BoI, LEAH Foundation Empower Kwara Women

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed in the green territory after it chalked up by 0.37 per cent on Friday, September 22, as three securities finished on the price gainers’ chart and one stock closed in the price losers’ table. This raised the market capitalisation of the OTC Exchange by N4.24 billion to N1.143 trillion from the previous day’s N1.139 trillion, as the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) increased during the session by 3.00 points to finish at 808.95 points compared with Thursday’s 805.95 points. At the close of transactions, investors traded a total of 10.7

By Precious Olisa This news may not be palatable to developers and Nigerians planning to start a building project, as the Cement Producers Association of Nigeria has warned that the price of a 50kg bag of cement may start selling for N9,000 when the dry season begins in November. At the moment, the product is sold at over N5,000. In a statement jointly signed on Sunday by the National Chairman of the group, Mr David Iweta, and its National Secretary, Mr Ufomba, the manufacturers said the rise in the price of cement would be caused by the decision of the

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian government is targeting an estimated $55.2 billion in oil and gas investments by 2030, according to the Special Adviser to the President Bola Tinubu on Energy, Mrs Olu Verheijen. She said the government has wrapped up a series of strategic engagements with 15 leading international and independent oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria. The President’s aide recently organised sessions in Lagos and Abuja in partnership with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to review ways to improve the sector and address the nation’s revenue emergency whilst contributing to stabilising Nigeria’s economy. Involved in

By Adedapo Adesanya The average price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, surged by 230.8 per cent on a year-to-year basis to N626.70 per litre in August 2023 versus N189.46 per litre in the same period of 2022. This is according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) Price Watch (August 2023), which showed that the average retail price increased on a month-on-month basis by 4.39 per cent from N600.3 per litre in July. The skyrocketing cost of petrol came as President Bola Tinubu, during his inauguration speech on May 29,

By Modupe Gbadeyanka An electronic platform created by leading Nigerian FinTech firm, SystemsSpecs, Remita, has taken its operations to the neighbouring West African country, Ghana. The Remita Payroll service is now being rendered in the country courtesy a partnership with the Ghana branch of Access Bank Plc. Considered first of its kind in Ghana, one of the major advantages of Remita Payroll is that it completely eliminates the need for organisations to process payroll on one system and then take the processed data to another platform to transfer salaries, or send salary schedules to various banks or statutory agencies. It

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange plunged by 2.2 per cent on Wednesday, April 20 as negative price movements from 11 Plc and FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc dragged the bourse down for a consecutive trading session. At the midweek session, the energy company, 11 Plc, lost 11.1 per cent or N20.8 drop to sell at N187.20 per unit compared with the preceding day’s N208.00 per unit, while Friesland declined by 8.2 per cent or N14.95 to settle at N182.80 per share in contrast to the previous closing price of N197.75 per share. The losses suffered by the

By Adedapo Adesanya Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to provide a copy of the agreement the federal government had with the social media company, Twitter. On Wednesday, January 12, the FG announced that it has reached an arrangement with the micro-blogging site to lift the ban it placed on its use in Nigeria on June 4, 2021. Now, the organisation is calling on the President to use his good offices and leadership position to direct the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, to provide it with a copy of the agreement recently

By Bliss Okperan The Bill Gates Foundation has selected nine Nigerian health startups, along with 20 others from other parts of Africa, for a $50,000 equity-free grant to boost the healthcare supply chain on the continent. The nine Nigerian small firms were chosen as part of Investing in Innovation Africa (i3), a pan-African initiative for startups in the healthcare supply chain. The Nigerian companies which make up the second cohort include Famasi, Aimcare, Afia, Drugstore Nigeria, Healthtracka, Octosoft Technologies Limited, Pharmarun, Pharmaserv Health Project Nigeria Ltd, and Wella Health. The cohort includes startups that are building online pharmacies and telemedicine

By Adedapo Adesanya When in October 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari presented the 2020 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly, he also handed over a Finance Bill to the lawmakers. The Finance Bill, which was recently passed by the parliament, generated mixed reactions because a part of the document said from January 2020, residents of the country will begin to pay a Value Added Tax (VAT) of 7.5 percent instead of the present 5 percent. The reason for this, according to the federal government, was to help increase revenue so as to fund the 2020 budget of

By Adedapo Adesanya It was a mixed bag for the Naira at the foreign exchange (forex) market on Friday as its value closed stronger against the United States Dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) side of the market but was weaker in the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and the parallel market. Data showed that the local currency gained 34 Kobo or 0.07 per cent against its American counterpart to trade at N461.33/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N461.67/$1. It was observed that the Nigerian currency gained weight during the session despite being pressed by FX demand pressure, resulting in

The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has disclosed that his administration was working out strategies to strengthen ties with the Tax Appeal Tribunal, South-South Zone, to boost tax compliance in the state, especially with the recent influx of investors into the Heartbeat of the Nation. Speaking during a courtesy visit by the Chairman of Tax Appeal Tribunal, South-South Zone, Prof. Obehi Odiase-Alegimenlen, to Government House in Benin City last week, Mr Obaseki said one of the steps was to insist on the use of technology for tax collection as against non-state actors and consultants so as to ensure that

By Dipo Olowookere The latest Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) Survey Report of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revealed that the Manufacturing PMI in the month of January 2019 stood at 58.5 index points. According to the central bank, this indicated expansion in the manufacturing sector for the 22nd consecutive month, though the index grew at a slower rate when compared to the index in the previous month. It was disclosed that all 14 subsectors surveyed reported growth in the review month in the following order: petroleum & coal products; chemical & pharmaceutical products; primary metal; paper products; cement;