Economy
Baking Industry is Key for Food Production in Nigeria—Pande
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Managing Director of Crown Flour Mill Limited, Mr Ashish Pande, has described the baking industry as very important for food production in Nigeria.
He said the sector, asides from producing one of the key staple foods in the country, bread, the segment has also created jobs for thousands of people employed in its value chain.
In a statement issued by Crown Flour Mill, makers of the popular Mama Gold Flour brands, to felicitate with Nigerian bakers on the commemoration of the World Baking Day on Monday, May 17, 2021, Mr Pande said the company will continue to provide scaled support resources to bolster the productivity level and employment-generating capacity of the baking industry.
“The baking industry is key for food production in Nigeria; it produces bread, a major staple food in the country, not to mention pastries and confectionery.
“Asides producing Nigeria’s leading staple food, the bread segment creates jobs for thousands of people employed in its value chain, which ranges from bakers down to street hawkers.
“Having realised the importance of the segment to the Nigerian economy, in consultation with bakers, we were able to identify skill and knowledge gaps that needed to be closed if the segment was to continue playing its crucial role in supporting the Nigerian economy and food security.
“Thereafter, we launched a baking school, which has continued to enhance the skill and know-how of operators of non-mechanized or artisanal bakeries since 2018,” he said
Speaking about the company’s baking school and why the firm prioritised bakers’ capacity development, Mr Olayinka Yusuf, Head, Crown Flour Mill Baking School, explained that the baking school offers bakers the opportunity to enhance their technical and business management skills.
“We believe that with the right knowledge, artisanal bakers can improve their output with their existing equipment, resulting in lower production costs and increased margins,” he said.
Mr Yusuf revealed that Crown Flour has committed about N120 million to training bakers pan-Nigeria from 2020 to date.
So far, 1,500 bakers have benefitted from the firm’s capacity building initiative. The Crown Flour baking programme focuses on equipping both existing and the next generation of bakers with the requisite knowledge and skills to take the industry to the next level.
The firm’s baking schools are currently located in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Lagos, Warri, Ilorin, Calabar and Kano where bakers are taken through a 3-day intensive accelerated bakers’ training course for free.
The lockdown afforded many interested bakers the opportunity to hone their skills, prompting them to keep on improving their craft.
“Baking can be a very lucrative vocation and the requisite requirement is the passion and will to pursue one’s dream,” Mr Pande said.
The success and positive feedback from bakers who attended the baking school are heartening.
Mrs Keyede Kikelomo of Excel Bakery said: “I have learnt a lot from this training. One thing I didn’t know before the training was the high-water absorption rate of Mama Gold which translates into an extra dough which results in extra profit per bag of flour.”
Another participant, Mr Ogugba Ernest of Dan Real Bakery shared that he learnt a lot from the Crown Flour baking school.
In his words, “I have learnt the impact, good bakery practices such as ingredients measurement, sanitation and staff management have on the profitability of my bakery.”
World Baking Day is celebrated globally. The commemorative event provides an opportunity for bakers and millers to highlight the benefits of baked foods and drive further innovation in the baked foods industry as households increasingly pivot to wheat derivative foods due to their higher nutrition values, price advantage and availability.
Crown Flour is a subsidiary of Olam, an agribusiness conglomerate.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) distributed about N2.550 trillion from the revenue generated by the nation in June 2026 to the three tiers of government after its July meeting in Abuja.
A statement signed by the Director of Press in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr Bawa Mokwa, “The N2.550 trillion total distributable revenue comprised N1.809 trillion in distributable statutory revenue and N740.724 billion in distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue.”
It was gathered that a total gross revenue of N4.500 trillion was available in June 2026, with deductions for the cost of collection amounting to N160.744 billion, and transfers and refunds at N1.789 trillion.
According to a communiqué after the gathering, gross statutory revenue of N3.700 trillion was received in June 2026, N1.049 trillion higher than the N2.651 trillion received in the preceding month, while gross revenue of N799.746 billion was generated from VAT, N56.058 billion higher than the N743.688 billion recorded in May 2026.
It was stated that from the N2.550 trillion total distributable revenue, the federal government received N923.438 billion, the state governments got N838.208 billion, while the local government councils were given N591.390 billion, with N197.610 billion allocated to the benefiting states as 13 per cent of mineral derivation revenue.
