Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has directed all domestic airlines to serve only pre-packaged catering products (meals, snacks) in sealed containers to their passengers during disembarkation. NCAA also warned that these pre-packaged meals must not be consumed onboard and that non-compliance of the directive shall attract appropriate sanctions. In a letter titled “Public Health Guidelines for Companies Providing In-Flight Catering Services to Airlines Operating Domestic Flights,” addressed to airline operators and catering service providers, NCAA stated that, “Domestic airlines shall serve pre-packed catering products (Meals, snacks etc) in sealed containers to their passengers during disembarkation.” According to NCAA, no catering…
Author: Temitope N.
First City Monument Bank (FCMB), has re-assured that it will continue to champion, execute and support initiatives that would enhance the ecosystem, as well as tackle some of the adverse effects of climate change and other challenges facing the environment. According to the Bank, this is in recognition of the fact that a cleaner and more sustainable environment is key to building a better world for present and future generations. FCMB gave the assurance in a statement to commemorate this year’s World Environment Day (WED), which held on June 5, 2021 under the theme, “Ecosystem Restoration”. The annual WED is…
El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, is proposing a Bill to adopt Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as legal tender in his country. “Next week, I will send to Congress a Bill that makes Bitcoin legal money,” Bukele said on Saturday in a video message to the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami, Florida. The 39-year-old President, who has maintained approval ratings above 90 percent and made Twitter his preferred way of communicating, characterised it as an idea that could help El Salvador move forward. The move would make the Central American nation the first in the world to formally accept the cryptocurrency…
Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow by about $3 billion, if the country can reduce its imports. The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, who, at the weekend, advocated for import substitution, noted that the importation of petroleum products alone makes up about 25 per cent of annual imports aside from other products that are high import. According to the latest trade figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the country recorded a trade deficit of N3.94 trillion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2021. Nigeria’s total merchandise trade, in the NBS report,…
Nigeria has been named the richest African country by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), surpassing South Africa and Egypt with a GDP figure of N514.05 billion in the World Population Review’s 2021 Richest African Countries Ratings. According to the World Population Review, Nigeria is not just Africa’s richest country but also its most populous with a head count of over 211 million. It noted that the country’s humongous population had been a major contributor to the large GDP. The World Population Review listed Nigeria as a middle-income, mixed economy and emerging market with growing financial, service, communications and technology sectors. Following…
To mark the World Environment Day, the United States consulate under the aegis of the acting US Consul General, Brandon Hudspeth, on Saturday participated in a tree planting initiative with students of St. Savior’s School, Ebute Metta, Lagos. Some of the attendees at the event were General Manager, the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, Dr. Dolapo Fasawe; Assistant Director, Lagos State Ministry of Environment, Folasade Adeyoju; and other environmental groups. The event was organised by members of the Young Africa Leaders Initiative under the auspices of the Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni Association with the support of a public diplomacy grant…
The Federal Government has said it will grow Nigeria’s power generation to 11,000 megawatts by next year as measures to actualise this are well on course. The country’s power generation currently hovers around 4,000MW and 5,000MW. In March, the Transmission Company of Nigeria announced a peak power generation of 5,801.6MW, which was transmitted to power distribution companies across the country. In response to enquiries by our correspondent on what the government was doing to grow the country’s power supply, officials of the Federal Ministry of Power said the ministry was currently implementing recommendations contained in the Siemens deal. They said…
Leadway Assurance Company Limited says it has partnered with the Association of Parents of Private School Students to launch an education insurance policy plan, tagged ‘Group Education Protection Plan’. In said this in a statement on Sunday titled ‘Leadway Assurance partners parents association for bespoke education plan’. The statement said the education plan was launched at a Children’s Day event in Port Harcourt. It stated that it was designed to help parents protect their children’s future from possible socio-economic disruption in schooling due to unplanned or unforeseen events, such as the death of a parent or guardian, life-threatening critical illness,…
The Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Dr Bashir Jamoh, has said that the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), would launch the Deep Blue Project worth $195m on June 10, 2021. Jamoh, revealed this in a statement on Friday adding that the event would combine both the commemoration and the launching of the project. He said, “All is set as we begin the countdown to the commemoration and official launch of assets of the Integrated National Maritime Surveillance and Security Infrastructure Deep Blue. “Come Thursday 10th of June, Nigeria will make the boldest statement ever to secure our…
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…
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…