Economy
Supporting SMEs Can Get Nigeria Out Of Recession—Nmonwu
By Ebitonye Akpodigha
Regional Director for Sage West Africa, Mr Magnus Nmonwu, has suggested that providing support for small businesses in Nigeria could be one of the key ingredients to carrying the country through these tough times.
He pointed out that this should become a priority for big businesses and the Federal Government.
“Nigerian entrepreneurs and business owners are the engines that drive the country’s economy,” says Mr Nmonwu.
He added that, “During recessions, big companies are able to adjust by downsizing and cutting costs. Small businesses, however, keep going and carry the losses. They need our support, as they can contribute to turning the economy around, far more quickly.
“It is important that government and other stakeholders listen to entrepreneurs’ concerns as they seek to grow and contribute to the economy.
“We have embraced the responsibility of helping to amplify the voice of small business, because we also started small and understand the challenges entrepreneurs of small face in such times.”
He also said with the recession biting, small and medium businesses face the reality that consumers won’t have as much money to spend and that investors and business partners will taper down investment.
Given that Nigeria has an estimated 37 million micro, small, and medium-size enterprises making a significant contribution to GDP and employment, this sector should be treated as an economic priority.
Another concern on the horizon is the looming Communication Service Tax Bill 2015, which is currently with the National Assembly. If passed into law, the law will require that consumers of voice, data, SMS, MMS and pay TV services pay a 9% tax on their tariffs for using these services.
This is in addition to other taxes people already pay for mobile and Internet access – 5% VAT, 12% import duties on ICT devices, and 20% tax levied on SIM cards, amongst the series of taxes. The Alliance for Affordable Internet, Nigeria Coalition, estimates that the tax could prevent more than 50 million Nigerians from affording a basic broadband connection.
“Nigerian entrepreneurs depend on their mobile phones and the Internet to run their businesses,” says Mr Nmonwu. “The tax could potentially raise the cost of doing business and hold back Nigeria’s integration into the global digital economy by excluding people from broadband access.”
Mr Nmonwu says that it is understandable that the government needs to raise new tax revenues in the wake of falling commodity prices. However, this should ideally be done in a way that nurtures the growth of the Small & Medium Business, technology and services sectors – especially at a time Nigeria needs to diversify its economy beyond oil
Emphasis should be placed on creating new tax revenues. For example, a conditional tax amnesty could encourage smaller businesses who have not compiled with tax laws to fall into the tax net. By making short-term sacrifice of potential tax revenues, government could bring more businesses into the formal economy and help them grow into enterprises able to employ more people, approach banks for financing and pay taxes.
Financing small businesses
“In this regard, we are encouraged to see some of the moves that government, multilateral financing institutions and other stakeholders are making to support entrepreneurs,” Mr Nmonwu adds. In particular, he welcomes the Central Bank’s launch in May 2016 of a modern online collateral registry, supported by the World Bank. The registry will enable low-income earners and micro-entrepreneurs to secure loans against movable assets such as machinery, livestock, and inventory.
Other bodies providing small businesses with financial support include:
Bank of Industry, which supports new or existing companies, seeking expansion, modernization or diversification;
The National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND), which provides medium-to-long-term financing for viable small and medium enterprise; and
Bank of Agriculture (BoA), which provides financial support for all agricultural in addition to rural micro enterprises.
“Funding is one of the major challenges entrepreneurs face in Nigeria, so these are great initiatives,” Mr Nmonwu says. “We would welcome similarly innovative interventions to address some of the other challenges small businesses face such as complex tax and remove regulations and general business red-tape.”
The Nigerian government is also to be commended for establishing a range of organisations and initiatives to support Small & Medium Businesses. For example, the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) identifies Nigerians who are interested in entrepreneurship and provides them with training in entrepreneurship and vocational skills. Entrepreneurs meet regularly to share ideas about growing their businesses under the umbrella of SMEDAN.
He further said, “Entrepreneurs make life-sacrifices. They are dreamers and innovators. They take risks to pursue their passions and, on this, Nigeria’s prosperity can or should be built /developed. They deserve a bigger voice and we will always work hard to champion this noble cause.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
A total of N1.969 trillion was shared to the federal government, the 36 state governments and the 774 local government councils from the gross revenue of N2.585 trillion generated by the nation in December 2025.
The money was disbursed to the three tiers of government at the January 2026 Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting held in Abuja.
In a statement issued on Monday by the Director of Press and Public Relations in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), Mr Bawa Mokwa, it was stated that the FAAC allocation comprised statutory revenue of N1.084 trillion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N846.507 billion, and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N38.110 billion.
“Total deduction for cost of collection was N104.697 billion, while total transfers, refunds, and savings were N511.585 billion,” the statement partly read.
