Tag: Economy - Page 8 - African News Today

Governor Ikpeazu Signs 2021 Appropriation Bill

30Dec

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Economy, Finance, Nigeria

Governor Ikpeazu Signs 2021 Appropriation Bill

Abia State Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, has signed the 2021 Appropriation Bill into law. The Bill which was passed by Abia State House of Assembly during the Tuesday plenary session of the House was presented to the Governor by the Clerk of the House, Sir John Pedro Irokansi in his Aba residence on Tuesday night where he endorsed the N131,852,752,000.00 (One Hundred and Thirty One Billion, Eight Hundred and Fifty Two Million, Seven Hundred and Fifty Two Thousand Naira Only) Budget made up of N69bn for capital expenditure and N62.8bn for recurrent expenditure. Earlier, Governor Ikpeazu presented the budget which he christened Budget of Local Contents and Sustainable Development to the state House of Assembly on the 7th of December, 2020. The budget, which is 21.12 per cent higher t...

CBN Predicts Further Depreciation of the Naira in January 2021

27Dec

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Economy, Finance, News, Nigeria, Trade

CBN Predicts Further Depreciation of the Naira in January 2021

The Central Bank of Nigeria has said that a survey conducted by its Statistics Department showed that the naira is projected to further depreciate in January next year. According to the report titled, ‘December 2020 Business Expectations Survey Report’, there might also be a steady rise in the interest rate from December till the next six months, Punch reports. Nigeria’s currency fell to its lowest on November 30, 2020, when it exchanged for N500/$1. Since then, the dollar has been lingering between N460 and N470. As of Friday, however, one dollar exchanged for N465 in the parallel market. Recall that the Nigerian economy fell into its second recession in five years on November 21, 2020. Reports say the recession is the worst in 36 years, according to the data obtained from the Wo...

Diaspora Remittances: CBN Threatens Sanctions Against Operators Paying Local Currency

17Dec

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Economy, News, Nigeria, Trade

Diaspora Remittances: CBN Threatens Sanctions Against Operators Paying Local Currency

The Central Bank of Nigeria has cautioned operators against paying recipients of diaspora remittances in the local currency rather than foreign currency. The apex bank threatened to strip violators of their operational licences if they failed to comply with its remittance guidelines. It disclosed this in a circular to International Money Transfer Operators and Payment Services on Wednesday signed by the director, trade and exchange department, and the director, payments system management department. According to the circular, all licensed institutions are required to comply with the guidelines on remittances as contraventions will attract stiff regulatory sanction including revocation of licence. The circular was titled, ‘Receipt of diaspora remittances: Additional operational ...

Poor Nigerians Expected to Reach 100 Million By 2022 – World Bank

11Dec

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Economy, Finance, News, Nigeria

Poor Nigerians Expected to Reach 100 Million By 2022 – World Bank

The World Bank has estimated that the number of poor Nigerians would rise from the current 90 million to about 100 million by 2022 due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The bank projects that about 11 million more Nigerians would plunge into poverty by 2022 due to the COVID-19 crisis. It equally pegged the financial portfolio approved by its board for Nigeria at about $11.5bn. This was disclosed during the bank’s Nigeria Development Update virtual event, themed, 'Rising to the challenge: Nigeria's COVID-19 response'. According to Punch, an economist with the bank, Marco Hernandez, during his presentation said that before the COVID-19 pandemic, about two million Nigerians were expected to fall into poverty in 2020 as population growth outpaced economic growth. ...

Namibian Economy Expected to Experience Historic Dip – Central Bank

7Dec

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Economy, Namibia, News

Namibian Economy Expected to Experience Historic Dip – Central Bank

The Bank of Namibia director of strategic communication, Emma Haiyambo has said that the Namibian economy is set to record the worse dip in recent history due to the ravaging effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. Haiyambo who disclosed this while releasing the latest economic projection for December on Monday said the domestic economy is expected to contract by 7.3 percent in 2020 and to recover by 2.6 percent and 3.2 percent in 2021 and 2022, respectively. She said, “The steep contraction in 2020 is driven by sharp declines in hotels and restaurants; mining; transport and storage; manufacturing; wholesale and retail trade and construction”. According to Haiyambo, the improved growth projected in 2021 is expected in the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries particularly uranium m...

