Economy
LCCI Raises Eyebrow Over N15.52trn Debt Servicing Plan in 2026 Budget
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has noted that the N15.52 trillion allocation to debt servicing in the 2026 budget remains a significant fiscal burden.
LCCI Director-General, Mrs Chinyere Almona, said this on Tuesday in Lagos via a statement in reaction to the nation’s 2026 budget of N58.18 trillion, hinging the success of the 2026 budget on execution discipline, capital efficiency, and sustained support for productive sectors.
She noted that the budget was a timely shift from macroeconomic stabilisation to growth acceleration, reflecting growing confidence in the economy.
She lauded its emphasis on production-oriented spending, with capital expenditure of N26.08 trillion, representing 45 per cent of total outlays, and significantly outweighing non-debt recurrent expenditure of N15.25 trillion.
According to Mrs Almona, this composition supports infrastructure development, industrial expansion, and productivity growth.
However, she explained that the N15.52 trillion allocation to debt servicing underscored the need for stricter borrowing discipline, enhanced revenue efficiency, and expanded public-private partnerships to safeguard investments that promote growth.
She added that a further review of the 2026 budget revealed relatively optimistic macroeconomic assumptions that may pose fiscal risks.
“The oil price benchmark of $64.85 per barrel, although lower than the $75.00 benchmark in the 2025 budget, appears optimistic when compared with the 2025 average price of about $69.60 per barrel and current prices around $60 per barrel.
“This raises downside risks to oil revenue, especially since 35.6 per cent of the total projected revenue is expected to come from oil receipts.
“Similarly, the oil production benchmark of 1.84 million barrels per day is significantly higher than the current level of approximately 1.49 million barrels per day.
“Achieving this may be challenging without substantial improvements in security, infrastructure integrity, and sector investment,” she said.
Mrs Almona said the exchange rate assumption of N1,512 to the Dollar, compared with N1,500 in the 2025 budget and about N1,446 per Dollar at the end of November, suggests expectations of a mild depreciation.
She said while this may support Naira-denominated revenue, it also increases the cost of imports, debt servicing, and inflation management, with broader macroeconomic implications.
The LCCI DG added that the inflation projection of 16.5 per cent in 2026, up from 15.8 per cent in the 2025 budget and a current rate of about 14.45 per cent, appeared optimistic, particularly in a pre-election year.
She also expressed concern about Nigeria’s historically weak budget implementation capacity, likely to be further strained by the combined operation of multiple budget cycles within a single year.
Looking ahead, Mrs Almona identified agriculture and agro-processing, manufacturing, infrastructure, energy, and human capital development as key drivers of growth in 2026.
She said that unlocking these sectors would require decisive execution—scaling irrigation and agro-value chains, reducing power and logistics costs for manufacturers, and aligning education and skills development with private-sector needs.
The LCCI head stressed the need to resolve issues surrounding the Naira for crude, increase the supply of oil to local refineries to boost local refining capacity and conserve the substantial foreign exchange used for fuel imports.
“Overall, the 2026 Budget presents a credible opportunity for Nigeria to transition from recovery to expansion.
“Its success will depend less on the size of allocations and more on execution discipline, capital efficiency, and sustained support for productive sectors.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has announced the commencement of compliance monitoring activities for large taxpayers under the National e-Invoicing and Electronic Fiscal System (EFS) regime.
A statement issued on Monday and signed by the agency’s chairman, Mr Zacch Adedeji, advised corporate organisations that have yet to adopt this system to do so on or before July 31, 2026.
Recall that on February 17, 2026, NRS issued an implementation timeline for the mandatory adoption of the EFS, also known as the Merchant Buyer Solution (MBS), by large taxpayers.
They were asked to complete the process of onboarding, integration, testing, and commence invoice transmission to the NRS e-invoicing platform in accordance with the prescribed implementation framework.
The compliances include the completion of onboarding on the NRS MBS; the successful integration of taxpayer systems through approved Access Point Providers (APPs) and/or Systems Integrators (SIS); the completion of all required validation and testing activities; the active transmission of invoices to the NRS e-invoicing platform in line with approved standards and guidelines; and the receipt of only compliant e-invoices with a valid Invoice Reference Number (IRN) from suppliers.
Ahead of the deadline, the NRS has commenced compliance monitoring activities to assess the level of adherence to the e-invoicing mandate across the large taxpayer segment.
