President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday inaugurated the N50bn Sunti Golden Sugar Estate in Niger State Central Nigeria. The Nigerian government says it will continue to focus on natural endowments for the inclusive growth of the country. “This project is timely as Nigeria makes her journey out of recession and the economy continues to show considerable progress.

The Minister of Petroleum resources, Ibe Kachikwu on Wednesday clarified that the modular refineries being planned for the Niger Delta were not meant to address fuel scarcity. The Minister who stated this while briefing State House Correspondents after the Federal Executive Council meeting explained that the idea behind the establishment of the modular refineries was to provide jobs for those currently engaged in illegal refining in some communities in the region.

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde has urged countries to avoid being sucked into a global trade war in the wake of U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium, disagreeing with President Donald Trump’s views that such conflicts are easy to win.

In a blog post released Thursday, Lagarde She said: “Policy makers need to work constructively together to reduce trade barriers and resolve trade disagreements” without resorting to such tactics.

The Federal Executive Council presided over by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday approved the upward review of the contract sum for completion of Jare earth dam in Bakori Local Government Area of Katsina State from N3.7 billion to N9 billion.

Tiger Brands Ltd., the food company that’s been identified as a source of the biggest food poisoning outbreak in modern South African history, said it has almost completed a recall of its ready-to-eat meat products after an outbreak of a bacterial disease known as listeriosis.

The company has recovered about 3,700 tons of meat from across the country, about 90 percent of the expected total, and needs to complete the process by the end of the month, spokeswoman Nevashnee Naicker said by phone. The products will then be incinerated as the company moves to end the world’s biggest ever outbreak of the disease.

Nigeria's oil reserves have reportedly recorded a sharp decline to the tonne of 961.47 barrels in four years despite Plans by the federal government to increase crude oil reserves. Punch quoted a latest data obtained from the Department of Petroleum Resources as saying the nation's oil reserves fell from a high of 32.23 billion barrels in 2012 to 31.27 billion barrels in 2016 while the condensate reserves stood at 5.47 billion barrels from 4.91 billion barrels in 2012.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday approved that Nigeria should sign the framework agreement for the establishment of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in Kigali, Rwanda. AfCFTA is the first step in the implementation of AU Agenda 2063: The “Vision” for an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa.

Nigeria’s total national debt grew to 21.7 trillion naira ($70.92 billion) at the end of December 2017, the director-general of Nigeria’s Debt Management Office told a news briefing on Wednesday. It was 17.36 trillion naira at the end of 2016.

Nigeria’s first Eurobond will be repaid when it matures in July, said the head of the DMO, Patience Oniha. The national debt mix is about 30 percent foreign and 70 percent local after a $2.5 billion Eurobond sale in February, she said.

Earlier this month, Nigeria paid off about 130 billion naira worth of treasury bills maturing this week instead of rolling over the debt as it has done in the past.

Scania, in collaboration with the Brazilian bus and coach bodybuilder Marcopolo, will deliver 250 buses to the Nigerian city of Lagos. The buses will be delivered during the first half of 2018 and have been ordered by the company Transport Services Ltd (TSL), which will also be responsible for service and maintenance of the bus fleet.

The National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday said the country’s Consumer Price Index which measures inflation rose by 14.33 per cent (year-on-year) in February 2018.

The bureau in the report said the 14.33 per cent rate for February is 0.08 percentage points lower than the 15.3 per cent recorded in January.

The report said this is the thirteenth consecutive months since January 2017 that the country would be experiencing slowdown in inflation.