Author: Temitope N.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on Tuesday announced that it has awarded a $500,000 (N205 million) co-investment grant through its West Africa Trade & Investment Hub (Trade hub) to PYXERA Global to boost Nigeria’s agricultural systems and food security pursuit. This was disclosed in a statement by Michael Clements, Trade hub’s chief of party. “The USAID-funded West Africa Trade & Investment Hub has awarded a $500,000 co-investment grant to PYXERA Global, a not-for-profit with extensive experience designing training and capacity-building programs, to support the launch of its West Africa Agriculture Resilience Program (WAFARP),” the statement…

The President of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Dr Al-Mujtaba Abubakar has affirmed that Nigeria should deepen private sector participation in the making of digital economy policies and programmes to benefit maximally from the booming sector. Speaking at the signing of MOU on Digital Economy policy between the ACCI and the Continental Project Affairs Associates Ltd. (CPAA) in Abuja on Thursday, Dr Abubakar said governmental drive within the ICT sector is “a recognition of the digital shift within the economy as ICT contribution to the GDP is growing every quarter and the potential of the sector as…

The managing director of Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG), Anthony Attah, said the Train 7 project will stimulate inflow of about $10 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country. Attah said this on Tuesday at the groundbreaking ceremony of the project in Bonny Island, Rivers state. He said the project will create 12,000 direct jobs in the community and additional 40,000 indirect construction jobs. Attah noted that the project will increase NLNG’s overall capacity to 30 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) from the current 22 million mtpa, while further adding immense value to the nation and…

Ardova Plc, an indigenous energy company, says it has acquired a 100 percent equity stake in Enyo Retail and Supply Holding in a share purchase agreement. A share purchase agreement is an agreement or the sale and purchase of a stated number of shares at an agreed price. Oladeinde Nelson-Cole, Ardova’s company secretary, made this known in a corporate filing on the Nigerian stock exchange group limited on Tuesday. The company notified its shareholders that the transaction is a share purchase agreement by both parties without stating further details. “This announcement follows the execution of a share purchase agreement by…

The Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) says the Police Command in Rivers has arrested a middle-age man, Brian Anucha, for allegedly parading himself as PHED staff defrauding customers. Mrs Chioma Aninwe, Acting Manager of Corporate Communications, PHED, made this known in a statement in Port Harcourt on Wednesday. She said that Anucha allegedly scammed one Emmanuel Nte of N220,000, to activate his victim’s meter billing account. “Anucha paraded himself as PHED staff and was recently apprehended at the Aba Road axis of Port Harcourt. “The suspect, while presenting himself as a staff of the company, approached a customer, Emmanuel…

The World Bank has stated that inflationary pressure in Nigeria has pushed about seven million Nigerians below the poverty line in 2020 alone. The World Bank gave the data in its latest Nigeria Development Update (NDU), released yesterday, a few days after President Muhammadu Buhari in his Democracy Day broadcast claimed on Saturday that his administration had lifted 10.5 million Nigerians out of poverty in the past two years. The bank’s Country Director for Nigeria, Mr. Shubham Chaudhuri, while speaking on ‘The Arise Xchange,’ a programme of ARISE NEWS Channel, also said lack of economic opportunities was contributing to…

The Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) has attributed the outage in some communities in Badagry to broken poles along the Badagry Expressway in Oko-Afo. The General Manager, Corporate Communications, EKEDC, Godwin Idemudia, said on Tuesday that the incident at Oko-Afo affected four electric poles and some equipment. “At around 1:46 p.m. on Monday, Oko-Afo 33KV feeder was faulty due to broken poles at Temole bus stop along the Badagry expressway. “The incident which occurred affected four electric poles and other equipment of the company,” he said. Idemudia said the fallen poles had been removed and the company’s technical team was…

Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) says it has so far recorded 51 leaks from its oil production activities in the Niger Delta in 2021. According to data obtained from the oil firm’s website on Tuesday, 44 of the spill incidents were traced to sabotage by vandals. The firm said that seven of the leaks were caused by operational factors. “In May, eight spills which discharged 253.07 barrels of SPDC’s bonny light crude blended into the environment. “Of the eight spills recorded, six were caused by sabotage whereas two were from operational factors,” it said. The data also showed…

If there was ever a time Nigeria could have taken off, it was in 1999. Democracy had been restored, with its economy reopening after decades of mismanagement and plunder under military dictatorships. Tomi Davies, a systems analyst, was one of thousands of Nigerians who came home to help rebuild the country. After a few years working on public-sector projects, he was offered a bag full of dollars to add ghost employees to the payroll system he was installing. When he refused, a group of men attacked him at his home in the capital, Abuja. “I arrived like many others full…

The African Development Bank said on Monday it is returning to the Australian capital market with the launch of a 5.5-year $464 million Kangaroo social bond. The development bank said the deal was led by Nomura and RBC Capital Markets. It added that the second social bond, following a $3.1 billion 3-year issue launched last year to fight the coronavirus pandemic, will be used to improve access to electricity, water and sanitation, and other social programmes in the continent.

