The Australian government has announced a substantial increase in fees for citizenship applications and passports, set to take effect from July 1, 2024. These changes will affect various applicants, including permanent residents, adoption cases, and specific foreign applicants. The new fee structure, effective July 1, 2024, will introduce higher costs for permanent residents, individuals seeking citizenship through adoption, and foreigners applying under specific international agreements. While the fee adjustments are broad, certain families and groups will benefit from exemptions or minimal fee changes. The revised fees will impact a wide range of applicants, necessitating careful planning and budgeting for those…
Author: Temitope N.
The total transactions on the local bourse have hit N2.35tn at the end of May, indicating a 115.40 per cent increase compared to the first five months of 2023. This was disclosed in the domestic and foreign portfolio participation in equity trading report released by the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Thursday. According to the report, domestic investors maintained their dominance in the market as they transacted about N1.79tn (79.63 per cent) in the five months compared to N458.29bn (20.37 per cent) for foreign investors. A further breakdown showed that domestic institutional investors had the upper hand at N906bn compared to…
The naira has emerged as the worst-performing currency in the world in the first half of 2024. According to a report by Bloomberg on Friday, devaluation, insufficient dollar liquidity, and market volatility have hindered efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria to strengthen the currency. Besides the naira, Egypt’s pound and Ghana’s cedi were the world’s other worst performers in the first six months of the year. “What will matter going forward is whether it can stabilise on improving foreign exchange inflows and perhaps see some appreciation.” According to PwC in its latest economic report on Nigeria, the naira depreciated against…
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, has said the country’s housing market has the potential to unlock a $1tn economy. Speaking during the groundbreaking ceremony for the 250-housing unit Renewed Hope Estate in Akwa Ibom, recently, Dangiwa emphasised that the housing sector could catalyse a $1tn economy. The project, which is part of the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates programme launched by the President with a groundbreaking for 3,112 Renewed Hope City in Karsana, Abuja in February 2024, has further covered states like Kano, with 500-unit Renewed Hope City; and Katsina, Gombe, Yobe, and Sokoto, each with…
Following the start of operations at the Dangote refinery, the Airlines Operators of Nigeria has confirmed a reduction in the price of aviation fuel in the country. This development was achieved after the association met with the management team of the Dangote group to discuss bottlenecks making the important commodity expensive with a backlash of increased airfares. Since the end of the fuel subsidy regime in the country over a year ago, the prices of all petroleum products have skyrocketed. In February, airline operators lamented the skyrocketing price of aviation fuel, describing the development as critical and requiring immediate government…
The President of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies, Yinka Folami, has confirmed readiness to collaborate with the Lagos Aviation School to end quackery, among its members. The association disclosed that on Tuesday during the unveiling of a new building for the school in Lagos. Speaking with journalists at the sideline of the event, the Group Managing Director of Finchglow Holdings, a parent company of the aviation school, Bankole Bernard, stated that the collaboration would increase the level of professionalism among travel agents. He said, “The collaboration coming from NANTA is to increase the level of professionalism of their…
Stakeholders in the Nigerian aviation industry are set to chart a way to tackle challenges confronting the sector. They will be focusing on the theme ‘Aviation Survivability amidst a Challenging Macro-Economic Environment’ at the 28th edition of the Annual Conference of the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents. This was contained in a press statement signed by the Chairman of the Conference Planning Committee, Chinedu Eze, on Tuesday. The crucial deliberation meeting slated for Friday, July 26, 2024, will be held in Lagos. According to Eze, this year’s conference was informed by the challenging state of the country’s economy, which…
The domestic crude oil supply crisis that recently led to accusations and denials in the oil sector may warrant an investment plunge in the industry, operators declared on Wednesday. According to operators at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the crisis may damage the confidence of International Oil Companies and investors in refineries. This came as a section of the 650,000-capacity Dangote Petroleum Refinery caught fire on Wednesday, sparking reactions on social media as videos of the incident went viral. The management of the facility, however, allayed fears about the incident, as it stated that the situation had been…
Nigeria is being positioned as a leading gas-powered economy through the construction of three key gas projects with a combined worth of about $4.15bn, the Federal Government announced on Thursday. It said the projects, being handled by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, include the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano Gas Pipeline Project; Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben Gas Pipeline Project, popularly called OB3 gas project; and the Assa North-Ohaji South gas project, also known as ANOH project. The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Nicholas Ella, disclosed this in Abuja during an interactive session with employees of the ministry. He said, “Under the Decade of Gas…
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has concluded plans to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with supermarket operators to boost consumers’ confidence in the country. The acting Executive Vice Chairman of FCCPC, Dr Adamu Abdullahi, disclosed this on Thursday in Lagos when he hosted members of the National Association of Supermarket Operators of Nigeria/Retail Council of Nigeria. Abdullahi stated that the FCCPC and the association had agreed to form a technical committee that would facilitate the signing of the MoU for them to understand themselves better. “We have agreed to form a small technical committee that would now look…
