BUSINESS
PAPSS, BUNA Sign MoU to build Payments Between Africa, Arab Region
The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) in collaboration with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BUNA.
PAPSS is operated by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank)This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Papa Thiongane, the Manager, Marketing and Communications, PAPSS, in Abuja on Wednesday.
PAPSS is a centralised Financial Market Infrastructure that enables the efficient flow of money securely across African borders, minimising risk and contributing to financial integration across the regions.
According to Thiongane, BUNA is the cross-border and multi-currency payment system owned by the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF).He said it was aimed at enabling financial institutions and central banks in the Arab region and beyond to send and receive payments in local currencies and key international currencies.
The marketing manager said that interoperability among payment systems as the foundation for enhancing cross-border payments, required technical process and business system compatibility so that end users could seamlessly transact with each other across systems. “This collaboration lays the foundation for the interoperability between PAPSS and BUNA payment systems. “Their participants will be able to make fast, secure and affordable transactions in their local currencies between the African continent and the Arab region.’’
Thiongane said that PAPSS was aggressively expanding its footprints across Africa, with eight central banks, six switches and about 25 of the largest commercial banks on the continent. He said that PAPSS had also signed very significant strategic relationships with other key institutions.
“By joining PAPSS, banks enable their customers to trade within Africa. Each bank joining PAPSS has access to tens of thousands of end-users already connected across the platform’s growing community of financial institutions. “Central banks joining the PAPSS infrastructure extends the collective reach of the payment system to millions more, with the resultant positive impact on intra-African Trade.
He said that the collaboration between PAPSS and Buna would further these benefits to the Buna network and vice versa.“Together we will create the foundational support for the innovation of trade and payment solutions which will significantly enhance the economy of both regions.’’
He said that PAPSS also planned to collaborate with other regional and continental cross border payments systems to extend its range beyond the African borders to support the growth of trade and investments with the African continent. The statement quoted Prof Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman, Board of Directors of Afreximbank and Chairperson of PAPSS Management Board, as saying “the MoU with BUNA is another important step that PAPSS has taken after its commercial launch’’.
Oramah said that the Arab World and Africa had a long history of trade relations, adding that the PAPSS-BUNA partnership would further facilitate the growth of trade between the two regions. He said that the integration would provide banks across Africa and the Arab World with a seamless and one-stop centre to help their clients transfer value to their counterparts in either region.
“As chairperson of the Arab-Africa Trade Bridges (AATB), I am very proud of this outcome and thank the Arab Monetary Fund, Badea and the Islamic Trade Finance Company (ITFC) for their strong partnership.”Dr Abdulrahman Al Hamidy, the Director -General Chairman of the Board of the Arab Monetary Fund, was quoted as saying “we highlight the important role of Afreximbank and the AMF in leading strategic initiatives.
“That can strengthen the economic ties between the Arab region and the African continent and support the global efforts to promote financial inclusion and improve access to appropriate financial services. “Buna’s success to establish interoperability with regional market infrastructure like PAPSS is another key milestone in Buna’s continuous efforts to expand its regional and global network and increase the value it brings to its participants.”
The CEO of PAPSS, Mr Mike Ogbalu was quoted as saying, “PAPSS being Africa’s premier continent-wide payment rail specifically designed to transform trade on the continent is focused on the impact and not on short-term commercial benefits. Ogbalu said that PAPSS had been able to strike a balance between these objectives and ensure that commercial value was not destroyed for its stakeholders. “Sustaining this impact focus in its collaboration with Buna will have a dramatic impact on trade between Africa and the Arab world, and this is very exciting.’’ (NAN)
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPC Ltd.) recorded N7.2 trillion Profit After Tax (PAT) in 2025, a 33 per cent increase from N5.4 trillion.
Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at a media briefing after the company’s AGM and second Earnings Call.
Revenue declined to N34.
5 trillion from N45.1 trillion in 2024.Ojulari attributed the 24 per cent revenue decline to lower crude oil prices and reduced product volumes following market deregulation.
He said earnings per share rose to N35.
90 from N27.07, while return on equity improved by 200 basis points to 16 per cent.The company’s declared dividend increased by 35 per cent to N5.8 trillion, while taxes, royalties and other government remittances rose 39 per cent to N22.3 trillion.
“Stronger earnings in spite of this pressure demonstrate the resilience of NNPC Limited’s operations,” Ojulari said.
He said profit grew because NNPC had improved its operations and maintained discipline across its businesses.
Ojulari said crude oil and condensate production reached a five-year peak of 1.77 million barrels per day.
He added that gas supply reached a three-year high of 7.2 billion standard cubic feet per day.
“Stronger performance gives NNPC Limited more capacity to invest, contribute to public revenue and strengthen Nigeria’s energy security,” he said.
On infrastructure, Ojulari said the mainline of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline had been completed.
He said work was ongoing on tie-ins to delivery points, beginning with Abuja, followed by Ajaokuta and Kaduna.
According to him, the next milestone is to commence gas flow through the pipeline to industries and power plants.
Ojulari said the company completed the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) gas pipeline in 2026 after several years of challenges.
On the refineries, he said prospective partners under NNPC’s technical equity partnership model had conducted a three-month onsite review.
He said more than 34 engineers participated in the review, adding that NNPC was now concluding the report.
Ojulari said the company was targeting self-sustaining and profitable refineries, with a pathway expected to be defined soon.
He reaffirmed NNPC’s target of producing two million barrels of crude oil daily by 2027 and three million barrels by 2030.
He said gas production targets were 10 billion cubic feet per day by 2027 and 12 billion by 2030.
“NNPC plans to mobilise over 60 billion dollars of investment across the energy value chain,” he added.
Ojulari said more than 1,000 newly recruited professionals joined NNPC in 2025 under its Talent to Value programme.
He said the recruits completed a one-year internship and training programme before being deployed across the company. (NAN)
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) says there is a need for sustained capacity building in competition reporting and issues.
The Executive Vice Chairman of FCCPC, Tunji Bello, said this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday.
Bello described competition matters as a relatively new area in the country adding that it required specialised knowledge among journalists, regulators and other stakeholders.
He said that competition law and consumer protection regulations had made stakeholders’ education a priority for the commission.
Bello said that the FCCPC recently supported the training of judges through the National Judicial Institute (NJI) to deepen understanding of competition-related matters.
He noted that members of the judiciary also required exposure to the nuances of the emerging field.
“We recognised that because it is a new terrain, the judges themselves are not familiar with the nuances.
”So we brought in experts on competition,” he said.
Bello stressed that the media had a critical role in promoting public understanding of competition and consumer protection issues.
“If FCCPC is becoming more known to the public, it is as a result of the kind of publicity you have given us,” he said. (NAN)
Fire gutted the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Western Marine Command office in Apapa, Lagos, on Monday, destroying property worth millions of Naira.
The fire, which reportedly started at about 10:23 a.m. from an electrical surge in the conference room, spread to other sections of the building.
Officers on duty made frantic efforts to contain the fire before officials of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service arrived at about 10:45 a.
m.The Deputy Comptroller of Customs, Timothy Jonah, who just resumed at the Command, to take over the affairs from his predecessor, described the incident as unfortunate.
He said: “I just resumed duty to take over, only to witness this fire outbreak.
“Every challenge, though negative, is an opportunity to strengthen our operations.
“In the meantime, we will set up a committee to investigate the cause of the fire.”
He commended the swift response of the personnel on duty and their collaboration with the fire service, saying measures would be taken to strengthen safety protocols and prevent a recurrence. (NAN)
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