The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has requested for the halt of the planned imposition of excise duties on manufacturers. This was made known by Dr. Muda Yusuf, CEO of CPPE in a document titled, “CPPE calls for suspension of planned imposition of excise duties on manufacturers” Yusuf claimed that the Finance Minister, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, warned earlier this year that excise duty would be levied on a variety of manufactured commodities in the country soon. He, however, argued that manufacturers are already facing extremely difficult times as a result of growing energy costs, rising operational expenditures,…
Author: Temitope N.
The Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) board of Directors of has hired Dr Tinuade Sanda, as the Deputy Managing Director of the company. This was made known in a statement issued and signed by the company’s General Manager, Corporate Communications, Godwin Idemudia, on Monday. According to the statement, Sanda, who was the Chief Accounting Officer prior to her appointment – a position she had occupied since 2013 – was appointed to assist in leading the company toward its vision of becoming the leading and customer-centric electricity distribution company in Africa as the board and the management are confident in her…
The Federal Government has stayed on its ground that it has met all of the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) as the union has extended its warning strike by another 2 months. This was made known by the Minister of State for Education, Mr Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, while reacting to the declaration of the rollover of the strike by the lecturers’ union during an interview with journalists at the end of the commemoration of the 2022 Commonwealth Celebration in Abuja on Monday. According to NAN, Nwajiuba, who insisted that the federal government had met all of the…
Google parent Alphabet on Tuesday quarterly profit tripled, as money poured in from ads on its search engine and YouTube video platform. “There was a rising tide of online activity in many parts of the world, and we’re proud that our services helped so many consumers and businesses,” Alphabet chief executive Sundar Pichai said of the quarter. The internet titan reported that profit nearly tripled from last year to $18.5 billion on revenue that rose sharply to $61.9 billion. Google is among the tech companies that saw use soar as the pandemic accelerated a trend toward working, shopping, socializing and…
Technology firm, SystemSpecs, has emphasized the importance of collaboration in the sustenance of the information, communication and technology (ICT) sector. Executive Director, SystemSpecs, Deremi Atanda, who said this, disclosed that Nigeria needs to harness emerging opportunities through productive collaborations at various levels. Atanda spoke as a panelist during a recent webinar organised by the Telecommunications and Technology Sustainability Working Group (TTSWG), themed ‘Collaborations for a Resilient ICT Sector.’ Atanda reiterated strategy, planning and actions as key areas to drive collaborations that would work while highlighting that awareness plays an integral part in this campaign. He suggested some steps, including the…
Data Science Nigeria (DSN), a non-governmental organisation that is building Artificial Intelligence (AI) knowledge, research, and innovation ecosystem in Nigeria, has delivered another programme through its AI for Energy Hackathon. The programme sponsored by NNPC/CNL JV (CNL) was created for participants to develop Artificial Intelligence solutions for Carbon Reduction in the energy sector, with three teams emerging as the top winners. According to DSN, 609 applications were received from over 100 institutions. After a punctilious process of selection, 184 participants were selected into 40 separate teams. A total of 25 solutions were received with different outcomes ranging from Hardware, Software,…
The Nigerian equities market reopened in an upbeat yesterday, as market capitalisation increased by N51 billion, following gains recorded by many blue-chip stocks. At the close of trading yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 93.43 absolute points, representing a growth of 0.20 per cent to close at 47,111.21 points. Similarly, the overall market capitalisation size gained N51 billion to close at N25.457 trillion. The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in large and medium capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Guinness Nigeria, United Capital, Africa Prudential, May & Baker Nigeria and International Breweries. On market outlook, GTI Securities Limited said,…
The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) reversed gains to close on a downward note, yesterday, occasioned by losses in 16 stocks, as market capitalisation depreciated by N21 billion. Specifically, market capitalisation of listed equities declined by 0.08 per cent to N25.442 trillion from N25.463 trillion reported the previous day. The All Share Index (ASI) also depreciated by 39.63 basis points to 47207.67 points from 47246.90 points recorded on Tuesday. Investors traded 203.645 million shares valued at N3.493 billion in 4377 deals against 421.820 million shares worth N5.155 billion exchanged hands the previous day in 5992 deals. The downturn was impacted by…
At the close of last week’s transactions, the financial services industry led the activity chart with 1.120 billion shares valued at N10.9 billion traded in 13,514 deals; thus, contributing 67.13 per cent to the total equities turnover. The conglomerate industry followed with 242.945 million shares worth N395.2 million in 1,418 deals. The consumer goods industry ranked third with a turnover of 80.368 million shares worth N1.95 billion in 3,876 deals. Specifically, trading in the top three equities namely: Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp), United Capital Plc and Zenith Bank Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 491.673 million shares worth…
The bulls maintained dominance on the equities sector of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), occasioned by gains in Seplat and 14 stocks, as market capitalisation increased by N48 billion. The All-Share Index (ASI) grew by 88.20 absolute points, representing an increase of 0.19 per cent to close at 47,482.73 points, while the overall market capitalisation value gained N48 billion to close at N25.591 trillion. The market gain was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks, among which are: Seplat Energy, MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN), Nigerian Exchange Group (NGXGroup), Unilever Nigeria and Royal Exchange. On market performance, GTI…
