TRADE AND INVESTMENT

The Chief Executive Officer of BHM, Ayeni Adekunle, will give the keynote address at the Lagos NIPR’s 34th Annual Public Relations Lecture on Thursday, September 21, 2023, at the MUSON Centre in Onikan, Lagos. Under the overarching theme, "Innovation and Disruption: Unlocking Opportunities for PR Practice”, Ayeni will discuss the rapid changes that the PR industry has undergone in recent years, how these changes are impacting the field of public relations, and how PR professionals can benefit from disruption and innovation. Speaking ahead of the event, the Nigerian-born writer and former journalist said, “I look forward to sharing my insights, experiences, and perspectives on how innovation and adaptation are essential for navigating the dynamic world of public relations and deli...

NBS alters criteria, now counting all those engaged in paid activities for at least an hour weekly as employed, compared to a previous 20-hour threshold. KPMG's contrasting report predicts Nigeria's unemployment rate to surge from 37.7% in 2022 to 40.6% in 2023, contradicting NBS's positive findings. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of Nigeria reported that at the end of March, three out of every four Nigerians of working age were employed. This, as reported,  is in stark contrast to the most recent data, which revealed that one in three Nigerians who were able to and actively seeking a job were unable to find one as of the end of 2020. However, what seems to be a substantial decline in unemployment is not what it seems. It was anticipated that the results would signific...

Nigeria is a great nation. Late last year, I spent some time working in one of the French-speaking West African countries. The flight from the country arrives close to midnight and I live on the Lekki axis. What continually struck me each time we touched down in Lagos was the magnificence of the city. This was more so as I journeyed home from the airport through the third mainland bridge, Ikoyi and Falomo bridge The city juxtaposed with where I was coming from was incomparable. It was scenic and glorious at night. The lights, the buildings and the life, even at that time of the night were a sight to behold. We are really blessed! When compared with where I had been working described as the “Paris of West Africa”, there was no basis for comparison. Nigeria has character and substan...

Nigeria’s annual inflation rate rose to 24.08 percent in July, the highest in 18 years, driven by higher prices of food items, and increased transport fares, reflecting the increasing struggle of households to meet daily feeding needs, worsened by the impact of fuel subsidy removal and continued depreciation of the naira. The higher inflation rate, which represents 1.29 percentage points from 22.79 percent in June, was caused by increases in prices of basic food items, including oil and fat, bread and cereals, fish, potatoes, yam and other tubers, fruits, meat, vegetables, milk, cheese, and eggs. As a result, food inflation rose to 26.98 percent, the highest level in 18 years, since September 2005. Also reflecting the impact of fuel subsidy removal on the cost of transportation an...

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has said the country generated $2.5 billion from non-oil exports in the first half of 2023. Executive Director of the NEPC, Dr Ezra Yakusak said this at a one-day workshop for emerging exporters, on Wednesday in Owerri. Yakusak, represented by the NEPC’s State Coordinator in Imo, Mr Anthony Ajuruchi, said with the revenue milestone reached, the council could hope to surpass its year 2022 revenue of 4.8 billion dollars by the end of 2023. Speaking on the theme: “New Exporters; Panacea for Non-Oil Exports Growth,” Yakusak advised newly registered exporters to learn from their experienced counterparts. He urged successful exporters to share their experiences with new exporters so as to increase the number of players in the non-oil expor...

The Federal government says Nigeria requires an estimated $2.3trn investment over the next 23 years to bridge its huge infrastructure gap. This is as requested by the United Kingdom Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility, UK-NIAF to assist in providing support to the Ministry to host national and sub-national awareness and sensitization workshops on the Reviewed National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (2020-2043) as the FG-approved vehicle to deliver infrastructure projects in Nigeria. The support it said was very important and urgent in view of the new political dispensation and to avoid duplication of efforts. This is contained in a brief for the minister of Budget and National Planning, Sen. Atiku Bagudu during the visit of the United Kingdom Nigeria Infrastructure Ad...

Despite continuous government efforts to shore up food production in Nigeria through various intervention programs, the country recorded a food trade deficit worth N4.92 trillion between 2018 and 2022. Available data shows that Nigeria is not growing enough food for the populace, leaving the country with no option but to import. Consequently, to feed its steadily rising population, the country recorded a 121.7 percent increase in the value of imported foods within the 5 year period, rising to N1.9 trillion in 2022 from N857 billion in 2018. The development may not be unconnected with the heightening of insecurity in the country especially around the agricultural belt, which has forced many farmers to abandon their farmlands, thus prompting the government to spend millions of dolla...

The Nigeria Economic Summit Group, NESG, Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, NECA, and other members of the Organized Private Sector, OPS, yesterday rolled out priorities for the successful implementation of the Federal Government’s Roadmap for reviving the Economy. The priorities, they said, include specific national targets for each of the eight priority focuses of the roadmap, complete fine-tuning of policies and repositioning of institutions in the next three months, and strong coordination to avoid inter-ministerial misalignments in the implementation of the roadmap. Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the inaugural Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting on Monday, presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja, th...

According to the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), banks there have already lost roughly N9.5 billion in 2023. Premier Owoih, the managing director of NIBSS, said this at the third-quarter meeting of the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF), which was held in Lagos. The MD, represented by Temidayo Adekanye, the NIBSS Chief Risk Officer, raised concerns about the alarming rise in electronic fraud in the country's financial sector, particularly in the online gaming business. He pointed out that the CBN's cashless strategy is in part to blame for the rise in banking sector e-fraud. “Recently, we had the cashless policies from CBN, which was incurring a dramatic increase in the volume of transactions in the industry which variably was the impact of the volume of fraud in the...