The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has threatened to shut the accounts of operators who continue to violate diaspora remittance regulations as well as withdraw their operating licences.
In a circular signed by the Director, Trade & Exchange Department of the CBN, Dr. O. S. Nnaji, on Friday, the apex bank said it would no longer tolerate the clear “contravention of its directive that all remittances be paid to beneficiaries in dollars.”
The circular which was sent to all authorised dealers and International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) titled ‘Modalities for payout of diaspora remittances,’ insisted that the directives were in furtherance to its earlier circular titled ‘Receipt of diaspora remittances: Additional operational guidelines’.
“These measures are intended to promote transparency, grow diaspora remittances and significantly improve foreign exchange inflows into Nigeria,” the circular reads.
“Strict sanctions, including withdrawal of operating licences, shall be imposed on any individual and/ or institutions found to be aiding, abetting or directly contravening these guidelines.”
The CBN also said it would not hesitate to close the accounts of unlicensed operators and bar them from accessing banking services in Nigeria.
“The CBN shall not hesitate to authorise the closure of their accounts in Nigerian banks, including being barred from accessing banking services in Nigeria.”
CBN also stated that only licensed IMTOs were permitted to carry on the business of facilitating diaspora remittances into Nigeria, adding that all diaspora remittances must be received by beneficiaries in foreign currency only, either in cash and/ or transfers to domiciliary accounts of recipients.
“IMTOs are not permitted, under any circumstance, to disburse diaspora remittances in Nigeria (either in cash or by electronic transfer), be it through naira remittance settlement accounts (which it had earlier directed to be closed), third party accounts or via any other payment platforms within and/or around the Nigerian financial system.”
Aliko Dangote for the tenth straight time is Africa’s richest person, with a net worth pegged at $12.1 billion according to Forbes 2021 African billionaires’ ranking.
Dangote was joined by Mike Adenuga of Globacom, and Abdulsamad Rabiu of BUA Group as the 5th and 6th richest persons in Africa respectively.
Forbes in its report released on Friday, stated that Dangote, despite the pandemic, made $2 billion in 2020 thanks to a 30 per cent increase in the share price of his Dangote Cement.
Also, the report revealed that the biggest gainer this year is Rabiu who added $5.5 billion, an extraordinary 77 per cent in fortune last year.
The billionaires’ list by country is however led by South Africa and Egypt each having five billionaires in the top 10, followed by Nigeria with three and Morocco with two.
According to forbes, the second richest person in Africa is Nassef Sawiris of Egypt, whose largest asset was a nearly six per cent stake in sportswear maker Adidas.
At number three was Nicky Oppenheimer of South Africa, who inherited a stake in diamond firm DeBeers and ran the company until 2012, when he sold his family’s 40 per cent stake in DeBeers to mining giant AngloAmerican for $5.1bn
It added that while some got richer by the billions, two from the 2020 list of Africa’s richest dropped below the $1bn mark.
In fact, the only two women billionaires from Africa had both fallen off the list.
Forbes calculated that the fortune of Folorunsho Alakija of Nigeria, who owns an oil exploration company, dropped below $1bn due to lower oil prices.
It said Isabel dos Santos, who since 2013 had been the richest woman in Africa, was knocked from her perch by a series of court decisions freezing her assets in both Angola and Portugal.
“In all 18 billionaires from Africa hailed from seven different countries. Altogether they were worth $73.8bn, slightly more than the $73.4bn aggregate worth of the 20 billionaires on last year’s list of Africa’s richest people.”
Tesla and SpaceX chief, Elon Musk, has announced intention to donate $100 million as reward to anyone with the best carbon capture technology.
Elon Musk, who recently overtook Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest person, made the announcement via his Twitter handle @elonmusk, promising to share more details in the coming week.
He tweeted: “Am donating $100M towards a prize for best carbon capture technology.”
Scientists explain that Carbon capture “is the process of trapping waste carbon dioxide either directly from the air, or just before it gets emitted from factories and power plants.”
With the new pledge from Elon Musk, the world looks away from natural Carbon capture mechanism such as “tree planting” to more sophisticated methods that the multimillion dollar challenge might birth forth.