From the N1.809 trillion distributable statutory revenue, the federal government went away with N849.366 billion, states shared N430.810 billion, local councils took N332.136 billion, while the benefiting states got N197.610 billion as derivation revenue.
From the N740.724 billion distributable VAT earnings, the central government got N74.072 billion, the states received N407.398 billion, and the local government councils were allocated N259.253 billion.
The communiqué further stated that in June 2026, collections from Companies Income Tax (CIT), Capital Gains Tax (CGT), Stamp Duties (SDT), Petroleum Royalties, Gas Flare Penalties, Rent, Mineral Oil Royalties (MOR), Value Added Tax (VAT), Import Duty, and Common External Tariff (CET) Levies increased significantly, while Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Hydrocarbon Tax (HT), Mineral Royalties, and Fees declined considerably. Excise Duty recorded only a marginal increase.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) says the rollout of electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) will strengthen tax compliance, curb revenue leakages and improve transparency in tax administration as it moves to fully digitise the country’s tax system.
The Project Lead for the NRS e-Invoicing Project, Mr Mohammed Bawa, stated this at the DigiTax E-Invoicing Compliance Breakfast Session held in Lagos on Wednesday.
The event, organised by DigiTax, an NRS-accredited e-invoicing platform, formed part of efforts to support the agency’s ongoing education and sensitisation campaign on the e-invoicing mandate.
Mr Bawa said the initiative aligns with global trends in tax digitisation and is expected to help improve Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio, which remains one of the lowest in Africa.
According to him, the system will provide the NRS with greater visibility into transactions across sectors, formalise activities within the informal economy and standardise invoice formats nationwide using globally recognised invoice schemas.
He added that e-invoicing would improve operational efficiency for both businesses and tax authorities while supporting the NRS’ transition from manual and electronic tax administration processes to a fully automated system-to-system interaction model.
Mr Bawa noted that the legal framework for implementation is backed by the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, which prescribes penalties for non-compliance.
He disclosed that the NRS has completed onboarding large taxpayers and is preparing to enforce compliance with defaulting entities.
According to him, medium taxpayers are expected to begin compliance in the third quarter of 2026, while onboarding of emerging taxpayers will commence in 2027, with full adoption targeted for all taxpayers by the end of 2028.
Mr Bawa urged taxpayers yet to be onboarded onto the platform to begin the process and work with accredited service providers to ensure compliance.
On his part, Country Director of DigiTax Nigeria, Mr Olumide Akinsola, urged businesses to look beyond their internal systems and assess the compliance status of suppliers and counterparties.
He warned that businesses whose suppliers fail to transmit invoices through the MBS platform risk losing eligibility to claim Value Added Tax (VAT) input credits on such transactions, describing the resulting supply chain exposure as a significant commercial risk that many organisations have yet to quantify.
Mr Akinsola also announced the launch of DigiTax’s white paper, The State of E-Invoicing Readiness in Nigeria, which examines compliance adoption trends and the readiness gap across different taxpayer segments.
He added that DigiTax operates in Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), noting that experience from those markets shows businesses that integrate early are better positioned to avoid disruptions when enforcement begins.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The names of about 100,000 companies registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) are about to be deleted for inactivity, especially for failing to file their annual tax returns, Business Post reports.
This information was disclosed by the CAC via a notice signed by its management on Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
The list contains organisations like the Nigeria-Poland Chamber of Trade Invest Ltd, Alariwo of Afrika Ltd, Ovation Sports International, First Union Pension Fund Administrators, Investopedia Limited, Baptist High School Abuja Ltd, and Yobe Aluminium Manufacturing Industries Ltd, amongst others.
In the statement, the commission said its decision to strike off the names of the affected firms from the register aligns with the provisions of Section 692(3) (3) and (4) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020.
However, the affected companies can still salvage the situation by filing all outstanding annual returns and regularising their records within 90 days.
“Please note that companies that fail to comply within the stipulated timeline shall be struck off the register without further notice,” it declared, expressing its continued commitment to providing prompt and efficient registration and regulatory services to the satisfaction of its valued customers.
See the full list below:
