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Tuesday, 17 October 2023 04:24

IMF asks Nigeria to apply for loan as FG set to get $1.5bn facility from World Bank

Nigeria’s cabinet approved plans by the government to seek a $1.5 billion loan from the World Bank, Finance Minister Wale Edun said. The funding will be concessionary and is expected to be secured by December, Edun told reporters in the capital, Abuja, on Monday. The West African nation will also seek $80 million of financing from the African Development Bank, he said. Nigeria is seeking funding as it implements a series of economic reforms to accelerate economic growth and support the more than 40% of its 200 million people who live in poverty. Over the past eight years, the nation’s…

Tuesday, 17 October 2023 04:24

Nigeria's inflation rate at highest in two decades amid cost-of-living crisis

Nigeria's annual inflation rose in September to its highest level in about two decades at 26.72%, amid a worsening cost-of-living crisis in Africa's largest economy. The September inflation rate rose for a ninth straight month from August's 25.8%, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday, with millions of Nigerians impoverished due to the impact of President Bola Tinubu's economic policies. Food inflation, making up the bulk of Nigeria's inflation basket, rose to 30.64% in September from 29.34% in August. Tinubu has been under pressure to ease economic hardship after scrapping a decades-old petrol subsidy that tripled prices and…

Monday, 16 October 2023 04:49

State govts are owing N790bn in pensions, gratuities. This is what your state is owing retired workers

At least 21 states of the federation owe retirees N790billion inherited pensions and gratuities. While Rivers State tops the list of states with a backlog of unpaid pensions and gratuities to the tune of N119 billion, Benue State comes second with N100 billion. Similarly, the Southwest zone ranks first with a whopping N256 billion, while the Niger Delta is closely following it with N225 billion. It was also learned that the pensions and gratuities were accumulated by successive governments in the states. Incumbent governments now grapple with liquidating their debts. Only Kaduna and Kebbi states are up to date in…

Monday, 16 October 2023 04:46

Tinubu’s appointment of 24-year old fresh graduate as FERMA chairman sparks outrage

The appointment of Imam Ibrahim Kashim Imam as board chairman of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) has continued to generate mixed reactions from Nigerians on social media. FERMA is the agency involved in road construction, improvement and connectivity between states. The mandate of this agency which is under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Work, is also to monitor and administer road maintenance with the objective of keeping all federal roads in good condition. On Friday, Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, announced that President Bola Tinubu had appointed the 24-year-old first-class graduate…

Sunday, 15 October 2023 04:54

FG asks World Bank for additional $400m to fund Tinubu’s promised cash transfer to poor households

Federal Government has approached the World Bank for a fresh loan of $400m for the conditional cash transfer to 15 million households as one of the measures to cushion the effects of petrol subsidy removal on Nigerians. The $400m will bring to $1.2bn the amount that the Federal Government is borrowing from the World Bank for the cash transfer as it had earlier secured a loan of $800m for the same purpose. President Bola Tinubu announced the conditional cash transfer to 15 million households in a nationwide address to commemorate the country’s independence on October 1 as part of measures…

Saturday, 14 October 2023 04:53

NNPC ends crude oil swap, pays cash for fuel imports

Nigerian state oil company NNPC has begun buying gasoline via cash tenders, rather than oil swaps, for the first time in nearly a decade, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The company's latest tender to buy gasoline for delivery in November closed this week, the sources said. Two of them added that NNPC would pay the last debts owed under the long-running oil swaps by the end of next month. NNPC did not immediately reply to a request for comment. "It is a positive thing," Cheta Nwanze, leader partner with Lagos-based SBM Intelligence, said of the move to…

Saturday, 14 October 2023 04:52

FG offered N150bn Sukuk bond for subscription. It got N652bn - DMO

Debt Management Office (DMO) says the country’s Sukuk instrument valued at N150 billion ended with a subscription level of over N652 billion. This is an oversubscription of 435 percent, the debt agency said in a statement on Friday.Earlier this month, DMO opened an offer for a 10-year N150 billion forward ijarah (lease) sukuk instrument at a rental rate of 15.75 percent per annum, payable half-yearly. The Sukuk is a strategic initiative that supports infrastructure development, promotes financial inclusion, and deepens the domestic securities market. DMO said the N150 billion offer had an overwhelming subscription. The agency added that N350 billion…

