The Russian-Ukrainian clash may continue to have bad effect on the equities sector of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) as the market extended its bearish trend, causing market capitalisation to dip further by N58 billion. Specifically, at the close of trading yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 108.26 per cent, representing a decrease of 0.23 per cent, to close at 47,154.35 points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation value lost N58 billion to close at N25.414 trillion. The market’s negative performance was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks which are; Nestle Nigeria, Conoil, Nigerian Breweries, Flour…
Author: Temitope N.
Google.org which is a philanthropic arm of Google is committing $1 million in charitable funding to support programmes helping women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, as part of a series of new initiatives aimed at supporting women-owned businesses. The announcement was made yesterday. Head Brand and Reputation, Africa – Google, Mojolaoluwa Aderemi-Makinde, said research shows that 58 per cent of small and medium-sized business (SMB) entrepreneurs in Africa are women, “despite this, women-run businesses show, on average, 34 per cent lower profits than those run by their male counterparts. They are also less likely to receive funding and investment.…
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) says it has given a one-month window to taxpayers who have outstanding foreign currency tax liabilities to settle such liabilities in Naira. The window according to FIRS takes effect from March 1, 2022, to March, 31st 2022. In a public notice released by the Service and signed by the Executive Chairman, Muhammad Nami, the FIRS stated that it had received requests and enquiries from taxpayers on challenges being encountered in sourcing for foreign currencies to offset their outstanding tax liabilities. “In view of the number of requests, enquiries and the challenges encountered by the…
The Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG) has adviced the Federal Government to relocate the Anchor Borrowers’ programmes from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. Chairman, Administrative Board of the group, Kabir Ibrahim, who mentioned this in Abuja yesterday, explained that while the initiative has been helpful, there are gaps that have been left unfilled. Ibrahim, who faulted the credibility of the beneficiaries of the programme, alleged that a large percentage of farmers are not benefitting from the programme. He said: “We urge the CBN to reappraise the anchor borrower scheme. To make the programme more…
Acting Managing Director, Abuja Enterprise Agency (AEA), Shehu Abdulkadir has recognized entrepreneurship as the only dependable and reliable means for fostering social inclusion and improving the economic well-being of Nigerians. Abdukadir who stated this Tuesday in Abuja during the launch of the AEA Fashion Hub in celebration of the International Women’s Day, disclosed that the agency is partnering with all stakeholders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem to deepen the impacts of various programmes and initiatives designed to support entrepreneurs to succeed According to him, the AEA has initiated strategies to create more opportunities for women to achieve their full potential by…
Dangote Sugar Plc has disclosed that the group’s production volume increased by 9.2 percent to 811,962 tonnes at the end of the financial year ended December 31, 2021, in contrast to 743,858 tonnes, in the corresponding period of 2020. The firm achieved the volume on the strength of improved operational efficiency despite the adverse impact of the perennial Apapa traffic gridlock situation. The company, however, recorded a gross profit of N50.21 billion and profit after taxation of N22.05 billion. The reported group’s revenue of N276.50 billion for the full year represents an increase of 28.8 per cent over N214.30 billion…
Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), has established that it is focused on helping boost power generation and supply in the country through greater investment in the power sector. Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari, who disclosed this when he led the top management team of the company on a courtesy visit to the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) in Abuja at the weekend, said the company had the requisite expertise and experience to be an active participant in the power sector in Nigeria, hence it has expressed interest to participate in the acquisition of the power plants…
The World Trade Organisation has warned that the conflict between Russia-Ukraine will have intense trade implications on agriculture and energy prices. This was made known by the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation and former Nigerian Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. She added that the WTO is deeply concerned about the continued violence in Ukraine. Okonjo-Iweala said, “At the WTO, we have watched this tragedy in Ukraine unfold with disbelief and the hope that it would have been peacefully resolved. “However, this is now the 7th day and we are deeply saddened by the continued suffering and loss of life.” She…
Lamin Barrow, the Director-General, Nigeria Country Department of the African Development Bank (AfDB) has established that the bank signed $544 million in loan financing for five operations in Nigeria in 2021. Mr Barrow made this known on Thursday in Abuja at the opening of the 2022 Country Portfolio Performance Review (CPPR) workshop. He said the bank and other co-financing partners’ portfolios in Nigeria increased by $2.031 billion between 2019 and 2021. Mr Barrow said the bank leveraged its resources by mobilising co-financing from other development partners to the tune of about $1 billion. He said in 2020, a $288.5 million…
The Federal Government via the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has tabled the reason why it succumbed to the pressure and suspended the implementation of its controversial Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), an electronic valuation policy recently introduced for imported used vehicles. The customs said that the implementation of the policy was suspended for one month to allow clearing agents to clear the backlog of vehicles held up at the ports due to the ongoing strike by the agents. This was made known by the NCS in a circular dated March 7th, 2022, and titled, ‘VIN Valuation: Approval of Grace Period, To Clear…
