Category: Economy - Page 22 - African News Today

Present 2021 Budget before September, Senate tells Buhari

22Jul

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Economy, Legislature, News, Nigeria

Present 2021 Budget before September, Senate tells Buhari

The President of Nigeria’s Senate, Ahmed Lawan, has implored President Muhammadu Buhari to submit 2021 national budget before the end of September, 2020 to afford lawmakers ample time to deliberate on it. Lawan made this call while delegating the 2021-2023 Media Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper to the relevant committees of the Senate for necessary evaluation. The framework was submitted on Tuesday by President Buhari. He said that the September deadline would afford the National Assembly enough time to complete necessary works and pass the budget before the end of December. Lawan tasked the various committee members to duly involve al the revenue-generating committees to ensure proper job is done. Source: PunchNG

Borno State Governor, Zulum Lauds Igbo Traders, Pledges Financial Incentive

22Jul

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Economy, News, Nigeria

Borno State Governor, Zulum Lauds Igbo Traders, Pledges Financial Incentive

The executive governor of Borno State, Babagana Umara Zulum lauded car spare-parts’ traders who are mostly of Igbo extraction for their resilience and sustenance of business operation even in the face of insurgency which began in 2009. Zulum gave the compliment on Tuesday when he paid a visit to ‘Bola’, Maiduguri’s most famous automobile parts market. The governor had lately given the market a facelift by constructing roads to ease commuting to the market. Sulum assured the Igbo traders of his administration’s support through a soon to be introduced incentive to support their business and growth of the state. He said, “For the last one decade you have remained firm, and you have been with us all the time. Even, during the peak of the insurgency, even when our people are leaving t...

Banks in Nigeria to Restrict Debit Card Spending Abroad to Reduce FX Risk

20Jul

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Economy, Finance, News, Nigeria

Banks in Nigeria to Restrict Debit Card Spending Abroad to Reduce FX Risk

Banks in Nigeria are set to reduce the amount of money which customers abroad can spend using debit cards starting on Monday, as banks attempt to reduce foreign currency settlement risk. This was revealed by lenders. The quick fall in the price of crude oil which forms bulk of Nigeria’s export has caused dollar scarcity in the country forcing banks to make effort to evade transactions with hard currency. The local unit of South Africa’s Standard Bank in Nigeria, Standard IBTC Bank has revealed that from Monday, it will reduce to half the original spending limit for offshore card transactions to $500 per month, while withdrawals will be reduced to $100. Zenith Bank equally said the use of debit cards abroad for cash withdrawals will be temporarily be p...

Namibia’s Central Bank Governor, Gawaxab, Asks Country to Prepare for Impending Digital Revolution

18Jul

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

African Development, Economy, Finance, Namibia

Namibia’s Central Bank Governor, Gawaxab, Asks Country to Prepare for Impending Digital Revolution

Bank of Namibia (BoN) governor, Johannes Gawaxab has asked the country to get ready to deal with an impending digital revolution and utilize the technological innovation for greater good. Gawaxab made the statement on Thursday at the bank’s 30th anniversary celebration event, reflecting on its progress over the past years while anticipating continuous growth in the next 30 years and beyond. Gawaxab said BoN has been influential in ensuring long-term macroeconomic stability in the country over the past 30 years and has been able to deliver on its core mandate of implementing monetary policy, safeguarding stability, and promoting economic development in Namibia. According to Gawaxab, “On the monetary policy function, the role of the bank has been to set an interest rate path that en...

President Buhari Appoints Board of NLNG, Names Edmund Daukoru as Chairman

14Jul

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Economy, News, Nigeria

President Buhari Appoints Board of NLNG, Names Edmund Daukoru as Chairman

President Muhammadu Buhari has today, Tuesday 14 July, 2020 appointed the boards of Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) and Bonny Gas Transport Limited (BGT). It was made known in a statement by Timipre Sylva, Minister for Petroleum Resources. President Buhari appointed Edmund Daukoru as the NLNG board chairman. Other members of the NLNG board are Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Bitrus Nabasu, Henry lkem-Obih and Rabiu Sulaiman. The President equally named Daukoru as the President of the BGT Board. Members are of the BGT are Doyin Akinyanju, Abdul Abba as well as Kyari and Nabasu. Petroleum resources minister charged the appointees to serve as worthy ambassadors of the Buhari...

