Businesses
Sustaining economic empowerment through financial inclusion, energy access
Financial inclusion and provision of sustainable energy is at a turning point in Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria. With a population of over 200 million, about 50 per cent of the total population live in rural areas, and only 39 per cent of those living in rural communities have access to electricity. This is in addition to over 40 per cent of the entire population who are financially excluded or underserved. However, the proliferation of digital financial services in Nigeria – powered largely by growth in fin-tech companies – has catalysed an unparalleled increase in the current number of people with access to formal financial services, while further opening up opportunities to address power supply challenges across rural communities; a major feat instrumental towards achieving the broad...
VP Osinbajo: Nigerian government democratising broadband connectivity
It’s the first in sub-Saharan Africa and one of the three such cutting-edge facilities on the continent, with top prime global certifications for smart card manufacturing and it is based in Lagos, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, relished yesterday afternoon while touring SecureID company’s premises, and affirmed Nigeria’s extremely bright economic future, which he said cannot be aborted despite current challenges. According to him, “the economic future of our nation is extremely bright. Yes, we have challenges today and they may look daunting. But let me assure you that these issues will be resolved. The march of this nation to its manifest destiny as Africa’s leading economic power will not be aborted. We are more than able to overcome.” An impressed Prof. Osinbajo said the Buhari Admi...
Edo to spend N3 billion on economic recovery programme
Edo state government will spend over N3 billion to implement the Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus Programme. The programme is a component of the Nigeria Cares World Bank Support Programme. The Permanent Secretary in the state Ministry of Wealth Creation, Cooperatives and Employment, Joel Edionwe, disclosed this while briefing journalists on Wednesday. He explained that the state government is to provide grants to support businesses affected during the Covid-19 lock-down. According to him, the total package the World Bank support programme for Nigeria is $750 million, adding that its implementation would run from 2021 to 2022. “What they will get from Edo state government is a grant to repay the loans they took for their businesses affected by the pandemic. We do not need to ...
CP Yaro: How I will end insecurity in Imo
The newly posted Imo state Commissioner of Police, Abutu Yaro, on Thursday, said that he would introduce visibility policing as well as reinvigorate community policing in the state to restore fully the security of lives and properties in Imo. Yaro started this to newsmen in Owerri, while taking over from Nasiru Mohammed, the outgoing commissioner of police. To achieve it, he said it would be a community participatory process where everybody will be involved. According to him, “Within the period the Imo State Police Command will be under my watch, we will do our best to revive our visibility policing. Visibility policing by way of ensuring that police asset and personnel are seen in the public domain and in ungoverned places because visibility policing has the potentials of reducing crimina...
May Day: President Buhari promises workers better packages
President Muhammadu Buhari has assured workers of better packages to cushion economic effects of COVID-19 on their resources. The President said his administration has put in place some socio-economic policies to alleviate poverty. Buhari said the Federal Government has expanded the Conditional Cash Transfer for the vulnerable poor from 2.6 million households to 7.6 million. He also noted COVID-19 Rapid Response Register has been expanded for urban poor to 4.8 million households, which included urban poor and working class. The President spoke during this year’s May Day celebration at the Eagle Square on Saturday in Abuja. This year’s celebration had as its theme: “COVID-19 pandemic, social and economic crisis: challenges for decent jobs, social protection and people’s welfare”. Buhari, wh...
Imo monarchs vow to invoke curses on perpetrators of violence
Traditional rulers in Imo State yesterday condemned the recent attack on the country home of the state Governor, Hope Uzodimma, at Omuma, calling on security agencies to carry out thorough investigations into what transpired and ensure that the culprits and their sponsors are brought to book. Rising from a critical meeting that lasted for few hours at their office in Owerri, the traditional rulers also threatened to invoke curses on those behind the insecurity ravaging the state should they refuse to change. In a communiqué issued at the end of their meeting, the Chairman of the traditional institution and Chairman of the Imo State Community Policing, Eze Emmanuel Okeke, said the royal fathers are of the opinion that the attack was politically motivated, and therefore warned politicians in...