In lieu to the poor power supply in Niger State, a Nigerian lawyer, Musa Abdullahi has sued the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), demanding N200 million as compensation for the poor power supply. Mr Abdullahi had filed the suit marked:NSHC/SD/27/2022 before a high court in Niger state on behalf of electricity consumers in Suleja local government area of Niger State. He averred that the constant epileptic supply of electricity had forced many artisans, corporate bodies and inhabitants of suleja to resort to the use of generating sets. The lawyer claims to have pleaded with aggrieved youths who are not happy…
The Federal Inland Revenue Service has established that a one month window has been opened from the 1st to 31st of March 2022 to enable taxpayers to settle foreign currency tax liabilities in naira. This was in a statement titled, “Payment of Outstanding Foreign Currency Tax Liabilities in Naira”, signed by the Executive Chairman of the FIRS, Muhammad Nami on Friday. He said the concession is available to all taxpayers and tax types, except for companies in the Upstream Oil and Gas sector. Nami stated that in view of the numbers of enquires and challenges encountered by taxpayers in sourcing for foreign currencies…
A US company, with the aid of the United States Embassy and Consulate in Nigeria, has released a $100 million state-of-the-art diaper manufacturing facility in Ikorodu, Lagos. The new facility is Kimberly Clark’s, an American brand headquartered in Texas, the United States with operations across many countries. The facility has the capacity to create over 1,000 direct and 5,000 indirect jobs with the potential to scale over the next 3-5 years of operation. At the commissioning of the facility, Claire Pierangelo, the U.S. Consul General noted that Nigeria is a critical market for Americans, hence improving the investment climate would…
Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has established that it has secured approval to produce Liquified Petroleum Gas (cooking gas) to ensure 10 percent of current nationwide demand. The Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote announced this while speaking at the 2022 Nigerian International Energy Summit (NIES), which ended in Abuja on Thursday. He added that the procedure will see NCDMB work alongside select partners to produce the Liquified Petroleum Gas. Wabote said the Board recently secured the approval of its Governing Council for a partnership to produce 123,000 metric tonnes per annum LPG, which is about 10…
The American Business Council has established that it sees positive opportunities for the private sector in Nigeria amid issues of multiplicities of policy challenges. Magaret Olele, the Chief Executive Officer, American Business Council said this during its 2022 economic update titled, “the opportunities and imperative for businesses.” The event, in partnership with KPMG saw experts discuss on opportunities in 2022, plans by the Federal Government for the private sector as well as reforms that will drive development via investments beyond. Olele, while speaking to journalists on the key takeaway of the event noted that there is a keen interest for…
The International Monetary Fund, IMF, has disclosed that it has deployed a total of $6.8 billion in emergency support for Nigeria to cushion the effect of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Ari Aisen, IMF country representative to Nigeria said this at the American Business Council economic update where experts explored opportunities and imperatives for businesses in the country. According to him, the IMF has extended emergency assistance of $3.4 billion dollar in 2020 and another $3.4 billion SDR allocation was deployed in emergency support for Nigeria because of the pandemic. The International Monetary Fund, IMF, has said it deployed…
As the roughness between Russia and Ukraine increases, Nigerian students in Ukraine are currently living in fear of the possibility of being caught up in a war zone. They are unsure of the plan of the Nigerian government to evacuate them even though many other countries had weeks ago advised their citizens to leave Ukraine. Bombs and missiles already went off yesterday in some parts of Ukraine on the orders of Russian President, Vladimir Putin who said the point of his attack which he claims is purely on military installations is to “protect people who for eight years have been…
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) established that it is committed to the implementation of various regulatory initiatives and programmes, especially the deployment of fibre infrastructure with infrastructure companies to deploy broadband in all 774 local government areas of Nigeria The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta disclosed this during an in-house interview at the Commission’s Head Office in Abuja on Monday. He stated that the FG is working towards addressing infrastructure gaps, and commended both state and non-state actors for the vision, diligence and continued dedication to the implementation of the…
The Central Bank of Nigeria had in a circular to all authorised dealers and the general public announced the introduction of e-invoicing for all imports and exports in the country, effective February 1, 2022. The central bank however declined to communicate a new date and went on to effect the new policy. Hence, freight forwarders operating at both the Tin-Can Island and PTML last week gave the authority 72 hours to address the technical glitches facing the newly introduced e-valuation system or face industrial action. In what appears like a follow-up to their earlier threat, the aggrieved freight forwarders on…
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) recently commenced a 4-week nationwide strike. National President of the union, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke said the strike which will be comprehensive and total would last for an initial period of four weeks in the hopes of getting the Federal Government to commit to agreements earlier reached. The strike, although seems short, but considering previous history, could be extended for months, a reality we have experienced over and over again. The industrial action carried out by the lecturers usually results in multiple consequences – not only academic but also economic, which affects businesses operated on…