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed that the nation recorded a deficit trade balance of about N3.02 trillion in the third quarter of 2021 as the value of imports continued to outweigh exports. In its latest report on foreign trade in goods, the NBS revealed that total exports stood at N5.13 trillion in the third quarter of 2021, which shows a one per cent growth compared to the second quarter of the same year and a 71.38 per cent growth compared to the third quarter in 2020. “Export in the third quarter of 2021 was still oil-dependent,” the…
The United States, on Monday, established that it remained one of the largest foreign investors in Nigeria as leading American brands to expand their investment portfolio, providing job opportunities and supporting economic diversification objectives. U.S. Consul General Claire Pierangelo welcomed Kimberly Clark’s $100m diaper manufacturing facility in Ikorodu, Lagos. The facility has the capacity to create over 1,000 direct and 5,000 indirect jobs with potential to scale over the next 3-5 years of operation. Delivering remarks at the commissioning of the facility, the U.S. Consul General Claire Pierangelo, noted that Nigeria is a critical market for American companies and improving…
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprises (CPPE) has established that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has serious repercussion for the Nigerian economy, especially if it becomes protracted. According to CPPE Chief Executive Officer, Dr Muda Yusuf, the conflict may cause a major setback to the bilateral ties between Nigeria and the United States because of the torrent of sanctions against Russia. There have been concerns over the continued spending on idle assets as data from yearly appropriation bill from the Budget Office showed that the Federal Government allocated N20.4bn to Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited from 2016 to 2021…
In the midst of the destruction of beer bottles in some parts of the country, Nigeria’s brewery sector generated $526 million in taxes to the government in 2019, with trends showing additional revenue due to imposed excise duty on the sector. Another increase to N35 per litre was implemented in June 2019. With another adjustment imminent, operators are already concerned about their survival, especially as inflation continues to take a chunk of individuals’ real incomes, limiting household spending. Industry sources estimate the new excise on alcoholic beverages to hover around N50 per litre, representing over 40 per cent increase. At…
The Independent Investigation Panel on EndSARS has made an order directing the NDLEA to produce suspended police deputy commissioner, Abba Kyari before it on March 22. The panel made the order following the statement of a witness who said Mr Kyari had promised to get back to him on the missing suspects. The whereabouts of the missing persons have remained unknown following their arrest in 2019 by the Kyari-led unit which made their family members to petition the panel. At the resumed sitting, James Idachaba, counsel to the Police informed the panel that since Kyari was no longer in police…
The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), in partnership with the Mobile Telephone Network (MTN) has disclosed that they will be offering free SIM cards with free airtime to evacuated returnees. According to them, courtesy of the partnership, each returnee will get a free SIM card loaded with N5,000 airtime to allow them to reach their family members. The returnees will also get an additional N19,500 talk time and 1.5GB of data. Recall MTN had given its subscribers 30 mins of free international calls and 50 free SMS to call Ukraine which will be valid till March 31, 2022. In a statement by…
The Russian Government has estabished a plan to ban the operations of Instagram in the country. This was made known in a news report by Russian state media agency Ria Nu on Friday afternoon after Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office opened a criminal case against Meta. It was also revealed that the Russian government plans to label Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, an extremist organization. According to the report, “Prosecutor General’s Office asks the court to recognize Meta as an extremist organization and ban its activities in Russia.” “The Prosecutor General’s Office asks the court to recognize Meta as…
Ukraine risks disease spread if health labs pathogens are not destroyed to stop potential spills in the case of attacks on public health laboratories, the World Health Organisation has advised. The risk will not be applicable to only Ukraine but also surrounding European countries should such pathogens find themselves in the open. According to biosecurity experts, Russia’s movement of troops into Ukraine and bombardment of its cities have raised the risk of an escape of disease-causing pathogens, should any of those facilities be damaged. Speaking to Reuters, the WHO expressed that the agency has collaborated with the Ukrainian public health…
Nigeria’s improvements in reducing piracy attacks on its Gulf of Guinea waters by 77% has been seen in the removal of Nigeria from the piracy list by the International Maritime Bureau. This was disclosed by Vice Admiral AZ Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff in a statement posted by the Federal Government. This also comes after the Director-General of NIMASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh, echoed similar claims on Nigeria’s removal from the piracy list. While highlighting the significance of Nigeria exiting the piracy list said, “It is heartwarming to note the significant decline in piracy attacks by 77% on Nigerian waters as reflected in…
The Nigerian National Action Committee on the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, has disclosed that its strategic objective is to capture 10% of Africa’s imports by 2035, thereby doubling Nigeria’s export in the process. This was disclosed by Franca Achimugu, Coordinator Oil and Gas Workstream, Secretariat of the National Action Committee on the AfCFTA at the Implementation Plan Adoption meeting with the Oil and Gas Workstream which was held at the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Headquarters, Abuja, Nigeria on Thursday. She added that Nigeria’s mission is to become the preferred provider of value-added services to Africa. Introducing the agreement and what…