Babatunde Fowler, the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), has responded on the issue of the leaked memo from the Presidency, on the agency's inability to revealing what affected the agency's inability to meet its tax revenue target. 

 A memo, allegedly written from the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari to Babatunde Fowler surfaced on the internet on Sunday, August 18, 2019, querying the FIRS boss on why he has consistently been unable to hit the agency's budget, and why his tax revenue receipts over the last four years were lower than that of the previous administration, asking him to explain the reason for the variances between the budgeted and actual revenues. 

Babatunde Fowler Kyari given up till Monday, August 19, 2019, to explain, and in what appears like breaking his silence over the memo, Fowler said the recession experienced by the Nigerian economy in 2016, as well as the drop in oil prices, affected the revenue collected by the FIRS between 2015 and 2018. 

The FIRS boss explained that despite the challenges, non-oil revenue such as Value Added Tax (VAT) and company income tax — which he said were within the control of the FIRS — have been on the increase compared to pre-2015 figures. 

Responding, Fowler said non-oil tax revenue rose, and he is confident that our current strategies and initiatives will improve revenue collection and meet the expectations of government. Meanwhile, the Presidency has dismissed stories of alleged probe of the FIRS boss. 

 Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Gowdin Emefiele has reacted to the  reports that the planned FOREX restrictions on food items import in Nigeria will do further damage to the country’s chances of enjoying the dividend of the recently signed African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). 

The CBN Governor dismissed the report while speaking with State House correspondents at the retreat organised for ministerial designates in the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Monday. Emefiele had remained silent on the issue for almost a week, but has now affirmed the Presidency’s commitment to developing the agricultural sector with this move. 

The CBN Governor answered questions on how the latest restriction on food importation may affect Nigeria’s potential benefit from AfCFTA. Emefiele stated it would not affect the agreement of the AfCFTA just as there is still a unity of purpose on the terms of engagement still being discussed and negotiated. 

He said “The important thing is that Nigeria needs to stand as the largest economy in Africa and the largest populated countries in Africa, we need to stand and dictate the terms under which we want to be in it and this is what we are saying. But what I am saying is that it is wrong, it is inappropriate that an item that can be produced in Nigeria should be imported into Nigeria.” 

Emefiele also said that the restriction of FOREX on importing certain items that can be produced in Nigeria is also an avenue for job creation, and empowering the teaming youth population of the country.

 CBN governor speaks on the ban of Forex on imported products; FIRS boss responds to the Federal government memo; Zambian president to pay a working visit to India; Samsung to release it's Galaxy Note 10; Google partners with Nigeria's SMEDAN on training youth in digital marketing. 

 Nigeria's Bluechip Technologies, has made it's debut on the Kenyan tech scene as a competition for the market. This is the fourth office that Bluechip Technologies has established, as it is already present in 3 African countries including Ghana and Zambia, with its head office in Lagos, Nigeria, Bluechip Technologies Managing Director, Victor Murage said the company’s presence in Kenya was to help proffer solution to the country’s business process automation challenge. Bluechip Technologies Limited is a full-service business applications firm dedicated to providing vendor-neutral solutions that bring industry best practices to bear in developing client data management solutions. 

 Mobile payment company, Paga has hit N1.5 trillion in transaction 7 years after it came on stream in Nigeria. It attained this figure after facilitating 87 million transactions through its over 13 million users across all the 36 states in Nigeria. Paga's founder, Tayo Oviosu, has described the leading payments platform’s recent achievement as a landmark. Paga’s success over the years has been largely attributed to its ability to serve the unbanked communities in rural areas in Nigeria. The financial technology firm’s agents, who are more than 22,000, serve as human ATM (Automated Transfer Machine) for the underserved areas, transferring money digitally. Last year, after a $10 million raise, Paga made known it's plans to expand into new global territories and introduce new partnerships and products to the market. In April, the company announced that it had entered into a partnership with WorldRemit, a Global digital money transfer company. The company, which was was officially launched in 2012, was initially founded in 2009.