AFR Business Media

AFR Business Media

Ad example

AFR Business

Northern Group Asks Tinubu to Sack NNPC Chief Mele Kyari

by

A civil society organisation, the Mega National Movement for Good Governance, has called on President Bola Tinubu to sack the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mr Mele Kyari.

The group made this demand over the sudden scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, in the Federal Capital Territory, Kaduna State and other major cities across the country.

At a press conference in Kaduna on Friday, the organisation accused the independent petroleum marketers of creating the scarcity with the intention of hiking fuel prices in the coming days.

The spokesman for the group, Mr Ibrahim Tijani, also expressed worry over the instability of prices of petroleum products resulting from a policy somersault of NNPC Limited as well as mounting allegations of monumental corruption within the company.

Among other things, the civil society group alleged that there are significant irregularities within the state oil company such as a petrol subsidy scam, under-remittance of oil sales revenue, shady pipeline surveillance contracts, and oil theft, which it laments have had a collective detrimental effect on the nation’s economy.

The group, therefore, appealed to President Tinubu to sack Mr Kyari and order a “deep interrogation” of allegations of monumental corruption entrenched in NNPC Limited under his leadership.

Tinubu administration to authorize payments to 15 million Households, says Humanitarian Affairs Minister

by

The Tinubu administration has said it would begin cash transfers to 15 million households in Nigeria from Tuesday, October 17, 2023.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs Betta Edu, made this disclosure while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.

Mrs Edu said the policy would be launched after approval from President Bola Tinubu and the clean-up of the national social register.

“With the approval from the President, which we hope to get this week, on October 17, we will be officially launching the conditional cash transfer to 15 million households in Nigeria,” the Minister said.

“As we speak, we are having a verification exercise. Every state can bear us witness that we have put boots on the ground – persons who are working with the state cash transfer office as well as the governors who are the heads of the steering committee and then several other persons,” she said.

“All of this is to be sure those who are on the national social register truly are Nigerians who fall [spend] within the under $1.95 a day [range] and they deserve to have it,” Mrs Edu added.

Admitting that some persons on the social register may have died or moved up the economic ladder, the Minister said the verification exercise is to clean up the register.

FG moves to create opportunities in digital skills

by

The Tinubu administration on Thursday said it is working to create the enabling environment to unlock opportunities in the digital skills market in sub-Saharan Africa valued at $130 billion.

The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, said the biggest challenge in Nigeria’s digital literacy target is not access but illiteracy.

The minister said this at a Dialogue on the National Digital Literacy Framework (NDLF) organised by the GIZ/Digital Transformation Centre (DTC) in Abuja on Thursday.

According to him, “The access to technology that drives digital technology and its application is becoming cheaper and accessible.

“The biggest challenge is literacy. Before now, we used to talk about the gap that exists with access to the Internet, and mobile technology, but the price for this technology is dropping significantly which means a lot of our people have access.

“As they have access, the question would be whether they have the knowledge to use it.

“For us to drive the prosperity that people want to see, it is important that people are digitally literate or participate in the global economy”, he added.

Also speaking, the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Abdullahi, said the market represents a huge investment opportunity, especially for the private sector.

Quoting statistics from Statista and the International Finance Corporation, the DG said 28 million jobs in Nigeria and 230 jobs in Sub-saharan Africa will require digital skills by 2030.

He said the government’s focus is to empower Nigerians with digital literacy to be part of the digital economy and to close the digital literacy gap.

“We need to train and retrain 230 million people in Sub-saharan Africa, and to achieve that, we need to invest $130 billion. So, a lot needs to be done. A $130 billion market is not a small market, and the government cannot do it alone.

“The government is carrying the value but the private sector will be the one to capture the value. So, government is creating the enabling environment for the private sector to create that value.

“The government has come up with the National Digital Literacy Framework, and to create an industry that will train people. Creating that industry will unlock the market. We are in the process of doing that”, he added.

Abdullahi informed that the process will be participatory, involving the private sector, Civil Society Organisations and international partners.

He also stated that the digital literacy framework has set a target to empower 95 percent of Nigerians with digital skills by 2030 by improving access, skills development, ensuring inclusive participation, and workforce readiness.

The DG, while pointing out that an illiterate is no longer a person who cannot read or write but anyone who cannot use digital devices, urged the review of the school curriculum. “This is a set stage for the education system to review curriculum from kindergarten to university so that everybody will be digitally literate in Nigeria”, he said.

US to host 5-day investor roadshow in Nigeria

by

The U.S., through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission in Nigeria and the U.S. government’s Prosper Africa and Power Africa initiatives, will host an investor roadshow from Oct. 9 to 13.

In a statement, the U.S. mission said the roadshow would expose American investors to investment opportunities and the investment ecosystem in Nigeria.

It was noted in the statement that 12 executives from leading U.S. pension funds and financial service providers, managing over 1 trillion dollars in assets, would hold meetings with Nigerian companies and fund managers during the trip.

The mission said a key objective of the trip was to break down information gaps on Nigeria’s business environment and real and perceived risks so that investors could accurately assess business and project opportunities.

“The roadshow comes at an opportune time, given the significant reforms instituted by the Nigerian government under a new administration,” said the statement.

The statement also quoted U.S. Consul General to Lagos, Will Stevens, to have said that beyond advancing specific investment opportunities, the trip was about building enduring trade and investment relationships between America and Nigerian partners.

“I would like to thank USAID for supporting this inaugural delegation of U.S. investors, in partnership with Chapel Hill Denham and International Investor Network,” Stevens noted.

The mission said the investors were scheduled to participate in site visits, events, and investor pitch sessions in Abuja and Lagos, adding that they would engage with U.S. government representatives to understand U.S. trade and investment priorities in the region.

According to the mission, the roadshow advances USAID’s efforts to mobilise greater private sector investment into infrastructure projects in priority sectors including agriculture, water, sanitation and hygiene, and renewable energy.

It also advances Prosper Africa’s mandate as a presidential initiative to transform the economic relationship between Africa and the U.S. and drive large-scale investment to the continent.

The visit follows the “Investing in Development” conference, held earlier this year in Nigeria, which highlighted greater private sector investment in infrastructure as a key pathway to achieving Nigeria’s development objectives.

Ikeja Electric bars customers from paying for prepaid meters

by

An investigation by Business News Africa has revealed that Ikeja Electric PLC, Nigeria’s largest and most profitable power distribution company has effectively barred its customers from paying for prepaid meters.

The company, which has the largest number of customers among all the electricity distribution companies in Nigeria, recently deactivated the meter payment feature on its website ikejaelectric.com/meterfee, the only way through which customers are able to pay for meters after obtaining a unique payment code.

The unique payment code is usually provided to a consumer after a survey of a customer’s property has been procesed and approved by Ikeja Electric PLC.

Ikeja Electric PLC did not provide a reason for its abrupt decision to stop accepting payments for meters but several customers who spoke to Business News Africa expressed their frustration at being unable to acquire prepaid meters from the company after undergoing a lengthy and convoluted process.

An official of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) who spoke to this newspaper on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter, said that it was within the regulatory agency’s ambit to investigate the matter if it received a formal complaint from any consumer.

Ikeja Electric PLC is owned by the Sahara Group, a conglomerate that is involved in several lucrative sectors of the Nigerian economy. The Group also owns the Egbin Power Plant.

In the past, Ikeja Electric has been accused of overbilling its customers and constantly breaching the NERC cap for unmetered energy consumers and also creating hurdles for custoners who wish to procure prepaid meters.