Naira Strengthens To N435/$ On CBN Dollar Glut
The naira continued to strengthen on the parallel market on Monday to close at N435 to the dollar, stronger than N450 to the dollar at which it closed last Friday. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) continued to relentlessly pump the greenback into the inter-bank foreign exchange market to meet the demand of bank customers. But the buy rate of the greenback rose slightly to N430 to the dollar Monday, against N440 last Friday.
CBN Injects $180m Into Forex Market To Soak Demand
As part of efforts to increase liquidity in the foreign exchange market and firm up the naira against the greenback, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), yesterday released another $180 million into the system. While $100 million is for the wholesale forwards segment, an additional $80 million into the banks is for the settlement of dollar demand for school fees, medicals and Personal Travel Allowance (PTA), among others.
Malabu Oil Block Forfeiture: Shell, Agip, Others Know Fate March 13
The Abuja division of the Federal High Court has reserved till March 13, ruling on two separate applications filed by Shell Nigerian Exploration and Production Company and Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited seeking to set aside an order of forfeiture granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in respect of Oil Prospecting Licence OPL 245 also known as Malabu Oil.
FG Initiates $20b Gas Project In Delta
A $20 billion public-private sector partnership gas industrial park is in the offing, the Presidency has said. Tagged the Gas Revolution Industrial Park, GRIP, Ogidigben, Delta State and envisaged to be a regional hub for all gas-based industries, the project will cover 2,700 hectares with fertilizer, methanol, petrochemicals, & aluminium plants in the park already designated as a tax free zone by the Federal Government. The Acting President Yemi Osinbajo stated that government “was committed to the development of the Niger Delta, and the importance of the project is underlined by the presidential attention it is attracting.
FG Targets 4,000 Metric Tonnes As It Starts Production Of Fertilizer
The Presidential Fertilizer Initiative of the Muhammadu Buhari administration has started yielding results, with the production of more than 4,000 metric tonnes of locally-blended fertilizer in the first week of operation. This was contained in a statement issued Monday in Abuja by the Senior Special Assistant to the Acting President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande.
Presidency Okays N750 Billion Intervention Fund For Agriculture Sector
The Federal Government has approved the sum of N750 billion as Agricultural Intervention Fund to ensure food sufficiency in tune with its diversification agenda. Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, disclosed this yesterday at the inauguration of the Senior Executive Course (SEC) 39 with the theme, “Science, Technology and Innovation for the Development of Agriculture and Agro-Allied Industries in Nigeria”, at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Plateau State.
FG’ll Diversify Economy Through Made-in-Nigeria Goods – Lai Mohammed
As part of measures to diversify the economy, the Federal Government has pledged to focus on local production of goods and services. The federal government has, also, apologized to the people of South East over the destruction of crops and farmlands by herdsmen in the area and assured that permanent solution is being worked out to stop the menace. Revealing this in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, during a Town Hall meeting, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said government would achieve this through the promotion of made-in-Nigeria goods.
FG Adopts PPP Model For $20bn Niger Delta Gas Project
In what is called a ‘Gas Revolution,’ and following the renewed interactive engagements of the Federal Government with oil-producing communities in several states in the Niger Delta region, a plan to put in place a gas industrial park that is valued at about $20 billion through a Public-Private Partnership model is now in process. Tagged the Gas Revolution Industrial Park, GRIP, Ogidigben, and envisaged to be a regional hub for all gas-based industries, the project will cover 2700 hectares with fertilizer, methanol, petrochemicals, and aluminum plants located in the park that has already been designated as a Tax Free Zone by the federal government.
Ete Emerges PENGASSAN’s Chairman At Chevron
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Chevron Branch, has appointed Comrade Onyegbaren Ete as its Chairman to steer the affairs of the branch for the next three years. According to the the association, Ete scored 54 votes of the 65 votes to emerge the winner during the Fourth Triennial Branch Delegates’ Conference of the Branch held in Benin City, Edo State.
CIBN declares Support For TSA, Urges Efficiency
The assessed high-level sanity recorded in both public and private practices due to the operations of Treasury Single Account (TSA), has attracted the commendations of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN). This is coming just as issues of unethical practices among banks, with regards to the management of public funds in their possession have remained topical. It however, sought the extension of the initiative to other areas of our national life where “parasites, pests and locusts still operate freely” and feeding fat on the commonwealth.