Africa Business News

A total of N66 billion has been generated as stamp duty revenue by the Federal Government between January and June 2020.
The Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Services, Muhammad Nami, disclosed this during the inauguration of the inter-ministerial committee on audit and recovery of back years stamp duties.
Mr. Nami while giving a breakdown of the revenue added that the Finance Act has mandated the revenue agency as the sole body to receive stamp duties for the country.
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The leadership of the National Assembly has convinced the Distribution Companies (DISCOs) in the country to defer the hike in electricity tariffs scheduled to take effect from July 1, 2020.
This is according to a statement on Monday by the Special Adviser to the Senate President on Media, Ola Awoniyi.
He revealed that the lawmakers met with the Chief Executives of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the DISCOs and succeeded in persuading them to postpone the planned increase of tariffs until the first quarter of 2021.
Awoniyi said the National Assembly leaders were emphatic that the timing of the planned hike was wrong, although they do not have issues with the need to introduce cost-reflective tariffs for the power sector to attract the much-needed investment.
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The Central Bank of Nigeria said it is stimulating local production in the agriculture business to enhance growth and boost employment in the country.
Some of the apex bank’s agribusiness initiatives are the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund, Agricultural Credit Support Scheme, the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme, and the Real Sector Support Facility, according to a statement.
The Director, Development Finance Department, CBN, Yila Yusuf, said the bank’s funding of the Anchor Borrowers Programme for the 2020 season was the highest since the inception of the programme in 2015.
A global culinary product manufacturing firm, GBFoods, said in a statement that it partnered with the CBN and some others recently to complete a N20bn tomato processing factory in Kebbi State.
According to the statement, the factory is the second largest in Nigeria, West Africa’s only fully backward integrated plant and has the largest single tomatoes farm in Nigeria.
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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation targets to complete the $2.59bn Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline project in 24 months.
It said the construction phase of the 40-inch by 614km pipeline project, which is being inaugurated virtually Tuesday by the President Muhammed Buhari would boost domestic gas utilisation.
The corporation’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Kennie Obateru, said the project was a section of the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline with capacity to transport about 2.2 billion cubic feet of gas per day.
NNPC said the the AKK pipeline would originate from Ajaokuta, in Kogi State and traverse Abuja, Niger, Kaduna and End at Kano.
It said the project would boost domestic utilisation of natural gas for Nigeria’s socio-economic development when completed.

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MTN Foundation says it has invested an estimated sum of N247m in anti-substance abuse campaign and impacted 13.5 million people.
The Foundation in a statement on Monday said it set up the Anti-Substance Abuse Programme in 2018 hinged on awareness, advocacy, information and resource dissemination to curb the prevalence of substance abuse and addiction in Nigeria.
The telecom company said it held a virtual event in collaboration with partners to commemorate the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Sunday Dare, while speaking at the event lamented the rising rate of substance abuse and advised on policies that could be implemented.
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The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria has taken over a factory and other assets belonging to Polema Industries Limited and its Chief Promoter, Chief Emmanuel C. Obi over an indebtedness of over half a billion naira.
A statement from AMCON said this followed the order of Hon. Justice F.O.G. Ogunbanjo of the Federal High Court, Abuja who granted AMCON possession over the company and its assets.
It stated that Justice Ogunbanjo also ordered that all the bank accounts of the company as well as that of Obi be frozen.
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The International Monetary Fund on Monday said there was urgent need for international financial support to Nigeria and other Sub-Saharan countries of Africa, as the nations need $110 to manage the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
 In its report entitled Sub-Saharan Africa: A Cautious Re-opening, the fund stated that the immediate priority in the region remained the preservation of health and lives.
the IMF stated that as the region starts to recover, authorities should gradually shift from broad fiscal support to more affordable, targeted policies, concentrating particularly on the poorest households and those sectors hit hardest by the crisis.
 It said the fund had supported 29 countries in the region with about $10bn in funding through its Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust facility, but stressed that this was not enough.
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The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers, COPEC, has justified its decision to check the amount of fuel dispensed to consumers at various fuel stations.
The Association of Oil Marketing Companies, OMCs, has criticized the act accusing COPEC of usurping the powers of the National Petroleum Authority, NPA, and the Ghana Standards Authority, GSA, which are mandated to ensure that OMCs expense the right amount of fuel for any purchase.
COPEC however maintains that its actions have in the past led to some defaulting OMCs being fined, which in turn ensured value for money to consumers.
According to COPEC, its occasional checks at fuel stations forms part of its role as a civil society organization interested in promoting the interest of consumers.
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South Africa’s High Court on Monday sided with Eskom in a dispute over the amount energy regulator Nersa allowed the state utility to claw back from customers for electricity supplied in the 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17 financial years.
Nersa’s 2018 decisions to allow Eskom to recoup 32.69 billion rand ($1.9 billion) via a mechanism known as the regulatory clearing account (RCA) for those three years have been set aside, and it must now come up with new decisions.
Monday’s ruling could lead to higher power tariffs, as the court said it appeared Nersa had disallowed Eskom money for lower-than-forecast revenue based on a “fundamental factual error”. It said disallowing some coal costs was not rational.
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South Africa’s rand weakened in early trade on Tuesday ahead of a series of data releases, including first quarter economic growth figures, trade and budget balance, which are all expected to show a struggling economy with bleak prospects.
At 0630 GMT, the rand was 0.3% weaker at 17.3125 per dollar, giving up Monday’s small gains as investors awaited the data for direction.
The currency has struggled for direction in the sessions following last Wednesday’s emergency budget speech, which painted an unsurprisingly bleak picture of the finances of the continent’s most developed economy and little market reaction.
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