Business
EU Fines Temu 200m Euros Over Illegal Products
The EU slapped a 200-million-euro ($232 million) fine on Chinese-owned online retailer Temu on Thursday for allowing the sale of illegal products, including dangerous baby toys and defective chargers.
“The company failed to diligently identify, analyse, and assess the systemic risks of illegal products being offered on its platform and the resulting harm to consumers in the European Union,” the EU said.
According to EU regulators, European consumers are “very likely to encounter illegal items” on Temu, and the company “seriously underestimated how often EU consumers are likely to” see such products.
Temu is extremely popular in the European Union, with 130 million users after entering the bloc’s market in 2023.
But it has come under fierce scrutiny since October 2024 when the EU opened its investigation, which preliminarily found in July last year that Temu had breached landmark rules over the risks of illegal products.
“Temu is a very big player in the European market,” EU tech commissioner Henna Virkkunen told reporters, adding that its size meant that a “very big part” of EU consumers get their hands on such illegal products.
Thursday’s fine is only the second imposed under the EU’s powerful Digital Services Act (DSA) on content, after Elon Musk’s X platform received a 120-million-euro fine in December.
Under the DSA, the world’s most popular digital platforms including social media apps and online retailers must conduct a risk assessment to understand what dangers they pose and how to tackle the risks.
The EU slammed Temu for its 2024 risk assessment that it said “falls short of the standards”, citing the discovery of baby toys, such as rattles, containing chemicals that exceeded legal safety limits, and chargers that failed basic safety tests. It also pointed to jewellery.
The European Commission said Temu failed to properly assess the platform’s design and how it “could amplify dissemination risks of illegal products”.
– EU focus on China –
The DSA is part of the EU’s bolstered legal armoury to curb what the bloc considers excesses by Big Tech, and fines can go as high as six percent of a company’s total worldwide annual turnover.
While the EU could have hit Temu with a higher fine, a European Commission official said the amount was proportionate to the breach since it concerned a risk assessment for one year where the conclusions were “clear-cut”.
Temu must now pay the fine and present a plan to the EU by August 28 that includes what action it will take to address the breaches.
If Temu does not comply, it faces periodic penalty payments.
It can also appeal the fine, as Musk has already done in the EU courts.
The EU continues to investigate other suspected breaches in the same probe including the use of addictive design features that could hurt users’ physical and mental well-being, and how Temu’s systems recommend content and products.
The fine comes a day before the EU executive is set to debate how the 27-nation bloc should approach China to level the playing field, with top EU officials warning that Europe must get tougher on China to defend its economy.
Brussels has already stepped up its anti-subsidy investigations into Chinese companies investing in Europe, and on Thursday it opened an in-depth probe into Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com’s bid for Ceconomy, a major German electronics retail group, on suspicion it was boosted by state subsidies.
Nigeria’s inflation rose for the third consecutive month to 15.93 percent in May 2026 from 15.69 percent recorded in April.
The National Bureau of Statistics disclosed this in its Consumer Price Index and inflation data released on Monday.
This means that in May, the country’s inflation rose on a month-on-month basis by 1.75 percent.
Also, the report showed that food inflation also skyrocketed to 16.96 percent in May, up from 16.06 percent recorded the previous month.
“In May 2026, the headline inflation rate on a month-on-month basis was 1.75 percent, which was 0.39 percent lower than the rate recorded in April 2026 (2.13 percent).
On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate rose to 15.93 percent, up from 15.69 percent in April 2026 and down from 26.06 percent in the same month of the preceding year (May 2025).
“The Food inflation rate in May 2026 on a month-on-month basis was 2.98 percent, down by 0.65 percentage points from April 2026 (3.63 percent). On a year-on-year basis, it was 16.96 percent and stood at 24.55 percent in the same month of the preceding year, May 2025”.
Recall that the headline inflation rate dropped in March and April, respectively even as the Central Bank of Nigeria retained the country’s interest rate 26.50 percent in its 305th Monetary Policy meeting.
The World Bank has named Nigeria’s ports among the top 20 improved ports globally.
Word Bank disclosed this in its 2025 Container Port Performance Index, released June 2026.
According to the data, Nigeria’s ports, Tincan Island and Apapa, maintained number 10 and 12, respectively, on the World Bank’s CPP1 for 2025.
Commenting on the report, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Abubakar Dantsoho, attributed the development to improved investment in port infrastructure by President Bola Tinubu’s government.
The investor-friendliness environment provided by Tinubu he said, has also made for the gravitas needed for increased investment to implement “our port infrastructure and equipment modernization drive”.
One month after launching Season 5 of its flagship 5 for 5 Rewards campaign, Wema Bank has rewarded 273 customers with a total of ₦17.96 million, demonstrating the strong early impact of its refreshed customer rewards platform and reinforcing its commitment to rewarding everyday banking.
Launched on May 2, 2026, as part of the Bank’s 81st anniversary celebration, this season of the campaign introduced a more structured and inclusive rewards framework designed to encourage positive financial habits while recognising customer loyalty across the Youth, Women and Mass Market segments.
The season opened with a special anniversary activation at Ikeja City Mall, where 81 customers received ₦81,000 each, resulting in ₦6.56 million in rewards on launch day. Since then, the campaign has continued to reward customers through daily and monthly draws, with an additional 192 winners emerging within the first month.
Across the Youth segment, 37 students have received rewards worth ₦4.4 million, including 20 students who received ₦50,000 PocketMoni rewards and 17 university students who received ₦200,000 each in Tuition Support.
The Women segment also recorded strong participation, with 12 customers receiving ₦150,000 each through the #SelfCare category, while the Mass Market segment recorded the highest number of winners. Within the first month, 120 customers received daily cash rewards, and 23 customers won ₦200,000 each in the monthly draw, bringing total rewards in the category to ₦5.2 million.
Commenting on the campaign’s early impact, Wema Bank’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Moruf Oseni, said; “At Wema Bank, we believe loyalty should be rewarded in ways that are meaningful, transparent and accessible. The response to Season 5 of the 5 for 5 Rewards campaign has been encouraging, and seeing hundreds of customers benefit within just one month reinforces our belief that everyday banking should create everyday opportunities.
Beyond rewarding transactions, we are encouraging positive financial habits while delivering real value to our customers. He added; “This is only the beginning. With more reward categories, more winners and more opportunities still ahead, we remain committed to creating meaningful impact for our customers and ensuring more Nigerians experience the value of banking with Wema.”
Customers can participate by opening or reactivating a Wema Bank account, funding it with a minimum of ₦5,000, maintaining an average monthly balance of ₦5,000, and completing at least five transactions every month using the ALAT app, Wema or ALAT cards, or *945#.
With over ₦170 million earmarked for rewards between May and December 2026, thousands more customers are expected to benefit as the campaign continues, reaffirming Wema Bank’s commitment to rewarding loyalty, promoting positive financial behaviour and delivering value beyond banking.
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