Buhari Begs World Leaders for Debt Cancellation

By Adedapo Adesanya The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked the Senate to reject the planned N15 billion for the construction of the vice president’s residence new building contained in the FCT 2023 supplementary budget. The call was contained in a letter addressed to the Senate President, Mr Godswill Akpabio. In the letter, dated December 2 and signed by SERAP’s deputy director, Mr Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation urged Mr Akpabio to use his leadership position “to promptly reject the plan by the Minister of the FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike to spend N15 billion for the construction of a

By Adedapo Adesanya  The Vice President,  Mr Kashim Shettima,  has said the private sector forms an integral half of the crucial foundation that holds the Nigerian government, noting that President Bola Tinubu is committed to creating an environment that fosters entrepreneurship and innovation. This, according to him, explains why the president’s vision for Nigeria is grounded in eight priority areas, including poverty eradication, economic growth, job creation, and equitable access to capital. The Vice President spoke on Thursday while commissioning some projects, including the Ijele 93.1 FM Radio Station, Phase Two of the Sir Emeka Offor Foundation (SEOF) Touch-a-Life Housing

By Adedapo Adesanya A three-member panel of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice has ordered the Government of the Republic of Benin to pay Mr Sunday Adeyemo, popularly called Igboho, 20 million CFA for unlawful detention. The court ordered that the money should be paid within three months. Igboho had on February 10, applied to the court challenging his arrest and detention in the French-speaking country. The ECOWAS court also directed the country to comply with its order and revert to the court with evidence of payment. Igboho was arrested alongside his wife, Ropo, in

By Adedapo Adesanya  PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) Nigeria has commended the country’s move towards fixing its copious electricity challenges with the Electricity Act 2023 and proposed key amendments that will ensure the issues are faced head-on, At the 14th edition of its Annual Power and Utilities Roundtable, with the theme The Electricity Act 2023: Powering Nigeria, the Partner and Energy, Utilities and Resources Leader at PwC Nigeria, Mr Pedro Omontuemhen, noted that, “The 2023 power roundtable’s timing coincides with the ongoing COP 28 in Dubai, highlighting the urgent need for continued action on climate change especially in the area of renewable energy.”

By Kester Kenn Klomegah In this interview with Alisa Andreevna Prokhorova, the Managing Director for International Activities and Interaction with Business Councils and Group of companies of the Russian Export Center, not only discussed at length but also offers in-depth information with statistics about Russia’s trade with Africa. The first Russia–Africa Summit has ultimately set the grounds for raising trade collaboration across various areas and work towards a new dynamism in the existing economic cooperation with African countries. In an emailed discussion with Kester Kenn Klomegah in May 2021, Prokhorova unreservedly stressed that as the African continent undergoes positive transformation,

By Modupe Gbadeyanka For the second year in a row, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has emerged winner of the Employer of Choice Award 2016 in the ‘U​nder 1,000 Employees’ category. In addition, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NSE, Mr Oscar Onyema, was named the 2016 HR Champion of the year for demonstrating outstanding leadership through sound and laudable people management practices. He emerged winner ahead of CEOs of United Capital Plc and Unilever Nigeria Plc. The awards were presented by the HR People Magazine at an award ceremony held at the Oriental Hotel in Lagos. The HR People

By Investors Hub The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a mixed opening on Monday following the pullback seen by the major averages last week. A steep drop by shares of Boeing (BA) is likely to weigh on the Dow, as the aerospace giant is plunging by more than 10 percent in pre-market trading. Boeing is under pressure following the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, which is the second crash in five months involving the company?s 737 Max 8 model. Meanwhile, the broader Nasdaq and S&P 500 may move to the upside following the release of a report

By Dipo Olowookere Foremost airline in Nigeria, Arik Air, has been taken over by the Federal Government through the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON). The takeover was announced by the government on Thursday following crisis rocking the company. Last December, some aggrieved workers shutdown the company due to its inability to pay them for months. Speaking on the takeover today, AMCON explained that the move is to instil sanity in the country’s aviation sector and prevent a major catastrophe. Spokesman of the agency, Mr Jude Nwauzor said, “The development will afford Arik Airlines, which is the largest local carrier

By Wildu du Plessis As African businesses begin to recover and build the necessary resilience to successfully navigate COVID-19 disruption, a focus on Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) strategies is proving essential for long-term success. In order to stay competitive, organisations based in Africa are engaging meaningfully with ESG to build robust sustainability strategies that comply with global and local mandatory and voluntary ESG standards and codes, and which fit in with their overall strategic priorities. The definition of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) encompasses a broad range of issues across the spectrum of Environmental (climate change, biodiversity, waste, water

By Adedapo Adesanya The value of the Naira against the United States Dollar at the black market has further strengthened to N508/$1, Business Post reports. Last week, the local currency significantly depreciated to N525/$1 at the segment of the foreign exchange (FX) market after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) banned the sale of forex to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators. The apex bank also said it was no longer issuing new licences to BDCs because their activities were killing the economy. Instead, it said the weekly FX sales would be channelled to commercial banks, which will now sell forex

By Dipo Olowookere One of the financial institutions in the country, Heritage Bank Plc, has partnered with the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) to launch the Nigeria Travel Practitioners Identification Card (NTPIC). Head of Corporate Communications of Heritage Bank, Mr Fela Ibidapo, said the bank partnered with the travel agencies in a bid to help to sensitize and sanitise the industry. He said in an industry with unconfirmed member list of about 60,000, they felt they could help to create a platform that would enable them to provide better services to their clients in a bid to separate

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) have agreed to harmonise conflictive areas in the Code of Corporate Governance for the Telecom Industry and the National Code of Corporate Governance. The NCC and FRCN also agreed to institute processes to achieve seamless implementation of the two codes with respect to enforcement, monitoring, stakeholder enlightenment, and unforeseen exigencies that may arise in the course of time. NCC’s Executive Commissioner in charge of Stakeholder Management, Mr Sunday Dare, who represented NCC’s Chief Executive, Prof. Umar Danbatta, at the meeting held at NCC Head Office, stated that