By Ese Williams

The Federal Government has restated its commitment to continue to take measures to stabilise the economy.

Mr Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, said this in Abuja at a Podcast hosted by Bruit Costaud in collaboration with Ballard Partners of U.S.A.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the immediate past Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed is the Managing Partner of Bruit Costard, a lobbyist and public relations firm and an affiliate of Ballard Partners.

The podcast monitored by NAN, Edun said President Bola Tinubu inaugurated the micro-economic reform aimed at stabilising the economy.

“Currently, we are in a state of micro-economic reform. We have a drive towards stability of the economic environment.

“It started on May 29, 2023 when President Bola Tinubu inaugurated the first of a couple of very important, bold and necessary micro-economic measures to put the economy on a sound footing,’’ the minister said.

According to him, with the present state of the economy, Nigeria “is not where it should be, in view of its land mass and population’’.

“When you look at the natural resources and of course, the quality of human resources in Nigeria, definitely, we are not where we should be.

“We are the largest in Africa and soon to be the second or third largest populations in the world,’’ he said.

On Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), Edun said that efforts were being made to stabilise the environment for investors, foreign and local.

“We must admit that Nigerian investors, whether in the banking system, fast-moving consumer goods have the capacity to give anybody a run for their money.

“The improvement will not only be for the foreign investors, but for all investors.

“As we go abroad and talk of attracting foreign investors, we also look for opportunities for Nigerian businesses to be able to invest efficiently and profitably in those markets abroad.

“So, it is a two-way thing. The key to growing the economy is first of all stabilising it and once it is stable, things will fall in place,’’ he said. (NAN)

By Lucy Ogalue

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), has urged more support from the World Trade organisation (WTO) and the International Trade Centre (ITC), to boost women led export businesses in the country.

The Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Council, Nonye Ayeni said this at the SheTrades Nigeria Hub Interactive Session with the WTO and ITC  in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that SheTrades Nigeria Hub was initiated  in 2016 to deliver tailored capacity building and business generation activities for women in Nigeria.

Ayeni said, “we will also use this opportunity to appeal to WTO and ITC for more support for the interest of the women and interest of Nigeria in general.

“I thank the WTO and indeed ITC team for your support over the years, a lot has been done.

“I appreciate your contributions to the success of NEPC and the success of Nigeria, especially as it relates to export and what you have done specifically for women.

“We have seen women who were not doing anything and suddenly they are able to provide for their families.

“We all know that once you train a women, you have trained a community, you have trained a whole nation. So kudos to all the women, lets leverage on this opportunity and make sure that we do our best’’.

According to Ayeni, the focus of the event is to strengthen further, the partnership between WTO, IiTC and NEPC as the host-implementing agency for the SHE Trade hub.

“Through this collaboration, we are working with the private and public sector and women in export development programme have recorded some successes.

“In terms of provision of better trade, opportunities for women engagement with women to build a support network and access to information and resources for women led Small and Medium enterprises (SMEs).

“Knowledge and experience sharing for successful female exporters to provide guidance and mentorship for upcoming women entrepreneurs among others.

“I am delighted to say that since 2016, the NEPC has registered 29,000 exporters while almost about 8, 000 are women and the numbers are increasing’’.

While reiterating other programmes by the council for women, Ayeni said over 4,000 women had benefited from the SheTrade programme, which was a game changer that would be leveraged on.

Meanwhile, the WTO Director-General, Dr Ngozi Okojo-Iweala, emphasised the importance of trade to economic development of any nation.

“Trade has helped to lift more than one billion people in the world out of poverty.

“A research we have done at the World Trade Organisation shows that women who export earn almost three times more than those who sell domestic goods.

“So being able to export increases your well -being, your living standards, your income, and you can help your family and the nation more.

“And that is why we came to Nigeria to inaugurate a series of programmes that we hope will be beneficial to the country, including our women,’’ she said.

According to Okojo-Iweala, one of the most important things to consider in export is meeting certain standards and quality expectations of a country.

The WTO director-general reiterated the commitment of the organisation in supporting women businesses to achieve standardisation and get certification for their exported products.

Okonjo-Iweala recalled that the organisation recently inaugurated a 50 billion dollar fund programme aimed at helping women trading digitally.

“So many people are trading digitally, e-commerce, what we are trying to do is to use this one to help you add a scale of your business; improve the quality of what you doing.

“So I implore you not to get discouraged because I know you meet all kinds of obstacles along the way,’’ she said.

For her part, the Deputy Executive Director, ITC, Dorathy Tembo, also reiterated the importance of trade.

According to her, no country has been able to develop without substantial trade and Nigeria is not left out.

She expressed willingness of the ITO to continue to partner with Nigeria to ensure standard and certification of their exported agricultural products. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Ese E. Eniola Williams

By Ginika Okoye

Stakeholders in the academia and auditing sectors have called on the National Assembly (NASS) to adopt the Auditor-General of the Federation’s report on financial activities of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

They made the call at the Public Presentation of a book titled: ‘Auditing the Government: Crucial roles auditors play in promoting good governance’, in Abuja, on Tuesday.

