The Bank of Industry (BoI) says it secured €1.425 billion from the senior phase of its global loan syndication scheme.

In a statement on Thursday, the BoI said the loan is largest in its history and represents a 42.5 percent oversubscription from international financial markets.

The bank said the facility includes a fully and partially guaranteed tranche by the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC).

“Previously, Bank of Industry had raised EUR 1,000,000,000 via a Term Loan syndicated facility In July 2022, which has been successfully repaid in July 2024,” the statement reads.

“The performance of the syndication is a mark of confidence in the bank and indeed in the Nigerian economy by foreign investors who perceive a bright future for the country.”

The BoI said proceeds of the loan would help to finance a growing demand for its funds across the country.

According to the statement, the bank appointed the AFC and Standard Chartered Bank as the global coordinators for the €1 billion syndicated term loan facility (with an accordion of another €1 billion).

“Africa Finance Corporation, African Export-Import Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, FirstRand Bank Limited (London Branch), acting through its Rand Merchant Bank division, Mashreqbank psc, SMBC Bank International pic, and Standard Chartered Bank were appointed as the initial mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners,” the BoI said.

“Absa Bank Limited (acting through its corporate and investment banking division) and its affiliates and Export-Import Bank of India London Branch have also joined the facility as initial mandated lead arrangers.”

The bank said it is looking forward to a successful conclusion of the ongoing general phase, given the level of interest expressed by local and international banks and investors.

Speaking on the transaction, Olasupo Olusi, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of the bank, attributed the achievement to the hard work and dedication of the institution’s management.

“This the largest syndication in the Bank’s history and is testament to the hard work and dedication of the management of Bol to ensuring that much needed low interest and longer tenured funds are available to Nigeria’s growing private sector in line with the vision of his excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Olusi said.

“We are grateful for the support received from the CBN and other agencies of government.”

Olusi assured that the bank, under his leadership, would continue to work with global development financial institutions to ensure better loan terms for Nigeria’s private enterprises.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved the sale of dollars to bureau de change (BDC) operators at N1,580/$.

In a circular signed by W.J Kanya, acting director, trade and exchange department, on Friday, each BDC can get foreign exchange (FX) of $20,000.

“This is to inform the Bureau De Change (BDC) Operators and the general public that we are providing more liquidity into the market,” CBN said.

“To this end, the CBN has approved the sale of US$20,000.00 to each eligible BDC at the rate of N1,580/$.

“This is to meet the demand for invisible transactions.”

According to the apex bank, all BDCs are allowed to sell to eligible end-users at a margin not more than 1 percent above the purchase rate from CBN.

CBN also directed interested eligible BDCs to make the naira payment to the CBN deposit account numbers with them.

“Also, payment confirmation and all necessary documentation for disbursement are to be submitted at the appropriate CBN branches – (Abuja, Awka, Kano and Lagos) for collection of the US$20,000.00,” CBN added.

On July 18, CBN approved the sale of FX to BDC operators at N1,450 per dollar to meet the demand for invisible transactions.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has responded to the accusations and charges leveled against him by French authorities for the first time since his arrest last month.

The Russian Billionaire founder of Telegram, a social media app that now boasts 950 million global users, was arrested in France upon touching down at the airport to honour French President Emmanuel Macron’s invitation to dinner.

Durov took to his Telegram channel to drop his official statement on the imbroglio, which has now been stretched for more than a week.

In his statement, Durov addressed Telegram’s challenges in moderating content but also stated that Telegram already has a European Union compliance officer who oversees Telegram’s compliance with EU laws.

He also criticized the approach of holding Tech founders culpable for the actions of its users as misguided. Durov’s statement also addressed the manner he was accosted by French authorities despite having better alternatives. He thanked the crypto community for their continued support.

“ Thanks everyone for your support and love!

Last month I got interviewed by police for 4 days after arriving in Paris. I was told I may be personally responsible for other people’s illegal use of Telegram because the French authorities didn’t receive responses from Telegram.

1. Telegram has an official representative in the EU that accepts and replies to EU requests. Its email address has been publicly available for anyone in the EU who googles “Telegram EU address for law enforcement”.
2. The French authorities had numerous ways to reach me to request assistance. As a French citizen, I was a frequent guest at the French consulate in Dubai. A while ago, when asked, I personally helped them establish a hotline with Telegram to deal with the threat of terrorism in France.
3. If a country is unhappy with an internet service, the established practice is to start legal action against the service itself. Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach. Building technology is hard enough as it is. No innovator will ever build new tools if they know they can be personally held responsible for the potential abuse of those tools. “Durov Stated

Durov lamented the difficulty in finding a balance between Privacy and security and what it takes to strike a much-needed balance.

“Establishing the right balance between privacy and security is not easy. You have to reconcile privacy laws with law enforcement requirements, and local laws with EU laws. You have to take into account technological limitations”. Durov added.