BREAKING: Lagos Bows to Pressure, Reduces Land Use Charge

By Adedapo Adesanya President Bola Tinubu has promised fresh growth and job reforms in the coming months after he removed fuel subsidies and directed the float of the Naira to unify the exchange rate. The Nigerian president made this known during his first address at the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York, the US, after he took over the helm of office from Mr Muhammadu Buhari in May. He said, “To foster economic growth and investor confidence in Nigeria, I removed the costly and corrupt fuel subsidy while also discarding a noxious exchange rate system in my first

By Bliss Okperan President Bola Tinubu has joined other persons and organisations to rejoice with Muslims all over the globe, particularly in Nigeria, over the birthday celebration of Prophet Mohammed. The federal government declared Wednesday, September 27, 2023, a public holiday for Eid-El-Maulud, and the President, as well as his opponent in the 2023 presidential election, Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), has joined to celebrate the day. In a statement from the State House in Abuja, Mr Tinubu urged Muslims to use the day “for deep introspection and fervent prayers,” stressing they should “make deliberate efforts to

By Adedapo Adesanya The chief executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Mr Gbenga Komolafe, has cancelled all activities lined up for his 60th birthday amid increased calls for his sack. Mr Komolafe, a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), turned the milestone age on Tuesday, September 26 and there was a planned thanksgiving service to mark the day slated for this Saturday, September 30. However, he said that amid the current economic state in the country, he has decided to cancel all the planned celebrations, according to a report by Premium Times. This development comes

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria faces a crippling fertiliser shortage as 34,000 metric tonnes of Russian Fertiliser meant for Nigeria is stuck at ports in the European Union (EU) as a result of continued war in Ukraine. Russia’s Foreign Minister, Mr Sergey Lavrov, confirmed this development on Saturday at the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, noting that 260,000 metric tonnes of Russian fertilisers have been stranded in EU ports since 2022. According to Russian News Agency, TASS, Mr Lavrov informed reporters that, “We are ready to give these fertilisers to African countries for free. It took six

By Adedapo Adesanya It was another day of loss for investors at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange as they lost 2.14 per cent on Tuesday. The decline suffered by unlisted stocks in Nigeria was caused by the poor performance of three companies admitted on the NASD Exchange. These three securities are Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc and Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc. Friesland lost N6 or 4.5 per cent to close at N128 per unit as against the previous N134 per unit, NGX Group depreciated by N2.47 or 9.4 per cent to close at

By Dipo Olowookere The board of Omoluabi Mortgage Bank Plc has announced a change to its composition with the appointment of few individuals, though subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). In a statement signed by the company secretary, Olabisi Fayombo, it was disclosed that the organisation has a new Managing Director and he is Mr Adewole Adekunle. Others appointed to the board were Mr Yemi Adefisan as a non-executive director, Mrs Feyintola Ibidunni Olatunde-Agbeja as an independent director, Mr Olufemi Adesina as a non-executive director, and Mr Oyewole Olowu as an executive director. The new

By Modupe Gbadeyanka To ensure stability in the supply of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), popularly known as domestic cooking gas, the West African Gas Ltd (WAGL), a joint venture company of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Sahara Energy, has taken delivery of two LPG carriers from the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) in Ulsan, South Korea. The two vessels with a combined capacity of 38,000 cubic meters (cbm) were named “MT Africa Gas” and “MT Sahara Gas” by the wives of the Group Managing Director of NNPC and the Chief Operating Officer, Gas & Power, Mrs Hajja Maikanti Baru

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Chief Executive Officer of Lafarge Africa Plc, Mr Michel Puchercos, has assured that the cement company will do everything necessary to improve its earnings and growth in the fourth quarter of this year. Mr Puchercos gave this assurance while reacting to the third quarter financial statements of the firm, which were recently released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). In the results, the company posted a 7.25 percent decline in the net sales from its major market, Nigeria, while the total net sales went down by 25.14 percent. However, the company had a strong EBITDA (pre-IFRS 16)

By Dipo Olowookere Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc has partnered with ISN Medical, a healthcare-focused company, to make procurement of medical diagnostic and healthcare products in Nigeria easier for practitioners. ISN Medical is a leading supplier of medical diagnostic products and services in Nigeria, with over 40 years of operations. Stanbic IBTC Bank, a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, as part of its efforts to further strengthen the system and give Nigerians access to quality and affordable healthcare, has created N1.5 billion interest-free loans to clinics, medical laboratories, diagnostic centres, and other healthcare providers for the procurement of medical diagnostic

By Modupe Gbadeyanka No fewer than 60,000 jobs would be created across Nigeria and West Africa by WACOT Rice Limited through its partnership with the USAID on the rice outgrower expansion project. “The core objective of establishing WACOT in Argungu and the launching of this partnership today is to create a catalyst for investment and provide grants to more farmers,” the Deputy Chief of Party for USAID’s West Africa Trade and Investment Hub (WATIH) project, Mr Karl LittleJohn. “We want to show that we can create jobs. And we want to also increase trade investment with our partners across West

By Dipo Olowookere The treasury bills market remained bearish this week with average yield increasing by 81 basis point to 17.92 percent. This was despite the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) auctioning N133.79 billion bills via the primary markets during the week. Business Post reports that the central bank sold 91-day bills worth N32.40 billion at 13.1 percent (against 13.25 percent), 182-day bills worth N35.00 billion at 15.3 percent (against 15.50 percent), and 364-day bills worth N66.39 billion at 15.59 percent (against 15.73 percent). Also at the market, there was maturities for T-bills and Open Market Operations (OMO) totalling N174.33

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Two new stores of Eat’N’Go Limited, a leading franchisee for world-class food brands, Domino’s Pizza, Cold Stone Creamery, and Pinkberry Gourmet Frozen Yoghurt, have been opened in Kano. The opening of the new outlets in Kano is in line with the expansion drive of the company in order to extend its product and service delivery to several parts of Nigeria. At the unveiling of the new stores on Wednesday, March 31, 2021, the Governor of Kano State, Mr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who was represented by his aide on Rural Development, Mr Ibrahim Gaya, described the development as