Nigeria's External Reserves Now $44.14 bln, Raises Hope Of A Stronger Naira

Hope that Nigerian naira may strengthen further in the coming days rises on Friday as the country's external reserves rose to $44.14 billion, the highest since September 28, data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed on Friday.The forex reserves of Africa’s biggest economy were at $44.30 billion on September 28, last year.The reserves also increased by 4.27 percent month-on-month as the nation forex buffer stood at $42.33 billion on February...

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Tinubu to FG: increased VAT will put pressure on Nigerians

The Nigerian government has been counseled to suspend its proposal to increase the Value Added Tax (VAT) because of its adverse impact on the ordinary Nigerians. Bola Tinubu, former Lagos governor and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) said the planned increase in VAT will put a further burden on the Nigerians, especially the masses. Speaking at a function to mark his birthday, Tinubu also urged policymakers and officials...

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Nigeria To Set Up $20 Bln Infrastructure Bond To Fund Critical Projects ~ Trade Minister

Nigeria is proposing to borrow about $20 billion to improve its dilapidated infrastructure over the next decade, trade and investment minister said in a move that will see the West African country introducing infrastructure bond this year.“Our target is that we’d like to see infrastructure spending increase to the $10- to $20-billion range over the next 5 to 10 years because we think that’s the level of our need,” Okechukwu Enelamah, the minister...

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Nigeria Issues 122 Bln Naira Bond At Lower Yield After CBN Slashes Interest Rate

Nigeria sold 121.95 billion naira in sovereign bond on Wednesday to investors at lower rate at an auction day after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cut interest rate to stimulate growth, the Debt Management Office (DMO) data showed on Thursday.On Tuesday the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate for the first time in four years by 50 basis points to 13.5 percent to try to stimulate growth.Though investors were willing to buy 241.07 billion...

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Nigeria Facing Challenges In Generating Enough Income To Fund Budget

Nigeria is facing challenges in generating enough revenue to finance its 2018 budget in the face of poor non-oil performance, minister of finance has said. According to Zainab Ahmed, the government has put in place strategies on how to finance the 2019 budget of 8.83 trillion naira with mixture of debt from domestic and foreign sources. Ahmed, who appeared before the National Assembly committee on finance to defend his ministry's budget...

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Nigerian bond yields drop after surprise central bank rate cut

Yield on Nigerian bond fell slightly on Wednesday, a day after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in a surprise move announced an interest rate cut aimed at stimulating growth in Africa’s biggest economy, traders said.The CBN cut its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 13.5 percent on Tuesday, its first reduction in four years. The rate has been held at 14 percent since July 2016 to support the naira and curb inflation.Bond yields...

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NNPC Assures Of Commitment To Gas Development

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said it is committed to support any project that would encourage production and utilization of natural gas for the benefit of the country, its chief executive has said. Maikanti Baru said the signing of the agreement on the Train 7 of the LNG project had a lot of potentials that would benefit the nation. He called on the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to ensure...

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APC Endureses Lawan, Gbajabiamila Senate President, House Of Rep Speaker, PDP, Others Kick

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) may have settled for the choice of Senate Leder, Ahmad Lawan as the next Senate president, but this decision may not go down well with others contending for the same position.Sources said there already bickering within the ruling party over the choice made by the party leadership in consultation with the president.Former Senate Majority Leader Muhammed Ali Ndume has openly criticised the endorsement of...

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Nigerian Mogul Elumelu Targets $2.5 Billion Power Build-Out

Tony Elumelu, one of Nigerian business mogul is planning a huge investment of around $2.5 billion to boost power supply in Africa's biggest economy through one of his investment channels. Elumelu, who is the chairman of United Bank for Africa (UBA) operating in over 21 African countries plans to invest the amount through Transcorp -Transnational Corporation of Nigeria, a conglomerate with interest in oil and gas, hospitality, property and trading. His...

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CBN In A Surprise Move Cut Interest Rate to 13.5 Pct

In a surprise move on Tuesday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) slashed its monetary policy rate to 13.5 percent from 14 percent as part of measures to stimulate the economy and boost production. The move is the first rate cut since November 2015. The CBN has consistently retained its MPR at 14 percent since July 2016 to support the naira and curb inflation. Announcing the rate cut in Abuja after a 2-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting,...

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Osun Election Tribunal Declares PDP Winner, Annuls APC victory

The Osun State Governorship Election Pet‎ition Tribunal sitting in Abuja has declared as winner Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the last year’s governorship election in the state, Ademola Adeleke.It held that the All Progressives Congress and its candidate, Gboyega Oyetola was not validly returned.It held that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Gboyega Oyetola was not validly return...

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Foreign Investors Remain dominant Players In Nigerian Equity Market~ Report

In spite of the slow growth in the domestic economy, foreign portfolio investors (FPI) continued to find investment in the local equity market attractive, according to the latest report by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), even though investment flow from FPI has fallen short of the peak in 2014. The NSE’s Domestic & Foreign Portfolio Investment Report released on Friday showed that total transactions on the local bourse increased by 54.06...