Saturday, 14 October 2023 04:51

Tinubu appoints Bayo Onanuga special adviser on information and strategy

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Bayo Onanuga as special adviser on information & strategy, and Delu Yakubu as senior special assistant on humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation. Ajuri Ngelale, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, issued a statement on the appointments on Friday. Ngelale said the appointments were part of efforts to “prioritize effective and efficient working synergy between the Presidency and Federal Ministries”. “Tinubu has approved the appointments of professionals who have prior working experience within the architecture of the Federal Ministries they will be coordinating with, in addition to duties that will…

Friday, 13 October 2023 04:52

Amid scarcity, CBN says importers of toothpicks, cosmetics, 41 other restricted items can now access FX at official rates

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it will boost liquidity in the foreign exchange (FX) market by intervening “from time to time”. The apex bank, in a statement issued on Thursday, said that as market liquidity improves, the interventions will “gradually decrease”. CBN also announced lifting of the ban on 43 items previously restricted from accessing forex. The decision comes amid high levels of volatility experienced in the FX market following the unification of all trading windows into the investors’ and exporters’ (I&E) window — the official FX market. On Wednesday, the naira fell to a new all-time low, trading…

Friday, 13 October 2023 04:51

Tinubu appoints new EFCC chairman

President Bola Tinubu has appointed Ola Olukoyede as the executive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Olukoyode’s appointment, pending confirmation by the senate, was announced on Thursday in a statement by Ajuri Ngelale, special adviser to the president on media and publicity. Olukoyede is not new to the agency. He served as the commission’s secretary between 2018 and 2023. He also served as chief of staff to Ibrahim Magu, ex-EFCC chair, between 2016 and 2018. LAWYER AND PASTOR Olukoyede was born on October 14, 1969 in Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti state. He attended Lagos State University, University of Lagos,…

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Friday, 13 October 2023 04:48

UK universities apply for FG’s permits to operate in Nigeria

Officials from the London Academy Business School and the University of Sunderland are currently seeking approval from the National Universities Commission to run degree programmes in Nigeria. A delegation from the University of Sunderland, led by Derek Watson, confirmed this after a meeting with the acting Executive Secretary of the NUC, Chris Maiyaki, in Abuja, according to a statement released on Thursday. According to the statement, Watson, an associate professor from the Faculty of Business Law and Tourism, was quoted to have said, “The meeting with the Executive Secretary was very productive, the University of Sunderland has over 30 years…

Thursday, 12 October 2023 04:48

Naira extends rout to new lows as foreign reserves, inflows dwindle

The Naira plunged to new lows on the parallel market, as dwindling reserves and dollar inflows have made it difficult for the Central Bank of Nigeria to fund corporate and individual demand for the greenback. The local currency weakened to 1,045 naira per dollar on Wednesday from 1,015 the previous day, according to Abubakar Mohammed, chief executive officer of Forward Marketing Bureau de Change Ltd., which compiles data on the informal market in Lagos, the commercial capital. The rate has diverged further from the official rate, which was cited at 765.8 a dollar on the FMDQ OTC trading platform. That…

Thursday, 12 October 2023 04:45

Niger govt orders top UN official to leave country

Niger's junta has demanded that the top United Nations official there leave the country within 72 hours over accusations that Niger was excluded from the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders in New York last month. Niger military officers ousted President Mohamed Bazoum in July, suspending the constitution, dissolving all former institutions and declaring General Abdourahamane Tiani as the West African country's new head of state. In a statement dated Oct. 10, Niger's foreign ministry accused the U.N. of using "underhanded manoeuvres" instigated by France to prevent its full participation in the high-level U.N. General Assembly meeting last month and…

Wednesday, 11 October 2023 04:52

IMF revises down Nigeria’s GDP growth projection for 2023

Nigeria’s growth forecast has been reduced from 3.3 percent to 2.9 percent in 2023 and 3.1 in 2024 respectively, with negative effects of high inflation on consumption taking hold. The cut is contained in the World Economic Outlook released at the Annual Meeting of the IMF/World in Marrakesh, Morocco on Tuesday. The growth forecast for 2023 is revised downward by 0.3 percentage points, reflecting weaker oil and gas production than expected, partially due to maintenance work. The World Bank had cut Nigeria’s 2022 growth forecast to 3.1% from a previous forecast of 3.8% in 2022. In its last Nigeria Development…

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