business
FG gives banks, telcos six-month ultimatum on N250bn USSD debt
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have issued a final directive to Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to resolve the protracted N250bn Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) debt dispute.
The directive, contained in a joint circular dated December 20, 2024, was signed by the acting Director of Payments System Management at the CBN, Oladimeji Taiwo, and the Head of Legal and Regulatory Services at the NCC, Chizua Whyte. The document outlines a structured payment plan for clearing the debt and introduces new operational guidelines for USSD services.
Under the terms of the directive:
60% of all debts incurred before the implementation of Application Programming Interfaces in February 2022 must be paid as full and final settlement, with payment agreements to be finalized by January 2, 2025, and full settlement due by July 2, 2025.
For debts arising after February 2022, the CBN and NCC mandated that banks pay 85% of all outstanding invoices by December 31, 2024, and ensure that 85% of future invoices are settled within one month of issuance.
Ongoing litigation related to the USSD debt issue must be discontinued.
The regulators also emphasized the transition to end-user billing for USSD services, applicable only to banks and telcos that meet the outlined payment obligations. Pending this transition, operators are required to implement a “10-seconds rule,” ensuring sessions shorter than 10 seconds are not billed.
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The Dangote Refinery is set to import at least five million barrels of U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil in July, extending its reliance on foreign crude to maintain production levels at its Lagos-based facility. According to market sources cited in a recent report, the refinery has finalized contracts to bring in approximately 161,000…
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Expert: New Oil Cost Policies Insufficient to Resolve Sector Challenges
Nigeria’s latest executive measures to curb upstream oil production costs may offer limited relief for offshore operations but fall short of addressing entrenched inefficiencies in onshore fields, according to energy expert Kelvin Emmanuel. Speaking on Arise TV’s Business Week, Emmanuel explained that the government’s newly introduced Cost Efficiency Incentive (CEI) primarily benefits offshore production-sharing contract…
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28 Nigerian Companies Among Africa’s Fastest-Growing in 2025
Twenty-eight Nigerian companies have earned a spot on the 2025 list of Africa’s fastest-growing businesses, an annual ranking compiled by the Financial Times in collaboration with research firm Statista. Now in its fourth year, the list features 130 companies from across the continent, highlighting those that achieved the highest compound annual revenue growth between 2020…
The CBN and NCC reiterated their commitment to resolving the debt impasse, stating that the measures are aimed at fostering stability in both the financial and telecommunications sectors while ensuring the continued availability of USSD services for Nigerians.