Economy

NAFDAC Partners GATF for Better Global Trade Transactions

Published

4 years ago

08/06/2021

By Adedapo Adesanya

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has commenced a partnership with the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation (GATF) to put together strategies for export and import trade in Nigeria.

This was disclosed by the drug and food regulatory body through its resident media consultant, Mr Olusayo Akintola, stating that the procedures were to ensure ease of doing business in Nigeria.

The statement noted that the partnership was also aimed at achieving standardisation, harmonisation of documents and simplified trade formalities for importers and exporters.

It said that NAFDAC Director-General, Mrs Mojisola Adeyeye, reached the agreement at a virtual meeting with GATF Nigeria top officials led by its Project Lead, Mr Bernard Traynor.

The statement added that the partnership project is being powered by GATF, an organisation hosted by the Centre for International Private Enterprise, International Chambers of Commerce, and the World Economic Forum.

“The project in Nigeria is being implemented by the German Technical Cooperation popularly known as GIZ. The alliance is supported by the governments of the US, Canada, Germany, Denmark and the government of Australia through their respective agencies,” the agency noted.

The statement quoted Mrs Adeyeye, who was represented at the meeting by Dr Abimbola Adegboye, Head of Trade and International Relations at the agency, as listing measures that NAFDAC had already put in place for both import and export trade.

Mrs Adeyeye reiterated that NAFDAC had already put in place measures to ensure that there is a seamless and more robust operational procedure with both export and import at the borders.

She said part of the measures was to achieve cooperation among government agencies at the borders, adding that NAFDAC’s focus now was to ensure smooth trade facilitation and regulation.

According to her, operations of regulators should not pose a hindrance to trade transactions but facilitate them.

She said that the agency was making sure that there are not so many interferences between the users of the agency facilities and the agency.

“So, we try as much as possible to remove both human interferences under the guise of consultants, because more or less they do not facilitate trade, they tend to distort it.

“Trade should be on basis of safety and quality, that is the only way trade could be sustained; If quality is not put into your product, It gives the country a bad name, they blacklist the company involved.

“The consumers are the losers because they do not have value for money and their health is compromised,” she stressed.

She stated that these are the issues that the global alliance would be addressing, adding that what would make all these visible and possible was to ensure that operations at the borders are seamless.

According to her, if a producer has perishable items that are to be exported or that are to be allowed into the country and they are delayed unnecessarily or held based on premium conditions, such products could go bad, and the integrity of such product would be compromised.

She said that anything that would make trade operations very easy both for inflow and outflow, and would make the whole process of regulation friendly and not cumbersome for importers and exporters, is what the agency aimed for.

The statement also quoted the Project Manager of GATF, Nigeria, Mr David Okeku, explaining that being an alliance, his organisation had critical private sector partners, and series of projects currently being implemented in Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Zambia, Senegal, Uganda and Latin America, Asia and Middle East countries.

“How we work in the alliance is that we partner with multinationals, local businesses because we believe strongly that they will bring in their expertise and also best practices; and also bring in supply-chain companies.

“We use them as our ambassadors globally and in-country. Local businesses also contribute in form of expertise and resources in kind towards the alliance,” the statement added.

Economy

Nigeria Led Africa’s Upstream Oil, Gas Investments in 2024

Published

12 hours ago

21/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria ranked as Africa’s leading destination for upstream oil and gas investment in 2024, new research from market intelligence firm, Wood Mackenzie, has shown, accounting for three out of four Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) announced by global oil and gas majors, totaling $13.5 billion.

The FIDs announced within the Nigerian market included Shell’s $122 million investment in the Iseni Gas Project, TotalEnergies’ $566 million commitment to the Ubeta Gas Project and Shell’s approval of the Bonga North Tranche 1 project valued at around $5 billion.

According to the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Energy, Ms Olu Verheijen, these investments reflected Nigeria’s ongoing efforts to unlock its hydrocarbon potential through investor-friendly policies and strategic global partnerships.

Last year, Nigeria introduced several initiatives to create a conducive environment for oil and gas investors, including new tax incentives aimed at attracting up to $10 billion in natural gas investments.

Nigeria, which is Africa’s largest oil producer, also offered tax relief for gas investors, reducing corporate income tax and extending capital allowance benefits – for deepwater gas projects.

