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…
Author: Temitope N.
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…
Nigeria’s House of Representatives has claimed that the Nigerian customs service is losing the sum of $8.810 billion annually due to the non-implementation of a Customs modernisation project. This was made known by Rep. Leke Abejide, Chairman, House Committee on Customs and Excise at the public hearing of the Joint Committees on Customs and Excise, Finance and Banking and Currency with the Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, represented by Director, Home Finance, Stephen Okon. The Ministry disclosed that a pending court case had delayed the implementation of the project. The lawmaker stated that the project is expected to generate…
The controversy on who has the responsibility of the collection of stamp duties between the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigeria Postal Service (NIPOST) has lingered unattended as there are indications of a fresh crisis brewing between the Federal Government and labour union over the issue. President Muhammadu Buhari, in the recently signed Finance Act, had given the responsibility of collecting stamp duties charges to the FIRS, instead of NIPOST, that before now performed the function. The stripping of NIPOST of the responsibility of collecting stamp duties charges has not gone down well with Senior Staff Association of…
The Covid-19 pandemic led to a contraction in many sectors globally, however, countries are learning to accelerate digital transformation to achieve economic recovery. According to a report by IBM; an IT technology and consulting firm, 43% of global businesses accelerated their rollout of AI over the last year as organisations looked to virtual assistants to automate workflows while 80% have plans to roll out some form of automation software over the next 12 months. Like many sectors in the country, Nigerian agriculture suffered a huge blow due to the pandemic which saw a lot of farmers on lockdown thereby leading…
Lagos State has unveiled new health insurance products in line with its drive to ensure Lagos residents have access to affordable, quality healthcare. According to Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of Lagos State, represented by Dr. Ibijoke Claudiana Sanwo-Olu, the First Lady of Lagos State, the creation of the new range of plans and expansion of the Lagos Health Insurance Scheme – ILERA EKO – was borne out of the need to cover more health challenges in addition to accommodating prevalent medical conditions whilst addressing economic realities of residents, especially those in the informal sector. He also disclosed that the development…
The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has stated that the Federal Government is expected to generate the sum of N5 billion from the planned Fisheries Coastal Terminal Concession project. This was made known in a statement by Manji Yarling, Acting Head, Media and Publicity of the ICRC on Friday, according to the News Agency of Nigeria. She added that the FEC has approved the rehabilitation of the Federal Fisheries Coastal Terminal, at Ebughu Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State and is expected to operate and maintain a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. The ICRC stated that the project…
The cost of diesel in major filling stations across Lagos surged past N400 per litre in recent days as fuel scarcity, rise in oil prices trigger general price increases in the cost of goods and services. Reports have it that most filing stations now sell diesel between N400 and N420 across Lagos up from an average of N350 per litre in late January. Diesel prices closed the year (2021) at under N300 per litre. This time last year, Diesel sold for under N250/litre. The price is as high as N600 per litre in the Federal Capital City Abuja. Data from the…
Nigeria’s telecommunication sector recorded a slow growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2021 as its GDP grew by 5.31% year-on-year in real terms, according to the Gross Domestic Product report of the NBS. According to the report, the sector’s 5.31% growth in the review period represents a 10.59% depreciation when compared to 17.64% recorded in the corresponding period of 2020. In the same vein, Nigeria’s information and communication sector recorded a 5.03% growth in real terms in the same period. The telecommunications sector had recorded significant growth in 2020 during the pandemic as Nigerians adoption of internet services surged…
African startups raised a sum of $4.65 billion in funding in 2021, despite the effect of the pandemic on world economies, surpassing its record in previous years. This is contained in a report titled Africa Investment report released by Briter Bridges. According to the report, financial technology companies accounted for 62% of the total funds raised in the reference period, with the health and biotech sector being a distant second with 8%, while logistics companies accounted for 7% of the total. The report also highlighted that there were more than 740 announced deals in the review period, which is 2.5…
The number of Internet subscribers in Nigeria grew astronomically by 14.03 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 154.3 million compared to 140.28 million recorded in the previous quarter. This is contained in the recently published telecoms report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The internet subscriber base increased by 10% quarter-on-quarter, with MTN Nigeria boasting the highest customer base with 58.8 million subscribers, followed by Globacom with 39.53 million. Also, Airtel recorded a total internet subscriber base of 37.53 million as of the end of 2021, 9mobile with 5.75 million, SMILE (314,674), and NTEL with 27,799. Meanwhile,…