Economy
How Can a Nigerian Start a Business in Singapore
Singapore is a popular destination for foreign investors to grow their businesses. The process of Singapore Company Registration is easy and straightforward. Nigeria and Singapore have various agreements between nations such as the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) to promote greater investment flows between the two countries by protecting the interests of their investors, the Singapore–Nigeria Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTA), and the Singapore–Nigeria Air Services Agreement (ASA) which was established on March 8, 2012.
The ASA makes it easier for trade, investment, tourism, and people-to-people travel between Singapore and Nigeria to expand. The designated carriers of both nations may run up to seven weekly passenger services and three weekly cargo services under the conditions of this agreement.
Requirements for Business Registration in Singapore
- Shareholder
In Singapore, a company must have at least one shareholder. It is easy considering that the owner counts as one. Make sure all owners are included in the documentation when setting up the company.
- Director
A resident director who is authorized to represent your business in Singapore is required. This individual must reside in Singapore. You can add as many foreign directors as you like once you fulfill this requirement.
- Company Secretary
Singaporean businesses require a company secretary. He manages compliance and other legal requirements. When the government makes changes or needs to get in touch with you regarding an issue, the secretary speaks on behalf of your company.
- Registered address
A physical address is required for any company looking to incorporate in Singapore. A P.O. Box is not allowed. To meet the requirement, you can set up a physical address with a Singapore service.
Documents required to start a business in Singapore
● Directors’ and Shareholders’ Identification Documents
● Company Registration Form
● Company Name Approval
● Appointment of Company Secretary
● Memorandum and Articles of Association
● Business Licenses and Permits
How Can a Nigerian Start a Business in Singapore?
- Decide the company structures
Before registering a company in Singapore, you need to choose a company structure for your business. Sole proprietorships, partnerships, and private companies are the types of company structures available in Singapore.
- Name approval
You need to register your chosen company name with ACRA. You can move forward once they have approved the name.
The registered business name shouldn’t be the same as another business, IP laws shouldn’t be violated by it and it should not be offensive and must be understandable.
- Prepare the documents and register with ACRA
You must prepare the required documents listed above. Submit an application for business registration to ACRA and use the Bizfile+ platform to upload the required documents.
- Get the certificate of incorporation
After the registration, the certificate of incorporation will be delivered to you. The business name, the date of establishment, and a unique identification number (UEN) will all be included in the certificate of incorporation.
- Obtain the necessary permits
After incorporating the company, you must apply for and get the necessary licenses and permits. You can start conducting your business operations only after getting the licenses and permits from the relevant authorities.
- Register for GST
Businesses in Singapore are only required to register for GST if their annual revenues exceed S$1 million.
A firm is required to register and collect GST if its taxable revenue for the previous year exceeds S$1 million, or if it is expected to exceed S$1 million in taxable revenue in the upcoming year.
You must apply for GST registration with the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS).
- Open a corporate bank account
It is advisable to open a corporate bank account after registering a business in Singapore to conduct business transactions. You can consider the following options:
- Opening with a traditional bank (DBS, OCBC, UOB)
- Opening with a neobank (Aspire, Wise, Revolut)
- Opening with a digital bank (ANEXT, Green Link Digital Bank)
By Adedapo Adesanya
NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange remained in the negative territory after it further depreciated by 0.64 per cent on Friday, July 24, despite recording four price gainers.
The NASD Security Index (NSI) dropped 27.4 points at the close of business to settle at 4,294.75 points versus the previous day’s 4,383.48 points, while the market capitalisation gave up N16.49 billion to end at N2.577 trillion, in contrast to the N2.594 trillion it ended a day earlier.
The bourse was down during the session amid heavy sell-offs, with the volume of transactions skyrocketing by 693.9 per cent to 2.99 million units from Thursday’s 377,635 units.
Equally, the value of trades went up by 71.6 per cent to N69.4 million from N40.4 million, and the number of deals increased by 41.0 per cent to 55 deals from the preceding day’s 39 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 75.6 million units traded for N5.4 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
The market ended the session with four price gainers and two price losers, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which lost N7.44 to trade at N136.19 per share compared with the previous day’s N143.63 per share, and CSCS Plc, which declined by N1.64 to N93.63 per unit from N95.27 per unit.
