Nigeria Needs Clearer, More Liberal, Fiscal Policies—ICAEW

By Adedapo Adesanya  President Bola Tinubu has written to the House of Representatives seeking the approval for an $8.6 billion and €100 million external borrowing plan for critical infrastructure in areas such as power, roads, water, railway, and health. The President also forwarded the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Supplementary Budget to the lower chamber for consideration. Meanwhile, the President will present the 2024 budget to the National Assembly on Wednesday. This was after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a 2024 budget of N27.5 trillion. The approval followed the review of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) earlier passed by the

By Adedapo Adesanya  The federal government, through the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), has announced plans to invest $1.1 billion to fully rehabilitate decaying port infrastructure at TinCan, Apapa, Rivers, Delta, Calabar, and Onne ports as part of efforts to improve the efficiency of the nation’s existing ports. Out of the estimated 47,000 kilometres of coastline in Africa, Nigeria makes up about 853 kilometres, creating the perfect opportunity to get access to its much-needed revenue. This coastline and a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone make up Nigeria’s coastline in the Gulf of Guinea. The coastline equals a maritime area of

By Adedapo Adesanya The House of Representatives has pledged to stop international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the Niger Delta from divestment of their offshore assets without being accountable to the environment. The Chairman of the House of Reps Committee on Host Communities, Mr Dumnamene Dekor, said this during a technical session on the implementation of the Host Communities Development Trusts (HCDT), organised by Spaces for Change (S4C) with support from Ford Foundation. Mr Dekor raised the alarm that since the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act in 2021, host communities have not experienced any positive change, rather have remained

By Adedapo Adesanya A milk-producing company, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria, helped the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange return to the green territory by 0.54 per cent on Wednesday, November 29. The firm improved its value by N3.50 in the midweek session to settle at N73.50 per share compared with the previous day’s closing price of N70.00 per share. It suppressed the 10 Kobo decline posted by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which ended lower at N17.00 per unit versus Tuesday’s value of N17.10 per unit. Consequently, the market capitalisation of the alternative stock exchange went up by N6.28 billion to

By Dipo Olowookere On Thursday, February 23, 2017, Nigeria’s Acting President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo, will launch a-three day Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Clinic for viable enterprises in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital. Chief Operating Officer of the Kwara State MSME Bureau, Mr Segun Soewu, who disclosed this in a statement on Monday, said that the event will hold at the Banquet Hall, Ilorin by 10 am daily. According to him, the Clinic is an opportunity for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises in the State to discuss the opportunities and challenges confronting their businesses. Mr Soewu added that business

Stanbic IBTC Trustees Limited, through the Stanbic IBTC Education Trust (SET), has made assisting Nigerian parents and guardians to secure their children and ward’s academic future one of her top priorities. SET is a flexible and easy investment plan with long-term benefits that support parents and guardians striving to provide quality education for their children and wards. With SET, parents and guardians can ensure the payment of their children and wards’ school fees as education-related expenses are directly effected by the institutions of learning, be it elementary to tertiary levels. This action ensures that unforeseeable events do not cause a

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The decision of the management of Emirates to give its customers quality value-added services has finally paid off as air passengers across the world have voted the airline operator as the best in in-flight WiFi and food. At the 2022 APEX Regional Passenger Choice Awards® ceremony held in Dublin, Ireland held recently, Emirates was announced as the winner of the Best Wi-Fi and Best Food & Beverage awards in the Middle East. The organisers received votes from verified passengers flying on over one million flights on nearly 600 airlines from around the world. They were asked to

By Dipo Olowookere On Wednesday, November 29, 2017, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will carry out another primary auction of Nigerian treasury bills. A total of treasury bills worth N117.18 billion would be offered for sale by the central bank. Due to activities at the T-bills market last week, observers expect stop rates to decline in line with declining inflationary trend and improving economic outlook According to the calendar released by the CBN for the exercise, it would put for sale 91-day bills worth N26.14 billion, while the 182-day instrument worth N11.01 billion would be auctioned, and the 364-day

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has begun deliberate measures and investments for a fully digital ecosystem across the country by 2025. This was disclosed by the Acting Managing Director, Mr Mohammed Bello-Koko, at the 41st Ports Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA) Annual Council Meeting and 16th Round-table Conference of Managing Directors of PMAWCA in Douala, Cameroon. He stressed that as the international supply chain battles several disruptions, the agency would focus on port smartness level than its size, in order to optimise productivity and meet users’ expectations. In his presentation on Digitalisation Roadmap and

By Dipo Olowookere There is no doubt that for long, the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) have been made to operate without the necessary backings, but as part of the Federal Government’s diversification agenda, they have been receiving attention lately. One lender that has worked hard to ensure small businesses grow into big companies is Keystone Bank Nigeria Limited and it has demonstrated its further commitment to this by creating a special account for SMEs owners in the country. Called the Growbiz Account, it is designed to meet the needs of business owners and organizations; sole proprietors, partnerships & limited

By Adedapo Adesanya Investors’ worry that economic storm clouds could foreshadow a global recession and erode fuel demand pulled down crude oil by nearly 2 per cent on Monday. The Brent crude futures settled at $96.19 a barrel after losing $1.73 or 1.8 per cent as the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures shed $1.51 or 1.6 per cent to trade at $91.13 a barrel. Many see demand destruction happening despite banks’ latest price forecasts, most of which see Brent returning to a three-digit territory before the year’s end. Prices also fell amid comments from US Federal Reserve officials

By Adedapo Adesanya The bad news for oil continued on Thursday as major prices further slipped below $58 per barrel as fears and concerns about the global economic growth, oil demand, and projections of excess supply even with OPEC planned cuts not been able to change matters. This further means there will be a dent on Nigeria’s oil revenue as its benchmark, the Brent crude fell 0.12 cents or 0.07 percent (GMT +1 on Thursday) to $57.65 per barrel. As for the US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, it recorded a dropped 34 cents equivalent to 0.65 percent to