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…
Although Nigeria slipped two places in global e-Government development index to rank 143 out of 193, the Federal Government said it planned to lift the nation to the 50th position. The e-Government index measures the readiness of the members of the United Nations to offer services electronically. There are three important dimensions of the index,…
Ecobank Nigeria has entered into a strategic partnership with the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) with a N15 billion first tranche in agricultural value chain financing scheme. The partnership is in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s request that banks provide more funding to the agriculture sector. NIRSAL was set…
The Debt Management Office has said the Federal Government will auction N100bn worth of bonds by subscription on June 26. A circular by the DMO on Tuesday showed the breakdown of the figure to include a N30bn five-year reopening bond that would mature in April 2023 and be offered at 12.75 per cent; another N40bn…
In just three years after lifting its 40-year ban on crude oil exports, the United States has become one of the top 10 oil-exporting countries in the world, surpassing Nigeria, which was once the second-largest supplier of oil to the US. The US has significantly reduced imports of Nigerian crude oil in the past few…
The National Insurance Commission will soon introduce a revised insurance distribution channel, which will replace the State Insurance Policy that was cancelled. The new policy may involve the issuing of new distribution licences to non-insurance bodies, who would be able to sell insurance to every part of the country, according to information obtained from the…
The European Union and the ECOWAS Commission have developed standards for the certification of some major products to boost the level of international trade. The five priority products selected by the member states are water, cashew nuts, vegetable oil, cement and fish. The certification programme, funded by the EU, is being implemented by the United…
The Nigerian Export Promotion Council has unveiled its service charter that would raise the expectations and define the standard of service to be provided to customers and members of staff. The move is part of the strategies to stimulate improvements and reforms in the way businesses would be conducted in the export promotion agency The…
The Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending has secured a total of N4.5bn from four Deposit Money Banks for the cultivation of maize and soybeans in three states. The banks are Stanbic IBTC with the sum of N2bn; Sterling Bank Plc, N1.5bn; and Union Bank Plc, N1bn. The funding is a fallout of…
The Bankers Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria has said it is set to commence the disbursement of funds under the Creative Industry Financing Initiative. The decision to commence the disbursement of funds under the initiative was made at the end of the committee’s meeting held at the CBN headquarters in Abuja. Present at…