Category: Economy - Page 29 - African News Today

Nigeria: Subsidy on Petrol Hits N1.4tn per Year, Says FG

6Apr

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Corruption, Economy, Nigeria

Nigeria: Subsidy on Petrol Hits N1.4tn per Year, Says FG

A total of N1.4tn is now being spent annually by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation as subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, the Federal Government has said. Although it described the amount as under-recovery, the government stated that the national oil firm had been shouldering the huge financial burden, because the NNPC is the country’s supplier of last resort when it comes to the provision of petroleum products. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, who disclosed this while speaking at a Liquefied Petroleum Gas workshop organised by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources in Abuja on Thursday, also stated that the ministry planned to unveil an infrastructure rebirth map for the oil and gas sector in two months. On March ...

Nigeria: Why I Spoke Directly to Nigerian Leaders – Bill Gates

27Mar

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Economy, Education, News, Nigeria

Nigeria: Why I Spoke Directly to Nigerian Leaders – Bill Gates

The Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mr. Bill Gates, again on Monday criticised the Federal Government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan. Gates, in an interview with the CNN, said that the Federal Government’s investment in education and health was not good enough. “While it may be easier to be polite, it’s more important to face facts so that you can make progress,” the philanthropist told a room of Nigeria’s government elite that included the President. In an exclusive television interview with the CNN, Gates said he spoke out to implore Nigerian politicians to focus on human capital and its large youth population. “The current quality and quantity of investment in this young generation in health and education just isn’t good enough. So, I was very direct,...

Nigeria: Ogbeh’s Claim on Rice False, Says Thailand Ambassador

8Mar

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Agriculture, Economy, News, Nigeria

Nigeria: Ogbeh’s Claim on Rice False, Says Thailand Ambassador

Ambassador of Thailand to Nigeria, Wattana Kunwongse, has denied the claim by Chief Audu Ogbeh, Minister of Agriculture, that rice mills are collapsing in the Asian country. On Friday, Ogbeh had claimed that Thailand said President Muhammadu Buhari’s policy on local rice sufficiency was responsible for the collapse of seven of its mills. He said: “Just like two weeks ago, the ambassador of Thailand came to my office and said to me that we have really dealt with them. “But I asked what did we do wrong and he said unemployment in Thailand was one of the lowest in the world, 1.2 per cent, it has gone up to four percent because seven giant rice mills have shut down because Nigeria’s import has fallen by 95 per cent on rice alone.” TheCable fact-checked the minister’s claims and fou...

Nigeria: Ikeja NBA Gives Lagos Seven-day Ultimatum to Reverse Land Use Charge

8Mar

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Economy, Nigeria

Nigeria: Ikeja NBA Gives Lagos Seven-day Ultimatum to Reverse Land Use Charge

The Nigerian Bar Association, Ikeja Branch, has given the Lagos State Government a seven-day ultimatum to reverse the recent hike in Land Use Charge. The Chairman, NBA Ikeja Branch, Mr. Adesina Ogunlana, said in a statement on Wednesday that the association was set to embark on a mass protest tagged: ‘Hell Tax Must Go’ against the new tax regime. Ogunlana stated that the NBA was strongly opposed to the LUC, which he described as an “excessive and arbitrary tax regime” calculated at turning Lagos State into a “toxic environment and a living hell” for the residents. He said the association would give Governor Akinwunmi Ambode till next Monday to retrace his steps on the LUC, failing which its members would hit the streets on Tuesday. According to him, the protest will be the asso...

Nigeria: Electricity Firms Drag FG to Court over N1 trn Debt

8Mar

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Economy, Nigeria

Nigeria: Electricity Firms Drag FG to Court over N1 trn Debt

Accuse FG of unfair practices, refusal to pay for power generated Allege favouritism towards 2 coys in gas supply The power crisis in the country may worsen as the Power Generation Companies in Nigeria, GENCOs, have dragged the Federal Government before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, over alleged preferential treatment to two of its competitors with intent to harm their business interests. The GENCOs, which said members were on the verge of collapse over debts in excess of N1 trillion currently generate 80 per cent of the power consumed in Nigeria. They accused the Federal Government of giving preferential treatment to Azura Power West Africa Limited and Accugas Limited to the detriment of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry and the power sector as a whole. In a...

Nigeria: Multi Choice, DSTV/GOTV to Shut Down

9Feb

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Africa, Economy, Nigeria, South Africa

Nigeria: Multi Choice, DSTV/GOTV to Shut Down

Nigerian authorities have notified the management of MultiChoice DSTV/GOTV that their operations in Nigeria will come to an end in 2019 as their license expires June next year. According to a letter to that effect (seen by Daily Times reporter) issued on Tuesday by the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation(NBC), the license issued to them in 2014 by NBC will not be renewed because it was not in line with Digital Switch Over (DSO) White Paper. If Multichoice DSTV/GOTV will ever operate in Nigeria again after expiration of its license, the only option left for them is to go to licensed Signal Distribution company, that is Pinnacle Communications Ltd or ITS. GOTV has been accused of being used as a conduit to siphon foreign exchange from Nigeria by its parent company, South African Multi...