17 February

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How Nigeria can benefit from Okonjo-Iweala-led WTO – LCCI

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has highlighted steps Nigeria needs to take in order to fully take advantage of the opportunities offered by the World Trade Organisation under the leadership of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. The LCCI, in a statement on Monday, felicitated with Nigeria on the appointment of Okonjo-Iweala as the Director-General of WTO. The Director-General, LCCI, Dr Muda Yusuf, said, “While the emergence of Dr Okonjo-Iweala as the new WTO Director-General is very gratifying and calls for celebration, there is a need to manage expectations around the outcomes for the Nigerian economy, given the numerous productivity and competitiveness issues...

09 December

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Investors find solace in fixed income as bond market surpasses equity’s by N187bn

Posted by tolulope

in Uncategorized

The fixed income market continues to attract interest from investors who are not satisfied with the returns on investments from the equity market. Market sentiment in the equity market indicates that barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Nigeria’s equity market will close in the negative territory by year end. This is because when transactions ended last week Friday, the overall market performance was -14.6 percent year to date. The declining tempo in the equity market has morphed into a gain for players in the fixed income market. This manifested in the rising value of the market capitalisation of the listed fixed income...

09 December

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FG TO INTRODUCE NEW VISA REGIME TO BOOST ECONOMY.

Posted by tolulope

in Uncategorized

The Comptroller General (CGI) of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) Mr Muhammad Babandede says the Federal Government plans to introduce a new visa regime to boost the economy. Babandede said this at the 2019 dinner and award night organised by the service in Abuja.He added that the new visa regime will be unveiled by the Minister of Interior Mr Rauf Aregbesola before the end of 2019. He said that the regime would put Nigeria in line with global practice adding that the system would be transparent and that security would not be compromised. “The e-visa policy will encourage investors to Nigeria thereby generating Foreign...

21 November

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NNPC To Automate Downstream Facilities.

Posted by tolulope

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is poised to automate its downstream facilities such as depots, pump stations and measurement systems across the country, NNPC’s Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari, has said. Kyari stated this during a tour of the products’ loading facility and lubricants manufacturing plant of MRS Oil Nigeria Plc. He said the move would align with the corporation’s commitment to accountability, transparency and efficiency in the subsector. Kyari said the visit was a follow-up to the recently inaugurated Operation White initiative, which aimed at taking stock of every drop of white product in every NNPC location nationwide, particularly Premium Motor...

21 November

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2020 budget contains N150bn wasteful expenditure.

Posted by tolulope

in Uncategorized

The Centre for Social Justice on Wednesday faulted the 2020 budget presented by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly, stating that the fiscal document contained about N150.07bn expenditures that are “frivolous, inappropriate, unclear and wasteful.” The group stated this in a report made available to our correspondent by its Lead Director, Eze Onyekpere. The report analysed the 2020 budget of about N10.33tn which is currently before the National Assembly. The group in the report called on lawmakers to critically review the fiscal document in order to remove all the expenditures that would not impact positively on the lives of the people. It recommended...

09 October

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Reps Proposes Health Bank bill.

Posted by tolulope

in Healthcare, Uncategorized

The Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Health Care and Services, Dr Samuel Adejare, has said that the committee is working on a bill for the establishment of a health bank, which will help to improve health care services in Nigeria. The lawmaker spoke in Abuja during a family planning programme jointly organised by the Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria, Development Research and Projects Centre, and Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health at Scale. The theme of the programme was, ‘Universal health coverage towards reducing maternal mortality: The role of child spacing and family planning.’ Giving...

08 October

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Nigeria’s leather industry generates $600m yearly.

Posted by tolulope

in Uncategorized

Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has disclosed that Nigeria’s leather industry generates between $600m to $800m in revenue for the country annually. He stated this yesterday at the “Validation of the Leather Policy Implementation Plan” organised by the ministry in Abuja. Onu, who was represented by the Minister of State for Science and Technology, Abdullahi Mohammed, said there was an urgent need to implement the National Leather and Leather Products Policy to boost leather production as a source of revenue for the country. “Leather has a global market size of about $20b traded annually and a lot of opportunities abound...

08 October

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Proposed VAT increase will impact more on urban communities, wealthier population.

Posted by tolulope

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Ahmed, who said this at the 25th Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja on Monday, explained that the proposed tax increase would not affect the poor masses as perceived by some people The proposed VAT increase is likely to impact more on consumption by the urban communities and the wealthier sections of the population than on the poor.’’ According to Ahmed, her ministry will coordinate its fiscal policies with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s current tight monetary policy stance to ensure that the appropriate out turns are achieved in terms of growth, consumption and inflation. She, however, said that Nigeria’s VAT contribution to...

01 July

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Insurance Sector Recorded N400bn Premium in 2018

Posted by Prince Joel Esq

in Uncategorized

The Nigerian insurance sector, in 2018, grew its total premium from N363 billion in 2017, to N400 billion in 2018. This represented a 10 per cent growth in the volume of business written by the industry operators. But it was below the decade old target of N1 trillion. Disclosing this at the 48th Annual General Meeting of the umbrella body of insurance underwriters, the Nigeria Insurers Association(NIA). Held in Lagos, President of the association, Mr Tope Smart, said during the year under review, the insurance industry contended with a lot of negative factors. He highlighted these to include poor operating environment which...

12 June

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Stock market extends losing streak to six days

Posted by Prince Joel Esq

in Financial Sector, Uncategorized

The nation’s stock market fell further on Monday, extending its losing streak to six consecutive trading sessions. The market opened the week lower as the All Share Index of the Nigerian Stock Exchange shed 0.4 per cent to close at 30,322.19 basis points while the year-to-date loss worsened to 3.5 per cent. The market capitalisation of equities listed on the NSE dropped to N13.354tn on Monday from N13.402tn on Friday. Twenty firms, led by Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc, recorded price losses on Monday while 15 firms gained at the close of trading, with Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc leading the pack. Analysts at...