Dubai Raises Clean Energy Share to 4% of Installed Capacity

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh South Africa prepares to host the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) forum to review critical challenges and obstacles adversely impacting trade opportunities and economic cooperation between the United States and Africa. The United States first introduced the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in 2000. It is the 20th AGOA forum scheduled from November 2 to 4 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The AGOA Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum seeks to expand and deepen trade and investment relationships between the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa. It also encourages regional integration and further reaffirms Africa’s position as a

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has urged entrepreneurs in Nordic countries and Ireland to make Africa their business and investment destination. According to a statement, the call was made by the lender’s Chief Economist, Mr Kevin Chika Urama, on a spate of official visits to Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden between September 25 – 29. He said Africa’s population boom is projected to make it the world’s most populous region by the end of the century, with up to 3.4 billion people offering huge business and investment opportunities to the rest of the world. “With

By Precious Olisa The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has established a circular economy committee that will develop a national strategy for the efficient use of resources and reducing waste in the country. A statement disclosed that the team would focus on the circular economy principles of reducing, reusing and recycling materials to minimize environmental impact and save resources. The new circular economy committee comprises public and private sector members, who will promote investments in circularity and accelerate the adoption of circular economy practices. Last year, the UAE announced the UAE Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative, a national drive to

By Investors Hub The major US index futures are pointing to a roughly flat on Tuesday following the strength seen in the previous session. Traders may be reluctant to make any significant moves following the upward move on Monday, which lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs. Another light day on the U.S. economic front may also keep traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of reports on new and existing home sales and leading economic indicators in the coming days. Stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Monday following the mixed performance seen

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Some youths across Nigeria who have demonstrated courage and exemplary behaviours in various facets of life have been honoured by Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA). The group, in its 2021 recipients for the RYLA Prize of Honour, said those chosen were the most dynamic and go-ahead youths in Nigerian. It further said the list comprises those with crowbars for spines, intuitions that almost always hold up in the face of uncertainty and hearts ready to serve Nigeria and Nigerians with every ounce of strength. The RYLA Prize of Honour categories are Technology/Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Education, Fashion, Entertainment, Agriculture,

By Dipo Olowookere The board of Unilever Nigeria Plc has declared a dividend of N378 million for the year 2016 after shareholders of the firm approved this at its 92nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos on Thursday. Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr Nnaemeka Achebe, who doubles as the Obi of Onitsha, expressed satisfaction with performance of the firm last year. According to him, Unilever Nigeria Plc has again demonstrated business resilience under very difficult circumstances. “The company’s performance for the year ended December 31, 2016 shows sustained growth and resilience even under depressed economic conditions. “Although

By Adedapo Adesanya The House of Representatives has moved to investigate allegations that the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) is riddled with fraud and some irregularities. It was reported that these have led to the non-payment of salaries and allowances of federal civil servants. The Public Accounts Committee of the House said the move was necessary to sanitise the system. The committee, while engaging tertiary institutions and other agencies on their financial audit reports for 2018-2019 on Tuesday, December 1, said it was alarmed by the leakages and sharp practices observed in its earlier engagement with other agencies,

By Dipo Olowookere The rates of treasury bills crashed on Wednesday as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) carried out its first auction in 2018 at the primary market. This was mainly due to the fact that the exercise recorded oversubscriptions across all tenors on offer by the apex bank. Business Post gathered that the CBN had offered N161.6 billion worth of treasury bills to traders, but eventually received subscriptions worth N388.5 billion from investors. Much of the subscription was witnessed on the 364-day instrument, receiving a total of N319.19 billion from traders after the apex bank had offered to

By Dipo Olowookere The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday continued with its mopping up of excess liquidity in the financial system with the sale of treasury bills via Open Market Operations (OMO). During the OMO auction yesterday, the apex bank soaked a total of N371.6 billion, though not enough to offset the N443.8 billion maturing bills on Thursday. According to analysts at Zedcrest Research, expectations for a rate increase by the CBN at yesterday’s OMO auction saw spreads expand intraday, with bids touching 14.90 percent on the long-end. A less than expected increase in the OMO stop rates

By Dipo Olowookere Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Babatunde Fowler, has stressed the need for Nigeria to review its existing tax regime if the nation wishes to continue to boost its revenue and provide basic needs of citizens. Speaking on Monday in Lagos at a stakeholders’ meeting, the tax chief said taxation remains the best alternative option for government to generate revenues needed to provide for the people. Mr Fowler told participants that he is optimistic that Nigeria will further move forward through taxation. “It is clear that taxation is the most sustainable of all government

By Dipo Olowookere A Naira-dominated loan of N200 billion has secured by MTN from a consortium of 12 Nigerian banks to enable it expand its operations in the country. The 12 Nigerian lenders are Citibank, Diamond Bank, Ecobank, Fidelity Bank, First Bank, FCMB, Standard Chartered, Stanbic IBTC Bank, UBA, Union Bank, Rand Merchant Bank and FSDH Merchant Bank. According to a statement issued by the telecommunications company, the loan is to fund capital expenditure and working capital. The seven-year facility will enable MTN expand its voice network and data service, the company said in a statement. It said the naira-denominated