All the major economic news from Nigeria in 5 minutes – 3/7/2017

Summary of the top business, economic and political news in Nigeria today.

1. The Federal Inland Revenue Service has proposed a flexible tax payment method to enable domestic airlines to remain in operation as well as meet their Value Added Tax remittance obligations. The Chairman, FIRS, Mr. Babatunde Fowler,  said the airlineswill be given a concession of two months after the billing period (M+2) to make their VAT remittances so that collections done now are swept during the upper month instead of the following month so as to give room for reconciliation and for the carriers to recoup their credit sales. Link
2. The banking sector recorded 31,736 fraud cases involving the sum of N16.5bn between January 2014 and December 2016, figures obtained from the Central bank of Nigeria have revealed. Link
3. A new report has ranked Lagos, the nation’s commercial nerve centre as the third least of world cities that are highly unaffordable for renters. The report released by RENTCafé, a property search website puts Lagos rent at $355 (N129, 575) per month while the household income is $625 (N228, 125), making  the city the third behind Manhattan, New york city with 59 per cent and Mexico City with 60 percent. It also identified the three least cities as vibrant urban hubs with thriving or emerging economies but unaffordable for renters. Link
4. The electric power sector in Nigeria has experienced 213 systems collapse that caused severe nationwide outages in the last nine years, industry data have shown. Figures from log records on systems collapse from the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) show that 141 Total systems collapse occurred during the period with another 72 Partial collapse of the national grid. Link
5. The Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service ( FIRS) Babatunde Fowler has said about 29 private jets owned by Nigerian organisations are registered in South Africa. Link
6. Only eight million vehicles out of the estimated 17 million on Nigerian roads have genuine insurance cover, according to the Nigerian Insurers Association. Figures obtained from the association indicated that the number of genuinely insured vehicles had risen from three million that was recorded in the Nigerian Insurance Industry Database in 2015. Link
7. Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserve in the first half of 2017 grew by 16 per cent despite the several interventions of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the foreign exchange market standing at $30.271 billion as at June 29, 2017 according to latest data on the website of the apex bank. The reserves which stood at $26.097 billion at the beginning of the year rose by $4.2 billion by the end of the first half of the year, a figure that shows  a 14.8 percent improvement from a year ago, when they stood at $26.34 billion. Link
8. The Central Bank of Nigeria sold N31.94bn ($104.76m) in Treasury bills on Friday in a bid to tighten liquidity in the money market while overnight lending rate fell. Traders said the bank sold N31.52bn of 349-day Treasury bill at 18.59 per cent and N440m of 160-day Treasury bill at 17.98 per cent at an auction on Friday. Link
9. The Lagos State government commissioned a Microfinance Bank (MFB) at the weekend to boost financial inclusion and aid to micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) in the state. Commissioner for Finance, Akinyemi Ashade disclosed that the initiative was aimed at reducing poverty and unemployment in the state. Link
10. The Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has approved the appointment of Mrs Patience Oniha as the new Director General of Debt Management Office (DMO). Minister of Finance Mrs Kemi Adeosun announced the appointment in Abuja, at the weekend.  Oniha, who hails from Edo State, takes over from the former Director General, Dr Abraham Nwankwo, who retired after serving for two terms of five years each. Link
11. A recent report from the study carried out by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the telecoms industry regulator, showed a sharp decline in the number of active voice subscribers across the four major telecoms operators (Telcos) in the first quarter of 2017. The Active Voice Subscription (AVS) dropped marginally from 155.1 million to 149.3 million in the first quarter of 2017, thus accumulating to 5.8 million losses in the number of voice subscribers across networks. Link
12. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, said the understanding being exhibited by workers on the minimum wage issue should not be taken for granted. “There’s limit to the patience and understanding the workers can have on the issue of minimum wage,” he said, warning that labour might be forced to react if the issue was not urgently addressed. Link
13. Commercial airline operators in the country have taken the problem of multiple-taxation to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) towards getting a favourable bargain. The eight operating airlines, under the aegis of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA), demanded from the FIRS steps toward harmonisation of about 37 various charges and levies on the airlines and the outright cancellation of the mandatory five per cent Value Added Tax (VAT). Link
14. Domestication of personnel training in the oil and gas industry saves the nation about $50 million yearly, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Wabote, has said. He made this known at the graduation of trainees from Danvic Petroleum School in Lagos. Link
15. Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Babatunde Fowler has said the Service generated about N118 billion in the last 18 months through its taxation strategies. He said that FIRS signed an MOU with the 36 states on exchange of information and in three months, it grew the tax base by close to 400,000. “Some states grew with thousands of companies that were not registered for tax. We had a handshake with the Nigeria Customs in terms of Value Added Tax, and in the last 18 months, we have been able to get N118bn,” he noted. Link
16. Despite slash in freight rates by roll-on-roll off vessels to encourage importers, Nigeria has saved N636.9 billion ($1.72 billion) from importation of used vehicles due to scarcity of foreign exchange. Link
17. The Federal Ministry of Finance will soon commence the payment of N438 million compensation to poultry farmers who lost their birds to avian flu influenza in Kano. The compensation, which covers the backlog of 2015 and 2016 casualty figures, will be paid to 136 farmers in 22 local council areas where the affected farms are located. Link
18. Systemspecs, a Nigerian indigenous software giant that seeks to be the leading provider of robust support solutions across various industries in Africa, has partnered the Convention on Business Integrity (CBi) to promote ethics and integrity in Businesses. Link
19. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has said price of Automotive Gas Oil, also known as diesel, has dropped further from between N175 and N200 per litre as of June 18, 2017 to between N155 and N160 per litre in many filling stations across the country. Link
20. Transcorp Power Company, Ughelli, a subsidiary of Transnational Corporation, has in the last one month, consistently generated 18 per cent of the total power generation in the country. Link
21. Foremost Nigerian rating agency, Agusto & Co. has raised Access Bank Plc’s rating from “A+” to “Aa-”, with stable outlook, in its recent rating review of the bank. The upgrade reflected Access Bank’s strong financial profile, resilient profitability levels, and solid capital position, a statement from the bank said at the weekend. Link
22. Seplat Petroleum Development Company plc concludes one year extension of revolving credit facility until Dec. 31, 2018. The current three year RCF was due to expire at the end of 2017. The facility now expires on 31 December 2018 and has been successfully amended to amortise the remaining outstanding principal balance of US$150 million in equal instalments over five quarters commencing Q4 2017. Link
23. FBNInsurance Brokers, a subsidiary of FBNHoldings company, has appointed Mr. Olumide Ibidapo as its new managing director and chief executive officer. Link
24. Honeywell Flour Mills Plc has concluded the remodelling of the Tincan Island second gate roundabout in Apapa, Lagos, and has handed same over to the Nigerian Ports Authority. The Managing Director, Honeywell Flour Mills, Mr. Lanre Jaiyeola, said the firm embarked upon the project to restructure, remodel and renovate the roundabout about three years ago as part of its contribution to the beautification of the Tin Can Island environment, and more importantly, to reduce traffic around the previously massive roundabout. Link
25. Lafarge Africa Plc says its parent company, LafargeHolcim, is targeting to make 25 million people beneficiaries of its affordable homeownership scheme globally by 2020, with Nigeria representing a significant figure. Link
26. The planned public listing of the shares of MTN Nigeria on the Nigerian Stock Exchange offers both institutional and individual investors the opportunity to get a slice of the telecommunications firm that has 62 million subscribers, the company has said. Link
27. As the financial management crisis rocking Etisalat Nigeria deepens, following the resignation of its Board Chairman, Mr. Hekeem Bello-Osagie at the weekend, the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), has ruled out the bailout option, which many industry stakeholders had suggested as the best option to salvage the telecoms company. Link
28. Bajaj Auto, the world’s largest manufacturer of 3-wheelers, has announced plans to increase its assembly plant in Nigeria from one to at least three in the next two years.  Link
29. S&P Global Ratings has revised its outlook on First Bank of Limited to stable from negative. The agency affirmed the lender’s ‘B-/B’ long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings. Link
30. The Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) has dissociated itself from a $315m judgement debt. Justice Valentine Ashi of a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory had in his judgement  ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to pay $318, 807,950.696 to Riok Nigeria Limited and two lawyers. Riok was said to have executed some contracts for ALGON which were not paid for. But ALGON, through its National Presidentý, Alhaji Karaye, its National Secretary General/ Director of Legal Services, Mrs. Evan Enekwe, described the contracts for which Riok Nigerian Limited got judgement in its favour as doubtful and unverified. Link
31. Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has lamented the economic predicament in the country and vowed to scale down the state’s monthly staff wage bill, which he said, currently stood at N7.9b. He explained that the wage bill at the state level was currently N4. 2b while that of council stood at N3.7b monthly. Link