Economy
Ambode Tasks Investors At LFTZ On CSR
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Lagos State Government at the weekend charged investors in the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ) corridor to step up their Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) to the host communities as that is one of the ways to secure the multi-billion dollars investment in the corridor.
The Government said the administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode was passionate about the investment in the corridor as it is the future hub of commerce and industry in Africa.
Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Lekki Worldwide Investments Limited, Mr Popson Jaiyesimi who spoke at a 3-day workshop on “Communication and Team Skills in Effective Interfacing on Community Service and Relations” for Stakeholders in the LFZ communities at the La Campagne Beach Resort, Lekki, Lagos, said CSR had become so critical that it could not be neglected by investors willing to secure their investments.
“We have a strategic plan to move Lekki Worldwide Investments limited forward and one of the things we identified is how to get the investors and the communities talking and we decided that there should be a workshop of information sharing between the investors and the communities. We are just the moderators.
“The governor is quite keen on this project because Lekki Free Trade Zone is the future of Nigeria businesses and it is a product of research. The fundamental thing is to make sure that there is security and it comes when the communities are walking in tandem with the investors.
“This is to keep them talking because when you keep the people around the table, they share their fears and sometimes, you find out that it is just miscommunication as there is no issue at all,” he said.
Mr Jaiyesimi added that the state government had understudied the Niger Delta crisis and what led to the agitation, saying that government would find a way out to address the needs of the people in Lekki in order to ensure the projects in the area were not truncated.
“We have found out that we need to get it right, because we have multi-billion dollars investments in that corridor and government has spent so much money in compensation and investment in the corridor. We are interested in knowing what the investors are putting down as Corporate Social Responsibilities to the communities,” he said.
Mr Jaiyesimi stressed that coordinated effort of all stakeholders in matters of CSR was required to ensure that the goal of the Lagos megacity was achieved, thereby guaranteeing prosperity for investors and communities.
“Numerous research findings have shown that CSR requires communication and teamwork for effective interfacing and relationship with host communities; guaranteeing safety and security for business,” he said.
He added that community development projects through CSR must meet people’s hierarchy of needs for lasting appreciation and goodwill, saying that impact assessment was a requirement for sustainability of any community project.
Mr Jaiyesimi stated that government had done a need assessment of the communities and found out that what was paramount among their needs was employment for their children by the investors, but lamented that in some cases their children were not qualified for the jobs.
According to him, conscious efforts should be made by the investors to educate and train children from the host communities on the skills and competency they needed to be gainfully employed in their establishments.
Also speaking, Mr Gokil Rajan, Operational Head, Lekki Free Trade Zone said that part of its CSR to the communities was in the area of ensuring health, hygiene and sanitation, saying that the organisation had reduced open defecation in schools through construction of toilets.
He stated that the lives of about 10,000 students had been touched while 36 schools in the Lekki corridor had been provided with toilets which had helped in curbing open defecation.
Group General Manager, Corporate Relations, Dangote Oil Refining Company Limited, Mr Yinka Akande, said the importance of community keying into investors’ projects in Lekki could not be over-emphasized as any investor willing to make impact must relate with the host communities in order to secure the project.
He said failure to cooperate with the host communities could impede the project, with the investors losing large chunks of their investments.
A community leader in the area, Ayodele Olayinka said the over 200 communities in the Lekki corridor fully supported government’s effort to develop the LFTZ as it would impact positively on the lives of people in the area.
Olayinka, who is the Chairman, Abomiti Zone in Parcel ‘B’ however, appealed to the state government to give them the land which had been earmarked for them after they were made to relinquish their original land, while describing the LFTZ development as a laudable project.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Senate has passed a bill to repeal and re-enact the law establishing the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), paving the way for the regulatory agency to be renamed the Insurance Regulatory Commission (IRC).
The legislation, titled the Insurance Regulatory Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2026, was passed after the Senate considered and adopted the report of its committee on banking, insurance and other financial institutions.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr Adetokunbo Abiru, the senator representing Lagos East, who presented the report, stated that the proposed legislation was necessary because the existing National Insurance Commission Act of 1997 had become outdated and no longer reflected the realities of Nigeria’s evolving insurance industry or global regulatory standards.
According to the Senate, the decision to change the Commission’s name was informed by the need to eliminate confusion associated with the existing designation and to better reflect the institution’s regulatory mandate within Nigeria’s insurance industry.
The bill also provides legal protection for the commission and its officers against adverse claims arising from the lawful execution of their statutory duties.