This USD100 million reward development comes as part of world leaders’ measures and investment to reduce the increasing global carbon dioxide emissions which have soared over the last 100 years, and led to unprecedented global warming and climate change.
Nigeria’s stock market returned negative on Thursday, January 21, as the All Share Index depreciated by -0.12% to close at 41,099.15 basis points as against +0.23% appreciation recorded previously.
Investors traded 7,404 deals, exchanging 1,121,363,848 units valued at N6.397 billion. Market capitalisation decreased by N25 billion, from N21.524 trillion to N21.499 trillion.
MRS Plc stocks led the losers table after dipping from N13.75 to N12.4, losing N1.35 or 9.82 percent.
It was followed by Cadbury Nigeria Plc which moved from a high of N10.8 to N9.75, shedding N1.05 or 9.72 percent.
Likewise, Flour Mills decreased from N32.5 to N31.6, losing 90kobo or 2.77 percent. Dangote Cement Plc was also down from N234.5 to N234, shedding 50 kobo or 0.21percent, followed by Guinness Nigeria Plc which dropped from a high of N18.95 to N18.5, losing 45kobo or 2.37 percent.
Transcorp, GTBank, Sovereign Trust Insurance, Mutual Benefit, and Universal Insurance were the most traded stocks on the Exchange.
MULTIVERSE led the list of active stocks that recorded an impressive volume spike at the end of the day’s session.
The Federal Government said on Thursday it had approved and disbursed the sum of N14.35 billion to the Distribution Companies of Nigeria (DisCos) to procure at least 263,860 meters for electricity customers.
The disbursement was under the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP), initiated by the federal government to put an end to estimated billing of electricity consumers by DisCos.
This was disclosed on Thursday, via the official twitter handle of the presidency @NGRPresident.
“UPDATE: The Central Bank of Nigeria @cenbank has now disbursed a total of 14.35 billion Naira to the Distribution Companies of Nigeria (DisCos) to cover the procurement of 263,860 meters under the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP),” the presidency said.
Part of the statement further reads, “The maximum tenor of the facility is 10 years but not exceeding 2030, while the moratorium on the principal amount is for a period not exceeding 24 months from the date of loan disbursement.”
The CBN facility is a loan that would be paid by DisCos on the basis of the previously agreed amortisation schedule.
Simba Group, distributors of Luminous power back-up solutions including inverters, batteries and solar powered systems has unveiled the new innovative NRGT Tubular batteries for inverters. The company has also set a new benchmark in the inverter battery industry in Nigeria with 24 Months warranty offer.
Speaking during the unveiling of the product, held at the company’s corporate office in Lagos, the Business Head – Simba Power Products, Mr. Ravi Srivastava said, “We at Simba are excited to launch the new 2021 range of our Luminous NRGT tall tubular batteries. Luminous has consistently driven innovation and technological advances in the inverter battery industry in Nigeria, including the transition to tubular batteries which has transformed the market in the last few years.”
Srivastava disclosed that Luminous has set new heights for performance and life with the NRGT Tubular battery, which has been recognized internationally as the leading battery of its kind.
According to the Head of Marketing-Simba Group, Mr. Karthik Govindarajan, the Luminous NRGT battery uses proprietary manufacturing processes to deliver superior performance, and uses special composite ceramics to minimize water loss, increase safety, and deliver longer life.
“We are passionate about consistently delivering innovative products and services across the country. Hence we have launched this truly innovative Tall Tubular battery whose superior technology and engineering allows us to offer an industry-leading 24 months’ warranty and drive further value to our customers” he said.
Naira put up a poor performance against the dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window on Wednesday as trading closed at N394.17k per dollar.
This represents a 0.21 percent drop or 82 kobo loss when compared to the N393.35k per dollar that it exchanged for on Tuesday, according to data from FMDQ Securities Exchange Plc.
Although, at the black market, Naira remained steady in value to the dollars at N475/$ after two days trading.
According to analyst, the depreciation of dollars in the official market was attributed to strong demand for dollar by the end-users to meet their obligations.
Similarly, data from FMDQ Securities Exchange Plc shows that forex turnover rose to $89.50 million on Wednesday from $26.83 million recorded on Tuesday.
This suggests an increase in dollar inflow from Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs).
