Economy
Oyedele Advocates Domestic Resource Mobilisation Over Foreign Aid
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, says that reliance on aid and concessional finance was neither sustainable nor sufficient.
He said this at the opening of a high-level capacity-building session in Abuja on Wednesday, noting that Nigeria needs to strengthen local funding sources, a message that also guided discussions during a visit by an Ethiopian delegation to learn about Nigeria’s Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF).
“Domestic Resource Mobilisation remains the most critical pillar of any credible financing framework”, he said. “Our objective is not to increase the burden on citizens. Our objective is to create a fairer, more efficient and growth-oriented revenue system that supports development, encourages enterprise and strengthens voluntary compliance.”
The minister presented Nigeria’s INFF as a practical, evolving response to the continent’s widening financing gap for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Agenda 2063.
He outlined the process that had produced the framework — a Development Finance Assessment, a multi-stakeholder steering committee and a Financing Strategy aligned with the Medium-Term National Development Plan.
He also cited concrete reforms such as expanded digitalisation of tax administration, deeper engagement with international capital markets through green and sustainability-linked instruments and institutionalised accountability mechanisms.
“These are not merely technical outputs,” Mr Oyedele said. “They are the instruments by which we mobilise, align and deploy financing to turn plans into services — schools, clinics, roads and social protection for our people.”
He insisted the INFF was “a living framework” that would continue to adapt as Nigeria sought to deepen private-sector participation, mobilise climate finance and strengthen subnational financing architecture.
The minister’s emphasis on sovereign revenue came with a direct appeal to state actors, urging states to pursue reforms that would increase the tax-to-GDP ratio without unduly burdening households.
Mr Oyedele positioned the INFF as the mechanism to reduce external dependence by aligning public, private, domestic and international finance with national priorities.
“This is not cause for despair”, he said of Africa’s financing gap. “Rather, it is an opportunity to rethink how development is financed and to ensure that every available source of capital is aligned with national priorities.”
Addressing the Ethiopian delegation directly, Mr Oyedele framed the engagement as mutual learning, stating: “Nigeria does not claim to have all the answers. Rather, we offer our experience in the spirit of partnership, transparency and mutual learning. Ask difficult questions. Challenge assumptions. Share your innovations and experiences.”
In her remarks, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, told delegates that the capacity of states to effectively mobilise, manage and deploy financial resources directly influenced the quality of life of millions of Nigerians.
She stressed that states must carry constitutional responsibility for primary healthcare, basic education, water and sanitation and other frontline services.
She also warned that current revenue and institutional weaknesses at the subnational level threatened service delivery across the country.
“The fiscal realities confronting many sub-national governments — rising expenditure pressures, limited internally generated revenue, growing infrastructure deficits, climate-related vulnerabilities and global economic uncertainties — are battering state finances,“ Mrs Orelope-Adefulire said. “Addressing these issues requires innovative thinking, bold reforms and stronger collaboration among all key stakeholders.”
On her part, UNDP Resident Representative, Ms Elsie Attafuah, echoed the call for domestic solutions while emphasising the value of peer learning.
“The Sustainable Development Goals are ultimately delivered in states, provinces, cities and communities,” she said. “This is why strengthening fiscal capacity at the state level is not simply a revenue issue. It is fundamentally a development issue.”
Ms Attafuah commended Nigeria’s reform agenda and stressed that South-South cooperation, exemplified by the Ethiopia–Nigeria exchange, could accelerate progress, noting, “No single country has all the answers. Yet every country has lessons that can help others move further and faster.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has defended its decision to allow Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to invest in the parent companies of their custodians, insisting that adequate safeguards are in place to protect contributors’ funds.
The director-general of the pension regulator, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, speaking on Tuesday during the Meet the Press Briefing at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the commission’s decision to relax the investment restriction followed a comprehensive risk assessment that found minimal conflict of interest.
