Nigeria seeks fair trade as Buhari signs AfCFTA

Nigeria became the 53rd country to join the African Continental Free Trade Area on Sunday after President Muhammadu Buhari signed the AfCFTA Agreement in Niamey, Niger Republic. The Republic of Benin also joined the group, bringing to 54, the total of African countries out of 55 that had endorsed the AfCFTA agreement. Only Eritrea is left out. Click here for more.

FG defaults on VAT waiver for domestic airlines

More than one year after the pronouncement for Value Added Tax to be removed from air transport, the Federal Government has failed to implement the order. Findings by our correspondent showed that domestic airlines still pay VAT, charged as five per cent on every flight ticket sold and remitted to the Federal Government. Click here for more.

Why fiscal policy support is needed now – FSDH

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may be reaching the limit of its monetary policy tools in stimulating the economy. This is especially so if the fiscal complements are not immediately activated, particularly, in ensuring security, facilitating the movement of agricultural produce and the seamless export of available stock of commodities. Click here for more.

NAICOM Insists on State Insurance Producer as Distribution Channels

In its determination to expand the scope of insurance distribution channels in Nigeria and deepen insurance penetration, the National Insurance Commission(NAICOM), has said that it will still make use of its recently withdrawn State Insurance Producer (SIP), to push insurance policy to all states of the federation. Click here for more.

Investors Lose N303.75bn WoW As NSEASI Dips By -2.32% To Close The Week Negative

Source Equities market closed today on a negative note, as NSEASI depreciated by 0.10% to close at 29,300.09 points as against 0.26% depreciation recorded previously. Its Year-to-Date (YTD) returns currently stands at -6.87%. Click here for more.

Airtel Africa Plc Listing On NSE Postponed

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (The Exchange or NSE) today announced that the planned Cross Border Secondary Listing of 3,758,151,504 ordinary shares of Airtel Africa Plc. (Company) has been postponed from the scheduled date of Friday, July 5, 2019. Click here for more.

Credit To Economy Falls By N720bn In May

Credit to the economy fell by N720 billion to N32.9 trillion in May reflecting the rationale behind the recent directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that banks should give out 60 percent of their deposits as loans. Click here for more.

Investors Inject $110m In 44 Nigerian Tech Start-Ups

Tech start-ups in Nigeria have raised $110.9m investment from local and foreign investors in the first half of the year, investigations have revealed. From the information gathered from equity and non-equity deals in the tech industry, over 30 Nigerian start-ups with pan-African operations attracted funds in more than 50 rounds denominated in naira and dollar to scale their businesses. Click here for more.

Investors eye opportunities in FG’s planned divestment of oil assets in JVs

Investors and stakeholders are excited by the Federal Government’s planned divestment of its stake in Joint Oil Ventures  (JV) with private oil firms. The major policy shift will see the government slash its equity in upstream operations significantly to possibly as low as forty percent; a decision private oil firms, particularly multinationals, are anxiously warming up to. Click here for more.

Total Nigeria Laments Proliferation Of Taxes, Declares N5.7bn Dividend

Total Nigeria Plc has berated the multiple taxes imposed on corporate entities by both the federal and local governments in the country, even as it declares N5.7 billion dividend for the financial year ended December 31, 2018. Click here for more.

Fed Faces Tougher Task In Deciding Whether To Cut U.S. Rates

U.S. employers are hiring workers, but that is only making the Federal Reserve’s job harder. On Friday, the Labor Department said nonfarm employers added 224,000 jobs last month – the most in five months, and not the kind of labor market that would normally cause the U.S. central bank to cut interest rates. Click here for more.