By Adedapo Adesanya

The Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has called on the federal government to put social safety nets in place for poor Nigerians to cushion the effects of President Bola Tinubu’s economic reforms.

Mrs Okonjo-Iweala stated this on Thursday after a meeting with the president at the Aso Villa in Abuja.

She commended him for his economic reforms, including petrol subsidy removal and the unification of the foreign exchange windows, but pleaded that his government must put social safety nets in place for poor Nigerians to cope with the economic hardship occasioned by these reforms.

“We think that the President and his team has worked hard to stabilised the economy. You cannot really improve an economy unless it is stable. So, he has to be given the credit for the stability of the economy. The reforms have been in the right direction.

“What is needed next is growth; we now need to grow the economy and we need to put in social safety nets so that people who are feeling the pinch of the reforms can also have some supports to weather the hardship. That’s the next step,” the former Nigeria’s Finance Minister stated.

The Nigerian president’s meeting with Mrs Okonjo-Iweala took place two weeks before the expiration of her first term as WTO Director-General on August 31, 2025, and the commencement of her second term on September 1, 2025.

She made history in 2021 as the first African and first woman to lead the 164-nation-member WTO.

The WTO chief, accompanied by Minister of Trade, Industry, and Investment, Ms Jumoke Oduwole, also briefed the president on the progress made on the Women’s Exporters’ Fund for the digital economy.

“We came to brief him about something very joyful that we did today with the help of the first lady.

“We launched a Women’s Exporters’ Fund for the digital economy. This is a fund that is jointly managed by the World Trade Organisation and the International Trade Centre and supports women to weather the storms of the economy and create jobs for themselves.

“It is part of the thinking of the social safety net and what we can do to support Nigerian women to contribute more to the economy and themselves.

“Nigeria competed and one one of four countries that won globally to be part of this initiative.

“We have 67,000 Nigerian women who applied for this, and 146 of them won, and they are going to have money disbursed directly to them.

“16 of them won what we called the Booster Track; those who already have businesses, but their businesses would be scaled up. They would receive technical and business support from the WTO and the ITC for 18 months.

“Another 100 would get $5,000 each to start and strengthen their businesses, with 12-month reforms,” she said.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has announced the completion of an upgrade to its diaspora enrolment platform.

A statement by the commission said the upgrade was to improve service delivery and enhance the management of National Identification Number (NIN) registration for Nigerians abroad.

The agency said the upgrade will deliver a more seamless, secure, robust, and efficient process for NIN enrolment in the diaspora.

As part of the initiative, NIMC Diaspora Front-End Partners (FEPs) have been onboarded to the new system and given intensive training to ensure effective application and management of the platform.

According to NIMC, all Diaspora FEPs are required to obtain and activate their enrolment licences on the upgraded platform within the next 48 hours, while Nigerians abroad can access services from compliant partners.

Head of Corporate Communications at NIMC, Mr Kayode Adegoke, apologised for any inconvenience caused during the upgrade process, adding that the commission has set up a dedicated service team to address issues related to diaspora enrolment.

“The commission apologises for any inconvenience the platform upgrade process might have caused and has set up a dedicated service team to resolve all issues related to diaspora enrolment. Diaspora applicants experiencing issues with NIN enrolment should please reach the commission via nimccustomercare@nimc.gov.ng for timely resolution,” he said.

Mr Adegoke also urged Nigerians who have completed their NIN registration to download the NIMC NINAuth App from the iOS or Google Play Store to verify their NINs instantly, approve access to their information, control their data, and enjoy seamless authentication services.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian government may issue bonds and other instruments for the payment of N4 trillion owed players inn the electricity sector to help stabilise the nation’s ailing power industry and improve supply.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, on Wednesday confirmed the presentation of a proposal to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for the clearance of the N4 trillion debt owed to power generation companies (GenCos).

Mr Edun told State House reporters after the FEC meeting that he presented a memo on refinancing outstanding obligations in the electricity industry.

“I presented a memo on the all-important refinancing of the electricity sector’s outstanding obligations totalling N4 trillion,” he said, adding that, “Though the financing plan was not fully approved immediately, we have moved into implementation, led by the Debt Management Office and other experts.”

The debt, primarily owed to 27 power generation companies for outstanding invoices between 2015 and 2023, has stifled investment in the industry and exacerbated chronic power outages in Africa’s most populous nation.

He said the refinancing would be executed within three to four weeks under the oversight of the debt management office.

“It is now fully approved, and we move to implementation,” Mr Edun said.

In April, the GenCos warned that the unpaid N4 trillion debt owed by the federal government and stakeholders for electricity generated threatens their operations. A breakdown of the debt includes N2 trillion for 2024 and N1.9 trillion in legacy debts.

Back then, the Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu said the federal government may borrow to settle GenCos, adding that the federal government plans to pay them N2 trillion of the N4 trillion debts owed to them between now and the end of 2025.

He said he was already discussing with the Minister of Finance, to settle the debt with budgetary allocation or guaranteed debt instruments as promissory notes.

He explained that the promissory notes would be formidable enough for them to tender at the banks for immediate cash needs.

The Minister said, “And I can tell you that between now and the end of the year, we are going to pay close to N2 trillion out of this N4 trillion.

“I have had discussions with the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, who has promised that they working on the promissory note and once we have budget releases, cash payments will also be made.”