Kenya Plans Reintroduction of Betting Tax

3Jul

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Economy, Finance, Kenya, Lifestyle, News, Sports

Kenya Plans Reintroduction of Betting Tax

The government of Kenya has concluded plans to reintroduce taxation of betting companies within six months following a public outburst over cancellation of the 20 percent duty in the Finance Bill 2020. Ukur Yatani, Treasury Cabinet Secretary heaped blame on the Parliament, referencing lobbying of government for the removal of the taxes. Mr. Yarani said, “The players in the industry have been petitioning the government to reduce taxation in the industry,” “The removal of this tax happened during the committee stage of the bill…The National Treasury will be proposing to the National Assembly the re-introduction of the excise duty on betting within the next six months.” Kenya ceased taxing betting firms after a proposal on May15 by an unclear stakeholder group, identified only by ...

Domestic Flights Billed to Restart on July 8 in Nigeria as Country Relaxes Lockdown Measures

2Jul

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Covid-19, Economy, Employment, News, Nigeria, Transportation

Domestic Flights Billed to Restart on July 8 in Nigeria as Country Relaxes Lockdown Measures

The federal government of Nigeria has announced a July 8 resumption date for domestic flights in the country as it implements a further relaxation of the COVID-19 induced lockdown. The resumption of local flights comes at a time when the West African nation is experiencing daily spike in the number of confirmed cases of the virus. Authorities say airport in the capital city of Abuja and Lagos are scheduled to resume on July 8, Kano, Port Harcourt, Owerri and Maiduguri will restart on July 11 while others will start on July 15. Government officials said that no definite timeframe has been decided for international flights. The state said a date will be announced in due course. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced 790 new cases of COVID-19 bringing the total co...

Minibus Taxis in South Africa Embark on Strike Over Insufficient COVID-19 Relief Funds

22Jun

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Covid-19, Economy, News, South Africa, Transportation

Minibus Taxis in South Africa Embark on Strike Over Insufficient COVID-19 Relief Funds

Multitude of people were left stranded in South Africa due to strike action by minibus taxi drivers over what they termed inadequate corona virus relief funds. On Monday morning, taxi drivers in Johannesburg and capital city of Pretoria in the province of Gauteng barricaded roads and declined transporting workers. Local media report that police used rubber bullets to disperse protesting drivers in Pretoria. The nationwide lockdown which was imposed in March to curb the prevalence of COVID-19 have adversely affected the transport sector in South Africa thereby reducing the income of drivers. As the country continue to ease restrictions, many citizens who depend on minibus as means of transportation to work will need the buses once the economy returns to full operation. Restrictions...

CBN’s Targeted Credit Facility for Covid-19 – Fraud or Incompetence?

22Jun

By adminNo Comments

Corruption, Covid-19, Economy, Features, Finance, News, Nigeria

CBN’s Targeted Credit Facility for Covid-19 – Fraud or Incompetence?

When the CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) announced that it was going to be making about N50 billion available as loans to businesses in what it called the "Targeted Credit Facility for Covid-19", a lot of business owners saw it as a lifeline with which to revive their failed or failing businesses. It's no longer news that most businesses were hard hit by the lock down instituted by different governments as a result of the global pandemic. When the program was rolled out, it was introduced by Nirsal Micro Finance Bank, the bank that handles most of CBN's public loan programs, as "a stimulus package to support households and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) affected by the Covid-19 pandemic." Month's after this program supposedly kicked off, we are wondering how many Niger...

Nigerian Farmers to Get $1.1 Billion Loan Intervention from CBN

19Jun

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Agriculture, Covid-19, Economy, Finance, Nigeria

Nigerian Farmers to Get $1.1 Billion Loan Intervention from CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it plans to empower farmers with N432 billion ($1.1 billion) intervention loan to upscale food production during the planting season. The apex bank said through its Twitter handle on Thursday that about one million farmers will be given loan to cultivate more than one million hectares of land to ensure adequate food supply as the economic effects of covid-19 unravels. The West African nation has been pushing for more investment in the agricultural sector as a drift from reliance on crude, which accounts for estimated 90% of the countries revenues. The CBN projects increased production of cash crops such as cotton, rice, tomato, cassava, cocoa and maize for self-reliance cum revenue generation through export.