It was also revealed that from the N1.969 trillion total distributable revenue, the federal Government received the sum of N653.500 billion, and the state governments received N706.469 billion, the local government councils received N513.272 billion, and the sum of N96.083 billion was shared with the benefiting state as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
He said of the N1.084 trillion distributable statutory revenue, the central government received N520.807 billion, the state governments got N264.160 billion, the local councils were given N203.656 billion, and N96.083 billion was shared to the benefiting states as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
FAAC noted that from the N846.507 billion distributable VAT earnings, the federal government got N126.976 billion, the state governments received N423.254 billion, and the local government councils got N296.277 billion.
From the revenue from EMTL, Mr Mokwa explained that the national government was given N5.717 billion, the state governments got N19.055 billion, and the councils collected N13.338 billion.
He added that the companies’ Income Tax (CIT)/CGT and STD, Import Duty and Value Added Tax (VAT) increased significantly in December, while oil and gas royalty, CET levies and fees increase marginally, with excise duty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT)/Hydrocarbon Tax (HT), and EMTL considerably down.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s oil exports will drop in February following the shutdown of the Bonga Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel scheduled for turnaround maintenance.
Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) Limited confirmed the development in a statement issued, adding that gas output will also decline during the maintenance period.
This comes as SNEPCo begun turnaround maintenance on the Bonga FPSO, the statement signed by its Communications Manager, Mrs Gladys Afam-Anadu, said, describing the exercise as a statutory integrity assurance programme designed to extend the facility’s operational lifespan.
SNEPCo Managing Director, Mr Ronald Adams, said the maintenance would ensure safe, efficient operations for another 15 years.
“The scheduled maintenance is designed to reduce unplanned deferments and strengthen the asset’s overall resilience.
“We expect to resume operations in March following completion of the turnaround,” he said.
Mr Adams said the scope included inspections, certification, regulatory checks, integrity upgrades, engineering modifications and subsea assurance activities.
“The FPSO, about 120 kilometres offshore in over 1,000 metres of water, can produce 225,000 barrels of oil daily.
“It also produces 150 million standard cubic feet of gas per day,” he said.
He said maintaining the facility was critical to Nigeria’s production stability, energy security and revenue objectives.
Mr Adams noted that the 2024 Final Investment Decision on Bonga North increased the importance of the FPSO’s reliability. He said the turnaround would prepare the facility for additional volumes from the Bonga North subsea tie-back project.
According to him, the last turnaround maintenance was conducted in October 2022.
“On February 1, 2023, the asset produced its one billionth barrel since operations began in 2005,” Mr Adams said.
SNEPCo operates the Bonga field in partnership with Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited and Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited, under a Production Sharing Contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
The last turnaround maintenance activity on the FPSO took place in October 2022. On February 1, the following year, the asset delivered its 1 billionth barrel of oil since production commenced in 2005.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria earned N1.17 trillion from the oil and gas industry in November 2025, lower than the N1.396 trillion generated in October 2025 by 16.2 per cent, according to data presented to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The CBN, in the latest data available, noted that the N1.17 trillion earnings from the petroleum industry in November 2025 represented 96.4 per cent of the N1.214 trillion revenue budgeted for the sector for the month under review.
In comparison, revenue from the petroleum industry in October 2025 represented 94.71 per cent of the N1.474 trillion budgeted for the sector in the month.
In its breakdown of revenue from the oil and gas industry in November 2025, the central bank stated that the country earned N37.134 billion from crude oil sales, climbing by 395.58 per cent from N7.493 trillion recorded in the previous month; while revenue from gas sales appreciated by 25.22 per cent to N7.265 billion in November, compared with N5.802 billion recorded in October 2025.
Furthermore, the CBN noted that revenue from crude oil royalties dipped by 25.6 per cent, from N790.086 billion in October 2025 to N587.865 billion in November; while miscellaneous oil revenue more than doubled to N1.356 billion, from N447.279 million in October 2025.
Also, it stated that royalties from gas dipped by 38.1 per cent to N9.405 billion in November, from N15.195 billion in October, while the country earned N51.842 billion from gas flare penalties in November 2025, down from N61.898 billion recorded in the previous month.
The apex bank added that revenue from companies’ income tax (CIT) from upstream oil industry operations stood at N106.106 billion in the month under review, as against N73.025 billion in October 2025.
It also stated that revenue from Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) stood at N301.471 billion; rentals – N775.162 million; while taxes stood at N67.242 billion in November 2025; as against N242.621 billion, N3.197 billion, and N196.277 billion in October 2025.
In addition, the apex bank reported that from the country’s oil earnings in November 2025, N18.163 billion was deducted for 13 per cent refund on subsidy, priority projects and Police Trust Fund from 1999 to 2021; while N2.872 billion was deducted by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited in respect of its 13 per cent management fee and frontier exploration fund.
It added that N26.401 billion was deducted and collected by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in October 2025, being four per cent cost of collection; while N49.768 billion was transferred to the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund from gas flare penalties in the same month.
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