Category: West Africa
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Nigeria: Govt Urged to Reduce Business Entry Barriers
Nigerian government has been urged to reduce business entry barriers in the country in order to encourage entrepreneurship and promote economic development. Chairman of the Global Board of Directors of Entrepreneurs Organisation (EO), Ivan Ting made the call during his visit to the Nigerian Chapter of EO, as part of his African Tour. EO is…
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Nigeria: China to Loan Nigeria $4.5 Billion to Boost Agriculture
The Peoples Republic of China has said it will lend Nigeria $4.5 billion to boost local agriculture. The loan is to enable Nigeria purchase farming tools including tractors, bulldozers, graders, irrigation pumps, amongst others. Audu Ogbeh, Nigeria’s minister of Agriculture, and Abdulaziz Yari, Zamfara State Governor, made the disclosure while speaking to journalists in Abuja…
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IMF urges Nigeria to lift FX restrictions, dump multiple exchange rates
The International Monetary Fund called on Nigeria on Thursday to lift its remaining foreign exchange restrictions and scrap its system of multiple exchange rates to revive the country’s recession-hit economy. The call came as part of a regular assessment of a country’s economy, in which the IMF also forecast that Nigeria’s economy would grow 0.8…
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Ivory Coast rescinds port security measures, attack threat unfounded
Ivory Coast rescinded an order on Sunday to increase security at its two main ports after determining that an earlier reported threat of terrorism was unfounded, according to a document seen by Reuters. The first transport ministry memorandum had ordered security under the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code to be increased to…
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Nigeria naira at six-month high on black market
The Nigerian naira gained 1.1 percent to a six-month high of 430 per dollar on the black market on Wednesday, traders said. The central bank has been intervening on the official market to try to narrow the currency spread with the black market rate, which was 520 to the dollar a month ago. The naira…
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Nigeria: Oil Firm, Oranto Invests $500 Million in South Sudan Oil Block
Nigerian independent, Oranto Petroleum, said it is investing $500 million to develop South Sudan’s Block B3, launching a comprehensive exploration campaign starting immediately. The Ministry of Petroleum and Oranto Petroleum Company, South Sudan signed the exploration and production sharing agreement, EPSA, for the block last week in the capital city of Juba. The B3 area…
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Nigeria: Govt Commends Dangote Cement for Self-Sufficiency Feat
The Federal Government has officially confirmed that Nigeria has attained self-sufficiency in the production of cement and is now an exporter of the commodity, ascribing the feat to Dangote Cement which spearheaded the “backward integration policy” introduced by the government. The Minister for Solid Minerals Development, Kayode Fayemi, who led a government team to the…
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Nigerian central bank head urges cooperation on monetary & fiscal policy
Nigeria’s monetary and fiscal authorities must cooperate on their policies to help Africa’s largest economy to develop, the central bank governor said, according to his spokesman. Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele made the comments at a two-day retreat for members of the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee and the ministers for finance, budget, and investment. The…
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Nigeria:Goldfields CEO predicts drop in Q1 output at South Deep mine
Nigeria’s telecoms regulator and central bank governor intervened on Thursday to try and help Etisalat Nigeria resolve debt restructuring talks with its lenders after the company missed a payment on a $1.2 billion loan. A banking source told Reuters on Wednesday that the Nigerian affiliate of Abu Dhabi-listed telecoms company Etisalat had given notice to…
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Nigeria central bank governor defends policy of limiting imports
Hard currency curbs imposed by Nigeria’s central bank have helped boost local food production, central bank governor Godwin Emefiele was quoted as saying by two newspapers on Sunday. Entrepreneurs have criticized a halt to hard currency allocations by the central bank for the import of almost 700 goods to prop up the naira hammered by…