The chairman of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council on the market, Doyin Salami, wants Nigeria to develop a forex policy that allows the economy to grow.
For the past 10 months, the foreign exchange market has been under pressure following a sharp drop in oil prices occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Central Bank of Nigeria had in the last weeks moved to clear the huge backlog of foreign exchange demand.
The Nigerian stock market closed Wednesday on a positive note as the All-Share Index appreciated by +0.23% to close at 41,051.63 basis points as against -0.07% depreciation recorded previously.
At the close of the market, Investors booked their first gain of N50.26bn after consecutive two days negative trading.
6,296.00 deals exchanged hands in a trading volume of 649 million valued at N4.61 trillion to close the market cap at N21.52 trillion
Stocks like Lafarge Africa, Ardova, BOC Gas, Northern Nigeria Flour Mills and CAP Plc witnessed increased bargains, which put their prices on a higher trajectory.
Market breadth closed positive as DEAPCAP led 55 gainers as against 14 losers topped by MANSARD at the end of today’s session – an improved performance.
Market turnover closes positive as volume moved up by +23.74% as against the -28.91% downtick recorded in the previous session.
Mbenefit, Transcorp and Sterling bank were the most active to boost market turnover. WAPCO and Guaranty topped the market value list.
Federal Government on Tuesday promised continued support for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in order to create more job opportunities for the nation’s teeming youths.
The Director-General of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN), Alhaji Dikko Radda, made the pledge during an MSME’s Support Organisation Dialogue in Kano.
He said the dialogue was aimed at bringing key stakeholders in the Nigerian MSME Ecosystem to discuss possible measures at moving the sector forward despite the COVID–19 pandemic.
Radda, who was represented at the forum by the Director of Partnership and Coordination in the agency, Dr. Friday Okpara, said the MSME was considered a key factor in economic transformation globally, and called for greater emphasis in the sector to achieve the set objectives.
Portland Paints and Products Nigeria Plc on Tuesday announced plans to transfer all its rights liabilities and business undertakings, including real property and intellectual property to Chemical Allied Products (CAP) Plc.
This followed the approval of the proposed merger plan between CAP Plc and Portland Paints Plc by the Federal High Court, Lagos.
In a statement sent to Nigeria Stocks Exchange on Tuesday, Portland paints said upon approval by the shareholders at the court-ordered meeting on February 18, the subjoined resolutions of the merger agreement would be effected.
In the arrangement, all employees and undertakings rights, powers, and duties of a personal character, which could not generally be assigned or performed vicariously will be transferred to CAP Plc.
The statement read: “The entire share capital of the company shall be cancelled, and the company shall be dissolved without being wound up.”
Portland Paints also revealed plan to transfer all monies in its accounts in banks and with other debtors within and outside Nigeria to CAP Plc.
The Nigerian bourse opened the week on a negative note as the benchmark- All Share Index (ASI) dropped by -0.23percent to close at 41,082.38 index points.
Investors lost N39.54billion to close market capitalization at N24.4 trillion as year-to-date returns currently stand at +2.02 percent.
Market activity measured by aggregate volume stood at N738.5 million at the end of trading valued at N4.1 trillion in 7,396.00 deals.
Market breadth closed positive as AIICO led 35 gainers as against 21 losers topped by JAPAULOIL at the end of today’s session – an unimproved performance when compared with the previous outlook.
Market turnover closes positive as volume moved up by +10.79% as against -17.64% downtick recorded in the previous session.
AFRINSURE leads the list of active stocks that recorded impressive volume spike at the end of today’s session.
JAPAULOIL, UNIVINSURE and TRANSCORP were the most active while GUARANTY and ZENITHBANK topped market value list.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Saturday residents of Abia, Kebbi and Kwara States paid the highest price for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol in December last year.
The NBS, which disclosed this in its “PMS Price Watch for December 2020,” said residents of Abia paid N176.19 for petrol while those in Kwara and Kebbi paid N172.43 and N169.92 respectively.
States with the lowest prices of petrol were Bauchi (N162.57), Katsina (N160.25) and Kaduna (N155).
According to the bureau, the average price paid by consumers for petrol increased by 14 percent year-on-year and decreased month-on-month by -0.94 percent to N165.70 in December from N167.27 in November.
