APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The plan by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) to study to determine the actual consumption of petrol in Nigeria is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
The Punch reports that the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative said on Tuesday that the Federal Government should not go back on its decision to halt subsidy on petrol despite the opposition against the move.
NEITI also announced that it had commenced a study to determine the actual consumption of petrol in Nigeria, stressing that the high PMS consumption figures being released by some agencies of government were not correct.
The Executive Secretary, NEITI, Ogbonnaya Orji, disclosed this in Abuja while speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Stakeholders Validation Workshop on the 2022 Annual Progress Report for Nigeria’s Extractive Industries.
“For a very long time, my disposition has been for the removal of subsidy. And this government, right from day one has taken that bold step. There shouldn’t be any going back.
“We should move forward from there and then put in place a robust arrangement that will show a clear departure from the way and manner we have operated under subsidy. Nigerians want to see what will change when the subsidy is no more.
“And we have highlighted this because we know that subsidies put a lot of impediments on transparency and accountability in the management of revenues from the oil and gas industry over the years,” he stated.
Orji stated that NEITI knew that subsidy removal would throw up a lot of other issues, adding that “one of those issues that we know will happen is the actual consumption figure (of petrol).”
The newspaper says that the value of Nigeria’s export may rise to at least N41.99tn per year following the Central Bank of Nigeria float of the naira.
The apex bank had last Wednesday directed Deposit Money Banks to remove the rate cap on the naira at the official Investors and Exporters’ Window of the foreign exchange market, to bridge the gap between the official and parallel market rates of the naira.
It said, “The Central Bank of Nigeria wishes to inform all authorised dealers and the general public of the following immediate changes to operations in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market: Abolishment of segmentation. All segments are now collapsed into the Investors and Exporters window.”
Following the move, the naira fell from its 471/dollar to 664.04/dollar and closed the week later at N663.04/dollar.
The weakening of the naira against the dollar means exporters, especially the Federal Government, will make more revenue (in naira terms) from exports’ dollar proceeds.
According to the International Trade Center, Nigeria’s total export in 2022 was $63.34bn. At N448.55/dollar (the central price of the dollar as of December 30, 2022, on the CBN’s website), its naira equivalent was N28.41tn. But now (using Friday’s rate of N663.04/dollar), its naira equivalent would translate to N41.99tn.
If Nigeria exports the same quantity it did in 2022, it will make about N41.99tn. And with the government’s plan to ramp up oil production, which is a major component of the country’s export, Nigeria’s export value is expected to increase.
The Guardian reports that Nigeria has attracted about $1 billion funding to the technology startup ecosystem businesses in 2022.
This was disclosed yesterday by the Founder of CcHub, Dr. Bosun Tijani, who featured on a television programme to intimate the public about Pan African Youth Innovation Forum 2023, with the theme: “Unleashing Africa’s Innovative Future with Bill Gates,” an hybrid event happening tomorrow, which will feature Microsoft Co-Founder, Bill Gates, among others.
Tijani said the technology ecosystem is fast becoming big and currently has the capacity to attract over $10 billion in funding.
He recalled: “When we started CcHub about 14 years ago, it was difficult for folks to actually get funded. People struggled to find $5000 to back their businesses. But it was then we reached out to a billionaire, who created a fund that is now funding firms across Africa.
“As of last year, Nigeria alone raised over $1 billion in funding technology businesses in the country. But about six years ago, we were struggling seriously to get about $200 million into this economy. This is not from government and I don’t think it is necessarily government’s role to actually fund businesses. Government is to create an enabling environment for investors and investments to come in,”
Tijani said there has been significant progress over the years, but lots of works still need to be done. He stressed that there are so many things that still need to be done to inspire confidence and drive much more money into the ecosystem.
“Going by the trajectory of what we have seen lately, Nigeria is a country that can be attracting $10 billion to technology companies almost on a yearly basis. For this to happen, we need to plug into innovation communities around.
“When we started CcHub 14 years back, we were the first in the country and today I think Nigeria has over 150 technology hubs spread across the country, doing amazing things, developing solutions and solving problems. It is about been part of the community because that is where things happen. With that opportunity, one can gain access to resources, know how to build businesses, how to scale them and make them sustainable thereafter. The most important thing is how you eventually gained access to funding,” he stated.
Speaking on the Startup Act, the CcHub boss said it shows that something is happening in the country’s technology ecosystem. He however, said there is still the need to further create the right policies and regulations to back it up because innovation is expensive and intentional.
The Nation newspaper says that Chief Executive Officer, AFEX Commodities Exchange, Ayodeji Balogun, said that agriculture’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would hit N15 trillion as the Federal Government promotes regional commodities exchange.
Balogun said an increase in agriculture export earnings would hit $1.5 billion.
He said there was much revenue to be made as the government pursues an enabling environment to boost agri-food products export to destinations in European Union (EU), United Kingdom, United States, China and the rest of the world, adding that with the traceability that will be provided by regional commodities exchange, exports will increased in value and volume.
With the government set to unveil the regional agro commodities exchange policy direction, Balogun said so much would be achieved to support farmers in the transition towards a sustainable and resilient agricultural sector including investments to make living and working in rural areas more attractive, aiming to create at least 20 million jobs.
GIK/APA