Uber, Others to Pay N25m Licence Fee, 10% Tax Per Ride

By Bliss Okperan Users of ride-hailing mobile applications like Uber, Bolt, LagRide and others may have to submit their National Identification Number (NIN) for registration before using the services if the demands of the Amalgamated Union of App-based Transporters of Nigeria are granted by the federal government. The group has asked the government to force the ride-hailing companies to capture the NIN of passengers before ordering a ride. The drivers made this request because of the incessant killing of their colleagues by hoodlums across the country. In a statement made available to journalists, the ride-hailing drivers said if this demand

By Adedapo Adesanya The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee is investigating the failure of Federal Mass Transit schemes in the country since 1999 as lawmakers have decried the serial mismanagement of public funds in Urban Mass Transit Schemes without results. The Chairman of the Committee, Mr Afam Victor Ogene, in a statement in Abuja recently, warned that the committee will get to the root of the mismanagement of the funds that run into billions of Naira. The lawmaker expressed displeasure at the seeming reluctance of ministries and agencies to release documents relating to public funds expended on previous Mass Transit

By Bliss Okperan A mobility technology company based in Nigeria providing a platform to aggregate intercity bus transportation in Africa, Bus54, is seeking to pick the African spot at the forthcoming Startup World Cup in December 2023 in the United States. The Startup World Cup is a global conference and competition with the goal of bridging start-up ecosystems worldwide. The competition gives startup companies from all over the world a chance to win $1 million in the form of an investment. Bus54, which allows passengers to search, compare, book, and manage their journeys online, could make it to the tourney

By Adedapo Adesanya The Lagos State Government has announced that the first phase of the Blue Rail Line will commence operations on Monday, September 4. The Managing Director of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Mrs Abimbola Akinajo, made this known at the Marina Train Station on Wednesday. Mrs Akinajo also noted that the first train ride would kick off by 9 am with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on board, along with other passengers, from Marina to Mile 2 Train Station. Mrs Akinajo explained that for the first four weeks, the rain will run only 12 trips with the locomotive

By Adedapo Adesanya The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has partnered with a digital infrastructure and IT services company, SEACOM, to grow its broadband cable network and cloud-based product offering in sub-Saharan Africa, as continued efforts to boost broadband access in Africa and increase the availability of IT services for small and medium-sized businesses. Over the last decade, IFC committed and mobilized more than $7 billion in digital infrastructure and services globally. In addition to providing financing, IFC helps investees improve corporate governance and align environmental and social practices with IFC’s performance standards. Under this new partnership, IFC is providing a

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Some Nigerian youths on Thursday stormed the head office of MTN Nigeria in Abuja, ransacking the firm and attacking its customers. The angry protesters also demanded the relocation of the South African company and South Africans from Nigeria. It was gathered that today’s attack is in retaliation for the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and their businesses in South Africa. During the demonstration, the National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS), which organised the protest, gave South Africans living in Nigeria 48 hours leave the country or face further attacks. President of NANS, Mr Aruna Kadiri, informed Reuters that,

By Dipo Olowookere The federal government of Nigeria has asked a Chinese multinational power generation and electrical equipment manufacturing company, the Shanghai Electric Group, to look into Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) partnerships amongst other investment opportunities in the country. Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, made this suggestion to the energy firm when she met with the Vice President of the Shanghai Electric Group and his delegation on a courtesy visit at the Finance Headquarters in Abuja. She said even though Nigeria has challenges, this also presents opportunities for investors, adding that there were significant opportunities for solar

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The four applications filed by BGL Plc and its subsidiaries objecting to their trial before the Wuse Magistrate Court in Abuja have been dismissed by Chief Magistrate Chinyere Nweoachenu. According to a statement from the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), the judge held that ongoing civil matters involving the firm in another court cannot affect the hearing of the criminal case before the Magistrate Court. As a result, the court fixed Wednesday October 2, 2018, for the definite hearing of the case before it. BGL Plc and her subsidiaries had filed four different applications against their trial

The Lagos State Government has expressed its determination to continue to solidify its partnership with media organizations for the progress and development of the state. The State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Steve Ayorinde made the declaration while on courtesy visit to some media houses in the state to express the appreciation of the State Government to the organisations for their support and cooperation over the last one year of the Akinwunmi Ambode administration. He explained that the tour of media houses was meant to acknowledge the enormous support they have given to the administration in regards to propagating

By Adedapo Adesanya Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is leaving the Netherlands after failing to get the regulator in the country to issue a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license, which attests that it meets anti-money laundering (AML) guidelines. As of July 17, Dutch residents can only withdraw their funds from the platform, according to a statement from the exchange. “We regret to announce that Binance is leaving the Dutch market,” Binance said in a statement on its website. “This, unfortunately, means that no new users residing in the Netherlands will be accepted as of today. Starting from 17

By Ahmed Rahma Most businesses lost ground in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but next year will be better, the Chief Ideas Officer of Lilvera Nigeria, Mr Buchi Johnson, has said. “A lot of businesses will hit the ground running in 2021 to make up for the lost time in 2020 and most importantly, businesses will be conducted differently as a result of the pandemic,” Mr Johnson said while reacting to an award won by his company recently. Lilvera, a fast-growing marketing communications agency, emerged winner of the Most Customer Focused Experiential Marketing category at the 2020 Africa Finance

By Dipo Olowookere Trading activities at the treasury bills market in Nigeria remained slightly bullish on Tuesday like in the previous session. However, unlike on Monday, when market players focused more on the short tenured bills, traders shifted attention to the longer end of the curve (Jan-April) on Tuesday. These instruments were traded down around the 11.50-10.50 region. But the yields stayed relatively flat, compressing marginally by 0.03 percent as yields tick slightly higher on some short and medium tenured maturities. According to analysts at Zedcrest Research, the market is expected to remain slightly bullish today as market players anticipate