Bloomberg Gives Grants to 10 African Firms to Boost Business Journalism

By Adedapo Adesanya The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Dele Alake, has assured foreign investors of low production costs as they consider investing in the country’s mining sector. Speaking at the Mines and Money Conference in London, Mr Alake said President Bola Tinubu has embarked on reforms to boost investment by streamlining procedures and reducing hurdles to attract foreign investors. “The country’s geological bounty encompasses over 44 distinct mineral types, found in exploitable quantities across more than 500 locations,” the Minister said, according to a statement by his aide, Mr Kehinde Bamigbetan. “Recently, recognizing the evolving global landscape and

By Aduragbemi Omiyale President Bola Tinubu has said the 2024 budget presented to the joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday was designed to achieve macroeconomic stability, a better investment environment, greater access to social security, poverty reduction and enhanced human capital development. According to him, if these goals are achieved, the standard of living of Nigerians will improve and the citizens will enjoy the dividends of democracy. While presenting the 2024 Appropriation Bills to the parliament yesterday, the President said this was why he christened the budget proposal as the Budget of Renewed Hope. Mr Tinubu told the

In furtherance of my sacred duties and obligations as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it is my honour to be here today to present my administration’s 2024 Budget Proposal to this Joint Session of the 10th National Assembly. This moment is especially profound and significant to me because it is my first annual budgetary presentation to the National Assembly. Distinguished Senators and Honourable Members of the National Assembly, I commend your swift consideration and passage of the 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Bills and the 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper. Your prompt action underscores your devotion

By Adedapo Adesanya A hybrid solar power solutions provider, Daystar Power, has signed an agreement with Nigerian Breweries to install and operate a 4.2MWp solar plant and 2MWh battery storage system that will help the firm reduce its high energy costs. The installation will be one of the largest solar and battery storage projects for an industrial manufacturer in Nigeria. The hybrid solar solution will generate 5,249 MWh of electricity – 42 per cent of its daytime power consumption – every year at Nigerian Breweries’ Lagos brewery. According to a statement, the integration of solar into the factory’s energy mix

By Nwaorgu Faustinus Federal government and security agencies have been urged to act fast to investigate Tuesday’s blockade of the National Assembly Complex by masked operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and expose those behind it. This plea was made by a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Mr Eze Chukwuemeka Eze. In a statement issued on Thursday in the state capital, Port Harcourt, Mr Eze described the incident as a national shame and embarrassment. “My plea becomes imperative in view of insinuations in some quarters that some people sponsored the shameful act just

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The immediate past Director of Google West Africa, Ms Juliet Ehimuan, has been appointed to the board of directors of Zenith Bank Plc. Ms Ehimuan, who is also the founder and chief executive of Beyond Limits, will serve on the board of the tier-1 financial institution as a non-executive director. A statement from the lender on Tuesday disclosed that the appointment of Ms Ehimuan, which has been confirmed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), will take effect from August 29, 2023. In a statement to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, Zenith Bank said the appointee has

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The sum of N701.02 billion was disbursed to the three tiers of government in May 2018 from the revenue generated in April 2018. Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed that the amount was shared by Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) to the federal, states and local governments of the federation. The report, obtained by Business Post, stated that the amount disbursed comprises N612.64 billion from the Statutory Account, N87.97 billion from Valued Added Tax (VAT) and N418.88 million being excess bank charges recovered. It said federal government received a total of N289.04 billion

By Adedapo Adesanya President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to world leaders for the debt cancellation of poor countries, emphasising that the people of these nations face numerous challenges, including being able to service external debts. Speaking at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, Mr Buhari asked the world leaders to address what he described as the burden of unsustainable external debts. This is coming at a time when Nigeria’s debt increased by 2.98 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis to N42.84 trillion ($103.1 billion) in June 2022 from N41.60 trillion ($100.07 billion) in March 2022.

By Femi Fani-Kayode The day before yesterday, we were told by the First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari, that her husband was not as ill as most of us believed and that despite his obvious challenges he has continued to “carry out his responsibilities”. On the same day, the media went to great lengths to convince us, without providing any pictures, that the President had resumed work and that he had had a series of fruitful and productive meetings with his Minister of Justice and the Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) respectively. They assured us that he

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Marriott Bonvoy, which is known for its 30 hotel brands across the world, as well as its iconic Homes and Villas by Marriott International vacation rental collection, boasts a popular vacation timeshare scheme, the Marriott Vacation Club. Marriott Vacation Club has over 60 resorts and 13,000 villas located all over the world. In addition, the Marriott Vacation Club Pulse operates urban hotels for visitors seeking a taste of the big city. Being a member of the Marriott Vacation Club may be a useful alternative depending on your travel needs and patterns. If you want to terminate your

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The federal government can achieve its strategic economic development goals through the recently revised Capital Market Master Plan (CMMP) 2015-2025 developed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the director-general of the agency, Mr Lamido Yuguda, has submitted. According to him, the plan was designed to ensure that the capital market unlocks some opportunities aimed to facilitate an environment that attracts capital to priority economic sectors and ensures the sustained interest of foreign investors in Nigeria. He stated that the CMMP is a blueprint for positioning the Nigerian capital market as an efficient and internationally competitive market

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government has disclosed plans to borrow N9 trillion from the debt market to fund 35 per cent of next year’s budget, according to Mr Ben Akabueze, the Director General of Budget of the Federation. Speaking on the sidelines of the 29th Nigerian Economic Summit in the capital, Abuja on Monday, he said that the remaining 65 per cent or N17 trillion will be raised from revenue, meaning that the rest will be balanced from borrowing. “We are going to spend 26 trillion and we are looking to raise 17 trillion in revenue and the balance