Rail transportation, metal ores, aviation, and financial services sectors makes top list of fastest-growing sectors in the country for the third quarter of 2021. This report is according to GDP numbers presented by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The rail transportation sector grew by 59.93% year-on-year in real terms in Q3 2021, representing the fastest growing sector in the review period, closely followed by metal ores, which is a component of the mining and quarrying sector with 54.92% growth rate. Recall, that Nairametrics reported on Thursday that Nigeria’s GDP for the third quarter of 2021 expanded by 4.03% year-on-year…
Author: Temitope N.
The Lagos State Government has commenced major technological reforms in Land administration to ensure that land is managed in a most effective and efficient manner. This is due to the fact that land is a scarce resource that needs to be administered to have a positive impact on the state’s economy. This statement was made by the Surveyor-General of Lagos State, Mr Olutomi Sangowawa, while delivering a goodwill message at the 2021 annual conference of the Geoinformation Society of Nigeria (GEOSON), held at the Intercontinental Hotel, Lagos. The 3-day event, with the theme “Geospatial Technology for Sustainable Smart City and…
The Federal Government has established that the growth in Nigeria’s digital services, especially in areas of culture, creativity, hospitality and tourism will improve investments in the economy. This was made known by Clem Agba, Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, at the 2021 African Statistics Day celebration with the theme: “Modernising National Statistical Systems to support Socio-Cultural Development in Africa” in Abuja on Thursday, according to NAN. The Minister said Nigeria’s creative industry and large youth population is ripe for growth adding that the FG has implemented policies including a National Policy for the socio-cultural development of the country…
The President/Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Group and Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has disclosed how his younger brother, gave up the ghost in a hospital in the United States. Aliko Dangote said the doctors told him that his brother, Sani, would die in an hour, and that he died when it was time as he watched the life support machine go down until it stopped working. According to NAN, this was made known by Aliko Dangote, while speaking when the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Bola Tinubu, paid him a condolence visit on Friday…
Wema Bank’s customer deposits is set for further boost following the recent N1 million challenge by popular Nigerian Afrobeats megastar, David Adedeji Adeleke (a.k.a Davido, a.k.a O.B.O). The bank’s recent financial statement for Q3 2021 shows that its customer deposits increased by 9.3% to N879.82 billion from N804.87 billion recorded as of the beginning of the year. Just as the bank increased its customer deposits, it was able to boost loans in the same period to N397.28 billion, leaving its loan-to-deposit ratio at 45%. Meanwhile, it’s been over 24 hours since the ‘FEM!’ crooner, through his Instagram handle, tapped his…
The Nigerian financial sector, which encompasses of finance and insurance sectors recorded a growth rate of 23.23% in the third quarter of 2021. This is according to GDP report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday. The Financial sector, which is classified as financial institutions and insurance, comprises of finance and insurance sector with respective 90.53% and 9.47% contribution to the overall sector in the period under review. The growth recorded in the sector is higher by 20.02% points from the rate recorded during the same period in 2020 and up by 25.71% points from the rate…
A non-governmental organisation, Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement (YIAGA) Africa, emphasized the need for inclusiveness and accountability in Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB). The group made this known at a capacity-building workshop on GRB for committee clerks of the National Assembly in partnership with Spotlight Initiative. An economist, Terfa Abraham, explained that the workshop would help train participants on how to demand and execute best practices about GRB, adding that the training came after President Muhammadu Buhari’s speech on October 7 and budget call circular, which made it clear that the 2022 budget would be gender-responsive. “The training would…
Microsoft is to disburse $20 billion on security architecture in the next five years across its markets. Also, the leading technology company is committed to supporting the digital transformation of Nigeria’s financial services providers with its tailored Cloud solutions in the country. Speaking during a roundtable webinar on Wednesday, Marketing and Operations Director for Microsoft Middle East and Africa, Hoda Younan, unpacked Microsoft’s digital transformation roadmap to accelerate meaningful transformation for Nigeria’s financial services. She also disclosed that the American company had invested about $15 billion in data centres in 54 locations across the world. “Microsoft is uniquely placed to…
The Senate has battled with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) overspending of revenues made by the commission largely on salaries and emoluments of its staff. The Senate, through its Committee on Capital Market, said it was wrong for SEC to have expended close to 90 per cent of revenues made in the 2021 fiscal year on staff salaries and emoluments. SEC, however, denied being frivolous on the spending of revenues made. Disagreement between the commission and Senate on revenues made came about after presentations made by Director-General of SEC, Yuguda Lamido, to the Committee on Capital Market on-budget performance of…
The Managing Director of Petrocam Trading Nigeria Limited, Patrick Ilo, has urged the Federal Government to make a concerted effort in making sure Nigeria LNG(NLNG) increase its LPG supply to the market. To increase access to the product, Ilo said his firm has formally opened a new solar-powered, five metric tonnes LPG filling skid station in Itele Road, off Isunba-Lafenwa Road, Ogun State. The firm’s investment in LPG bulk storage and retailing through active participation in LPG distribution channels are designed to ensure the products get to the consumers in high quality and safety. Ilo stated that one of…