However, he noted that the commission’s enabling law had become obsolete, exposing significant regulatory gaps that required urgent legislative intervention.
‘The current National Insurance Commission Act 1997 is outdated and does not adequately address the emerging economic growth, needs and development of the insurance business,” the lawmaker said.
He explained that the new legislation seeks to strengthen the independence of the commission by empowering it to make regulatory decisions without undue influence in the country’s insurance sector.
According to him, the bill also enhances the commission’s authority to exchange information and collaborate with domestic and international regulatory bodies, issue regulations, guidelines, standards and directives on insurance-related matters, and intervene more effectively in financially distressed insurance companies to protect policyholders and preserve financial stability.
This marks yet another move to strengthen the country’s insurance sector following the enactment of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) of 2025 and the industry-wide recapitalisation exercise, which will wrap up by July 31.
By Adedapo Adesanya
About 143 companies that successfully passed the technical and prequalification stages of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) 2025 Licensing Round will, today, compete for 50 oil and gas blocks at the commercial bid conference in Abuja, the final stage in the allocation process for the assets.
The commission said only the prequalified companies have been invited to attend the event, which will hold at the Conference Centre of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, stressing that participation is strictly by invitation.
The commercial bid conference will determine the successful bidders for oil and gas assets located across Nigeria’s producing and frontier basins.
The 50 blocks comprise 16 onshore blocks and 18 shallow water blocks in the Niger Delta, one deep offshore block, three onshore blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin, and four in the Benue Trough.
According to the commission, the winning bids will be determined through a transparent evaluation process based on clearly defined commercial parameters. These include the signature bonus offered by bidders, the proposed work programme commitment and the level of performance security provided. The final selection will be based on a weighted technical and commercial score.
The licensing round is being conducted under the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which requires a transparent and competitive process for the award of petroleum assets.
NUPRC had announced the commencement of the 2025 Licensing Round on November 11, 2025, before opening the online bid portal on December 1, 2025, to enable interested companies to register and participate in the exercise.
To ensure prospective investors fully understood the requirements, the commission organised a pre-bid conference on January 14, 2026, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos. The event provided detailed explanations on the licensing guidelines and bidding procedures to registered participants and other stakeholders.
Registration and submission of prequalification documents closed on February 27, 2026, while the prequalification evaluation was completed on March 16, 2026.
NUPRC disclosed that 286 companies initially submitted applications for prequalification.
Following the evaluation process, 196 companies were cleared to participate in the technical and commercial bid stages.
The prequalified 143 companies eventually submitted a total of 200 bids for the available oil and gas blocks. These companies are now set to compete at the commercial bid conference, where the financial offers will be opened and evaluated to determine the eventual winners.
The licensing round is expected to attract fresh investment into Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector, boost exploration activities across both producing and frontier basins, increase crude oil and gas reserves, and support the country’s drive to grow production and government revenue.
It also underscores the regulator’s commitment to implementing a transparent, competitive and investor-friendly licensing regime under the Petroleum Industry Act.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has retained all key monetary policy parameters following the conclusion of its two-day meeting on July 21, 2026, on Tuesday, maintaining its tight monetary policy stance to curb inflation and support macroeconomic stability.
According to the Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, who chaired the committee, the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which serves as the benchmark interest rate, remains at 26.50 per cent. The MPC also retained the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +50 basis points and -450 basis points.
In addition, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks was left unchanged at 45.00 per cent, while the CRR for merchant banks remains at 16.00 per cent. The committee also retained the CRR on non-Treasury Single Account (Non-TSA) public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent, with the liquidity ratio at 30.00 per cent.
The decision reflects the apex bank’s continued commitment to containing inflationary pressures through a restrictive monetary policy while safeguarding the resilience of Nigeria’s financial system amid ongoing macroeconomic adjustments.
By keeping all policy tools unchanged, the MPC signalled its intention to continue managing excess liquidity in the banking sector and maintain stability in financial markets.
The move is also expected to provide greater policy certainty for investors and businesses monitoring the country’s monetary policy direction.
The latest decision also means borrowing costs are likely to remain elevated in the near term as the central bank continues to prioritise price stability over monetary easing.
Analysts had expected the CBN committee to retain the rate after Nigeria’s headline inflation came in at 15.91 per cent as of June 2026, marking a slight decline from 15.93 per cent in May.
However, even as overall price growth has moderated significantly compared to previous periods, food inflation remains a persistent challenge, accelerating to 17.52 per cent in June.
