The Lagos State Government said it has prepared development guide plans for nine excised villages in the state. They communities are Apa, Onikanga, Suberu-Oje, Ketu Ijanikin, Awoyaya, Eleputu, Orimedu, Sangotedo and Langbasa. The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako, disclosed this at a stakeholders’ meeting. He said the nine excised villages were located in different Local Government Areas including Badagry, Alimosho, Ojo, Ibeju-Lekki and Eti-Osa. In attendance were Chairman, House Committee on Physical Planning and Urban Development, Hon. Nureni Akinsanya; Special Adviser to the Governor on Urban Development, Ganiyu Ayuba; Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Abiola…
Author: Temitope N.
The Central Bank of Nigeria on Sunday announced an increase in foreign exchange allocations to banks to meet the requests of customers. These requests include travellers seeking foreign exchange for travel allowances, payment of tuition and medical fees, among other invisible. The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this at a meeting with the Managing Directors of Deposit Money Banks over the weekend. Emefiele cautioned the banks to desist from denying customers, particularly travellers, the opportunity to purchase foreign exchange, adding that CBN would take action against any bank that denied customers the opportunity to purchase foreign exchange for legitimate purposes.…
The House of Representatives is considering disallowing staff members of banks and other financial institutions from operating accounts outside the shores of Nigeria. Their spouses and children may also be mandated to declare their assets when a bill presently at the House becomes law. This was contained in the ‘Bank Employees, Etc., (Declaration of Assets)(Amendment) Bill 2021’, which is awaiting second reading. The legislation was titled ‘A Bill for an Act to amend the bank employees, etc., (Declaration of Assets) Act CAP. B1 Laws of the federation of Nigeria 2004 to reflect the prevailing situation in the country’. The bill,…
The Lagos State Government says it has concluded plans with Facebook and Google to construct the biggest technology cluster in West Africa. This was disclosed on by the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, during a tour of the two major innovation and technology hubs in the state, according to a statement Sanwo-Olu said, “Technology is the new oil and the basic element for the Fourth Industrial Revolution globally. As a state with a massive population of young people, we need to play a major role in the development of technology, which is an enabler to leapfrog into rapid socio-economic growth.…
A total of N99.94bn was pulled out by foreign investors from the Nigerian stock market in the first four months of this year as foreign involvement plunged to a four-year low in April. The foreign portfolio investors injected N 78.31bn into the market from January to April this year, according to data from the Nigerian Exchange Limited. Foreign portfolio investment outflow includes sales transactions or liquidation of portfolio investments through the stock market, while the FPI inflow includes purchase transactions on the NSE (equities only), according to the bourse. The NGX, in its latest domestic and foreign portfolio report, said…
Bank customers using the unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) payment channels will now pay a flat fee of N6.98 per transaction — replacing the current N4.89 session billing structure. Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) on Friday commenced the implementation of the new charges. The implementation of the new billing structure comes more than two months after mobile network operators (MNOs) announced plan to suspend USSD services over N42 billion debt owed by financial service providers. However, the suspension of the service was halted following intervention of Isa Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy. Following the minister’s intervention, the MNOs and…
Nigeria has missed its target of achieving 80 per cent financial inclusion of its adult population by 2020, a new report says. According to a report by the Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA), 36 per cent of Nigerian adults (38 million adults), remained completely financially excluded at the end of 2020. In 2019, the country had targeted through the National Financial Inclusion Strategy reducing financially excluded adults to 20 per cent. However, data from the report “Access to financial services in Nigeria survey” showed that only 64 per cent of Nigerian adults were financially included by the end of…
Tuesday through Friday, Nigerian equities posted minimal gains, helping the week return 1.23 per cent, but growth for the quarter and for the year so far remains negative, with investor confidence in the market too low to bring back activity to its pre-pandemic levels. Foreign investors’ interest in Nigerian stocks substantially wore out in 2020 as April’s record oil crash staunched the flow of petrodollars into Africa’s biggest crude producer, which relies on the commodity for about 90 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings, making it hard for international investors to cash out. Foreign capital inflow to the Nigerian…
The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday urged parents to vaccinate their teenagers against Covid-19, citing a rise in the number of adolescents hospitalized with the disease in March and April. “I am deeply concerned by the number of hospitalized adolescents and saddened to see the number of adolescents who required treatment in intensive care units or mechanical ventilation,” CDC director Rochelle Walensky said in a statement that accompanied a new study on teen hospitalizations. Walensky implored parents to talk with teens about the importance of continuing to wear masks and “encourage them to get…
Environmental and development experts have provided insights on how drylands can contribute to the growth of agriculture and the larger economy in Africa. The experts spoke at the first-ever digital Global Landscape Forum (GLF) conference held between June 2nd and 3rd. The major theme of the conference focused around Africa’s drylands and integrative restoration practices. While delivering a keynote speech on Africa’s perspective on ecosystem restoration at the conference, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification(UNCCD), Ibrahim Thiaw, explained that drylands are significant to economic growth in countries across Africa, Mr Thiaw also debunked misconceptions he…
