Asian Equities Rally as US, China Relax Tarrifs Hike Threats

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Taxpayers, including organisations and individuals, who are yet to pay their outstanding taxes, will not pay penalties and interests if they make the payments on or before December 31, 2023. This tax default forgiveness was given by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), which explained that it created this window in “recognition of the challenges that many taxpayers have faced in settling their outstanding tax liabilities.” However, it stressed that if the full principal payment is not done before the deadline, defaulters would be forced to pay the outstanding tax liabilities. The Chairman of the FIRS, Mr

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil slumped by more than 2 per cent on Friday as traders showed scepticism about the depth of supply cuts by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) as well as concerns about sluggish global manufacturing activity. Brent crude went down by $1.98 or 2.45 per cent to close at $78.88 a barrel as the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped $1.89 or 2.49 per cent to sell for $74.07 a barrel. For the week, Brent posted a decline of about 2.1 per cent, while WTI lost more than 1.9 per cent.

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited commenced the first trading session in December 2023 on a bullish note, with a marginal growth of 0.08 per cent. Sustained buying pressure kept Nigerian stocks in the positive territory, extending the dominance of the bulls on Customs Street, though the turnover waned. Business Post observed that investors cherry-picked equities in the banking and the energy sectors during the session, leaving them rising by 1.14 per cent and 0.05 per cent, respectively. However, the insurance counter lost 1.10 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.08 per cent, and the industrial

By Aduragbemi Omiyale An application and proprietary solution for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria, known as Aleph Express, has been launched by Aleph Group. A statement from the firm explained that Aleph Express provides a platform for MSMEs to create and maintain a free e-commerce website, create a product catalogue, set local delivery options, manage, record and process orders while gaining meaningful insights to drive growth. The platform also provides one unified inbox that integrates WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, to enable businesses to efficiently engage and sell – all in one place. In addition, Aleph Express provides

By Dipo Olowookere Residents of Lagos State have been urged to adopt and practice a high standard of personal and environmental hygiene including regular hand washing, covering of mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, avoiding close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing while taking biosecurity precautions with domestic and wild animals as measures against the transmission of any kind of contagious infection, including a new virus, the novel Coronavirus (nCoV), which is currently raging in China. In a statement issued on Thursday, Commissioner for Health in Lagos State, Mr Akin Abayomi, said

By Dipo Olowookere The equities market posted a marginal growth of 0.02 per cent on Tuesday to put an end to the four consecutive losses caused by profit-taking. Though cautious trading remained at the ecosystem, gains recorded in the consumer goods, insurance and the energy sectors contributed to the return of the bulls to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) at the session. Business Post reports that the growth achieved by the consumer goods, insurance and the energy indices by 0.88 per cent, 0.34 per cent and 0.11 per cent respectively erased the 1.18 per cent loss printed by the banking

By Olukayode Kolawole The responsibility to grow our rural communities is a shared one. In fact, majority of the tourism sites in Nigeria are located in most of the rural areas. Developments in these areas are not as fast-paced as urban communities. Every year, rural development always finds its way to the government’s shopping list but somehow doesn’t make it to the priority list. Reasons for this might include, but not limited to, insufficient budget, lack of proper planning and measurable goals. Most of the tourism sites in the country domicile within these rural communities. It is therefore surprising why

By Ahmed Rahma The customers of a financial institution in Nigeria, Polaris Bank, have lauded the bank for receiving their remittances in American currency. The lender, which has an existing relationship with all leading and licensed global money transfer operators, noted that its customers have been very impressed with its seamless service shortly after they were notified about the apex bank directives and they started receiving their payments in US dollars either in cash or into their domiciliary account. Commenting, one of the customers, who doubted that the bank would conform to the instructions, Mr Segun Adetiloye from Ikotun branch,

By Dipo Olowookere Heritage Bank Plc has taken its campaign for concerted efforts for the growth of agribusiness and commerce in Nigeria to another level as it wants the bilateral agreement signed by Lagos and Kano States to provide for a Commodity Exchange. The two states signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) last week at the Lagos-Kano Economic and Investment Summit held at the Jubilee Chalets, Epe, Lagos. The goal of the pact was to ensure the collaboration between the two states boost commerce and agribusiness and consequently increase the revenue generation by the states. Speaking at the event during

By Dipo Olowookere Reports say another airline operator in Nigeria has suspended its operations barely 24 hours after Aero Contractors Airlines temporarily shut down. This time, it is First Nation Airlines, another domestic carrier. On Wednesday, Aero Contractors Airlines, Nigeria’s second largest commercial carrier, announced an indefinite suspension of its scheduled flight services and its staff with effect from Thursday, September 1, 2016. On Thursday, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) disclosed that First Nation Airlines has suspended its operations due to “an Engine Replacement Programme for one of its aircrafts.” It further disclosed that, “Another aircraft is due for

By Dipo Olowookere Next week, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is expected to release the consumer price index (CPI) in Nigeria for the month of February 2021. The CPI measures the headline inflation and it is calculated by dividing the cost of market basket in the current period with the cost of market basket in the base period and the result multiplied by 100 to get the percentage change. In the month of January 2021, the stats office said the inflation rate in Nigeria increased year-on-year by 16.47 per cent, 0.71 per cent higher than the 15.75 per cent

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Nigerian Army on Sunday night explained why its men raided the Abuja and Maiduguri offices of Daily Trust, a national newspaper company in the country on Sunday afternoon. Spokesman of the Army, Brigadier General Sani Usman, explained in a statement that it invaded the newspaper’s offices because paper disclosed military strategies in its article published on Sunday titled ‘Military prepares massive operation to retake Baga, others.’ The Army said it was wrong for Daily Trust to publish such a story on its platform because it jeopardises national security. “We would like to state that soldiers of