Operators in the telecommunications industry are seeking special consideration to enable them get access to more foreign exchange. Some industry stakeholders who spoke to our correspondent said operators were struggling to get foreign exchange, and this had been responsible for some drop in service quality. The President of Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, Ikechukwu Nnamani, said in a telephone interview that stakeholders were seeking special intervention from the Central Bank of Nigeria. He said, “Lack of forex to telcos is an open secret. Forex is scarce in the country, and it affects the telco subsectors. “We have been asking…
Author: Temitope Nlewemchi
Air Peace yesterday received the third of its brand new Embraer 195-E5 aircraft at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and disclosed that it would receive all the 13 aircraft it ordered from the Brazilian plane marker before the end of 2022. The airline said that it would create about 17,000 jobs with the total of all its aircraft fleet. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Allen Onyema made this known in a speech just before the aircraft touched down at the Abuja airport from the Embraer facility in Sao Jose Dos Campos, Brazil. “We have paid for…
British Airways (BA) diverted its Lagos-bound flights to Abuja airport over ‘non-functional runway lights’ at the Lagos airport. In a message sent to his passengers on Friday, BA said it was due to local ‘infrastructure issues’ in Lagos. “BA075 Lagos – We’re very sorry your flight to Lagos had to divert to Abuja due to local infrastructure issues in Lagos. Your new estimated departure time is on 19th June at 12:00 local time, arriving into Lagos at around 13:30 local time,” a statement from BA to customers, reads “Transport from the hotel will depart for the airport at 08:00 local…
PayPal said Friday it is raising fees for some of its newer products “to better align our pricing with the value that our products and services provide,” according to a blog post by senior vice president Dan Leberman. The changes will affect how much PayPal merchants pay per transaction, and take effect August 2nd. “PayPal has become more than just a button or payment processor to be a full commerce platform capable of driving growth for businesses,” according to the blog post. “Consumers are nearly three times more likely to complete their purchase when PayPal is available at checkout.” In…
The Nigerian Exchange has halted trading in the shares of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) Plc, as the bank moves to its transition to a holding company. The transaction is to enable Nigeria’s biggest lender by market value consolidate its businesses into a single group, set up payments and asset management subsidiaries. “The suspension is necessary to prevent trading in the shares of the bank in preparation for the eventual delisting of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc from the Daily Official List of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) and listing of the Holding Company, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc on NGX,” the…
The Debt Management Office (DMO) says it will auction N150 billion federal government bonds to investors on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. The agency made the announcement in a circular published on its website on Friday. The auction comprises three bonds valued at N50 billion each. It includes a 10-year reopening bond to be offered at the rate of 16.2884 percent with maturity date of March 2027, a 15- year reopening bond to be offered at 12.5 percent with maturity date of March 2035, and a 30-year reopening bond to be offered at 12.98 per cent and mature in March 2050.…
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offence Commission (ICPC) and the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and other ports agencies, has inaugurated a Port Standing Task Team (PSTT) in the Eastern Ports of Port Harcourt and Onne as part of the on-going collaboration to ensure the full implementation of the Nigerian Ports Process Manual (NPPM). The PSTT, which is made up of officers of the ICPC, the NSC, the NPA and the Directorate of State Services (DSS), was charged with the primary duty of ensuring that standard procedures were followed in carrying out transactions…
The Management of the United Nigeria Airlines on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Bayelsa State for the commencement of direct scheduled flight operations through the Bayelsa International Airport. The sealing of the agreement was made known in an official statement issued Wednesday signed by the airline’s Head of Corporate Communications, Achilleus-Chud Uchegbu, which was made available to newsmen. According to the terms of the agreement, United Nigeria will operate four daily flights in and out Bayelsa International Airport. United Nigeria will service the Bayelsa International Airport daily from the Murtala Muhammed…
The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has explained why the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, was suspended. On if she (Bala-Usman) might return back to her position as the Managing Director, Amaechi said, “I don’t know; only the President can make that decision.” Amaechi, who spoke on Wednesday when he featured on “Politics Today,” a Channels Television programme, noted that Bala Usman was asked to step aside for proper investigation into the activities of NPA. Newsmen report that an 11-man panel of inquiry has been set up to probe the activities of the Nigerian Ports…
The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has distanced itself from the alleged nefarious activities of the Park Management System (PMS) in Oyo State. This is contained in a statement signed by its Deputy General Secretary, Alhaji Suleiman Musa, and made available to newsmen on Friday in Ibadan. Newsmen report that the union, in the statement, was reacting to reports labeling it with atrocities allegedly committed by the PMS. The NURTW said that Alhaji Mukaila Lamidi, popularly known as Auxiliary, who was appointed by Gov. Seyi Makinde to lead the PMS, had been expelled from the union since 2011.…
Trading activities on the Nigerian Exchange rebounded on Wednesday with a gain of 0.15 per cent due to interest in MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN). Specifically, the All-Share Index increased by 57.41points or 0.15 per cent to close at 38,564.70 from 38,507.29 achieved on Tuesday. Consequently, the month-to-date return increased to 0.3 per cent, while the year-to-date loss moderated to 4.2 per cent. Similarly, the market capitalisation rose by N30 billion or 0.15 per cent to close at N20.099 trillion against N20.069 trillion posted on Tuesday. The market upturn was driven by price appreciation in large and…
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) yesterday disclosed that the country earned a total sum of $34.22 billion from the oil and gas sector in 2019, an increase of 4.88 per cent over the $32.63 billion revenue netted from the sector in 2018. A breakdown of the earnings, contained in the just-released 2019 oil and gas industry audit report, showed that payments by companies accounted for $18.90 billion, while flows from federation sales of crude oil and gas accounted for $15.32 billion. From 2010-2019, the aggregate financial flows from the oil and gas sector to government, according…
The Nigerian economy has started gradual recovery from the negative effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said. This was the outcome of an IMF team led by Ms. Jesmin Rahman after its virtual meetings with the Nigerian authorities from June 1-8, 2021 to discuss recent economic, financial developments and outlook. A statement issued by Ms. Rahman on Thursday said: “The Nigerian economy has started to gradually recover from the negative effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic. “Following sharp output contractions in the second and third quarters, GDP growth turned positive in Q4 2020 and…
The Italian justice ministry has ordered an inquiry into the conduct of two prosecutors in the long-running OPL245 corruption case involving energy groups Eni and Shell in Nigeria. Reuters reported Tuesday that Milan prosecutors Fabio De Pasquale and Sergio Spadaro were placed under official investigation by magistrates earlier this month. The report said they were accused of allegedly not filing documents that would have supported Eni’s position. The Malabu scandal involved the transfer of about $1.1 billion by Shell and ENI through the Nigerian government to accounts controlled by a former Nigerian petroleum minister, Dan Etete. From accounts controlled by…
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…