Other policies include the Presidential Directive on Local Content Compliance Requirements 2024 to address the reduction in oil and gas investments caused by high operating costs compared to global markets.

Also, the Presidential Directive on Reduction of Petroleum Sector Contracting Costs and Timelines 2024 reduces the time spent to award contracts for oil and gas projects.

In addition to the directives, Nigeria also launched its 2024 oil and gas licensing round, offering 19 blocks for exploration, demonstrating its commitment to continued collaboration with local, regional and international partners.

Market analysts note that with this momentum, further FIDs are anticipated, including TotalEnergies’ expected $750 million commitment to the Ima Shallow Gas Project in 2025.

Economy

UBN Property Triggers 0.22% Loss at NASD OTC Exchange

Published

15 hours ago

21/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.22 per cent decline on Monday, January 20, with the market capitalisation shedding N2.35 billion to close at N1.073 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N1.075 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) going down by 6.79 points to wrap the session at 3,105.12 points compared with 3,111.91 points recorded in the previous session.

It was observed that the loss recorded on the first trading day of the week was triggered by UBN Property Plc, which crashed by 20 Kobo to trade at N2.00 per share versus last Friday’s N2.20 per share.

However, the share price of Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc went up by 4 Kobo to 40 Kobo per unit from 36 Kobo per unit, it could not stop the bourse from going down at the close of transactions.

The activity chart showed that on Monday, the volume of securities traded by investors increased by 57.9 per cent to 767,610 units from the 486,215 units traded in the preceding session, while the value of shares traded yesterday slumped by 17.7 per cent to N2.3 million from the N2.8 million recorded in the preceding trading day, as the number of deals declined by 14.3 per cent to 12 deals from the 14 deals carried out in the previous trading day.

At the close of transactions, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 4.1 million units worth N162.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with a turnover of 9.1 million units valued at N44.0 million, and 11 Plc with the sale of 55,358 for N14.5 million.

Also, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 25.3 million units sold for N5.9 million, Geo-Fluids Plc came next with 9.1 million units valued at N44.0 million, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 4.1 million units worth N162.9 million.

Economy

Naira Weakens to N1,550/$1 at Official Market, Gains N5 at Black Market

Published

16 hours ago

21/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Naira weakened against the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, January 20 amid FX pressures associated with this period.

Most people who came into the country for Christmas and New Year holidays are already going back and are in need of forex, putting pressure on the local currency.

Also, the poor performance of the domestic currency could be attributed to end to the 42-day access granted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to Bureaux de Change (BDC) operators to buy forex at official price.

According to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange, the Nigerian Naira lost 0.16 per cent or N2.47 on the greeback yesterday to sell at N1,550.05/$1, in contrast to last Friday’s rate of N1,547.58/$1.

Similarly, the Naira slumped against the Pound Sterling in the spot market on Monday by N23.39 to trade at N1,906.98/£1 versus N1,883.59/£1 and depreciated against the Euro by N23.14 to sell for N1,613.48/€1 compared with last Friday’s N1,590.34/€1.

However, in the parallel market, the Nigerian currency improved its value against the Dollar during the session by N5 to quote at N1,665/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,670/$1.

As for the cryptocurrency market, it turned red yesterday as the US President, Mr Donald Trump, didn’t bring up the much-expected subject of crypto in his inauguration speech on Monday afternoon.

Mr Trump had promised a far more friendly crypto policy stance than the previous administration but in the long speech that announced his plans in the coming days, he didn’t make mention of Bitcoin or crypto.

Just over the weekend, the President ignited a speculative frenzy with the Friday evening launch of the Trump meme coin, which was shortly followed by a meme coin associated with his wife, Melania.

Dogecoin (DOGE) crumbled yesterday by 6.3 per cent to $0.3419, Solana (SOL) slumped by 4.7 per cent to $235.32, Cardano (ADA) fell by 3.6 per cent to $0.9777, and Litecoin (LTC) moderated by 1.9 per cent to $114.98.

Further, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 1.7 per cent to $3,241.36, Binance Coin (BNB) retreated by 1.4 per cent to $693.30, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 1.2 per cent to $3.06, and Bitcoin (BTC) tumbled by 0.8 per cent to $101,746.99, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.