Business
Fire Disaster Renders Shop Owners, Residents Homeless
An early fire disaster which occurred along Chamley by Target Street, Calabar, at the weekend has rendered both shop owners and residents of the area homeless as most of the wares were not evacuated due to the odd hour of the incident.
Speaking at the scene of the incident, the Director-General, Cross River State Emergency Management Agency, Mr Vincent Aquah, urged Nigerian to exhibit extreme caution in handling combustible materials to avoid fire outbreaks.
Mr Aquah, who gave the advice while assessing the level of destruction which engulfed a structure housing spare parts and provision stores, as well as residential apartments, attributed the fire to misuse of combustible materials.
He called on Nigerians to always reflect on the dangers associated with such disasters and avoid anything that could lead to such unfortunate situation.
The SEMA boss said that it was pathetic that the inferno not only displaced about 15 persons, but also grossly affected the livelihood of about 7 families as their entire shops were burnt to ashes.
Narrating his ordeal, one of the tenants and provision shop owner, Pastor Nsebong Enang said he had lost goods worth hundreds of thousands of Naira in the fire outbreat.
Collaborating, Mr Empero Christopher and Ikechukwu Ngere, both motor spare parts dealers, said hundreds of thousands of naira worth of goods had also been destroyed.
It was gathered that the fire, which started at about 1.45 am was caused by a spark from one of the provision stores.
The cause of the spark is yet to be ascertained.
Our correspondent reports that property destroyed include, the entire buildings, housing generators, fridges, crates of assorted drinks, motor spare parts, food stuff, clothing and other household properties.
Credit to Nigeria’s private sector rose to N83.26 trillion in June 2026 from N81.04 trillion in May, signifying a positive balance of N2.22 trillion month-on-month.
Year-on-year, the figure represents a nine per cent increase compared with the N76.13 trillion recorded in June 2025. The latest figures come as the CBN continues to balance efforts to control inflation with the need to support economic growth and expand credit to businesses.
The CBN data shows that credit to Nigeria’s private sector increased by approximately 2.74 per cent month-on-month between May and June 2026. Also, the CBN data noted that credit to the government fell slightly to N40.03 trillion from N40.38 trillion. Other assets, net, dropped to N10.76 trillion from N12.63 trillion.
The credit surge signifies sustained growth in lending to businesses and other private-sector borrowers during the month. The rise in private sector credit was recorded alongside an increase in net domestic credit, despite declines in credit to government and other assets.
Further analysis of the report says that compared with June 2025, private sector credit rose by about N7.13 trillion yea-on-year but net domestic credit increased by approximately N1.87 trillion during the month.
The CBN’s relatively tight monetary policy stance notwithstanding, more banks still loaded funds to the private sector within the period. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) held its 306th meeting on July 20 and 21.
The Committee reviewed recent developments in the global and domestic economies, assessed emerging risks to the outlook and considered their implications for monetary policy and retained all rates.
The Committee decided to retain the Monetary Policy Rate at 26.5 per cent; the Standing Facilities Corridor around the MPR at +50/-450 basis points and retain the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) for Deposit Money Banks at 45.00 per cent, Merchant Banks at 16.00 per cent, and non-TSA public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent.
The MPC decision means that credit extension in the private sector will likely continue to rise because of rising confidence in the sector and calls by stakeholders for banks to invest in the private scetor instead of government securities.
