2016 Budget: FG Spends N1tr on Capital Projects

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has disclosed that Nigeria saw a 65.7 per cent or N76.77 billion increase in earnings from the solid minerals sector in 2021 to N193.59 billion from the N116.82 billion achieved in 2020. This upward trajectory has been on for the past five years, according to a report from the agency. The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, however, lamented that this is still abysmal considering the potential of the sector to the Nigerian economy. He said this while presenting the solid minerals sector report in Abuja, noting that

By Dipo Olowookere Stock investors were swayed by the news of the indefinite postponement of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The quarterly rate decision meeting was supposed to occur next week, but it has been moved forward. There are speculations that the meeting was postponed to allow the new CBN Governor nominee, Mr Yemi Cardoso, to preside over the gathering. He is yet to be confirmed by the Senate, which resumes from a recess next Tuesday, the same day the rate decision is supposed to be announced. The confusion as to who

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil prices settled lower on Thursday even after Russia announced a ban on fuel exports, with Brent crude down by 23 cents to $93.30 a barrel while the US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) lost 3 cents to sell at $89.63 per barrel. Russia temporarily banned gasoline and diesel exports to all countries outside a circle of four ex-Soviet states with immediate effect to stabilize the domestic fuel market, the government said on Thursday. It said the ban did not apply to fuel supplied under inter-governmental agreements to Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union members, including Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia

By Adedapo Adesanya Though the supply of foreign exchange (FX) in Nigeria has remained low, the Naira closed stronger against the United States Dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) and the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) segments on Wednesday, September 20, and maintained stability in the parallel market. According to data obtained from FMDQ Securities Exchange, the local currency appreciated against the Dollar in the midweek session by 0.76 per cent or N5.89 to sell for N770.71/$1 versus the previous rate of N776.60/$1 amid a decline in the value of forex transactions by 9.4 per cent or $6.65 million to $64.36 million

By Modupe Gbadeyanka As part of its Global Transparency Initiative, Kaspersky Lab has extended its successful bug bounty program to include rewards of up to $100,000 for the discovery and responsible disclosure of severe vulnerabilities in some of its leading products. A statement issued by the firm disclosed that the opportunity to get this bounty is available to all members of the famous HackerOne platform, Kaspersky Lab’s partner for the Bug Bounty initiative. This is a 20-fold increase on existing rewards, and is evidence of the company’s commitment to ensuring the complete integrity of its products and protection for customers.

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has explained why it came up with an upward review of electricity tariffs that would be paid by consumers in the country. In a statement signed by the General Manager of Public Affairs at NERC, Dr Usman Abba Arabi and published on its website, it was disclosed that while the commission was yet to approve the other tariffs plan, what is being reported in some sections of the media were merely a review of the 2015 tariff regime to account for changes in macroeconomic indices between 2016 and 2018. Explaining the

By Dipo Olowookere October 1, 2016, has been fixed by the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Lagos Province 38 for the 2016 convention of the Redeemer’s Men. The programme is held yearly to celebrate and worship God in a special way. The 2016 edition is themed ‘Created For Exploits’ and some anointed men of God have been invited to minister at the event. According to activities lined up for the programme, there would be business, health and marriage seminars. Information gathered from executives of the Redeemer’s Men revealed that the event will kick off on Thursday, September 29 with

By Dipo Olowookere Treasury bills yields moved in different directions across maturities this week with the yields on 1 month and 3 months maturities increasing to 11.52 percent from 10.95 percent and 13.41 percent from 13.30 percent respectively. However, yields for 6 months and 12 months maturities moderated to 13.66 percent from 13.68 percent and 16.73 percent from 16.82 percent respectively. On Thursday, the Central Bank of Nigeria sold treasury bills worth N199.60 billion in the secondary market, with the total outflows offset by the inflows from the matured T-bills worth N397.72 billion. Consequently, NIBOR moderated for all the tenor

For several decades, the African continent has been bedevilled with low intra-trade volumes when compared to other parts of the world, and this has consequently hampered the growth of the African economy. To address this challenge, African countries came together to establish the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to increase, strengthen and deepen intra-trade among African countries. The establishment of the AfCFTA created the opportunity for a single market for the trade of goods and services on the continent, thereby increasing the level of intra-trade. The enactment of AfCFTA is expected to birth the largest free trade area in

By Adedapo Adesanya The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has announced the introduction of Self-Service Stations in all offices in the country to enable efficient service delivery for its IT tax solutions, including the TaxPro Max. This was disclosed in a statement by the FIRS on Thursday, February 10, 2021. The agency added the self-service options will come with a designated officer to assist taxpayers. The tax regulator stated that the introduction of the Self Service Stations in all of the FIRS tax offices nationwide is to support taxpayers in utilizing the TaxPro Max solution. To enhance voluntary tax compliance,

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Despite the harsh environment that almost crippled the aviation industry in Nigeria last year, Med-View Airline recorded a rise in its profit for the year. Med-View Airline, in its 2016 full year financial results, declared a profit of N772.9 million compared with N728.5 recorded in the corresponding period of 2015. During the period under review, the company’s turnover increased to N26 billion from N14.1 billion posted 12 months earlier. Also, the firm posted a pre-tax profit of N840 million compared with N830.9 million it achieved at the end of December 31, 2015. It was observed that the

By Adedapo Adesanya President Muhammadu Buhari has approved a steering committee to immediately commence the implementation of the recently signed Petroleum Industry Act. The steering committee, which has 12-month duration for the assignment, is headed by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva. The President gave the approval on Wednesday while giving a remark on the Act which he assented to on Monday. He spoke during a meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly led by the President of the Senate, Mr Ahmed Lawan, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. The President hinted that relevant ministries,