Similarly, the average price paid by consumers for Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) otherwise known as diesel increased by 0.28 percent month-on-month and decreased by -2.37 percent year-on-year to N224.37 in December, from to N223.74 in November.
States with the highest average price of diesel were Taraba where residents paid N266, Adamawa N262.50 and Zamfara N257.50.
While Osun (N201.09), Gombe (N197. 50) and Kwara (N195) are the states with the lowest average price of diesel.
A proposed low-cost airline, Green Africa, is set to commence operations soon as it is on the verge of acquiring its Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC).
The AOC issued by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) authorizes an airline to commence flight operations.
It was learnt that the Green Africa Airways is on the final leg of the process of acquiring the AOC preparatory to launching into the domestic space.
Green Africa owned by Babawande Afolabi, has a leadership team which includes two well-experienced leaders in the global aviation industry; Neil Mills – President and Chief Operating Officer and Kiran Koteshwar – Chief Financial Officer.
The airline in a statement said it would soon be unveiling its crew uniform tagged “The Runway” which will be made public in due course.
Daily Trust reports that the airline in 2018 took the industry by storm with its order of 100 Boeing 737 Max but as at that time, it was yet to commence the process of acquiring the AOC which encompasses five rigorous stages.
But gradually, the airline is said to be fulfilling the requirements which would enable it join the league of nine scheduled domestic airlines.
Findings by Daily Trust indicate that no fewer than 25 AOC applicants are at various stages of processing with the NCAA while Green Africa has virtually completed the process.
In December 2020, the airline sent its pilots on a type-rating training. The pilots are Folu Oladipo (Chief Pilot), Victor Yem, John Ayerume, Stephen Okereke, Ladi Ogun, and Israel Eloho.
While Green Africa is yet to provide detailed information about its launch and routes networks, the public continues to speculate ahead of its launch which the company says is on track for this year.
The company continues to scale up the manpower required for the start of operations and some of the newly recruited cabin crew members (Adefolabi Ogunnaike, Rosemary Uagbor, Afolabi Modupe, Juliana Aku, Aderounmu Yetunde, Okere Ijeoma, Chieke Immaculate, and Abimbola Segun) were also recently sent for type-rating training.
According to a source at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) who is well aware of the plans of the new carrier, he mentioned that “the airline is serious, they mean business and could start soon, as they are close to acquiring the Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC)”.
Green Africa, ahead of the scheduled commencement of operations, has given out 24 (Twenty-Four) free tickets during the December 2020 promotion tagged “Tis the season to gIFT” which was featured on its social media pages.
In October 2020, Green Africa formed a strategic partnership with First City Monument Bank (FCMB), which yielded $31 million in a combination of standby letter of credit and rolling working capital.
Green Africa is anchored by a group of senior industry leaders led by Tom Horton, former Chairman & CEO of American Airlines, Wale Adeosun, Founder & CEO of Kuramo Capital, William Shaw, CEO of InterJet, Virasb Vahidi, former CCO of American Airlines and Gbenga Oyebode, Founder & Chairman of Aluko & Oyebode.
Elon Musk just became the richest person in the world, with a net worth of more than $185 billion.Thursday’s increase in Tesla’s share price pushed Musk past Jeff Bezos, who had been the richest person since 2017 and is currently worth about $184 billion.Musk’s wealth surge over the past year marks the fastest rise to the top of the rich list in history — and marks a dramatic financial turnaround for the famed entrepreneur.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, stands on the construction site of the Tesla Gigafactory in Grünheide near Berlin, September 3, 2020.
Elon Musk just became the richest person in the world, with a net worth of more than $185 billion.
Thursday’s increase in Tesla’s share price pushed Musk past Jeff Bezos, who had been the richest person since 2017 and is currently worth about $184 billion. Musk’s wealth surge over the past year marks the fastest rise to
Musk started 2020 worth about $27 billion, and was barely in the top 50 richest people.
Tesla’s rocketing share price — which has increased more than nine-fold over the past year — along with his generous pay package have added more than $150 billion to his net worth.
Meanwhile, Amazon’s share price has remained more subdued due to the potential for increased regulation from Washington.