Insecurity in the country and other macroeconomic challenges, coupled with uncertainty in the global economy, may continue to take a toll on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), as investors, having lost N796 billion in May, might experience similar losses this month. Specifically, the market capitalisation of listed equities, which opened the month of May at N20.830 trillion, depreciated by N720 trillion to close at N20.034 trillion as of May 31, 2021. The All-share index equally declined by 1,363.9 points or 3.5 per cent from 39,801.78 to 38,4437.88 points. The depreciation in market capitalisation value is despite impressive earnings and dividend…
The manufacturing sector and household users of electricity in the country can significantly reduce energy consumption, improve productivity and profitability, reduce pollution and cost of goods if adoption of energy efficiency is prioritized. With the development, energy experts, who gathered in Abuja, at an event organised by the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP) linked the dismal contribution of the manufacturing sector to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to energy challenges. They insisted that while the over 2,800 manufacturing companies scattered across 10 sectorial groups in the country contributed less than 4 per cent to the GDP, about 80 per…
Capital market experts have rated the country’s democratic regime as one that has failed to create a competitive edge for the domestic investment market. Assessing Nigeria’s unbroken democracy since 1999, the stakeholders argued that the era delivered less than expected in terms of stimulating growth. They said the application of democratic practice has been below par. Vice President of Highcap Securities Limited, David Adonri, said Nigeria has suffered three severe recessions within the past 22 years, noting that the economy is largely import-dependent. Adonri said the parlous state of Nigeria’s infrastructure reflects inappropriate macroeconomic policies. He noted that the economy…
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says $40 billion investment is needed to accomplish the nation’s gas plan. Yusuf Usman, chief operating officer for gas and power at NNPC, made this known at a virtual forum on Wednesday. President Muhammadu Buhari launched the ‘Decade of Gas in Nigeria’ on March 29, an ambitious plan by Nigeria to entirely power its economy with gas by the year 2030. Buhari said the declaration of the decade of gas will set the tone for the development of the gas industry in the next ten years. Speaking at the forum organised by the Association…
The African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA), a pan-African organisation for the downstream oil sector in Africa, says Nigeria and other countries in the continent require $15.7 billion to upgrade 36 oil refineries. Founded in 2006, the ARDA is comprised of African oil refiners, importers, terminal operators, major marketers, distributors and regulators. In March, the federal executive council (FEC) approved the sum of $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of Port Harcourt refinery. The repair, which will be executed by Tecnimont SPA, an Italian company, will be done in three phases of 18, 24 and 44 months In a statement, Anibor…
In a move towards deepening transparency, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has secured the trust of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to ensure that the terms of all contracts signed in the petroleum sector are open and totally accessible to Nigerians as required by the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). The Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of NEITI, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji made the disclosure in Abuja at the end of a five-day knowledge sharing workshop for his staff in Abuja. According to him, a committee to resolve issues surrounding…
The Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA), a financial sector development organisation that promotes financial inclusion in Nigeria, says 38 million citizens — 36 percent of adult population — remain completely financially excluded. In its 2012 National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had projected that 80 per cent of Nigerians would have access to financial services by December 2020. But the data released by the financial sector development organisation shows that only 64 percent of Nigerian adults were financially included by the end of 2020. Of the figure, 51 percent of Nigerian adults have access…
First Bank of Nigeria Limited has debunked reports that its branches in the South-East part of the country have been closed due to the rising insecurity in the region. “This is to inform the public that our South-East branches are fully open for business. Please disregard any news making the rounds that is contrary to this. Thank you,” Bank’s Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Folake Ani-Mumuney, said in a statement on Wednesday. The bank noted that its branches in the South-East and in other parts of the country were “fully open for business.”
Shoprite, Africa’s largest food retailer, has sold its Nigerian operations to local investors 16 years after it opened its first outlet in the continent’s most populous country. The company sold its stake to Ketron Investment, a Nigerian company owned by a group of local investors led by property firm Persianas Investment, Ketron said in an emailed statement. Shoprite is changing its strategy “from an ownership model to a franchise model,” Ketron said. The acquisition has been approved by Nigeria’s federal competition and consumer protection commission. With the sale, Shoprite becomes the latest South African business to exit the West African…
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC ministerial meeting has reaffirmed its commitment to a stable global market in the mutual interest of producing countries. The meeting gave the assurance at the end of its virtual 17th OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial meeting on Tuesday. “In view of current oil market fundamentals and the consensus on its outlook, the meeting reaffirmed the existing commitment of the participating countries in the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC) to a stable market in the mutual interest of producing nations. “Also, the efficient, economic and secure supply to consumers; and a fair return on invested…