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has signed up over 488,000 consumer wallets and about 78,000 merchant wallets, with downloads coming from over 160 countries. The statistics, which was obtained from the apex bank by The Guardian at the weekend indicated that almost 17,000 transactions amounting to over N62 million with the average transaction being about N3,800 each were recorded as well. The CBN said statistics had shown that the adoption of eNaira had been excellent. The apex bank also claimed that the project had received positive reviews from Nigerians, noting that the multi-layered security encryption of the digital currency…
As Nigeria’s production volume continues to decline due to lingering technical challenges and theft, the Federal Government has rallied upstream operators on the need to increase investment and embrace the use of artificial intelligence, virtual and machine learning in exploration and production. According to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the industry is plagued by investor skepticism, high-level competition, climate change and clamor for a clean environment, thus necessitating a paradigm shift in the exploration and production value chain, to stay afloat. The latest monthly report of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) also showed that Nigeria’s rig…
Over N1.95 trillion was disbursed and cash-backed to ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) by the Federal Government in its 2020 budget implementation. This was contained in the 2020 Fiscal Responsibility Commission’s (FRC) yearly report and audited account obtained yesterday. That government budgeted N2.7 trillion for capital expenditure in 2020 while actual total capital expenditure for the year was N1.6 trillion, N436.25 billion or 37.48 per cent higher than that of 2019. The Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 mandates the Commission to produce yearly reports audited financial statements and submit same to the National Assembly. According to the report, the government has…
Waste management by governments at different levels in Nigeria has proven to be an intractable problem, despite various strategies that have been put in place to prevent it from reaching a crisis proportion. While the issue hasn’t been collection of waste from homes and industrial establishments by agencies set up by the various governments for that purpose, the main challenge has been how to handle final disposal of the wastes so collected. The general practice in Nigeria so far has been burning of refuse at designated locations, a practice that comes with health hazards to the people. This practice has…
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has urged the Nigerian Immigration Services (NIS) to verify the identity of passport applicants using other alternative channels. In a statement yesterday, which depicts possible response to claims by NIS that NIMC was responsible for the delay in the issuance of passports to Nigerians, the Commission, said in the past one year, NIMC has launched improved NIN slip with QR Code and MobileID app to ensure that alternative channels for identity verification are provided. In a statement yesterday, which depicts possible response to claims by NIS that NIMC was responsible for the delay in…
The federal government has disclosed the possible resumption of flights between Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Direct flights between both countries were suspended in March over issues relating to COVID-19 protocol. Speaking at a media briefing on Monday, Mukhtar Muhammad, national incident manager of the presidential steering committee on COVID-19, said that both countries have agreed on the reviewed travel guidelines and conditions imposed by the UAE government. He explained that the federal government has succumbed to the COVID-19 testing requirement earlier imposed by the UAE government in March 2021 to maintain harmony. On the resumption of Emirates…
MTN set to sell shares in the carrier’s Nigeria unit worth about 101 billion naira, following a plan to dispose of assets and pay down debt. Africa’s largest mobile-phone operator will offer 575 million shares in MTN Nigeria, which is listed in Lagos in 2019, according to a statement on Thursday. The move is part of a broader plan to sell about 14% of the parent company’s holding in its largest and most profitable unit, the group said. On Thursday morning, MTN shares rose as much as 3.6% in Johannesburg, the most in almost a month. The stock has surged…
The Nigerian stock market yesterday remained unshaken at the uptrend with N252 billion or 1.12 percentage gain as investors staked more money in Airtel Africa and 23 others. In summary, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 483.68 absolute points, representing a rise of 1.12 per cent to close at 43,730.55 points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation value rose by N252 billion to close at N22.821 trillion. The market positive performance was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks which are; Airtel Africa, MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN), Ardova, Lafarge Africa and UAC of Nigeria (UACN). Analysts at Afrinvest…
BudgIT Foundation, a civic-tech organisation, has beckoned on the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to publish data on FAAC allocations in Nigeria from March to August 2021. BudgIT disclosed this in a statement issued by Iyanu Fatoba, its communications associate, on Wednesday. The organisation said the publication will help “public oversight and provide CSOs and analysts with the opportunity to analyse revenue generation at the subnational level while holding respective representatives to the standards of fiscal responsibility.” Calling on the NBS and the office of the statistician-general, BudgIT said that the timely release of data by the bureau had been…
Ecobank Nigeria caught the spotlight at the prestigious Banks and Other Financial Institutions’ (BAFI) Awards 2021 held in Lagos weekend. At the keenly contested awards, Ecobank Nigeria emerged winner of the ‘Market Confidence and Capital Structure Transaction of the Year’ via its unsecured $300 million bonds, a fixed-rate five-year US dollar-denominated bond launched early in the year and ‘Female Economic Advancement Bank of the Year’ for its sustained support for female entrepreneurs and the development of savings and loans products specifically aimed at women through its Ellevate programme. The BAFI Awards, backed by the BusinessDay Research and Intelligence Unit (BRIU),…