Aso Villa Reads for 21/06/18
Every day, we bring you the best stories the media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria.
Punch reports that farmers in Nigeria earned about N73.24bn “between January and March this year through the export of agricultural products. Figures obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday showed that the agricultural export value of N73.24bn was N28.54bn or 63.84 per cent higher than the N44.7bn recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017. When compared with the corresponding first quarter 2017 figure of N59.06bn, the N73.24bn was 24.01 per cent higher than the export of agricultural goods recorded during the period.” The paper reported that “some of the exported products, according to findings, are sesame seed, with a value of N26.65bn; raw cocoa beans estimated at N6.03bn; fermented cocoa beans, N23.29bn; cashew nuts, N5.03bn; and soya beans, N3.45bn.”
Good news for airline users in Nigeria as “domestic airline owners had halted further payments of VAT on their services to the Federal Government from June 14, 2018 as part of measures to compel it to abolish all existing dichotomy in tax regimes between foreign and local airlines operating in the country.” The Sun reports that “Chairman of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Capt Nogie Meggison, told aviation correspondents on Wednesday that news of the VAT abolition was received with a lot of excitement by local airline owners. “The AON would like to thank President Buhari and his administration for coming to the aid of domestic airlines with the recent Executive Order to remove VAT from all forms of Shared Transportation,” Meggison said. “We have been crying out for decades now for discussions on the immediate removal of VAT from domestic air transportation in line with global best practice, but we have barely been heard over the years. VAT is an added burden on our passengers who have limited disposable funds and have reached their elastic point in this difficult time of the nation’s economy.”
“The naira yesterday appreciated by 7 kobo to N361.18 per dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) injected $210 million into various segments of the foreign exchange market. Data from FMDQ showed that the indicative exchange rate for the I&E window dropped to N361.18 per dollar from N361.25 on Tuesday, translating to 7 kobo appreciation for the naira. However, the naira, yesterday, was stable at 359.5 per dollar in the parallel market. According to naijabdcs.com, the live exchange rate platform of the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators (ABCON), the parallel market exchange rate stood at N395.5 per dollar yesterday from N359.5 per dollar recorded on Tuesday.” Vanguard reported this.
According to Daily Trust, “the Federal Government has concluded consultations on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which it declined assent to at the last extraordinary meeting of the African Union held in Kigali, capital of Rwanda. The Federal Government had initially agreed to sign the pact but decided otherwise shortly before the meeting on the grounds that Nigeria needed more domestic consultations before endorsing it. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria kicked against the pact, but the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) backed it. The Nigeria Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN) headed by Ambassador Chiedu Osakwe held stakeholders’ sensitization and consultations across the country’s six geopolitical zones.”
“The Federal Government is planning to tackle challenges faced by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through development of industrial clusters, with particular regard to accessing work space and common amenities like internet access, water, power, roads etc.” Vanguard “Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Hajiya Aisha Abubakar, stated this at the launching of a study on the viability of the existing Industrial Development Centres in preparation for redeveloping and transforming them into industrial clusters in Abuja. Abubakar noted that the underlying objective of the project was to establish state of the art Common Infrastructure Facility Centres aimed at resolving some challenges facing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), with particular regard to accessing work space and common amenities like internet access, water, power, roads etc”.
“The Federal Government will soon roll out a new soft loan scheme aimed at funding micro businesses in the country. Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who disclosed this at the launching of the Micro, Small and Medium-Scale Enterprise (MSME) Clinic, in Benin, said the scheme will kick off in a couple of weeks. He added that the scheme to be called Trader Moni is meant to help very small scale traders fund their businesses”. Vanguard reports that “Osinbajo noted that apart from the existing Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) MarketMoni scheme, which targets market women, traders, artisans and enterprising youths, the TraderMoni is a micro-credit scheme to cater for ultra-micro enterprises.”
According to Business Day (Thursday 21 June 2018, page 34) “the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has stated that there is significant improvement in gas supply to power generating plants across the country to ameliorate the current black out being experienced. According to TCN, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has restored the ruptured pipeline and gas is gradually building up in most generating stations and in a day or two day it is expected that gas and power supply would be back to normal. “An indication that gas supply has improved is the increase in power generation into the National Grid, as reported by the NCC, has risen to 3,876.9MW as at 17.00hrs on Monday, 18th June, 2018”, said Ndidi Mbah, general manager public affairs of TCN She said TCN wishes to use this opportunity to commend NNPC especially NGC for the quick intervention and also appreciates the Ministry of Power, GenCos, Discos and electricity customers for their cooperation during the crises period”.