US Senators urge Joe Biden to impose more sanctions on Myanmar junta
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Tuesday urged the Biden administration to slap more sanctions on the military junta in Myanmar, including choking revenues to a state energy company, in response to its coup and violent crackdown on protesters. Senators Jeff Merkley, a Democrat, and Marco Rubio, a Republican, and four others urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a letter to “explore new avenues to support the people of Burma in their ongoing struggle for democracy in the face of escalating crimes against humanity.” They want the Biden administration to stop royalties flowing from businesses including U.S. energy major Chevron to Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, or MOGE, an agency within the energy ministry, that provides financial support to mil...
Forces opposed to Somali president control parts of Mogadishu
Gunmen opposed to Somalia’s Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed had control of strategic parts of the capital Mogadishu on Monday, Reuters journalists saw, after factions in the security forces clashed at the weekend over his term extension. Mohamed signed a law earlier this month extending his mandate for two years after elections were cancelled, setting off a political furore that threatens to distract Somalia’s armed forces from fighting al Qaeda-linked insurgents. The presidential term extension has also irked foreign donors, who have backed his fragile government in the hope of bringing long-needed stability to the Horn of Africa nation largely in turmoil since a 1991 civil war. After exchanges of gunfire rocked Mogadishu on Sunday and some forces came from outside the capital, anti-Mohamed fac...
Cross River agency chief calls for legislation to back labour migration
The director-general, Cross River Migration Control Agency, Prince Michael Nku Abuo, has called for enactment of a legislation to back labour migration in order to engender national development. Abuo made the call at the Cross River State Migration Summit held in Calabar, the state capital on Saturday. The DG, who also represented the state governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, at the summit, pointed out that several solutions by both federal and state governments have been given to address the issue of unemployment in order to curb the challenge, but the way forward is to tackle the menace was through labour migration. According to him, Cross River Migration Control Agency was exploring and advancing for opportunities for citizens of the State who are at home and in the Diaspora under a work study p...
Gunmen kill six, injure many in Plateau village
Fresh attack on Thursday night claimed six lives as gunmen opened fire on some villagers at Wereng village, Riyom local government area of Plateau State, killing six and injuring three villagers. The attack occurred at the time villagers returned from their day’s businesses and were preparing to retire for the night when sporadic gunshots jolted them Before the incident, there were rumours being circulated that the villagers may be attacked any moment but it was unclear if security agencies acted on the information. Wereng has consistently been under attack in over a decade now and all appeals for the dastardly act to end have been rebuffed by the attackers. Although Operation Safe Haven on peace mission in the State did not confirm the incident at the time of this report because the spoke...
CAC aims to register new company within three hours
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) says it will be possible for companies in Nigeria to be registered within three hours, before the end of 2021. The commission tweeted this on Sunday via its verified Twitter handle. It said, Garba Abubakar, the commission’s registrar-general, gave this indication at a recent dinner in honour of the chairman, governing board, CAC and Nigeria’s Ambassador-designate to Spain, Ademola Seriki. The commission announced last December the upgrade of its online registration portal for business. It said the upgrade would include features that allow the automation of key services and processes in line with the federal government’s effort to Nigeria’s ease of doing business. Newsmen had reported how the new regulation protocol has left businesses in the country s...
Understanding the strength of small businesses
The number of small businesses keeps growing in the formal and informal sectors of the Nigerian economy, due to the role of small businesses as the live-wire of any economy and the backbone of major developed economies the world over. Though Nigeria rely majorly on oil and revenues derived from it, from context observation the economy is largely supported by small businesses covering almost all spheres of activities within the country, ranging from Nano, kiosk, and Micro businesses most importantly. A visible reference usually includes the vulcanizers, corner shop owners, single retail marketers, repairers, painters, business center operators, restaurants, market women, and men in the various open markets, among others. and the formal operations such as the law firms, accounting firms, con...