Author: Olu Anisere

Eurobonds Default: Fitch Affirms Ghana Credit Rating at ‘RD’ Fitch Ratings has affirmed Ghana’s long-term foreign currency (LTFC) issuer default rating (IDR) at ‘RD’ and long-term local-currency (LTLC) issuer default rating (IDR) at ‘CCC’. RD, indicates Ghana has defaulted on one or more of its financial commitments, although it continues to meet other financial obligations. In the rating note, Fitch said it typically does not assign outlooks to sovereigns with a rating of ‘CCC+’ or below. Explaining its decision, Fitch said the affirmation of the LTFC IDR at ‘RD’ reflects that Ghana is still defaulting on its outstanding Eurobonds following…

GCR Affirms Dangote Cement AA+ (NG) Rating GCR Ratings (GCR) has affirmed the national scale long-term and short-term issuer ratings of AA+ (NG) and A1+(NG), respectively, accorded to Dangote Cement Plc. In its latest rating note, the emerging market ratings agency said concurrently, it has also affirmed the national scale long-term issue rating of AA+ (NG) accorded to each of Dangote Cement Plc’s existing Senior Unsecured Bonds. It stated that the company’s N3.6 billion series 1 Tranche A Senior Unsecured Bond was fully redeemed in May 2024, and the rating has been withdrawn. The outlook on the ratings is stable.…

FG Tasks NBTI on Research-Based Solutions to Insecurity, Agric Sector Challenges The Federal Government has urged the National Board for Technology Incubation(NBTI) to step up research on finding solutions to Nigeria’s insecurity and challenges in the agriculture sector. Mrs Esuabana Nko-Asanye, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, made the call in his keynote address on Wednesday in Keffi while declaring open a Four-Day Retreat for Directors and Centre Managers. The theme of the retreat is “Renewed Hope: Empowering NBTI Leadership for Technological Advancement and Economic Transformation.’’ Nko-Asanye said she was hopeful that the capacity building event would…

Kuda, SeerBit Partner to Enhance Seamless Online Transaction Kuda, a Fintech company, has partnered SeerBit, a payment gateway, to boost seamless online transaction for its customers. Mr Musty Mustapha, Managing Director of Kuda MicroFinance Bank, said this in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos. According to him, the quick and safe payment option removes the need for typing in debit card details when making online payments. “Nigerian fintech’s retail customers can now look out for ‘Pay With SeerBit’ option on local websites and apps, then pay directly from their Kuda account with their secure Kuda Pay ID. Online fraud remains…

Reps to Intervene Over Electricity Bill Hike at University of Jos The House of Representatives has promised to intervene over the hike in electricity bill at the University of Jos which has placed the university under Band A. Rep. Abubakar Fulata, the Chairman, House Committee on University Education, said this in a statement on Wednesday after the committee`s oversight visit to the school. Fulata said such a hike was unacceptable, promising to work with other relevant House Committees, Ministries, Departments and Agencies and stakeholders to ensure the issue is addressed as soon as possible. Fulata stressed the need to ensure…

IBEDC Boosts Electricity Supply in Ogun The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company Plc (IBEDC) says it has completed a significant enhancement of its electricity infrastructure serving the Sango/Ota axis of Ogun State. The Acting Managing Director of the company, Mr Francis Agoha, disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen in Ota on Wednesday. Agoha said the upgrade aimed to substantially improve the power supply reliability for customers in the region. He said that the key improvements included the successful migration of the Sango 33 KV feeder to a more robust T3 100 MVA, 132 KV/33 KV transformer at the…

Nigeria Partners Chinese coy on Decarbonisation of Mining Practices – Envoy Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action, says Nigeria is taking steps to decarbonise mining practices. He said, in a statement, that to actualise this, he held substantive discussions with the Executive Management of Sinoma International Engineering Company at their Beijing Headquarters on Tuesday. “Mr Yin Zhisong, the Board Chairman of the company and Mr Zhu Bing, the Company’s President, were in attendance at the meeting which, covered areas of mutual interest,” he said. Ngelale said Nigeria was moving swiftly to localise the expertise Sinoma had developed…

Senate Passes 2024 Appropriation Act Amendment Bill of N6.2trn The Senate on Tuesday at plenary, passed the 2024 Appropriation Act Amendment Bill of N6.2 trillion, presented for consideration by President Bola Tinubu on July 17. This, followed presentation and adoption of report of Committee on Appropriations on the bill by its Chairman Sen.Solomon Olamilekan (APC-Ogun). Olamilekan in his presentation said out of the N6.2 trillion,N3.2 trillion was for capital expenditure, while N3 trillion was for recurrent expenditure. He said the 2024 appropriation act amendment bill sought to make available, additional funds for the renewed hope Infrastructure development projects, to be…

Food Prices Rise in June- NBS The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), says prices of beans, tomatoes, irish potatoes, garri, yam and other food items witnessed significant price increases in June 2024. The NBS said this in its Selected Food Prices Watch report for June 2024 released in Abuja on Tuesday. The report said that the average price of 1kg of brown beans increased by 252.13 per cent from N651.12 recorded in June 2023 to N N2,292.76 in June 2024. “On a month-on-month basis, 1kg of brown beans increased by 14.11 per cent in June from the N2,009.23 recorded in…

$200m Fine on Meta, WhatsApp, Based on Discriminatory Practices — FCCPC The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) says the $200 million fine against Meta Platforms Inc. and WhatsApp LLC was based on discriminatory practices and sanctionable offences committed. The acting Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Dr Adamu Abdullahi, said in a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday, that the penalty was slammed on the companies after three years of intensive investigations. Abdullahi said the companies were found culpable of denying Nigerian data subjects the right to self determination, unauthorised transfer and sharing of personal data which was…