Category: West Africa
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Nigeria:India’s Bharti Airtel blames Nigerian losses as Q1 net profit drops 31 pct
India’s largest telecom network operator, Bharti Airtel Ltd, reported a 30.8 percent fall in first-quarter net profit on Wednesday, blaming an adverse foreign exchange impact in Nigeria, although it beat analysts’ estimates. Consolidated net profit fell to 14.62 billion rupees ($218 million) in the quarter ended June 30, from 21.13 billion rupees last year, the…
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Nigeria’s central bank raises benchmark rate to 14 percent
Nigeria’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by a surprise 200 basis points to 14 percent on Tuesday and maintained its existing cash reserve ratios for commercial banks in a bid to stabilise the Naira. In a Reuters poll, the median forecast of 13 analysts taken July 18-21 predicted that Nigeria would raise interest…
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Nigeria: Presidency Proposes U.S.$42.5 Oil Price Benchmark for 2017
For the next fiscal year, the executive arm of government has proposed a crude oil benchmark price of $42.5 per barrel, up from the $30 in the 2016’s budget. An estimated N7.775 trillion is expected as revenue to be generated from the oil mineral resources alone based on the proposed $42.5 benchmark price and an…
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Nigeria:No need to panic about sliding into recession, finance minister says
Nigeria will face only a short recession if its economy shrinks again in the second quarter, because removing fuel subsidies and implementing policies to reduce dependency on oil will pay off, Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun said on Thursday. On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund said Nigeria’s economy is likely to contract by 1.8 percent this…
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Nigeria: Avengers Warns NUPENG, Pengassan, Foreigners to Leave Oil Fields
Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, has denied claims by the Nigerian Navy that it arrested the group’s logistics supplier, saying its operatives were intact adding that the militants were winning the war. The militant group in a statement by its spokesperson, self-styled Brig. General Mudoch, said: “The news that the Nigerian Navy has arrested Niger Delta…
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Nigeria’s Buhari says government talking to Niger Delta militants-statement
The Nigerian government is talking to militants in the southern Niger Delta to end a wave of attacks on oil and gas facilities, President Muhammadu Buhari said on Thursday. The government was using oil companies and security agencies to talk to the militants “to find a lasting solution to insecurity in the region”, Buhari said…
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Nigeria: Debt Servicing Gulped N1.02 Trillion in 2015 – DMO
The federal government last year spent N1.018 trillion to service its local debts, an amount that is N152.32 billion or 17.6 per cent higher than the N865.81 billion it spent on servicing local debts in 2014. This amount, according to data made available in the recently released 2015 Annual Report of the Debt Management Office…
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Nigeria: FEC Approves New Agric Policy, Farmers May Have to Pay for Security At Farms
Farmers may have to pay for the federal government to provide them with security against kidnappers and other intruders who may want to invade their farms. This was disclosed yesterday by the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, while briefing journalists at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held…
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Nigeria:Delayed budget is the main culprit in the Nigerian recession
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it is likely that the Nigerian economy will contract this year. The Bretton Woods institution attributes the impending recession to energy inadequacies and the delayed budget. The delays in the budget’s passing will probably be among the regrets of many Nigerians this year, as analysts believe that it is…
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Nigeria: Oil Wells;Niger Delta Lawmakers Insist On 65 Percent Ownership
To facilitate development in the Niger Delta region, South-East and South South lawmakers have called on the Federal Government to review the ownership structure of oil wells in the country to allow for 65 per cent ownership by the people of the region. The lawmakers also condemned the criminal and nefarious activities of herdsmen and…