Elon Musk passed Warren Buffett in July to become the seventh richest person. In November, Musk raced past Bill Gates to become the second richest person. Musk has gained more wealth over the past 12 months than Bill Gates’ entire net worth of $132 billion.
Tesla’s shares were recently trading at about $790, up more than 4% in trading Thursday. The company’s market value has grown to $737.6 billion.
This ex bbn housemate for season 4 , who was disqualified, Tacha has achieved so much , this includes her new deal with a skin care company.
Tacha is obviously winning and making so much progress in the industry, as a successful brand influencer and entrepreneur.
Tacha
Likewise , her fans , “titans” are really supportive and have shown her so much love. She made the announcement of her new deal via her Instagram account as seen below;
JAY-Z may be making another power move. The Roc Nation mogul has reportedly been in talks to sell his music streaming service TIDAL to Jack Dorsey’s digital-payment company, Square Inc.
According to Bloomberg, JAY-Z has privately met with Dorsey multiple times during the pandemic. The potential deal is part of a push for Square to diversify. However, the negotiations may not result in an actual transaction.
JAY-Z acquired TIDAL from Swedish company Aspiro in March 2015 for a reported $56 million, but the streaming service has struggled to keep up with competitors, including Spotify and Apple Music. TIDAL hasn’t reported subscriber figures since 2016 when it had 3 million paying customers. TIDAL has benefited in the past from its exclusive album releases including Beyoncé’s LEMONADE, Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo, and Rihanna’s ANTI.
JAY-Z
This is not the first talk of a TIDAL acquisition. Back in 2016, there were reports that Apple and Samsung had interest in acquiring the streamer, but both companies denied the rumors.
Dorsey, who is also CEO of Twitter, has maintained a close friendship with JAY-Z and Beyoncé. They were photographed in the Hamptons in August and then again in November in Hawaii with Sean Penn.
In April, Dorsey’s #startsmall partneredwith Beyoncé’s BeyGOOD foundation to provide $6 million in funding to organizations providing mental wellness services during the coronavirus crisis.
Along with JAY-Z, TIDAL’s co-owners include high-profile artists like Beyoncé, Rihanna, Alicia Keys, and Madonna. The service is available in 53 countries and offers more than 60 million songs and 250,000 videos.
Gone are the days when local aphrodisiac sellers were mostly illiterates who wore make-up with loud colours and were often restricted to hawking their wares on the streets or at ‘motor parks’.
In recent times, thanks to the advent of social media, they have now ‘repackaged’. There is a booming market for these products, which is now sold by educated people, most of whom are ladies under the age of 30 but still, they smile to the bank daily.
Top on their shelves is a product called, Kayanmata, among other things.
Kayanmata originated from the Northern part of Nigeria and it refers to herbs or potions that act as sex or love enhancers for couples.
In Hausa language, the word, Kayanmata means women’s things. Funnily, there is a no refund policy for these aphrodisiac products.
The PUNCH highlights the luxurious lifestyle of these Nigerian aphrodisiac sellers.null
Hauwa Saidu Mohammed
Known as Jaaruma, she is probably the most popular of the lot as she commands followership of 1.1 million followers on her verified Instagram account and over 42,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Also known as Queen Jaaruma, P Sweetener or The Luxurious Big Girl; regardless of what you want to call her, she is rumoured to be one of Nigeria’s most successful and highly-paid sex therapist.
She reportedly founded her business in 2010 and is mostly known for selling a local aphrodisiac known as Kayanmata, among other things.
Jaaruma is known to flaunt her wealth on social media unapologetically. For instance, about five days ago, she announced N1m cash give away via an Instagram post where she was pictured leaning on a yellow luxurious supercar.
Jaaruma is known to give out millions of naira. She once gave a social media influencer, Pamilerin, a million naira for promoting her brand. It was reported that the 27-year-old also gave a former Big Brother Naija housemate, Ella, about N3.4m.
In another video on her Instagram page, she was seen flaunting about N120m. She captioned the video, “AED1,000,000 Dirhams = N120,000,000 Million Naira Make Jaruma’s s€x sound in this video in writing & win N100,000.”