Those that have not completed the process have been asked to conclude all outstanding onboarding and integration activities and commence invoice transmission before the compliance deadline.
The organisation warned that failure to comply would trigger regulatory and enforcement actions in accordance with the provisions of the relevant tax laws and regulations.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Transcorp Power Plc suffered declines in its revenue and profit in the first half of this year; details of the company’s financial statements for the period ended June 30, 2026, have revealed.
The losses were attributed to recurring transmission line vandalism, which materially constrained the organisation’s ability to evacuate available generation capacity.
Business Post reports that earnings contracted in the first six months of this year to N181.97 billion from the N205.81 billion recorded in the same period of last year, while profit before tax moderated to N54.99 billion from N58.73 billion.
However, on a year-to-date basis, total assets went up to N619.02 billion from N563.48 billion in December 2025, as shareholders’ funds grew to N189.34 billion from N183.40 billion in FY 2025, while retained earnings soared to N140.90 billion from N123.41 billion in FY 2025.
It was observed that the increase in receivables and borrowings largely drove the expansion in the balance sheet during the period.
Also, the firm’s gross margin expanded to 38.4 per cent from 34.7 per cent in H1 2025, operating margin increased to 30.6 per cent from 28.5 per cent, and PBT margin rose to 30.2 per cent from 28.5 per cent, reflecting cost optimisation efforts and disciplined financial management, positioning the company to continue delivering sustainable value for shareholders.
“Our H1 2026 performance is a reflection of the resilience of our business operations despite significant sector-wide existential challenges.
“Regrettably, recurring transmission line vandalisation materially constrained our ability to evacuate available generation capacity.
“Nonetheless, we continued to deliver strong profitability, maintain operational efficiency, and strengthen our balance sheet,” the chief executive of Transcorp Power, Mr Peter Ikenga, stated.
“We remain committed to working with relevant stakeholders to put an end to transmission line vandalisation and to further improving operational performance, power generation supply reliability, and creating sustainable value for our shareholders. We remain highly confident that we will recover lost ground in H1 2026 and finish FY 2026 stronger than FY 2025,” he added.
By Dipo Olowookere
A total of 2.819 billion stocks worth N182.499 billion exchanged hands in 226,729 deals on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last week, in contrast to the 3.648 billion stocks valued at N220.568 billion transacted in 251,861 deals a week earlier.
From this, financial shares accounted for 2.006 billion units sold for N99.697 billion in 96,171 deals, contributing 71.17 per cent and 54.63 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
Consumer goods equities traded 178.863 million units worth N7.872 billion in 26,637 deals, and energy stocks recorded a turnover of 151.237 million units valued at N38.309 billion in 16,879 deals.
First Holdco, FCMB, and Access Holdings accounted for 939.402 million units worth N57.673 billion in 19,051 deals, contributing 33.33 per cent and 31.60 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
Business Post reports that the performance indicators were mixed in the five-day trading week, as the All-Share Index (ASI) depreciated by 0.14 per cent to 243,462.13 points, while the market capitalisation appreciated by 0.39 per cent to N157.057 trillion.
All other indices finished higher except the main board, consumer goods, energy, Lotus II, industrial goods, growth, and sovereign bond indices, which fell by 1.54 per cent, 0.15 per cent, 0.11 per cent, 0.40 per cent, 6.26 per cent, 0.09 per cent, and 0.33 per cent, respectively, while the commodity index closed flat.
Forty-four shares gained weight in the week versus 60 shares of the preceding week, 35 equities depreciated versus 28 equities in the previous week, and 67 stocks closed flat versus 58 stocks of the earlier week.
The best-performing stock was First Holdco, which gained 38.66 per cent to trade at N95.95. Thomas Wyatt expanded by 27.16 per cent to N3.09, Fidelity Bank grew by 15.00 per cent to N21.85, Learn Africa grew by 14.44 per cent to N10.30, and UBA chalked up 10.98 per cent to close at N45.50.
The worst-performing stock was BUA Cement after giving up 18.99 per cent to quote at N275.60, Red Star Express shed 18.53 per cent to end at N20.00, International Energy Insurance declined by 15.27 per cent to N4.66, C&I Leasing dropped 13.28 per cent to N5.55, and PZ Cussons crashed by 10.06 per cent to N80.95.
