Power Sector
- Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) cuts off electricity supply of All Progressives Congress (APC) national secretariat, following its inability to offset the debt of N1.7 million. Since the onset of the current economic crisis, the party’s activities have been relatively low due to insufficient funds. It was, however, gathered that the APC national secretariat may have generated over N100 million this year from the sale of Nomination and Expression of Interest forms for Edo and Ondo States governorship primaries.
Oil and Gas Sector
- Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) has entered into partnership with the Niger State Government for the training of graduates of agriculture for the purpose of improving rice cultivation and production in the 25 local government areas of the state. Chevron and its affiliates under the arrangement are providing the technical know-how and capacity building for fresh graduates across the local government areas to attract them to the farms and the use of modern methods of rice cultivation and production.
Banking and Financial Institutions
- First Bank Nigeria Plc. is partnering with Uber, the technology company that has revolutionised taxi business all over the world. The partnership is to empower drivers through a vehicle financing scheme. Uber Nigeria’s General Manager, Ebi Atawodi, said First Bank will extend a N2.5 million loan ($7,930) to each qualified driver, the scheme will allow drivers to access used-car loans from an interest rate of just 20% per annum over a 24-month repayment period. Alternative offers for used-vehicle finance on the Uber Vehicle Solutions Programme will attract 22% per annum, with a maximum repayment term of 36 months. To qualify for the loan, the driver will need to demonstrate an average driver-performance rating higher than 4.5 and have earned more than 2.4 million naira in the past six months.
- The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reduced the manufacturing sector’s backlog of foreign exchange demand by $330.09 million (about N105.6 billion) as real sector records persistent decline. According to a report by the CBN, employment levels, new orders and raw material inventories in the nation’s manufacturing sector have maintained a steady decline for the 10th time this year. The report shows that the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) report stood at 44.1 index points in October 2016, compared to 42.5 in the preceding month, indicating a slowing decline during the October review period.
- The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved $600 million loan as the first tranche of a one-billion-dollar budget support to help Nigeria’s combat economic recession.
Nigerian National Assembly
- The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday declined President Muhammadu Buhari’s request to borrow about $30 billion. The president had on October 26, 2016, forwarded the request to the National Assembly to approve external borrowing plan of $29.960 billion to execute key infrastructural projects across the country between 2016 and 2018. He had also requested for N180.8 billion in the 2016 budget for provision of needed votes for some critical sectors across the 36 states of the federation and the FCT. President Buhari made the requests in two separate letters to the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, which were read on the floor of both chambers.
- The Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, commended the Nigerian Army for its decision to purchase 50,000 pairs of shoes from local manufacturers in Aba, Abia State, for use by its officers. He said the Army’s decision to patronise made-in-Nigeria footwear was a good example, which showed the Force as a pacesetter and a truly national institution ready to contribute its quota in ending the present economic recession in the country. The Senate President urged other military and paramilitary forces to emulate the Army by immediately banning the purchase of all imported footwear in preference to locally-produced ones. He also urged the military and paramilitary agencies not to limit their patronage and promotion of made-in-Nigeria goods to only shoes but to other items that could be sourced locally. He also commended the Nigerian Air Force for cooperating with Innoson Motor Group towards the manufacturing of some aircraft parts.
Nigerian Economy Update
- Before the meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, strong indications emerged, that elders, leaders and stakeholders of the Niger Delta Region have rejected the Federal Government’s move to launch a $10 billion (N4 trillion) infrastructural rebirth investment programme in the area. The multi-trillion naira programme is part of the Short and Medium Term Priorities to Grow Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Industry (2015 to 2019), tagged the ‘7 Big Wins’, a new initiative by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources. Dismissing the proposal as a blackmail since there is no money to fund it, the Niger-Delta leaders said it is imperative to tell President Buhari that they are rejecting the move because it is private sector-driven with the aim of dragging the government into it.
- President Muhammadu Buhari met with some prominent leaders and stakeholders in the Niger Delta on Tuesday to find lasting solutions to the crises in the region. President Buhari hosted the leaders at the Presidential Villa where they demanded that they be considered in the allocation and ownership of oil wells. The Niger Delta leaders specifically outlined a 16-point agenda which they presented to Buhari towards halting militancy in their area. Among those present at the meeting were traditional rulers, other prominent elders, service chiefs and ministers appointed from the region.
- Nigeria’s external reserves diminished by 2.8% in one month to $23.948 billion as at October 27, 2016, compared with the $24.615 billion it was as at September 27, 2016. The latest external reserves position released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that the reserves derived mostly from the proceeds of crude oil sales fell by $667 million in the last one month, as the country’s earnings continued to shrink.
- According to the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, The Federal Government through the Ministry of Communications has earned about N500 million from the issuance and renewal of spectrum licenses between November 2015 and September 2016. He disclosed this at the National Council on Communications Technology conference, held in Kaduna. He stated that it is part of the efforts of the Ministry channelled towards spectrum management in Nigeria, which the government intended to secure state of the art mobile equipment that will be deployed to enforce compliance and also enable the detection, location and blocking of illegal users of spectrum. The minister pointed out that effective radio spectrum monitoring would assist with intelligence gathering and support the agencies in enhancing security and safety of citizens and the nation in general. He further stated that in its effort to broaden Broadband penetration in Nigeria, government had licensed six slots of the 2.6MHz spectrum for the deployment of 4G-LTE Services. He stressed that in the same vein, processes have commenced for the licensing of Broadband services on the 5.4 GHz Spectrum Band and the allocation of 70/80 GHz band (E-Band). The minister disclosed that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the sector has increased from $32 billion in 2015 to $38 billion in 2016, adding that broadband penetration has reached 20.95 per cent, while the percentage of Internet penetration has reached a milestone 47.44 %, making Nigeria, second only to South Africa in the whole of the African Continent.
- The Chairman Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariff, Sen. Hope Uzodinma, disclosed that the Senate had discovered overtime cargoes worth billions of naira stacked at the Ikorodu Lighter Terminal, Lagos State, by the Nigeria Ports Authority for not less than 10 years. During his briefing with newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday, He said that the containers were moved there by the Nigeria Ports Authority to decongest the Apapa Port. Sen. Uzodinma said that the committee discovered the cargoes during its oversight visit to the terminal in Lagos. He further stated that the containers contained valuables such as transformers, cars and electronics. He expressed his disappointment over the non-implementation of the Act establishing the Nigeria Customs Service with regards to disposal of overtime cargoes.
Foreign Exchange
- In the parallel market, the Naira exchanged at N468 to the USD as against N470 it traded on Friday last week, depicting a gain of N2, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N565 and N510, respectively. At the interbank market, however, the naira depreciated against the dollar. It shed N4.31 to close at N308.81 from N304.50.
- Domestic airline operators in the country have appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to allot the local industry at least $50million grant from the foreign exchange (forex) special intervention programme. The airlines, while commending the take-off of the programme, said domestic operators deserved equally wider forex window like their foreign counterparts, given their more important role in development of the local economy. The Central Bank of Nigeria has recently granted concession in inter-bank forex market to some sectors through forward settlement. The beneficiaries included aviation, manufacturing companies for raw materials, machineries and agricultural chemicals.
Job Loss
- The Ogun state governor, Ibikunle Amosun, has approved the dismissal of the state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Akeem Ambali, and the state chairman of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Dare Ilekoya and 14 others, 11 days after Ogun workers embarked on an indefinite strike .
- Skye Bank Plc. sacks 50 employees, about four months after it disengaged 200 of its workers. The affected personnel were in outsourced functions like tellers, drivers, internal security guards and auxiliary functions.
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