Asides flaunting and doling out cash, Jaaruma is known for showing off her expensive accessories as well, like her diamond ring and designer bags. Most of her YouTube videos also ooze of opulence. Some online reports claim her net worth is about $2m but that is yet to be ascertained.
Deborah Erioluwapo Ajayi
Fondly known as Omoshola, she has garnered over 500,000 followers on her Instagram account. Although part of the bio on her websites reads that her craft ‘is a unique blend of day spa and sexual wellness spa stepping in to meet the challenges of today’s major skin and sexual crises,’ the young lady is known to trade in local aphrodisiac products.
A peep at her Instagram account and one can easily assume that business is booming for the 24-year-old who is planning a tour of West Africa. She is seen in several pictures posing in a private jet.
In several interviews, she has divulged that she ventured into business at the tender age of 12 while she started selling aphrodisiac some years ago.
So far, she sits atop an empire of different business concerns in two cities of Abuja, Nigeria and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Often described as a sex therapist, Omoshola owns a farm in Karu area of the Federal Capital Territory where she rears livestock. She also owns a body enhancement spa in Maitama area of Abuja, as well as a salon and body spa in Dubai known as HBG Beauty Lounge at the Dubai Investment Park.
Akinola Oluwatomiwa Balqees
Known in the sex industry as Miwa Signature, Akinola Oluwatomiwa Balqees, is another big player in the game.
The electrical engineering graduate of the University of Ilorin is proud to be called the Kayanmata goddess.
In an interview, Balqees noted that her passion stemmed from her parent’s separation after 13 years of marriage. Being a product of a broken home, she vowed to help mend troubled marriages with her business, which she started in 2016.
From her personal Instagram page with about 413 followers, it can be deduced that she is quite conservative but that does not stop the young lady from taking rides in private jets as she has some pictures to show for it.
Although she may not ostentatiously display her wealth via her post on social media, her clothes, jewellery, designer bags and wigs show that she is truly a big girl. A typical case of “if you know, you know”.
A peek into her business page on Instagram, which has garnered over 500,000 followers, one would easily know that business is booming for Balquees. She frequently posts orders, reviews and payment receipts, which range from N100,000 to N5m.
In the caption on one of her posts, she stated that she sent a picture of her in the first-class section of a plane to her mother who simply referred to her as “Miwa Gbajumo;” meaning Miwa the prominent/wealthy one.
The only time she gave the world a glimpse of her deep pocket was in a video post she made on her business page on Instagram where she was seen spraying money on some friends at a party, and indeed she made it rain cash.
Oji Oghenetejiri
Oji Oghenetejiri may have started her business about two years ago, but she is definitely a name to reckon with in the aphrodisiac business.
Fondly called Teji Gold by her friends and customers, the 26-year-old brags of a verified Instagram account with over 200,000 followers.
Not only is the self-acclaimed sex therapist popular in her industry, she also seems to move with popular celebrities. For instance, her Instagram page shows the likes of popular Nollywood actress, Iyabo Ojo; former Big Brother Naija contestant, Wathoni, and Bobrisky endorsing her product.
In a recent interview, the self-acclaimed sex therapist revealed that she dumped her beauty, cosmetics and make-up business and “it was the best decision of my life,” adding that “it is quite lucrative.”
In a video she posted on her personal Instagram page, she was seen playing with money as she kept saying, “I need more of this, more of this,” while she giggled excitedly. She also flaunted her designer bags in a post.
Oji Akponehwe Miracle
Miracle is also a big player in the game despite her petite stature and she has the likes of Nollywood actress, Nkechi Blessing, who recently became brand ambassador to back her up.
Fondly referred to as Mimi by her close associates, another known face, Bobrisky, in a post on her Instagram excitedly yelled, “Mimi is your new plug guys, Mimi is your new plug.”
With over 40,000 followers on her Instagram business page and 5,000 followers on her personal Instagram account, it appears that business may be booming for the young lady who posted a picture showing a bundle of N1,000 notes with the caption, “How my office table looks every day.”
While much might not be known about her background, based on her post, it seems her bank account is fat as she also posted a picture of her expensive bag, as well as videos of her cruising in an exotic car.
Although there have been mixed reactions about their craft and their mode of advertisement via the social media space, it does not dim the fact that these young ladies are not only smiling to the bank, but they are building empires from a trade that was ploughed by the dredges of the society.
