Economy
Nigeria Seeks Global Help for Robust Food System
By Ahmed Rahma
The Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has stated that the food situation in Nigeria and other African countries is unsustainable.
The Minister said this at the ongoing virtual World Bank-IMF 2021 Spring Meetings Roundtable On ‘Food Security in Africa.
She noted that Nigeria, like any other country, has faced critical challenges in her drive for food security which has affected both the upstream and downstream of the agricultural sector.
According to Mrs Ahmed, the government believes “the current food situation is unsustainable.”
“We strongly believe that given the quantum of arable land in Africa, the time to change the global support to commercial agriculture is now,” she stated, adding that the situation requires Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows into the agriculture value chain.
She noted that “the governments are prepared and are following up with necessary macroeconomics and fiscal reforms including governance and institutional strengthening and prioritising intra-Africa trade as well as structural reforms and public investments to address the challenge.”
At the global level, Mrs Ahmed called for an “integrated, targeted and well-coordinated approach that will guarantee that no one goes to sleep hungry”.
She, however, urged “the international community, particularly the multilaterals and the private sector, to key in and to assist Africa to build food resilience and pursue the attainment of the sustainable development goal (SDG) No.2 and the goals of African Union (AU) Agenda 2063.”
Mrs Ahmed also noted that “a robust and secured food system is central to the health of both humans and the economies of nations”.
According to her, the current food situation is far from achieving the “goal of feeding everyone especially with sustainable diet. COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the perennial food shortages in Africa”.
On food shortage across the continent, Nigeria’s Finance Minister lamented that “some 230 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa are still prone to chronic food insecurity, yet about one-third of food produced globally is regularly wasted.”
At the meeting, she stated that the vision of the Nigerian government is to work with key stakeholders to build an agribusiness economy capable of delivering sustained prosperity by meeting domestic food security goals, boosting exports, and supporting sustainable income and job growths.
The Minister reiterated that “more than 7 million Nigerians are actively employed in agriculture under the administration’s diversification agenda and the Ministry of Agriculture is working to ensure that the sector offers 20 million jobs in the nearest future.”
Across Nigeria, farmers, traders and transporters are, according to the Minister, seeing a shift in their fortunes.
The agricultural sector is witnessing a revolution propelled by the President’s vision of a country that should grow what it eats.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Senate has directed the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to raise its revenue target for 2025 from N6 trillion to N10 trillion.
The upper chamber of the National Assembly on Monday cited the urgent need for enhanced enforcement and surveillance amid rising smuggling and insecurity challenges across the country as rationale for the upward review.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Customs, Mr Isah Jibrin, stated this when the NCS’ Deputy Comptroller General Jibo Bello appeared before the committee for its budget defence.
The tariff policy of the government became the crux of the matter as the committee identified gaps, frowning upon the lack of enforcement of a 4 per cent freight on board (FOB) by the agency.
Mr Bello disclosed that customs had been authorised by the Ministry of Finance to halt collection of the 4 per cent freight on board.
Based on this, the chairman of the committee mandated the Minister of Finance, Mr Wale Edun, to appear before it to explain the suspension of the 4 per cent freight on board charges, which they say was an infraction of the law.
The Senate is expected to question the finance minister and key stakeholders at the scheduled appearance on Thursday, as it seeks to ensure accountability, revenue optimisation, and national security enforcement in line with existing legislative frameworks.
Earlier this year, the Customs announced the suspension of the 4 per cent charge and noted that the pause period will enable comprehensive engagement and consultations between the Minister of Finance, Mr Wale Edun and other stakeholders.
The FOB, put at 4 per cent charge on imported goods, was meant to replace an older system where companies like Webb Fontaine handled import inspections for a 1 per cent fee. The move sparked heavy criticism from stakeholders like the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA).
“The suspension period will allow the Service to further engage with stakeholders while ensuring proper alignment with the Act’s provisions for sustainable funding of these modernisation initiatives.” NCS said in February.
NCS also cancelled declarations made during the short-lived implementation.
By Dipo Olowookere
Investors demonstrated strong appetite for the new seven-year FGN sovereign bond auctioned at the primary market by the Debt Management Office (DMO) on Monday.
Business Post reports that the debt office, on behalf of the federal government, was at the market yesterday to seek N100 billion from bond investors.
The agency asked investors for the funds in two different bonds, a re-opening five-year paper and a new seven-year note at N50 billion each.
However, the DMO ended up allotting about N98.95 billion of the longer tenor to subscribers and N1.05 billion for the shorter note.
Details of the exercise showed that the seven-year paper was sold to investors at a coupon rate of 17.95 per cent, with bids worth N561.17 billion, showing a siginificant oversubscription, indication the strong confidence investors have in the ability of the government to service the debt.
It was observed that the debt office received a total of 209 bids, but only 41 bids were successful, according to results of the auction released by the DMO.
As for the five-year paper, which has an actual 3 years and 10 months to maturity, it got 30 bids from subscribers, with only two cleared by the DMO.
The value of its subscription was N41.69 billion sold at a coupon rate of 17.75 per cent. This paper was first sold by the Nigerian government about two years ago at 19.30 per cent.
According to the note released by the debt office, the settlement date for this latest bond issuance is Wednesday, June 25, 2025.
It was offered to investors at a unit price of N1,000 subject to a minimum subscription of N50 million and in multiples of N1,000 thereafter.
FGN bonds are tax-free as they qualify as government securities within the meaning of Company Income Tax Act (CITA) and Personal Income Tax Act (PITA) for tax exemption for pension funds, among others.
After the sale, the bonds will be listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited and the FMDQ Securities Exchange for trading at the secondary market.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.64 per cent on Monday, June 23, on the back of renewed investor confidence.
During the session, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased by 21.19 points to settle at 3,342.19 points, in contrast to last Friday’s 3,320.91 points.
In the same vein, the market capitalisation went up by N12.45 billion to close at N1.957 trillion compared with the N1.944 trillion it ended last Friday.
Yesterday, Newrest Asl Plc chalked up by N3.79 to end at N41.76 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N37.97 per unit, Okitipupa Plc gained N2.87 to trade at N221.87 per share versus N219.00 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc appreciated by N2.50 to N31.50 per unit from N29.00 per unit.
On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N1.38 to finish at N68.00 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N69.38 per unit, and UBN Property Plc improved by 21 Kobo to trade at N2.03 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.24 per unit.
In the opening session of the week, there was a 111.4 per cent rise in the volume of securities to 471,471 units from the 223,039 units recorded in the previous trading day.
However, the value of transactions dropped by 30.2 per cent to N10.6 million from N15.2 million, while the number of deals jumped by 100 per cent to 42 deals from 21 deals.
When the market closed for the day, Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 536.9 million units valued at N524.7 million, trailed by Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million units sold for N4.2 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 268.5 million units worth N475.8 million.
Also, Okitipupa Plc remained the most traded equity by value (year-to0-date) with 153.7 million units valued at N4.9 billion, followed by Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million units worth N4.2 billion, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc traded 40.5 million units for N1.7 billion.
-
Feature/OPED5 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism9 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz2 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking7 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy2 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking2 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports2 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn
-
Technology5 years agoHow To Link Your MTN, Airtel, Glo, 9mobile Lines to NIN