Business
Industry minister seeks N7.4bn approval for 83 capital projects
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, has defended the ministry’s budget for 2021 before the Senate, requesting N7.4bn for 83 capital projects.
This was part of a total of N11.18bn the ministry is seeking an approval from the Senate for the 2021 budget.
Adebayo said the ministry’s budget proposal also contained a personnel cost of N3.02bn and overhead cost of N762.81m.
He told the Senate joint committees on commerce and industry that the ministry received only N2.9bn out of the N7.3bn appropriated for capital projects in 2020.
This, he said, was far below what it got in 2019 and 2018 fiscal years, which he gave as N3.5bn and N7.9bn respectively for capital projects.
He urged the committee to approve the sum of N7.3bn proposed for the 2021 budget, saying that the ministry had 83 capital initiatives, made up of 56 ongoing ones and 27 new projects.
The capital budget, he told the committees, would be directed at the industrial policy reform and enabling business environment and international investment engagement initiatives.
Adeniyi added that the fund would enable full activation of the private sector-led six special economic zones comprising of Lekki, Enyimba, Funtua, Ibom, Kano and Benue coupled with the establishment of at least one agro-processing zone in each senatorial district.
The minister said the ministry would facilitate credit access to 10 million MSMEs at single-digit rate and promote made-in-Nigeria products that would bring an increase in industrial productivity, employment generation and reduction in the import of foreign products.
Adeniyi listed other programmes to be funded through the capital budget to include the review of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council mandates and implementation of a four-year business environment transformation roadmap.
According to him, the ministry plan to revise and implement the National Industrial Revolution Plan; support Nigeria’s participation at the Expo 2020 from October 2021 – March 31, 2022; ensure ease of doing business and implement executive Orders.
He added that the ministry would implement a strategy towards implementing the government’s promise to take 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years.
Business
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
No fewer than 200 trucks are set to load petroleum products at the government-owned Port Harcourt Refinery, the presidency has said.
A presidential spokesperson, Sunday Dare, made this known in a statement through his official X handle on Tuesday.
Newstrends had reported that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company on Tuesday announced that Port Harcourt Refinery has resumed operations and crude oil processing after years of inactivity.
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Reacting, Dare said, “200 trucks are expected to load products daily from the refinery, Renewing the Hopes of Nigeria.”
He added that “the Port Harcourt refinery has two wings.
“The Old Refinery comes on stream today with an installed production capacity of 60, 000 barrels per day of crude oil.”
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
Business
Breaking: CBN increases interest rate to 27.50%
Breaking: CBN increases interest rate to 27.50%
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the lending interest to 27.50 per cent from 27.25 per cent.
This latest increase in the Monetary Policy Rate came after a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday and concluded Tuesday.
The Monetary Policy Rate measures the benchmark interest rate.
The CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, announced this in Abuja on Tuesday after the MPC meeting, last for the year, held at the apex bank’s headquarters.
He said the MPC voted unanimously to raise the MPR by 25 basis points from 27.25% to 27.50%; and retain the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 50% for Deposit Money Banks and 16% for Merchant Banks.
The CBN governor also said the MPC retained the Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 30% and Asymmetric Corridor at +500/-100 basis points around the MPR.
Business
Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in Q2 – NBS
Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in Q2 – NBS
Nigeria’s unemployment rate stood at 4.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said in its latest report.
The report released on Monday said the unemployment rate decreased compared to the 5.3 per cent recorded in the Q1 of 2024.
The NBS defined the unemployment rate as the share of the labour force (the combination of unemployed and employed people) who are not employed but actively searching and are available for work.
“The unemployment rate for Q2 2024 was 4.3%, showing an increase of 0.1 percentage point compared to the same period last year,” the report stated.
“The unemployment rate among males was 3.4% and 5.1% among females.
“By place of residence, the unemployment rate was 5.2% in urban areas and 2.8% in rural areas. Youth unemployment rate was 6.5% in Q2 2024, showing a decrease from 8.4% in Q1 2024.”
Report also said the unemployment rate among persons with post-secondary education was 4.8 per cent; 8.5 per cent among those with upper secondary education, 5.8 per cent for those with lower secondary education, and 2.8 per cent among those with primary education in Q2 2024.
Employment rate – 76%
The report showed that the employment-to-population ratio, which measures the number of employed workers against the total working-age population, increased to 76.1 per cent in Q2 2024.
“In Q2 2024, 76.1% of Nigeria’s working-age population was employed, up from 73.1% in Q1 2024,” the report stated.
Self-employment – 85.6%
The report further showed that Nigeria’s labour market saw a notable shift as the proportion of self-employed individuals increased in Q2 2024.
It stated, “The proportion of persons in self-employment in Q2 2024 was 85.6%.”
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