The Federal Government has announced a reduction in the pump price of premium motor spirit, otherwise known as petrol, from N168 to N162.44 per litre with effect from December 14.
The product presently dispenses at N168, following the decision of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company to increase the ex-depot price of petrol from N147.67 per litre to N155.17 per litre in November. The ex-depot price is the price at which the product is sold by the PPMC to marketers at the depots.
The minister said a technical committee has been set up to ensure price stability in the industry. Ngige stated that the committee, which will report back to the larger house on January 25, will appraise the market forces and other things that would ensure stability in the industry.
He said, “Our discussion was fruitful and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation which is the major importer and marketers of petroleum products and customers have agreed that there will be a slide down of the pump price of PMS and that the price cut will get us about N5 per litre and that the price cut will take effect from next Monday, a week today.”
Ngige explained that the price reduction was not meant to suspend deregulation because it did not affect the price of crude oil but on areas where the NNPC as the main importer had agreed that it could cut costs like freight and demurrage costs.
He said the new price slash was a product of a joint committee of NNPC and labour representatives, which looked into ways of cutting costs.
On the aspect of electricity tariff, both sides agreed to wait till the next meeting date on January 25 to enable the special committee dealing with complaints to conclude their deliberations.
The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr Ayuba Wabba, collaborated the position of the minister, saying that the agreement was reached by both sides.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, disclosed this at the end of a meeting with labour leaders which began around 9 pm on Monday and ended at 1:30 am on Tuesday.
The Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) said on Sunday the country’s power distribution companies (Discos) failed to clear the N416.94 billion incurred for electricity purchased from January and September this year.
NBET is an agency of government which purchases electricity in bulk quantity from generation firms via power purchase agreements, and sells to Discos for onward distribution to consumers.
In a report, NBET observed that a couple of Discos had not met the minimum remittance endorsed by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
According to the report, a total invoice of N538.25 billion was issued to 11 Discos for the energy they received in the nine-month to September but paid just N121.31 billion to NBET.
It said: “They received a total invoice of N66.33 billion in July, N563.62 billion in August and N59.10 billion in September.
“The Discos paid N14.96 billion in January, N13.18 billion in February, N6.07 billion in March, N10.67 billion in April, N12.84 billion in May and N12.91 billion in June.
“The Discos paid N12.91 billion to NBET in July, N14.89 billion in August and N22.88 billion in September.”
NBET also disclosed that Kaduna Electric, which serves Kaduna, Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States, failed to make remittances between March and May.
In the same vein, Kano Electric which is covering Kano, Jigawa, and Katsina did not pay NBET in March, April, May, and August.
In its quarterly report released recently, NERC expressed concern at the financial viability and commercial performance of the Nigerian electricity supply industry.
The regulator pointed out that N3.88 out of every N10 worth of energy sold was uncollected from consumers in the first quarter of this year.
NERC attributed the liquidity problem in the sector to failure of industry players to execute cost-reflective tariffs, steep technical and commercial losses aggravated by energy theft as well as consumers’ reluctance to pay under the estimated billing system.
“The severity of the liquidity challenge in NESI was reflected in the settlement rates of the service charges and energy invoices issued by Market Operator and NBET respectively to each of the Discos as well as the non-payment by the special and international customers for the services rendered by MO,” NERC said.
Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world has agreed to back Africa-focused financial technology company, Chipper Cash, making it his first start-up investment on the continent.
His personal venture capital fund, Bezos Expeditions, supported the Series B funding led by Ribbit Capital, which raised $30 million for the San Fransisco-based company
“We are responding to the demand from customers on our P2P platform who also have business enterprises,” Chipper Cash Chief Executive Officer Ham Serunjogi said in the statement.
Bezos’s backing of Chipper Cash will “widen the company’s product suite through inclusion of more business payment solutions, crypto-currency trading options, and investment services,” the company said in an emailed statement.
Chipper Cash enables instant cross-border mobile money transfers in Africa and abroad and will use the funds for expansion into countries it will announce in 2021. The company has 3 million users on its platform across Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Nigeria and South Africa, and processes an average of 80,000 transactions daily, according to the statement.
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
