Friesland Shareholders to Get N6.81 Dividend

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Strong inflationary pressures in November further negatively impacted companies in Nigeria, with new orders and output both falling as customers were either reluctant or unable to pay higher charges. Purchase prices rose at the fastest pace in almost two years amid exchange rate weakness and higher costs for fuel and materials. According to the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) from Stanbic IBTC, business conditions remained under pressure, scoring 48.0 points last month compared with the 49.1 points it garnered in October 2023. Readings above 50.0 signal an improvement in business conditions, while readings below 50.0 show deterioration.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Business owners in Lagos have been assured of more incentives by the state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who added that this is part of his administration’s commitment to reforms aimed at improving the ease of doing business and enhancing investment opportunities. Speaking at the commissioning of the newly-built wet hair production factory of Godrej Nigeria Limited, the Governor said his government would continue to pursue actions that would eliminate red tapes and regulatory impediments hindering the growth of businesses in the state, thereby demonstrating his willingness for continued collaboration with the private sector to improve the livelihood

By Adedapo Adesanya  The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has projected that its Industry Sustainability Initiative (NISI) will create over $575 billion in capital investment opportunities for Nigeria through the decarbonisation of operations. According to a statement, NMDPRA, while hosting a session on Nigeria’s Pathway to Energy Sustainability and NMDPRA’s Role at the UN Climate Change Conference 2023 (COP28) in Dubai, UAE, x-rayed Nigeria’s journey towards reducing carbon emission and achieving Net Zero by 2060. Speaking at the event, Mr Mustapha Lamorde, the authority’s Executive Director on Health, Safety, Environment and Community (HSEC), said the investment would be

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 Dipo Olowookere The first Sovereign Green Bond issued by the Nigerian government recorded a favourable response from investors. A statement issued last week by the Debt Management Office (DMO), which sold the bond to investors on behalf of the Federal Government, disclosed that the exercise was oversubscribed by N101 million, representing 0.94 percent more of the total amount initially offered. The debt office had offered N10.69 billion worth of the green bond to investors, but it received a total subscription of N10.791 billion. “The debut Sovereign Green Bond offered to the general public in December, 2017 was very well

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Development Bank (AfDB) has said that agricultural businesses on the continent will be worth $1 trillion in the next 10 years. This was made known by the president of the bank, Mr Akinwumi Adesina, while receiving an honorary doctorate award bestowed upon him by the Federal University of Agriculture (FUNAAB) in Abeokuta, Nigeria. According to the former Nigerian minister, this could be achieved due to the need to feed Africa’s population that is estimated to hit 2.5 billion by 2050 from the current 1.2 billion. “The size of food and agriculture in Africa will rise

By Adedapo Adesanya The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has appealed to all active Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders and retirees to cooperate with agents that would be visiting their organisations to carry out the Data Recapture Exercise (DRE). This was disclosed by the commission’s Head of Corporate Communication, Mr Peter Aghahowa, via a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday. According to the statement, the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) was directed by the commission to obtain the relevant information required for the DRE from RSA holders and the process is ongoing. “One of the information required for the exercise is the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reacted to allegations of corruption levelled against it by Nigerian Wailers, saying that the Wailers are paid agents and would fail in their bid to distract the government from its focus. Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Mr Isaac Okorafor reacted to the allegation in a conversation with the Economic Confidential. The Nigerian Wailers had, in a statement, alleged wide-spread corruption in the administration of foreign exchange and illegally lending money to President Buhari’s administration to support the budget. But the CBN spokesperson said, “The allegations are totally false and fabricated. Such

By Adedapo Adesanya The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has announced that it will unveil the Risk-Based Capital (RBC) roadmap that will steer the insurance industry’s new capital regime by the end of April. RBC requirement is a statutory minimum level of capital that is based on two factors, either by an insurance company’s size; or the inherent riskiness of its financial assets and operations. The risk-based capital roadmap is intended to be a regulatory standard and not necessarily the full amount of capital that an insurer would need to hold to meet its objectives. It helps to identify weakly capitalized

An Integrated Marketing Campaign (IMC) to promote the use of its Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) application, with the dedicated code, *909#, has been launched by Stanbic IBTC Bank, a member of the Standard Bank Group. The *909# USSD string affords customers the opportunity to access wallet and banking services such as inter and intra bank transfers, airtime purchase, check balance, account opening and loans, in addition to purchase of mutual funds & pensions. This reinforces Stanbic IBTC Bank’s status as Nigeria’s foremost full-service financial services group. The *909# USSD campaign commenced on Monday, September 9, 2019. However, customers will

By Dipo Olowookere The eight straight losing streaks on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) came to an abrupt end on Friday after the market marginally gained 0.06 percent. It was observed that the uptrend was influenced by gains recorded by some large-cap stocks on the local bourse, led by Forte Oil and Dangote Cement. The All-Share Index (ASI), which closed the previous session at 30,029.15 points, went up by 17.55 points to finish at 30,046.70 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation, which ended on Thursday at N13.225 trillion, appreciated by N8 billion to settle at N13.233 trillion. A

By Nneka Okumazie Participant humility is essential in any successful relationship – the importance of a party, yet recognition of the need for the other. The recognition that you don’t know it all, see it all, hear it all, live it all, have it all, or present at all places. Life is almost humility in itself. Lots of potentials have been wasted because of moments of hubris, or disdain. There have been several moments of reflection for parties who – devastatingly – lost out on important relationships, wishing they did better in humility. Humility is not optional in several activities,