But MRS Oil gained N13.50 to sell at N148.50 per share versus N135.00 per share, Afriland Properties Plc advanced by 56 Kobo to N17.41 per unit from N16.85 per unit, UBN Property Plc surged by 18 Kobo to N1.93 per share from N1.75 per share, and Food Concepts Plc climbed by 1 Kobo to N2.50 per unit from N2.49 per unit.
By Dipo Olowookere
Nigeria’s stock exchange succumbed to profit-taking on Friday, losing 0.19 per cent when the closing gong was hit at 4 pm.
Shares in the banking and energy sectors influenced the decline suffered by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited during the session, as they respectively closed lower by 0.40 per cent and 0.04 per cent.
The industrial goods index was flat yesterday, while the insurance counter gained 0.68 per cent and the consumer goods space chalked up 0.25 per cent. The gains by these two segments could not keep Customs Street in the green territory at the close of business.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) retreated by 474.00 points to 247,357.40 points from 247,831.40 points, and the market capitalisation decreased by N306 billion to N159.588 trillion from N159.894 trillion.
Presco dropped 10.00 per cent during the trading day to close at N2,070.00, Thomas Wyatt crumbled by 9.93 per cent to N3.63, Trans-Nationwide Express plunged by 8.44 per cent to N2.82, Royal Exchange slipped by 7.86 per cent to N1.29, and LivingTrust Mortgage Bank shrank by 7.32 per cent to N3.80.
On the flip side, C&I Leasing improved by 9.48 per cent to N6.35, Cornerstone Insurance rose by 9.09 per cent to N6.00, RT Briscoe jumped by 8.61 per cent to N13.25, Honeywell Flour expanded by 7.38 per cent to N17.45, and Africa Prudential increased by 6.98 per cent to N13.80.
Despite the poor performance, the local bourse recorded a positive market breadth index after finishing with 35 price gainers and 25 price losers, representing strong investor sentiment.
It was a relatively quiet market on Friday, as the activity level dropped, with the trading volume down by 27.72 per cent to 565.5 million units from 782.4 million units, and the trading value contracted by 46.89 per cent to N29.9 billion from N56.3 billion, while the number of deals executed by investors soared by 16.03 per cent to 53,688 deals from 46,273 deals.
Access Holdings was the busiest stock for the session, with a turnover of 128.0 million units sold for N3.8 billion, First Holdco transacted 35.4 million units worth N4.3 billion, Chams exchanged 34.8 million units valued at N154.3 million, Zenith Bank traded 30.4 million units for N3.9 billion, and UBA sold 30.4 million units worth N1.5 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira marked a whole week of appreciation against the United States Dollar on Friday, July 24, further gaining N5.67 or 0.41 per cent to close at N1,362.09/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) compared with N1,367.76/$1 it ended on Thursday.
Equally, the local currency appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market yesterday by N10.83 to trade at N1,813.62/£1 versus the preceding day’s N1,824.45/£1, and improved against the Euro by N7.68 to settle at N1,549.10/€1, in contrast to the N1,556.78/€1 it was exchanged a day earlier.
However, at the parallel market and GTBank forex counter, the Nigerian currency remained unchanged against the greenback during the session at N1,400/$1 and N1,379/$1, respectively.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) buffer has been strengthened with sustained foreign portfolio inflows and robust foreign reserves, which stand above $52 billion.
The apex bank’s policy signals that the Naira will be stronger in the near term, with Nigeria clearing hurdles with FX reforms and settlement of all backlogs.
However, some traders expect that pressure may come due to foreign-currency buying from fuel importers as they make Dollar purchases to build inventories.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC), in the digital currency landscape, trimmed recent gains as it fell by 2.3 per cent to $63,787.73.
The weak action in the AI momentum trade is feeding through to crypto as well.
Further, Cardano (ADA) dropped 3.7 per cent to close at $0.1615, Solana (SOL) dipped by 2.8 per cent to $73.71, Ripple (XRP) crashed by 2.3 per cent to $1.08, Ethereum (ETH) slid by 1.9 per cent to $1,851.58, Dogecoin (DOGE) retreated by 0.8 per cent to $0.0694, Binance Coin (BNB) contracted by 0.7 per cent to $564.18, and TRON (TRX) lost 0.5 per cent to trade at $0.3292, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