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Why Nigeria Needs To Improve Business Environment, Attracts More FDI ~FSDH

The Nigerian economy remains vulnerable to shocks in the oil and gas sector as the sector continues to dominate the main source of foreign currency inflow to the country, Analysts at FSDH merchant banking group have said.In its commentary on the latest balance of payment report released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), FSDH said the weak balance of payment position of the country in the last quarter of last year buttresses the urgent need...

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NNPC Starts Rehabilitation Of Port Harcourt Refineries

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said it has commenced the revamping of the two refineries in Port Harcourt in its bid to ensure local sufficiency in refined petroleum products. In a statement by the corporation's spokesman, Ndu Ughamadu, the rehabilitation of the refineries is coming 19 years after the last Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) exercise of the nation’s premier refining plant.   He said the NNPC is embarking...

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Foreign Investor's Confidence In Economy Boost Naira Value, Says CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has attributed the stability in the foreign exchange market to the sustained foreign investors' confidence in the West African country's economy.Godwin Emefiele, who spoke at a conference in Lagos on Thursday said the country has been able to attract over $35 billion in foreign investment since the regulatory bank introduced the Investor's and Exporter's foreign exchange window in 2017.“As a result, exchange rate...

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Nigeria's central bank sees 3 pct GDP growth in 2019

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has projected the economy to grow at the rate of 3 percent this year, up from 1.9 percent last year, the regulatory bank Governor has said on Thursday. Godwin Emefiele said he sees economic activities picking up this year. Emefiele said the bank would maintain its tight monetary stance in 2019, and sees inflation at 11.31 percent in February and rising to 12 percent this year before moderating.The governor, who...

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Captain Of ill-Fated Ethiopian Airline 737 Max 8 Plane Untrained

The captain of a doomed Ethiopian Airlines flight did not practice on a new simulator for the Boeing 737 MAX 8 before he died in a crash with 157 others, a pilot colleague said.Yared Getachew, 29, was due for refresher training at the end of March, his colleague told Reuters, two months after Ethiopian Airlines had received one of the first such simulators being distributed.The March 10 disaster, following another MAX 8 crash in Indonesia in October,...

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Call rates may rise as telcos mull tariff review

Major telecommunications operators are mulling tariff hike for calls in selected states in Nigeria due to what is described as hostile operating environment.The new tariff being proposed is expected to reflect the cost of doing business in the affected states.A report in Punch newspaper showed that this move became necessary in view of the multiple taxes and levies imposed by government agencies in certain states on telecoms infrastructure.A...

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Nigeria to sell stakes in joint oil assets to boost coffers

Nigeria plans to cut its stake in joint oil ventures with multinational oil companies to 40 percent this year, its budget minister said, as the country seeks to boost revenue to grow an economy recovering from recession.Oil companies including Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron and ExxonMobil, operate in Nigeria through joint ventures with the state-owned NNPC.NNPC owns 55 percent stake in its joint venture with Shell and 60 percent stakes with others.The...

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Nigeria To Raise 100 bln Naira in 5-, 7-, 10-Year Bond Next week

Nigeria's debt office plans to issue 100 billion naira worth of sovereign bond next week Wednesday in furtherance of measures to fund this year's budget deficit. The Debt Management Office (DMO) will issue 40 billion naira each in 7-year and 5-year bond, while it will sell 20 billion naira worth in 10-year paper All the debt notes are reopening of the previously issued paper y the debt office. Nigeria local debt notes are backed...

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Nigeria needs to reduce tax compliance costs – PwC

An audit consultancy firm, PwC Nigeria has said the deployment of technology will help Nigeria to reduce tax compliance costs in order to encourage more people to pay taxes.Taiwo Oyedele, Head of Tax, PwC Nigeria said the government should simplify the process of tax collections through the use of technology. “Nigeria doesn’t rank very well on the ease of paying taxes. Nigeria’s tax revenue to GDP ratio is one of the lowest in the world, yet...

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Dangote's Reopens Tomato Plant After 2-year In Limbo

Dangote Firms, wholly owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote has resumed production at its Tomato Paste factory in Kano, two years after the plant was shut down over a supply disruption partly caused by a price dispute with farmers.The factory, with a capacity for 1,200 metric tons of tomato paste daily and targeted at meeting domestic demand, restarted production last week processing about 100 tons a day. The Factory is expected to...

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Nigeria Seeks Concessionary Loan To Fund Budget deficit, May Shun Eurobond

Nigeria may shun issuance of new debt through Eurobond this year and focus more on seeking accommodation from multilateral institutions for concessionary facilities as the biggest economy in Africa seeks to cut back on interest rate payment on debt. The West African country's Eurobonds have emerged the best performing in emerging markets this year, however, rising yield in the International Capital Market (ICM) my push Nigeria to prioritise borrowing...

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NNPC issues 2019-2020 crude-for-product tender

Nigeria’s state-oil firm Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has issued its 2019-2020 crude-for-product swap tender, the oil company said on Wednesday.The Direct Sale Direct Purchase (DSDP) tender document did not specify the start date or the quantities involved but said the arrangement would be for one year.The tender is set to close on May 2 at noon local time, NNPC said on its official Twitter account.Crude-for-product swap contracts...

