Trade Ties With India Will Lead Nigeria to Prosperity—Minister

By Adedapo Adesanya The prices of Brent futures and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures went down by about 1 per cent on Friday, due to macroeconomic concerns and sustained profit-taking. Data showed that Brent fell by 7 cents to $95.31 per barrel and WTI depreciated by 92 cents to $90.97. Prices rose about 30 per cent in the third quarter of the year helped by the production cuts by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+). This action squeezed global crude supply. Brent was about 2.2 per cent in the week and 27 per cent

By Adedapo Adesanya Trading activities resumed at the official segment of the foreign exchange (FX), with the Nigerian Naira returning to familiar territory after the Eid-el-Maulud break due to forex demand pressure. The nation’s currency depreciated against the US Dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) arm of the market on Thursday, September 28, by 2.68 per cent or N20.23 to finish at N775.31/$1 compared with the preceding day’s value of N755.08/$1. It was observed that the domestic currency crumbled during the session due to FX demand caused by the break, with the spot market recording trades valued at $144.55

By Adedapo Adesanya The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared a total of N1.1 trillion from the revenue generated by the nation in August 2023 for September to enable the three tiers of government; the federal government, states, and local government councils, to have funds to pay salaries and others. The allocation of the funds was confirmed by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation on Friday following FAAC’s September 2023 meeting. According to a statement by the OAGF’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Mr Bawa Mokwa, there was “N1100.101 billion (N1.1 trillion) total distributable revenue.”

By Adedapo Adesanya The Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, has cleared the air regarding recent reports on the transfer of funds to the Joint Tax Board (JTB) by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) under the erstwhile chairman, Mr Muhammad Nami, for the tax reform committee. In a statement on Friday, he revealed that N5 billion was paid to the board to fund activities of the team set up by President Bola Tinubu, noting that “The committee’s budget includes provisions for a national Data for Tax project which the JTB had been

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The board of Transcorp Hotels has announced the full year financial results of the company for the period ended December 31, 2018. The firm, in its financial scorecard released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), recorded 25.9 percent growth in the revenue generated in the period under consideration compared with the same period of 2017. In the financial results briefly analysed by Business Post, Transcorp Hotels declared a revenue of N17.425 billion in FY 2018 in contrast to the N13.844 billion achieved in FY 2017. Also, the gross profit grew to N12.889 billion from N10.080 billion, but

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has been commended for its different reform initiatives despite the disruptions caused by COVID-19 pandemic. The chief executive of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr Oscar Onyema, who gave this commendation, said the agency, under the leadership of its Registrar-General/CEO, Mr Garba Abubakar, has continued to support many businesses in the country. Mr Abubakar was honoured with a digital closing gong ceremony at the exchange on Monday as part of the NSE stakeholder engagement activities. The event provided an opportunity for the CAC to intimate the capital market community on the reform

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria’s dollar bonds rallied after President Bola Tinubu was officially conferred as the 16th president of Nigeria, a day that he announced plans to scrap the fuel subsidy programme, unify the exchange rate regime, as well as reduce high interest rates. Bonds with a maturity date of 2047 jumped 3.3 per cent to 66.750 cents on the Dollar. The debt instrument due in 2049 gained 2.9 per cent, and those maturing in 2051 advanced 3.5 per cent. The gains came as markets in London and the US reopened following national holidays as well as a day after

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government has disclosed that without the National Identification Number (NIN), Nigerians would no longer be able to register their businesses. This was disclosed by the Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Mr Garba Abubakar, in Abuja on Monday during the monthly reform seminar organised by the Bureau of Public Service Reform (BPSR). Speaking at a lecture themed Current Reforms, Innovations, and Challenges of the Corporate Affairs Commission, and Their Impact on the Growth of Nigerian Economy, the CAC chief explained that the new policy was to verify the integrity of the data the agency

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange started the year 2022 on a positive foot with a 0.60 per cent growth on Tuesday, January 4, the first trading day of the year. This was driven by the gains posted by Central Security Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc, which appreciated by 75 kobo or 3.9 per cent to close at N19.00 per unit compared with N18.25 per unit it closed at the previous session on the NASD exchange. As a result of this, the NASD unlisted security index (NSI) moved up by 4.43 points to 747.28 points from 742.85 points,

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh Within the current global geopolitical changes, growing support is fast underway to give enough preparations for Saudi Arabia and possibly a few others to join BRICS, an organization comprised Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. China will hand over the chair to South Africa in early 2023. China and Russia have been pushing for the expansion of BRICS, soliciting support for the multipolar global governance system instead of the existing rules-based unipolar directed by the United States. Often explained that a bigger BRICS primarily offers huge opportunities among the group members and developing countries. Russian

By Dipo Olowookere The Chief Executive Officer of Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc, Mr Bode Makanjuola, has said the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted into huge losses to businesses in the world. He said at the beginning of this year, his company had anticipated good fortunes for its marine business as the firm had been pre-qualified for a number of contracts. However, he said the present global health crises turned things south. According, Caverton had also hoped for the completion of its Maintenance, Repair and Overall (MRO) facility and was to take delivery of the first ever helicopter flight simulator

By Adedapo Adesanya M-Pesa, the Kenyan mobile money service, will expand into Ethiopia as the country moves to open up its telecommunications industry. At the national launch of Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia (STE) in the capital Addis Ababa yesterday, Ethiopia’s Finance Minister, Mr Ahmed Shide, disclosed that the mobile money platform had received approval to roll out its services across the country. He noted that Safaricom would be allowed to acquire permits of operation and license for M-Pesa services from the central bank following the approval. The license permits the telecom giant to operate in the country for 15 years. Safaricom