Prof. Sani Usman of the Department of Accounting, University of Abuja, said that non-adoption of the reports by the NASS had hindered good democratic governance.

Sani, the book reviewer and a Professor of Public Sector Accounting, said the book had answered the questions that the academia usually asked about the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation (OAuGF).

He said the book would also help citizens, students and researchers to know the job of the Auditor-General.

The former Auditor-General for the Federation, Mr Samuel Ukura, also appealed to the NASS to act timely on the reports to support President Bola Tinubu’s agenda in the fight against corruption.

Ukura, represented by Mr Joseph Iorbee, an Assistant Director in the office, called for enabling laws to help bolster the activities of the OAuGF.

The Auditor-General for the Federation, Mr Shaakaa Chira, said the book would help educate young people in the auditing profession to better understand their roles.

Chira said the book would be a reference for researchers.

Mrs Christiana Nwadike, the Chairman of the occasion, said that auditors played critical roles in upholding transparency, accountability and integrity within the government systems.

Nwadike called on auditors to uphold ethical standards in promoting good governance.

The writer of the book, Dr Clement Ojile, said the OAuGF had not gotten the independence and autonomy needed to function well.

Ojile said that citizens had not understood the functions of the OAuGF, saying that the Auditor-General had a crucial role to play in the fight against corruption in the country.

”The Auditor-General is the prime fighter of corruption in other countries because he derives his power from the constitution.

”He has such constitutional mandate to audit all the arms of government,” he said.

He called on Civil Society Organisations, the media and citizens to always demand for actions to be taken on the Auditor-General’s reports.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ojile is an Assistant Director in the OAuGF. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Dorcas Jonah/Chinyere Joel-Nwokeoma

By Muhammad Nur Tijani

Prices of fruits have skyrocketed in Kano due to increased patronage occasioned by the ongoing Ramadan fast, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports.

A check by NAN at the Yankaba and Yanlemu markets in the metropolis showed that prices had shot up within the last four days.

NAN reports that an apple now sells for N450 as against its old price of N300.

Similarly, medium size watermelon now goes for N1,500 as against N700, while big one now goes for N3,000 as against the previous price of N1,700.

NAN also reports that one dozen of oranges now cost N1,000 as against N700, while a bunch of banana sells for N2, 000 as against N1,200 before the fast started.

NAN further reports that a medium size pineapple now costs N800 while that of pawpaw is sold at N1,000 as against its old prices of N500 and N700, respectively.

Further checks by NAN revealed that 50 kilogramme bag of locally milled rice is now selling at N62,000, while that of sugar is selling at a little over N82,000.

Similarly, a 100 kg bag of millet now sells for N61,000, while a crate of egg is selling above N3,200.

NAN checks also revealed that the prices of tomatoes, pepper, onions and Irish potatoes have soared too.

Traders at the market attributed the hike in prices to increase in the demand amid low supply of the produce.

A trader, Malam Habu Ali, said that fruit and vegetable were more sought after during Ramadan fast, adding that this explained the sudden surge in prices.

He said the prices also increased due to high cost of transportation and poor business conditions.

A buyer, Muhammad Bala, said that with the present cost of things in the country, many households would miss the opportunity to enjoy daily post-fasting decent meals. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Deborah Coker/Uche Anunne

By Olawunmi Ashafa

Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc is preparing to raise about N525 billion capital through public offer to strengthen the capital base of its subsidiary, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Monday in Lagos, learnt the development was in response to the directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for banks to re-capitalise, in light of the various macro-economic factors impacting the banking sector.

According to a source who prefers anonymity, the development is in line with trends in the industry that Nigerian banks must be strategically positioned to enhance their capital reserves, either through dilutive or non-dilutive means.

“There is a very strong indication that the Bank that will soon be in the market to raise between N450 billion-to-N525 billion through public offer is Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc. (GTCO Plc.).”

According to credible sources, the proceeds from the newly sourced capital will supplement the capital needs of its flagship banking subsidiary, GTB.

“The capital will facilitate the enhancement of the bank’s ability to book large ticket transactions, as the effect of devaluation has impacted single limits for most banks and thus, their ability to book and participate in large ticket transactions.

“We expect GTCO to make this announcement anytime from now,” said the source.

GTCO Plc recently unveiled its unaudited consolidated and separate financial statements for the period ended Sept. 30, 2023.

The group, in the results released to the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) and London Stock Exchange (LSE), reported profit before tax (PBT) of N433.2 billion, representing an increase of 155.2 per cent over N169.7 billion recorded in the corresponding period ended September 2022.

The group’s net loan book grew by 17.7per cent from N1.89 trillion recorded as at December 2022 to N2.22 trillion in September 2023, while deposit liabilities increased by 37.9 per cent from N4.61 trillion in December 2022 to N6.36 trillion in September 2023.

GTCO Plc consists of other non-banking businesses, including payment, funds, management, and pension funds management businesses in its ecosystem. (NAN)

Edited by Folasade Adeniran