Africa Business News

The House of Representatives has summoned former  Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun; the incumbent Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed; and the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, to account for a total sum of N1.7tn appropriated for the implementation of the National Social Investment Programmes from 2016 to September 2019.
The House Committee on Public Accounts also summoned the incumbent and former permanent secretaries and desk officers involved in the implementation of the NSIPs in both the ministries and the National Social Investment Office.


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According to expectations from firms, the retail and wholesale trade sector will drive business expansion in August.
The statistics department of the Central Bank of Nigeria disclosed this in its business expectation survey report. The survey was conducted in July.
The report said the analysis of businesses with expansion plans in August showed that the wholesale/retail trade sector indicates the highest disposition to expand with an index 46.3 points;
At -7.9 index points, it stated that the overall confidence index indicated respondents’ pessimism on the overall macro economy in the month of July.
However, it added, respondents were optimistic in their outlook for August with a confidence index of 33.7.
They expressed optimism in the overall business outlook in September 2020 and January 2021 as shown in a greater confidence of the economy, at 45.5 and 62.4 index points respectively.

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The Central Bank of Nigeria disbursed N539.8m loans to farmers between January and March 2020.
It disclosed this in its third quarter economic report on titled Agricultural credit guarantee scheme, obtained on Monday.
A total of N539.8m loans was guaranteed to 3,161 farmers under the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme in the first quarter of 2020.
Sub-sectorial analysis showed that food crops obtained the largest share of the total, with N291.6m (54.0 per cent) guaranteed to 1,958 beneficiaries; followed by the livestock, N115.2m (21.3 per cent) guaranteed to 430 beneficiaries.
Analysis by state showed that 30 states and the Federal Capital Territory benefited from the scheme in the review quarter, with the highest and lowest sums of N54.8m (10.2 per cent) and N1.8m (0.3 per cent) guaranteed to Ogun and Nasarawa states respectively.
The bank stated that agricultural activities in the first quarter of 2020 were predominantly preparation of land for early wet season planting, harvesting of tree crops and irrigation-fed vegetables.

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Several major oil and gas projects in Nigeria may suffer further delays as international oil companies operating in the country saw their financials take a dive in the second quarter of this year.
The slump in oil prices caused by the coronavirus pandemic has forced many companies, including IOCs to slash their capital budgets and suspend some projects.
The global oil benchmark, Brent crude, plunged to as low as $15.98 per barrel in April, its lowest since June 1999. It traded around $44 per barrel on Monday.
Royal Dutch Shell said last Thursday that it posted a loss of $18.4bn in the second quarter of this year, compared to a profit of $3.5bn in the same period of 2019.
The company warned that the outlook for oil demand continued to be uncertain, saying it had cut its exploration drilling plans for this year from 77 wells to just 22.

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Eni, a global oil giant, with operations in Nigeria, on Monday said it complied with the law on issues pertaining to Oil Prospecting License 245.
It said in a statement issued by Eni’s subsidiary, Nigerian Agip Oil Company, the international oil firm stated it had published on its website the documents of the judicial investigation into the acquisition of OPL245 in Nigeria.
The IOC said it carried out an in-depth fact-checking on all the main points of the ongoing trial at the Milan Tribunal.
The oil firm said it had decided this transparency initiative in the belief that the reading of the documents would allow people to verify directly how Eni acted with absolute correctness and in full compliance with the law.
The firm said the development of OPL245 would have brought and would bring great economic and social benefits to the Nigerian people.

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India’s Flipkart on Thursday said it had acquired parent Walmart Inc’s local cash-and-carry business, as the e-commerce firm strengthens its wholesale offerings to compete better with Amazon.com Inc .
The Bengaluru-headquartered firm said the deal will allow Flipkart to launch a digital marketplace called Flipkart Wholesale next month, without disclosing any financial details of the deal.
Walmart, which has been running Best Price wholesale cash-and-carry stores in India since 2009, bought a controlling stake in Flipkart in 2018 for $16 billion.
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South African mobile operator Vodacom Group Ltd on Thursday reported a 7.6% rise in first-quarter group service revenue, buoyed by strong demand for voice, data and financial services in its domestic market during the coronavirus lockdown.
Vodacom, which is majority owned by Vodafone, said group service revenue grew to 18.7 billion rand ($1.14 billion)in the three months ended June 30, up from 17.4 billion rand from the year-earlier period. Overall group revenue grew by 5.6%.
Vodacom said the significant growth in demand for data assisted in offsetting the effects of the price cuts.
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South Africa’s rand gained early on Thursday, before a central bank decision on interest rates, as tensions between China and the United States resurfaced and weakened the dollar.
At 0650 GMT the rand was 0.27% firmer at 16.4275 per dollar from an overnight close of 16.4850.
The rand has strengthened most of the week, spurred by the rescue package the European Union agreed and by investor hopes of a quick global economic recovery.
The currency has managed to break through the 16.50 technical resistance mark but has struggled to get beyond that, with a surge of COVID-19 cases locally and abroad keeping bullish investors cautious.
The South African Reserve Bank concludes its three-day policy meeting on Thursday, with most analysts expecting it to cut rates by 25 basis points but some forecasting no change.
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According to Government sources, Sudan’s amended budget for 2020 includes a currency adjustment programmme beginning in August that aims to reach a full currency float in two years.
The country’s currency recently fell to a record low of 150 Sudanese pounds to the dollar on the black market, compared with 55 at the official rate. The black market rate was 140 pounds to the dollar on Wednesday.
Acting Finance Minister Hiba Mohamed Ali said the private sector will be allowed to import unlimited quantities of fuel to address shortages, which will lead to a rationalization of its price, referring to a removal of subsidies to help meet the reform demands of international donors.
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The African Development Bank (AfDB) on Wednesday said it has approved a roughly 5 billion rand ($300 million) loan to the South African government to help it fight the COVID-19 pandemic and support its budget.
Africa’s most industrialised economy was in recession even before COVID-19 started ravaging its economy. Forecasts are now for gross domestic product to shrink by at least 7% this year, and a budget deficit of around 15% of GDP.
The country has recorded the most coronavirus infections in Africa, with more than 380,000 cases.
The AfDB in a statement said that the loan was to protect lives and promote access to essential medical equipment, to protect livelihoods by preserving jobs, and to support companies in the formal and informal economy.
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