Emerging reports say Nigerians who consume alcoholic beverages and tobacco will from today (Monday) pay more for the products as the new excise duty rates approved by President Muhammadu Buhari in March come into effect. This was made known by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, on Sunday in Abuja.
NNPC Set To Enhance Operations
The Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it is fine tuning strategies to improve its position as a fully integrated national energy company. The Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru, disclosed this at this year’s NNPC First Quarter 2018 Top Management Steering Committee (Steerco) Meeting held at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
FG, Partners Chinese Institute On Massive Mineral Data Generation
Alhaji Abubakar Bwari, the Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, says the sector will soon embark on massive mineral data generation to bridge the information gap on minerals required by mining investors. Bwari announced this at the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on exploration with the East China Meteorological Institute of Geological and Exploration in Abuja.
NNPC Refute Rumour On N36b Royalty Payment To PH Refinery Hosts
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has dismissed rumours of an approved N36billion compensation said to be due to Alesa-Eleme community in Rivers State as royalty for playing host to the Port Harcourt Refining Company, a subsidiary of the corporation. The corporation’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, traced the origin of the phantom compensation story to a traditional ruler, regarded as a claimant to the Alesa-Eleme traditional stool.
Afreximbank Pledges $2bn Trade Financing Support To Angola
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has pledged to support Angola’s trade with 2 billion dollars. The Bank President, Dr Benedict Oramah, who made the pledge during an audience with President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço of Angola in Luanda said that the amount would include various trade financing facilities for essential imports.
CBN Boost Forex Market With $331M
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continued its intervention on the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market. The CBN on Friday with an injection of 331.41 million dollars to alleviate dollar shortages. The funds were allocated to companies in the agricultural, airline, petroleum and machinery sectors.
Over N650bn Remitted Into Consolidated Revenue Fund By Agencies In 2 Years – FRC
The Acting Chairman of Nigeria’s Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), Mr Victor Muruako, says more than N650 billion has so far been remitted as operating surplus into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) in the last two years. Muruako said it was part of the FRC’s mandate to ensure that scheduled corporations under the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) 2007, remit 80 percent of its operating surplus into the CRF.
VISA Apologises To Users Over System Failure
Visa payment systems crashed yesterday, causing chaos in Cambridge and across the UK. However, the payment network has said it’s systems are back up and running following yesterday’s crash. It also said the crash was not a result of “unauthorised access or malicious event”. But it apologised, saying it fell “well short” of its goal to "work reliably 24 hours a day".
American Aircraft Manufacturer Boeing Meets FG Over National Carrier
The globally renowned aircraft manufacturer, Boeing, has met with the Federal Government to discuss the setting up of a national carrier for Nigeria. Although the government did not disclose if it had chosen Boeing as its partner for setting up an airline for the country, it stated that the meeting with the aircraft manufacturer was in furtherance of its resolve to establish “a new carrier soon.”
Nigeria’s Economic Outlook Positive – Minister
The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, has restated that Nigeria’s economic outlook for 2018 and over the medium-term is very positive. He indicated that the government was rolling out initiatives, such as the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan focus labs, aimed at attracting sufficient private sector investments to ensure that the country would achieve the growth target of seven per cent by 2020.
Capital Market Executives Caution Retail Investors Over Macroeconomic Environment
The Nigerian Stock Exchange, public and private sector executives in the capital market have indicated the need for discretion in investment decisions especially by retail investors. The Cowry Asset Management Limited speaking against the backdrop of declining foreign investors’ interest in equities in the first quarter of 2018, Q1’18,