Economy
NALDA Plans Cassava Processing Plant, Farm Estate in Ogun
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) has disclosed plans to establish a cassava processing plant in Ogun State to boost the commodity value chain as well as boost job creation for youths in the country.
This was disclosed by the group’s Executive Secretary/Chief Executive, Mr Paul Ikonne, during a courtesy visit to the state Governor, Mr Dapo Abiodun, in Abeokuta.
He also noted that the cassava plant will complement the integrated farm estates to be established in the three senatorial zones of the state – Ogun Central, Ogun East, and Ogun West.
Mr Ikonne, explained that the proposed farm estate would comprise of different agricultural activities including farming, processing and packaging as well as a commodity market, residential and school areas.
He told the governor that NALDA was in the state to reactivates its 700 hectares of land, and solicited more lands from the state government for the establishment of an integrated farm estate in the senatorial zones of the state.
He added that the initiative also planned to establish a garri processing and packaging plant, train 200 graduates with an agriculture and science background in soil testing technology.
He stated that President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the authority to create employment and achieve food security through NALDA’s mandate.
He added that the state had been listed among the pilot states for the implementation of ongoing projects across the country.
He said, “Your Excellency, NALDA would be requesting you to provide the lands suitable for this project and as soon as the land is made available NALDA would commence work.
“Knowing that Ogun State has the largest capacity in cassava production, our garri packaging plant would be located in Ogun state, whereby NALDA would be the off-taker from the farmers, they would process it and package accordingly and move it into the market.
“So, putting this plant here in Ogun state would create more opportunities and also encourage the farmers to produce more, knowing there would be a reward.”
The NALDA boss said the projects will create thousands of jobs for the youths of the state as it would cut across the entire agricultural value chain from production to processing and marketing.
He also commended the governor’s prompt response to NALDA as well as creating the enabling environment for agriculture to thrive in the state.
Responding, Governor Abiodun, commended the authority for choosing his state as one of the pilot states for the projects, adding that it will further complement the state’s Agripreneur drive aimed at creating employment for the youths.
The governor pointed out that his state decided to key into Buhari’s agricultural drive because the state remains the industrial capital for the country.
“And to sustain that, we need to continue to sustain our agro produce programme because that’s the engine room of inputs for industrialisation,” he said.
He said, being the largest cassava producer in the country, the state would benefit immensely from the establishment of the garri processing plant, adding that NALDA’s visit couldn’t have been more timely as it complemented the state’s agriculture programmes.
The authority had commenced the establishment of farm estates across the country, beginning with Imo and Ekiti states respectively, while Ogun will be the third to benefit under the scheme.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) says the rollout of electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) will strengthen tax compliance, curb revenue leakages and improve transparency in tax administration as it moves to fully digitise the country’s tax system.
The Project Lead for the NRS e-Invoicing Project, Mr Mohammed Bawa, stated this at the DigiTax E-Invoicing Compliance Breakfast Session held in Lagos on Wednesday.
The event, organised by DigiTax, an NRS-accredited e-invoicing platform, formed part of efforts to support the agency’s ongoing education and sensitisation campaign on the e-invoicing mandate.
Mr Bawa said the initiative aligns with global trends in tax digitisation and is expected to help improve Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio, which remains one of the lowest in Africa.
According to him, the system will provide the NRS with greater visibility into transactions across sectors, formalise activities within the informal economy and standardise invoice formats nationwide using globally recognised invoice schemas.
He added that e-invoicing would improve operational efficiency for both businesses and tax authorities while supporting the NRS’ transition from manual and electronic tax administration processes to a fully automated system-to-system interaction model.
Mr Bawa noted that the legal framework for implementation is backed by the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, which prescribes penalties for non-compliance.
He disclosed that the NRS has completed onboarding large taxpayers and is preparing to enforce compliance with defaulting entities.
According to him, medium taxpayers are expected to begin compliance in the third quarter of 2026, while onboarding of emerging taxpayers will commence in 2027, with full adoption targeted for all taxpayers by the end of 2028.
Mr Bawa urged taxpayers yet to be onboarded onto the platform to begin the process and work with accredited service providers to ensure compliance.
On his part, Country Director of DigiTax Nigeria, Mr Olumide Akinsola, urged businesses to look beyond their internal systems and assess the compliance status of suppliers and counterparties.
He warned that businesses whose suppliers fail to transmit invoices through the MBS platform risk losing eligibility to claim Value Added Tax (VAT) input credits on such transactions, describing the resulting supply chain exposure as a significant commercial risk that many organisations have yet to quantify.
Mr Akinsola also announced the launch of DigiTax’s white paper, The State of E-Invoicing Readiness in Nigeria, which examines compliance adoption trends and the readiness gap across different taxpayer segments.
He added that DigiTax operates in Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), noting that experience from those markets shows businesses that integrate early are better positioned to avoid disruptions when enforcement begins.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The names of about 100,000 companies registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) are about to be deleted for inactivity, especially for failing to file their annual tax returns, Business Post reports.
This information was disclosed by the CAC via a notice signed by its management on Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
The list contains organisations like the Nigeria-Poland Chamber of Trade Invest Ltd, Alariwo of Afrika Ltd, Ovation Sports International, First Union Pension Fund Administrators, Investopedia Limited, Baptist High School Abuja Ltd, and Yobe Aluminium Manufacturing Industries Ltd, amongst others.
In the statement, the commission said its decision to strike off the names of the affected firms from the register aligns with the provisions of Section 692(3) (3) and (4) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), 2020.
However, the affected companies can still salvage the situation by filing all outstanding annual returns and regularising their records within 90 days.
“Please note that companies that fail to comply within the stipulated timeline shall be struck off the register without further notice,” it declared, expressing its continued commitment to providing prompt and efficient registration and regulatory services to the satisfaction of its valued customers.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange gained 1.75 per cent on Wednesday, July 15, pushing the NASD Security Index (NSI) up by 74.20 points to 4,316.51 points from 4,242.31 points, as the market capitalisation added N44.54 billion to finish at N2.590 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N2.546 trillion.
During the session, there was an 11.5 per cent rise in the value of transactions at midweek to N72.7 million from the preceding session’s N65.2 million, as there was a 3.7 per cent growth in the number of deals to 28 deals from the previous session’s 27 deals, while the volume of securities slumped by 64.5 per cent to 4.9 million units from 13.7 million units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended as the most active security by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, with the second spot occupied by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc after selling 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and the third position was taken by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which exchanged 74.3 million units for N5.3 billion.
GNI Plc also finished the trading day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units traded for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million.
Business Post reports that the market breadth index was negative yesterday, as there were two price gainers and three price losers.
11 Plc added N22.36 to its value to close at N250.00 per share versus N227.64 per share, and CSCS Plc improved by N7.95 to N90.35 per unit from N82.40 per unit.
On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N1.37 to end at N150.00 per share versus N151.37 per share, UBN Property Plc depreciated by 6 Kobo to N1.75 per unit from N1.81 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc dropped 1 Kobo to close at N2.49 per share versus N2.50 per share.
