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…
Author: Temitope Nlewemchi
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),…
Global food prices skyrocketed to a 10-year high in October, a UN agency disclosed this on Thursday as it said the world’s cereal stocks were set to contract. The Food and Agricultural Organization established its food price index, which tracks changes in the international prices of a basket of food commodities, rose three per cent over the month to 133.2 points. The third consecutive monthly rise in the index brought it to its highest level since July 2011. The sub-index for vegetable oils soared 9.6 per cent to an all-time high. The cereals sub-index rose 3.2 per cent, driven by…
Minister of finance, budget and national planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has established petroleum under-recovery popularly known as fuel subsidy as a major drain on the nation’s economy, which ought to have been totally removed from the system to free up money for critical sectors like health and education. She said, “It is a major waste, a major drain on the economy. We are worried that we are spending money we should be spending on education and other areas.” The minister mentioned this yesterday when she appeared on the Politics Today programme on Channels Television. Ahmed said the lack of actual…
GAC Motor will make a debut at this year’s Abuja International Motor Fair with three notable vehicles, including a new market entry model as well as a finance scheme for interested participants. The fair, which started today at the International Conference Centre annex Garki, Abuja, is aimed at thrilling car lovers and automobile industry players in Nigeria while discussing the way forward for the sector. Through this five-day event, the firm noted that Abuja residents can experience what thousands of Nigerians are already privy to through GAC Motor’s well-established brand presence and strategic partnerships over the last seven years, including…
As the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) goes through gradual implementation, stakeholders in the oil and gas sector have established that the fiscal environment and decades of poor investment in the sector might undermine the prospects of the industry under the new fiscal regime. Speaking at this year’s pre-conference workshop organised by the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) and themed, “The next decade of oil and gas business in Nigeria: Impact of the energy transition”, the Senior Partner, Deloitte Nigeria, Olumide Esan, stated that except the Federal Government is intentional with infrastructure funding in oil and gas, not much should…
Local airlines, yesterday, at the ongoing Dubai Airshow fiesta, placed aircraft orders in excess of $1.2 billion.Akwa Ibom State-owned carrier, Ibom Air, was scheduled to table an ambitious bid for 10 brand new Airbus 200-300 aircraft. Similarly, Overland Airways placed a firm order for three new Embraer E175 regional jets, plus rights for the purchase of another three. The deal is worth $299.4 million, at list prices, if all purchase rights are exercised. The bid will fetch Ibom Air some of the latest modern and efficient airplanes made by the French commercial jet manufacturer, between 2023 and 2024 Akwa Ibom…
The Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCTA) is established to support the growth of airlines in the continent, boost trade and tourism, stakeholders have said. Air Transport specialist and former Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Richard Aisuebeogun said with AfCFTA, it becomes easier for airlines to grow in Africa just like what is obtained in the entire continent of Europe. Udoh, who spoke ahead of the fourth edition of the National Tourism Transportation Summit slated for 15th to 16th of November, 2021 at the International Conference Centre Abuja, said the Single African Air Transport Market…
Coscharis Motors has collaborated with Sterling Bank Plc to join in its vehicles on the bank’s non-Interest banking platform- AltDrive. The objective is to ease the road to ownership via e-commerce transactions which can be self-funded or financed by the bank. General Manager, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Coscharis Group, Abiona Babarinde, said the idea is to provide customers an online retail marketplace that gives customers a one-stop boutique to access and purchase any vehicular brand sold by Coscharis Motors either through self-funding or credit finance from Sterling Bank. According to Babarinde, the primary objective of this collaboration is to provide…