Recession: FG Rolls Out Economic Recovery Plan

24Nov

By Obiajulu Joel Nwolu1 Comment

Economy, News, Nigeria

Recession: FG Rolls Out Economic Recovery Plan

The Federal Government has disclosed some of the actions being undertaken to help the country recover from its current economic recession. The measures were revealed by Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed during the 26th Nigerian Economic Summit. The minister said that Federal Government has taken due note of the current economic hardship and was taking decisive measures to ensure the country recovers and restore the economy on the path of sustainable development. She said “To achieve these the government developed a sustainability plan to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and is already implementing policies aimed at stabilising the economy. “These include taking action to stimulate the economy by preventing business collapse through ensuring liqu...

We Must Exit This Recession With Precision – Atiku

22Nov

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Economy, News, Nigeria

We Must Exit This Recession With Precision – Atiku

It is with a very heavy heart that I received the confirmation that for the second time in five years, Nigeria has entered into another recession. Heaviness of heart, because this could have been avoided had this administration taken heed to patriotic counsel given by myself and other well meaning Nigerians on cutting the cost of governance, saving for a rainy day, and avoiding profligate borrowing. Yes, the COVID19 pandemic has exacerbated an already bad situation, however, we could have avoided this fate by a disciplined and prudent management of our economy. Be that as it may, it serves no one’s purposes to quarrel after the fact. We must focus on solutions. Nigeria needs critical leadership to guide her back to the path of economic sustainability. We cannot afford hand wringin...

Opinion: 5 Reasons Why President Trump won’t Support Okonjo-Iweala as Next WTO Director General – Blessing Mene

31Oct

By adminNo Comments

Africa, China, Economy, Features, Finance, Nigeria, Trade, United States of America, Women Empowerment

Opinion: 5 Reasons Why President Trump won’t Support Okonjo-Iweala as Next WTO Director General – Blessing Mene

This is an opinion article by Blessing Mene. People who want Okonjo-Iweala to become the next WTO Director-General mostly are excited about the prospect of the first female & African to lead the WTO. But President Trump doesn't think that way, here are five secret reasons why President Trump won't support Okonjo-Iweala: 1. He thinks from the perspective of Nationalism and his biggest interest is to have a WTO leader who will stand up to China and other countries leveraging loopholes in the WTO to supposedly "take advantage" of America. Look at how Trump is reshaping to the US Supreme Court and Federal Courts. 2. President Trump's a radical conservative who is currently looking to end the influence of liberals and globalism. That's why he got elected in the first place. He doesn'...

COVID-19: Nigeria’s Economy too Fragile for Fresh Lockdown —Buhari

29Oct

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Covid-19, Economy, Finance, News, Nigeria, Safety

COVID-19: Nigeria’s Economy too Fragile for Fresh Lockdown —Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria’s economy is too fragile to enforce a fresh COVID-19 lockdown. He however, called on Nigerians to obey all protocols recommended by health authorities to curtail the spread of the lethal coronavirus. Buhari, who stated this on Thursday via his verified Twitter handle, said compliance with COVID-19 protocols by all Nigerians is crucial to avert a second wave of the pandemic in the country. “Looking at the trends in other countries, we must do all we can to avert a second wave of COVID-19 in Nigeria. “We must make sure that our cases, which have gone down, do not rise again. Our economy is too fragile to bear another round of lockdown,” @MBuhari tweeted. The President had in March imposed a total lockdown on parts of the country includin...

IMF Raises Concerns Over Effects of #EndSARS Protests on Nigeria’s Growth Projection

23Oct

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Cost of Living, Economy, Finance, News, Nigeria, Security

IMF Raises Concerns Over Effects of #EndSARS Protests on Nigeria’s Growth Projection

International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that the projected economic growth for Nigeria may not be realized on the strength of the #ENDSARS protest. The organization expressed serious concern over the state of the nation as the protests continue. While answering questions during the virtual IMF press conference on the regional economic outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa on Thursday, the IMF Director, African Department, Abebe Selassie, noted the importance for government to find an immediate solution to the protests. His words: “On the growth projections in Nigeria, I mean, these protests happened of course, after we had closed, after the period where the data we looked at in making the growth projections for this economic outlook. And much will depend really on how these protests...