financial performance, dividend policy and capital gain were competitive advantages for the pan-African banking group.

Longstanding UBA’s shareholder and Founder of Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Sir Sunny Nwosu, said UBA has proven to be dependable and resilient, attributes that have endeared the stock to all cadres of investors.

“The bank is doing well, so also are its subsidiaries. From whatever angle you look at it, UBA is a good buy. And I’m talking as a long-time shareholder. It is one bank that prioritises shareholders’ happiness. Go down the lane and check the bank’s dividend history and critical decisions when it comes to shareholders’ issues. It’s a bank one can rest on, so, I’m advising other shareholders to pick up their rights, it’s an opportunity. We are picking up ours and even asking for more,” Nwosu said.