The Supreme Court of Nigeria has ruled that Investors in Nospetco Oil & Gas Ltd (Wonder Bank) whose N22.45 billion funds are being trapped in the Central Bank of Nigeria, for over 14 years, can go to the appropriate court for recovery of their money. With the ruling, the apex court affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeal, which held that the money actually belonged to the investors. The court also dismissed Nospetco Oil and Gas claims that the money should be paid into its coffers. Delivering the judgement through zoom, Justice Amina Augie leading Justice Osegi, said the…

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has agreed in principle to mint The Gambian Dalasi. The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, agreed to the currency minting proposal from the Governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia, Buah Saidy, who led a delegation to visit him on Tuesday. Emefiele said Nigeria had a lot of capacity in currency printing as she has been minting since the 1960s and “we are willing to assist in printing your currency. We can be extremely competitive in terms of cost.” The Gambian Central Bank Governor said his country was running very low on currency and…

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) through its subsidiary Duke Oil has sealed a pact to supply 30,000 barrels per day crude oil supply to Indonesia’s state oil corp, Pertamina, and Indian Oil Corporation. The development, which will strengthen the nation’s revenue outlook is coming in the face of the volatility and uncertainty in the oil industry. The move, which also signals the nation’s attempt to capture market share in Asia countries may push the profit of the entity to about $70 million in the 2021 trading year. Managing Director of NNPC Trading Company Limited, Lawal Sade, who disclosed this in…

Branch International has restated its commitment to promoting financial inclusion in Nigeria. During a virtual event in Lagos, the company said it was achieving this by leveraging technology to offer a range of unique financial services to customers. According to Branch, the quest to make formal financial services accessible at an affordable rate to individuals and businesses was critical in systematically driving economic development. It said its offerings were designed to offer value to customers, while enabling them make payments and granting access to loans and investment opportunities. It said the product features included free and unlimited money transfers; free…

“Biodiversity loss and climate change are both driven by human economic activities and mutually reinforce each other. Neither will be successfully resolved unless both are tackled together,” the researchers said. The drive by corporate organisations and governments on planting trees to help absorb carbon is not a magic cure, the scientists warned. The report disclosed that the right trees must be planted in the right places in order not to destroy local ecosystems. It noted that climate change could ‘drastically reduce the mitigation potential of forests due to an increase in extreme events like fires, insects and pathogens’ Hans-Otto Pörtner,…

Leadway Health, in partnership with the Lagos State Blood Transfusion Service and REPPLAW Blood Donors Club, has said it is set to launch its blood donation drive initiative to commemorate this year’s World Blood Donor Day. It said in a statement on Sunday that the two-day blood donation exercise was scheduled to take place in June at the Leadway Corporate Office in Lagos. Leadway said the initiative was in alignmkent with the 2021 theme of the World Blood Donor Day, ‘Give blood and keep the world beating’, to raise awareness of the critical need to provide safe blood through unpaid…

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, the parent company of the Ecobank Group, says it has successfully raised $350m Tier 2 Sustainability Notes. ETI said in a statement on Friday that the bond was more than three times oversubscribed by investors. “This represents the first-ever Tier 2 Sustainability Notes by a financial institution in Sub-Saharan Africa,” it said. According to the statement, the Tier 2 issuance is the first to have a Basel III-compliant 10NC5 structure outside of South Africa in 144A/RegS format and will be listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. It said, “The bond, which matures in…

The Federal Government has taken over the construction of the completion of Farin-Ruwa Hydropower Multipurpose Dam in Nasarawa State. Speaking during the inauguration ceremony on Friday in the Wamba Local Government Area of the state, Minister of Water Resources, Malam Suleiman Adamu, said the project had a completion period of 24 months. He explained that the project was initiated in 2003 and started by Nasarawa State Government in 2004 to generate 20 megawatts of electricity to boost socioeconomic development of the state. He said, “The implementation of the project suffered setback due to paucity of fund but the state government…

FBNInsurance Limited said it rewarded its outstanding financial advisors, sales managers, senior sales manager and area sales managers to motivate its retail sales force and in line with its corporate strategy. It said in a statement titled ‘FBNInsurance rewards retail agents’ that they were recognised during its 2020 MD/CEO Ember Award and The Retail Annual Competition Award in Lagos. Speaking on the awards at the ceremony, the Executive Director, Retail Business Distribution, FBNInsurance Limited, Mr Odinakachi Umekwe, commended the efforts of the retail team for the outstanding performances they put forward despite the pandemic. He stated, “The retail team…

After the international crude oil benchmark, Brent advanced above $70 as the PUNCH reported earlier in the month, industry experts see meagre benefits as subsidy payments gulp revenues. The Federal Account Allocation Committee report for May, value shortfall, representing the amount the NNPC paid for subsidy, showed that the March receipts amounted to N111.97bn, while February’s totalled N60.40bn. According to the FAAC reports for January, February and March, the total amount spent on subsidy for the first three months of 2021 stands at N197.74bn. The Nigerian Governors Forum during its May 19 meeting suggested that the Federal Government end…