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Nigerian Stock Exchange To Delist Diamond Bank Share After Merger With Access Bank Sails Through

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has placed on full suspension the shares of Diamond Bank after the lender obtained regulatory approval for its merger with Access Bank.The suspension, which takes effect from Wednesday, March 20, will enable the lender to determine shareholders that qualify for considerations in the scheme of merger between the two lenders.According to a notice by Diamond Bank, the last trading day on the shares of the bank was...

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Nigeria Refineries Operating Loss Hits 132.5 Bln Naira in 2018

Nigeria posted a total loss of 132.5 billion naira from the operation of its four refineries last year, the state-run oil firm Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said, accentuating the dilapidating state of the refining firms. Africa's biggest economy operates four refineries located in Port Harcourt, Kaduna, and Warri with a combined installed capacity of 445,000 barrels per day.     However, Nigeria continues...

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Nigerians Remain Happy Amidst Economic and Security Challenges

Nigerians have moved up on the World happiness index, ranking 91 by four steps from the previous ranking of 95. The index has shown that Nigerians are top on the list of happiest people living in the world today.Equally, NOIPolls latest Personal Wellbeing Index (PWBI) has proved that Nigerians remained happy even in the face of economic hardship and security challenges being faced daily.According to its latest PWBI Q4 2018, NOIPolls said there...

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Banks with more women on board better managed – Emefiele

The Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) has claimed that financial institutions with more women on their boards and in top management are generally better managed.Governor of the regulatory bank Godwin Emefiele, who spoke at the CBN celebration of the International Women’s Day, in Abuja, Tuesday, noted that banks with more women at the top had higher capital buffers.Quoting the reports of a 2018 International Monetary Fund (IMF), Emefiele said that narrowing...

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Nigeria External Reserves Hit $43.3 Bln By Mar 18, Highest Since Oct '18

Nigeria's external reserves rose to $43.31 billion by March 18, the highest since October last year, latest data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) shown on Tuesday.The forex reserves of Africa's biggest economy stood at $43.34 billion in October last year, but deep as low as $41 billion in the subsequent months before it started rising again.However, forex reserves fell by 3.86 percent year-on-year as the figure a year ago stood at $45.05...

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Senate approves N30,000 minimum wage

The Nigerian Senate has approved the sum of 30,000 naira as the new national minimum wage, following the footsteps of the lower chamber of the National Assembly.This followed the submission of the report of the ad-hoc committee on new minimum wage headed by Senator Francis Alimikhena.The upper chamber asked the Federal Government to submit a supplementary budget to cover the new wage structure for consideration and approval.The new minimum wage...

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FG may increase VAT to pay new minimum wage – Budget minister

Nigeria is considering increasing the Value Added Tax (VAT) rate to enable it finance the proposed national minimum wage for workers, Udo Udoma, minister of budget and planning has said.Udoma, who spoke before a Senate committee on finance on Tuesday the VAT rate review is one of the options being considered by the government go forward.He also hinted that the government may soon bring before the parliament an executive bill seeking an amendment...

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Atiku Files Petition Against Buhari's Victory, Seeks Notification of Election

Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last month's election has filed a petition against the victory of President Mohammadu Buhari at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in furtherance of his claim that the election was marred by irregularities. Atiku and his party said they have assembled over 400 witnesses to testify against the Independent National Electoral Commission...

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Nigeria spends $500 Mln on palm oil importation yearly~ CBN

Nigeria's central bank on Monday said the country spent over $500 million every year on the importations of palm oil. Godwin Emefiele, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said this at a stakeholders’ meeting on the Palm Oil Value Chain held in Abuja.The meeting was attended by the Governors of Akwa Ibom, Edo and Abia. Also, the managers of Dangote Farms, Flour mills, United Food Industries and Dufil Frima Foods Plc, among others were at the...

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Nigerian Breweries Says Facing Trial Over Allegations Of Copyright Infringement

Nigerian Breweries has confirmed that it is currently in court defending a criminal case instituted against its former managing director and the company over a copyright issue concerning one of its brand.According to a statement sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) by the local unit of Heineken BV, Netherlands, its ex-chief executive and company were accused of infringing on copies of a book titled, “The Amstel Factor” by one Paul Oche.Reports...

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UBA 2018 Profit Grows 7 Pct, To Pay 0.65 Naira Dividends

Nigeria’s United Bank for Africa (UBA) gross earnings rose 7 percent to 494 billion naira at the end of last financial year compared with 461.6 billion naira posted in the previous year, the bank said in a statement to the local bourse.The bank’s directors are proposing a final dividend of 0.65 naira per share, having paid an interim 0.25 percent last year to shareholders. Shareholders would have received 0.85 naira per each share held at the end...

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AMCON Moves To Sack Non-Performing Consultants

 Nigeria's 'bad bank' may disengage some consultants employed to help in the recovery of its outstanding assets in a bid to weed out non-performing Asset Management Partners (AMPs) and ensure efficiency in its operations, its CEO has said. Ahmed Kuru, Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) chief executive said any AMPs that cannot cope with the speed and enormous challenges of debt recovery would be weeded out while performing...

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