Author: Aishat Olalere

On Tuesday, the world bank decleared in its latest food security update that available data on food prices showed high inflation in low, middle and high-income countries. It said that the inflation level was greater than five per cent in 73.9 per cent of lower-middle-income countries and 48 per cent of upper-middle-income countries which recorded no percentage change from the last update. It declared that the inflation level was greater than five per cent in 63.2 per cent of low-income countries, which was 1.3 percentage points higher than in the last food update on Jan. 17, 2023. The bank said…

The National Insurance Commission has given the nod to Crown Takaful Insurance Limited to commence business. The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Nasir Song, explained that the launch of the company’s operations could not have come at a better time than now when the world was grappling with economic uncertainties and unpredictable risks. A statement from the insurance company said Crown Takaful Insurance was entering the risk-underwriting market as a solution provider offering technology-powered and value-laden products and services in creative and modified packages designed to meet the needs of millions of uninsured Nigerians and raise the level of insurance inclusiveness…

Shell Plc says it returned $23bn to shareholders in 2023, in a release by the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Wael Sawan. Sawan said Shell was now increasing its dividends by four per cent in line with the firm’s ‘progressive’ dividend policy. “In 2023, Shell returned $23bn to shareholders. In line with our progressive dividend policy. Shell is now increasing its dividend by 4 per cent. We are also commencing a $3.5bn buyback programme for the next three months,” the CEO said. In the third quarter of 2023, Shell’s adjusted earnings was $7.3bn, which the CEO said “reflected robust operational performance…

The House of Representatives on Tuesday announced the commencement of the second edition of its sectoral debates/dialogue as part of its periodic policy brief series. House spokesman, Akin Rotimi, said in his statement on Monday that the programme has been “billed for the financial sector and is scheduled to feature key stakeholders in the sector such as the Minister of Finance, Minister of Budget and Planning, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue.” The House commenced work he sectoral debate series in November 2023 with the security agencies. Tagged, “Strengthening Good Governance’…

The Federal Government expressed their worries over the protest that occurred in Niger and Kano states which was as a result of hike in price of Goods and increase in cost of living. Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Olawale Edun spoke during a bilateral meeting with a visiting German delegation, led by the country’s Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Ms Svenja Shulze in Abuja on Monday. Mr Olawale Edun said the increase in price of Goods which causes hardship to the citizen was triggered by the demand and supply forces On Monday, the…

The National Bureau of Statistics have released figures which indicate an increase of N545bn in the distribution between the federal, state and local Government from the previous N2.79trillion This is as the statutory allocations from the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) to the 36 states and 774 local government areas from July to December 2023, increased to N3.34tn post-fuel subsidy era. Under the current revenue-sharing formula, the Federal Government gets 52.68 per cent of the revenue, states 26.72 per cent and local governments 20.60 per cent. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu removed Subsidy in his inugural speech on May 29 2023.…

The mechanical completion of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of this year, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has said. The Warri refinery is a complex conversion refinery with a capacity to refine 125,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The facility includes a petrochemical plant (established in 1988) producing polypropylene and carbon black. It supplies petroleum products to southern and south-western Nigeria, but is not producing refined products currently due to the rehabilitation of the facility by the Federal Government. However, in a brief response to an enquiry by pressmen…

The Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) said on Monday in its statement that African countries spend about $20 billion annually on importation of wheat into the continent. Dr Solomon Gizaw, The Head of TAAT Clearinghouse, said during a Train-the-Trainer workshop organised on wheat seed production in Nigeria in Kano. He also said Nigeria had all it takes to produce, feed itself and the rest of African countries. ” The fight between Russia and Ukraine impacted the whole of Africa.” “You can imagine, two countries fighting elsewhere in Europe but the fight has caused a lot of supply disruption because…

The Board of Director Association of Nigeria (BDAN) urges all bank to yield to the directives of CBN over the foreign currency exposure. The CBN urges all commercial banks and others Banks that deals with foreign currency to sell all excess foreign foreign currency and have only the maximum amount stated by CBN. It was stated in the directives that the Net Open Positin (NOP) limit for overall foreign currency asset and liability should not exceed 20% short or 0% long of shareholders funds. BDAN said in a statement on Monday “The Association wholeheartedly supports these comprehensive measures which underscore…

A French company, Canal+, has offered to acquire South African pay-TV giant MultiChoice for around R31.7bn ($1.7bn). In a statement issued by the Paris-based firm on Thursday, Canal+ announced that it submitted a non-binding indicative offer to MultiChoice’s board to acquire all of the issued ordinary shares it does not already own, subject to obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals. In its last annual report, MultiChoice revealed that Canal+ owned 140,160,277 of its 442,512,678 issued shares. Local reports said that over the past four years, Canal+ had steadily bought MultiChoice shares on the open market until it held over 30 per cent…