Aso Villa Reads for 8/6/18
Every day, we bring you the best stories the media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria.
Following the currency swap deal signed last month with the People’s Bank of China last month, the Central Bank of Nigeria has said it may conduct bi-weekly bidding sessions for the sale of Chinese currency to authorized dealers. This action is in response to the signed PBoC-CBN Bilateral Currency Swap Agreement which will allow the two countries to swap a total of 15 billion renminbi for N720bn, or vice versa, in the next three years to facilitate trade between the two countries and for foreign reserve management. More of this report can be sourced from The Punch.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Capital Territory, (FCT) Chinyaka Ohaa, stated that the most awaited Abuja light rail will be commissioned in a couple weeks by the President, Muhammadu Buhari. He added that FCT is very optimistic that the coming into operation of the Light Rail service would accelerate FCT economy by opening windows for investments and job creation. He reaffirmed FCT Administration’s commitment to ensuring that the Mass Transit service is commissioned in a matter of weeks, noting that the Administration is seeking for the most convenient date. The Abuja Rail project, which started in 2009, is expected to drastically curtail traffic congestion in the nation’s capital city. More of this report can be sourced from The Daily Times.
United States Government has pledged to release the sum of US$102 million (N3.7 billion) as a form of humanitarian assistance to Nigeria to enable them to repair the crisis in the North-East arising from the Boko Haram insurgency. The sum is part of the US$112 million pledge the US government made to the Lake Chad region and was announced by the US Ambassador to Nigeria, William Stuart, at the National Conversations of Humanitarian Development Peace Nexus which took place yesterday in Abuja. The assistance would be administered primarily through the U.S. Agency for International Development’s offices of Food for Peace, and Foreign Disaster Assistance, as well as the U.S. State Department’s Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration. More details are reported by The Vanguard.
This Day Newspaper reports that Nigeria was celebrated when it won awards in three categories for its securities issuance activities in the domestic and international capital markets. The awards were: Best Sovereign Bond in Africa — US$3 billion -the dual-Tranche (10 and 30 year) Eurobonds that was issued in November 2017; Most Innovative Bond — US$300 million Diaspora Bond issued in June 2017; and Best Naira Bond — N100 billion 7-year Inaugural Sukuk issued in September 2017. The awards were bestowed on the country by the EMEA Finance (Europe, the Middle East and Africa). More details This Day.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange recorded a total income of N8.30bn and N3.82bn surplus before tax for the year ended December 31, 2017. The results were announced at its 57th Annual General Meeting in Lagos. The results show that NSE’s gross earnings increased by 86% when compared to the N4.46bn achieved in 2016, while the surplus before tax grew by 5,629% in the same period. The Chief Executive Officer, NSE, Oscar Onyema, said, “This positive performance, after the significant headwinds witnessed over the past two years, affirms the resilience of our market and its potential as a catalyst for economic growth in Nigeria and the hub for Africa.” More details are reported by The Punch.
As reported by The Daily Times, the Federal Government is set to pay promotion arrears and backlog of allowances owed public servants. This was announced by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Mrs, Winifred Oya-Ita. In her words, “public servants can now breathe a sigh of relief as backlog of outstanding liabilities, such as promotion arrears would soon be addressed. The Ministry of Finance has begun the disbursement of promotion arrears to some civil servants.” She made these statements at a Peer Review Mechanism meeting for Permanent Secretaries of the Federal Civil Service in Abuja. Read more at Daily times.
The Federal Government is taking measures to reform the land system in the country through the implementation of systematic land titling and documentation. With the low percentage of land documentation, as well as difficulty in land ownership and access to land for economic activities, agricultural development, housing and overall industrialisation are hampered. The Federal Government is thereby bringing the new land reforms which will make it cheaper and easier to access land. This will benefit housing measures for those seeking to own houses and agricultural production which will enable food security in the country. This is reported by Business Day 8 June, 2018, page 6.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission have cleared eight more firms and issued each of them a ‘No Objection’ to serve as Meter Asset Providers in the electricity supply industry. This will therefore bring to 30, the number of companies it has approved to participate in the procurement and installation of meters across the country in order to bridge the four million metering gap. The MAP Regulations are intended to facilitate closure of the wide metering gap in the industry within three years and the ‘No Objection’ is to qualify intending investors to participate in the meter procurement process. NERC added that intending investors had opportunities to apply for the commission’s ‘No Objection’ to participate in the meter procurement process as it was a continuous exercise. This is reported by The Punch.
