Nigeria Unveils Green Bond Market Development Programme

By Adedapo Adesanya A hybrid solar power solutions provider, Daystar Power, has signed an agreement with Nigerian Breweries to install and operate a 4.2MWp solar plant and 2MWh battery storage system that will help the firm reduce its high energy costs. The installation will be one of the largest solar and battery storage projects for an industrial manufacturer in Nigeria. The hybrid solar solution will generate 5,249 MWh of electricity – 42 per cent of its daytime power consumption – every year at Nigerian Breweries’ Lagos brewery. According to a statement, the integration of solar into the factory’s energy mix

By Adedapo Adesanya President Bola Tinubu is targeting to grow Nigeria’s economy by 3.76 per cent next year and moderate the country’s inflation to 21.4 per cent. Speaking at his first budget speech to lawmakers on Wednesday, President Tinubu also projected higher oil production and tax collection, noting that this will boost government revenues and cut down on reliance on borrowing to finance budget deficits. Nigeria plans on spending N27.5 billion in the 2024 fiscal year, with priorities on security, infrastructure and easing the high cost-of-living crisis. The country will borrow around N9 trillion and N18.5 billion generated from internally

By Adedapo Adesanya The Supreme Court has ordered that the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes should continue to co-exist with the new banknotes beyond the earlier December 31, 2023, deadline. The apex court ruled on Wednesday that both old and new notes should continue to remain legal tender until the federal government puts a process in place for its replacement or redesign after due consultation with relevant stakeholders. The seven-man panel led by Justice Inyang Okoro gave the ruling following an application by the central government asking the court to grant an extension of time for old naira notes

By Adedapo Adesanya  Angola, one of Africa’s top crude oil producers and a key member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has officially rejected the proposed production quota for the year 2024 and may even exit the group. This was signalled by Mr Diamantino Pedro Azevedo, Angola’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, confirming the nation’s decision and indicating a divergence from OPEC’s suggested allocations for both member and non-member countries. The announcement was made during the 26th OPEC+ Meeting on Thursday, where the organisation proposed 1.11 million barrels of crude oil per day production quota for

By Dipo Olowookere The interim manager of Tottenham Hotspur, Mr Cristian Stellini, has left his role in the football club along with his coaching staff, a statement signed by the club’s chairman, Mr Daniel Levy, has confirmed. The Italian football coach, who replaced his fellow countryman, Mr Antonio Conte, about a month ago, was removed a day after his team lost to Newcastle United 6-1 in an English Premier League match at St James’ Park. In the statement on Monday, Mr Levy disclosed that Tottenham would now be led to an EPL game against Manchester United at home on Thursday

By Dipo Olowookere Africa’s richest man, Mr Aliko Dangote, has donated a N1.2 billion ultra-modern business school edifice to the Bayero University, Kano, (BUK), first of such in the northern part of the country. Christened Dangote Business School, the business mogul disclosed that talks are on to affiliate the school with the popular Harvard Business School, in the United States of America. This is expected to give the business educational development of Northern Nigeria a new turn. Speaking to a group at the opening of the School at the new site of the University, Mr Dangote stated that no effort

By Virusha Subban Trade between China and Africa is growing. The General Administration of Customs of China recently noted that bilateral trade between China and Africa amounted to $254.3 in 2021, an increase of 35.3% from 2020. In the first quarter of 2022, China’s Customs Data confirmed that trade between the two regions increased by 23% to $64.8 million. Africa exported goods worth $105.9 billion to China, an increase of 43.7% from the previous year. China is increasingly importing agricultural products and manufacturing goods from Africa, in addition to its continued strong focus on oil, precious minerals and metals. African

By Jacob Abai It was George Washington, a onetime President of the United State of America (USA), who once said that, “The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by our nation.” Likewise, Yahaya Adoza Bello, a Nigerian politician, businessman and the current Governor of Kogi State, has through his actions in the past six years, demonstrated that his love for his people, his home state-Kogi and most importantly shown willingness that as a

By Adedapo Adesanya  The Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning has charged the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to ensure it does everything within the powers conferred on it in the newly amended Act to recover the N5 trillion debt incurred by some Nigerians and organisations. Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, gave this charge at a quarterly briefing of the Ministry of Finance held in Abuja at the weekend. Business Post had reported that many agencies of the federal government had indicated willingness to collaborate with AMCON in its quest to recover the

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The prominent labour union leader, Mr Joe Ajaero, has emerged as the next national president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). The NLC is one of the frontline labour unions in the country. Mr Ajaero was elected to lead the group on Wednesday at the ongoing 13th National Delegates’ Conference of the union at the International Conference Centre, Abuja. Before now, the new NLC leader was the General Secretary of the Nigerian Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE). He will succeed Mr Ayuba Wabba, whose tenure ends today. Mr Ajaero had also been the deputy national president of

By Dipo Olowookere ENGIE has signed an agreement with CDC, the Gabonese financial institution Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, to deploy eight hybrid solar power plants in Gabon, representing a combined capacity of 2.2 MW. The implemented solution was developed by ENGIE’s subsidiary, Ausar Energy in collaboration with CDC, the Gabonese Ministry of Energy, and the Gabonese energy and water company Société d’Énergie et d’Eau du Gabon (SEEG) and means that solar energy can be used in eight locations that are currently supplied by oil-fired thermal power stations. With construction set to begin in a few weeks, this project will

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A Nigerian tax expert, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, has advised Federal Government to exempt owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from the payment of Value Added Tax (VAT). He gave this suggestion while reacting to the VAT exemption given to SMEs owners in the United Arabs Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia by their respective governments. Mr Oyedele is an author, a public analyst and thought leader on economic, accounting and tax matters. He is also the Head of Tax and Regulatory Services at PwC Nigeria as well as West Africa Market Tax Leader. “As part of measures