Economy
We’ll Use Agric to Diversify Economy—CBN Insists
By Dipo Olowookere
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has re-echoed its commitment towards using agriculture to drive the economic diversification of the present administration.
CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, made this known recently at the ground breaking ceremony of white refined sugar factory for Great Northern Agribusiness Limited at Garin Ciroma, Gagarawa Local Government in Jigawa State.
He lamented that Nigeria spends over $100 million importing sugar despite its capacity to cultivate sugarcane and produce sugar.
He said to stop this, the apex bank had to support the Jigawa State government and a Chinese company, Lee Group, to establish a multi-billion Naira white refined sugar cane factory that will generate N60 billion annually for the state, applauding them for this move.
Mr Emefiele noted that the sugar production was part of CBN’s core aspect of the anchor-borrowers programme, adding that the bank will support Lee Group and other small scale farmers that were involved in sugarcane production in such a way that the company could buy-off the sugarcane planted by farmers.
According to him, the Lee Group had touched the hearts of Nigerians by heeding the presidential call towards self-sufficiency.
Mr Emefiele assured that the CBN will give its support to the group to ensure the success of the project, noting that the Group was complementing the efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria towards ensuring that Nigeria achieved her goal of diversifying its economy.
Speaking at the event, which took place on April 30, 2017, Chairman of Lee Group of Companies, Mr Lee Sheau, stated that agriculture had the potential to revive the Nigerian economy, adding that investment in this sector would reduce the dependence on food importation; provide the much needed employment and reduce the massive foreign exchange requirement of Nigeria.
In his own address, the Jigawa State Governor, Mr Muhammad Badaru Abubakar, described the ground breaking ceremony as a pivotal milestone and giant leap in an effort to realize Nigeria’s untapped potential as a future agricultural and an industrial power house.
He added that the complex, when completed, would house four independent plants that will eventually produce sugar, food seasoning, organic fertilizer and high density fibre.
The Governor listed other features of the industrial complex to include Sugarcane Crushing Capacity of 14,000 TCD, expected cane yield per hetre of 100mMT/H; expected total Sugar Production of 120,000 metric tons per annum, adding that the complex had the potential of engaging 5,000 workers through direct employment.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for 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 transacted for N415.7 million.