Real Estate firm, Sterling Homes, has offered free eye check-ups, care, glasses, as well as cataract surgery for no fewer than 200 elderly persons, in commemoration of its 14th anniversary. The beneficiaries of the gesture were mostly residents within Lagos and Ogun states’ Berger, Ojodu, Ogba, Ketu Isheri, Magodo, Arepo, Mowe, Simawa, Olowoira, and Ikeja areas. The firm’s Chief Executive Officer, Kunle Adeyemi, noted that the gesture has been part of the company’s yearly Corporate Social Responsibility initiative since its inception. He explained that the company partnered with Eye Foundation Hospital to carry out the initiative which runs into millions…
Fidelity Bank has expressed a willingness to partner with other stakeholders to tackle the twin challenges of investment and support facing startups in Africa. This was disclosed at the Africa Technology Expo, which took place recently in Lagos. In her keynote at the event, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank Plc, Dr Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, stated that the bank was also working in that direction with the implementation of a digital-based retail-banking strategy via an SME business hub to facilitate networking and collaboration among startups, content creators and other digital entrepreneurs. Onyeali-Ikpe, represented by the bank’s Executive Director/Chief Risk…
The Chief Executive Officer of Asper Online Auctioning Company, Saheed Ashogbon, has appealed to both President Bola Tinubu and the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu to partner with the company to kick start a $100m automobile investment in the country. The United States-based business owner stated that on Wednesday during a press conference in Lagos. He said that the firm, which deals in car auctioning through its online store, had proposed an initiative to the government to help remove abandoned vehicles and makeshift dealers from the roadsides with a plan to centralise automobile businesses in a designated location. Ashogbon explained…
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Lagos Mainland and District Society has elected a new chairman, Mr Ini Esau, for the 2024/2025. Esau became the 30th chairman of the district, following his election and swearing in alongside other executive committee members in Lagos. In a statement made available on Wednesday, Esau in his acceptance speech at the investiture ceremony, appreciated members of the district for finding him and other exco members worthy to be their leaders. Congratulating the new exco, the Chief Executive Officer of ERP software implementation company, Growth Stack, Ini Akpabio, also pledged to support its tenure.…
About 40.2 million households in Nigeria practise a form of agriculture or another, amounting to more than 70 per cent of households in the country, the National Bureau of Statistics has revealed. The bureau in its latest report placed Kano State as having the highest demography of agricultural households in Nigeria with 2 million households and Bayelsa State as the least having 340,000 agrarian households. The NBS recently released the National Agricultural Sample Census Report 2022 in collaboration with the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organisation, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and other stakeholders. The Statistician-General of the…
Co-founder and board observer at Madica and a Principal at Flourish Ventures, Efayomi Carr, speaks about the ecosystem, startup funding, among other issues in this interview with FELIX OLOYEDE. Carr, who is a former Head of Marketplace for Jumia, states that venture capitalists are always looking for fresh opportunities To what extent is infrastructure deficit hampering the country’s tech ecosystem? Infrastructure deficits, such as unreliable internet connectivity, power supply issues, and inadequate transportation networks, significantly hamper the tech ecosystem. These challenges increase operational costs and limit the scalability of tech solutions. Addressing these infrastructure gaps is essential to creating an enabling…
President Bola Tinubu on Thursday gave all the state governors seven days to provide concrete feedback on their plans to rev up food production in their respective states. Tinubu gave the directive at the 142nd National Economic Council meeting attended by state governors and some deputies at the State House, Abuja. He also announced a National Construction and Household Support Programme which will see 100,000 families in each state getting N50,000 grant for three months, N155bn to be disbursed for assorted foods, N540bn for household grants even as 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory will get N10bn allocations each…
As part of activities to mark the 2024 World Drug Day, APM Terminals Apapa, collaborated with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency to campaign against drug abuse. In a statement on Thursday, the terminal operator said that the lecture, which was held on Wednesday in Lagos, had in attendance, members of the Apapa port and host community. The lecture, which was themed ‘The Evidence is Clear: Invest in Prevention’, was part of weeklong activities to celebrate this year’s event. The Manager of Health, Safety and Environment at APMT Apapa, Felix Ugwuagbo, stated the terminal operator partnered with NDLEA to create…
About 150 banks have expressed interest in participating in the lending ecosystem for the newly launched Consumer Credit Scheme. This was disclosed by the Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on social media, Dada Olusegun, on Thursday via his X (formerly Twitter) handle. Tinubu announced the launching of the first phase of the Consumer Credit Scheme on April 21, a programme designed to offer credit facilities to working citizens in the country. Providing an update on the scheme, the presidential aide said that both commercial and microfinance banks had indicated interest in participating in the scheme even as over 40,000…
Economist and Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives, Bismarck Rewane and other experts have called on Small and Medium Enterprises owners to embrace a digital mindset to manage their cash flow. They gave the on Thursday at a webinar organised by a digital bank, Sparkle, where the founder of The Dew Centre, Omon Anenih, and CEO of Sparkle, Uzoma Dozie, also highlighted cash flow management strategies for SMEs. The webinar, titled ‘Keeping Your Cash Flowing: Simple Tips for Small Business Owners’, was attended by more than 140 business owners from across Nigeria. In his presentation, Rewane provided an overview of…