Category: West Africa

We have just finished a meeting of various stakeholders presided over by His Excellency, the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The meeting had in attendance the Leadership of the Senate, House of Representatives, Governors Forum, and Labour Unions (NLC, TUC, NUPENG, and PENGASSAN). The meeting reviewed: 1. The current fuel scarcity and…

A series of attacks on Nigeria’s oil infrastructure has pushed its output of crude close to a 22-year low, Reuters data shows, putting intense pressure on the country’s finances. Shell workers at Nigeria’s Bonga oilfield in the southern Niger Delta were evacuated following a militant threat, a senior labour union official said on Monday, while…

document Press Release No. 16/198 May 5, 2016 End-of-Mission press releases include statements of IMF staff teams that convey preliminary findings after a visit to a country. The views expressed in this statement are those of the IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF’s Executive Board. Based on the preliminary…

The 11 electricity distribution companies (Discos) have announced plans to begin a nationwide disconnection of historical debtors made up mainly of government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) whose collective debts now stand in excess of N78 billion by the end of April, this year. This was disclosed at the weekend in Abuja by the executive…

The European Union (EU) has urged Nigeria to increase export of agricultural produces like rubber, cocoa and palm oil to the EU countries The Head of EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr Michel Arrion, stated this at a press conference on commemorate the 40 years of EU-Nigeria partnership on Wednesday in Abuja. Arrion said…

The bilateral trade between Nigeria and the United States of America (U.S.), from January to February this year, has been put at $799.9 million, according to the United States’ Census Bureau. Besides, Nigeria’s oil and gas business relationship with Houston Texas in 2015 stands at $15 billion. The Mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, who made…

According to the findings from an investment survey by Nigerians in the Square Mile, policy instability and exchange rate volatility are the two biggest headaches investors have with Nigeria. Nigeria can be a very challenging market, but these challenges can be offset by better knowledge of the local market, as well as precise contracts and…

Early last month MSCI announced it is considering removing Nigeria from the MSCI Frontier Markets Index given restrictions on the country’s currency trading and the resulting deterioration of its forex liquidity impacting investors’ ability to repatriate capital. On Tuesday it revealed that it will apply special treatment to Nigeria in the MSCI Equity Indexes, see…

The chief executive of Nigeria’s Fidelity Bank remained in custody on Tuesday, having been detained last week by the country’s financial crimes agency, prompting the lender to appoint a temporary replacement. A spokesman for Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said the agency obtained a court order to detain Fidelity Nnamdi Okonkwo and that…