She explained that under PenCom’s investment regulations, PFAs are only permitted to invest pension assets in carefully selected instruments that meet stringent criteria, including profitability, strong credit ratings and proven track records.
According to her, the commission regularly reviews its investment regulations, conducts routine examinations and spot checks on PFAs to ensure strict compliance with established risk management guidelines.
“PFAs cannot just go into the stock market and buy any kind of stock. There are strict guidelines. Companies must demonstrate profitability, have a proven track record and satisfy other criteria before pension funds can invest,” she said.
Ms Oloworaran noted that each PFA also operates under the oversight of a board, an investment committee and a risk management committee, providing additional layers of governance to safeguard contributors’ funds.
She said PenCom recently issued a circular allowing PFAs to invest in the parent companies of their custodians after determining that the potential conflict of interest was negligible.
The PenCom boss explained that the parent companies involved are largely Tier-1 banks, including First Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Zenith Bank, which she described as A-rated institutions with strong financial foundations.
She said the policy was intended to widen investment opportunities for pension funds without compromising safety.
Using Stanbic IBTC as an example, Ms Oloworaran explained that if its custodian is Zenith Bank, the previous restriction prevented the pension administrator from investing in Zenith Bank shares despite the bank’s strong performance.
“We reviewed the risks and any potential conflict of interest and found the risks to be very low. That is why we opened that investment window,” she said.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Analysts at Meristem Research have predicted that the inflation rate for June 2026 in Nigeria should marginally rise to 15.95 per cent on a year-on-year basis from the 15.93 per cent reported in May 2026.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is expected to release inflation numbers for last month later today, Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
In its report sighted by Business Post, Meristem Research said it expects inflationary pressures to re-emerge across key economies in the near term, as the re-escalation of the US-Iran conflict has reignited upward pressure on global oil prices.
It disclosed that this marks a sharp reversal from most of June, when the ceasefire between the two countries helped drive oil prices lower, raising expectations of some relief on the inflation front.
With conflicts now flaring up again, oil prices are likely to increase again, and the anticipated easing in energy-driven inflation may not materialise as broadly as earlier envisaged.
“Nonetheless, some relief is likely from the food segment, where robust supply conditions across major producing regions and softening demand should continue to ease food price pressures,” it stated.
The team also explained that it projected a 15.95 per cent inflation rate because of the lingering effects of persistent food price pressures.
“However, we expect core inflation to moderate as the sharp reversal in energy prices begins to filter through to transportation, distribution, and other energy-related costs, easing underlying price pressures.
“On a month-on-month basis, the combined effect of lower petrol prices, a relatively stable Naira, and the gradual pass-through of reduced energy costs across the supply chain should exert further downward pressure on inflation.
“Based on our assessment, food inflation is expected to remain the key swing factor, as seasonal pre-harvest supply constraints are likely to offset some of the gains from lower logistics costs,” it said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and Afriland Properties Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.61 per cent on Tuesday, July 14.
CSCS Plc saw its stock value drop N9.08 to close at N82.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N91.48 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc slid by 17 Kobo to sell at N15.00 per unit versus N15.70 per unit.
The losses recorded by the two securities pulled back the market capitalisation by N41.64 billion to N2.546 trillion from N2.587 trillion, and cracked the NASD Security Index (NSI) by 69.36 points to 4,242.31 points from 4,311.67 points.
It was observed that the exchange witnessed two price advancers during the session, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which gained N1.37 to end at N151.37 per share compared with the previous day’s N150.00 per share, and Food Concepts Plc chalked up 5 Kobo to settle at N2.50 per unit versus N2.45 per unit.
The volume of securities traded by market participants surged by 50.7 per cent to 13.7 million units from the previous 9.1 million units, while the value of securities went down by 79.7 per cent to N65.2 million from N320.4 million, and the number of deals crashed by 3.6 per cent to 27 deals from the previous session’s 28 deals.
At the close of transactions, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with the sale of 3.4 billion units for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc, which exchanged 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units transacted for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the trading day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
