Business

Rwanda to establish relationship with Ogun on industry, education, others

The Rwandan Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Christophe Bazivamo has said that his country is ready to establish economic and educational relationships with Ogun State for mutual benefits of both parties.

Ambassador Bazivamo, who stated this while fielding questions from newsmen after a meeting with Governor Dapo Abiodun in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, noted that Ogun State has achieved much in the area of education and industrialization, hence the need for his home country to tap from the experience.

He said: “I have participated in the ongoing trade organized by the state government. At the fair, I had the opportunity to interact with the governor, and I am here in his office to share what we are doing back home and learn from the governor’s development strides.

“I am also here to find out how we can move forward together because my country believes in the South-South cooperation, and we know that Ogun State is doing well in the industry, education, and other areas.

“When you are developing industry as the right choice and in the right direction, especially in a state where more than 65 to 70 percent of the population are young people, you are creating jobs and once people are consuming locally made products, it helps grow local industries and makes jobs available for the people.”

The Envoy said Rwanda is looking at how to further develop its industries to produce goods and skills for the youths to help them prosper.

He said his country was thinking in the direction of establishing and strengthening relationship with Nigerian businessmen, saying that Rwandan Private Sector Federation is ready to go into partnership with the Ogun State Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, trade together, exchange ideas and work on building sustainable partnership.

Ambassador Bazivamo revealed that Rwanda and Nigeria have already signed an agreement on the Joint Permanent Commission for Cooperation, but we are waiting for the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for even planning and perfection before implementation.

“I also discussed with the governor how our businessmen can collaborate and be of help to each other because this is something that can be helpful to both sides, especially our young generation.

“We believe in partnership. We also believe in the African Continental Trade Area. You can not move alone in that direction. You need to be together with others. When you see traders wherever they are, they have innovation, and when you see what they have compared to what you have, you will wish to link together.

“What I have seen in Ogun State when it comes to industries, is that they are producing locally and I believe some people can come from Rwanda, learn from here and take the lesson back and replicate it in our country,” the Ambassador added.

Business

Customs FX rate for import duties rises to N1,530/$

The foreign exchange (FX) rate for import duties has been adjusted by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to N1,530 per dollar.

This was adopted on Friday, May 17, representing a 6.13 percent increase compared to the N1,441.58 adopted on May 6.

The NCS always adopts FX rates recommended by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for import duties based on trading activities in the official FX market

Business

Tinubu approved payment of N3.3tr power sector debts

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved part payment of all power sector debts, estimated at N3.3 trillion.

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu disclosed this at the 8th Africa Energy Marketplace in Abuja on Thursday.

He noted that the federal government’s N1.3 trillion debt to power-generating companies would be paid via cash injections and promissory notes, while about $1.3 billion (N1.994 trillion using the current official closing rate) owed to gas companies will be paid via cash and future royalties.

Adelabu stressed that the federal government had commenced payment of the cash part of the N1.3 trillion debt owed Gencos and concluded plans to settle the second part via promissory notes within two to five years.

“The debt for the power-generating companies is N1.3tn. I can also tell you that Mr. President has consented to pay on the condition of reconciling these debts between the government and the power-generating companies.

“It is true that I mentioned that Mr President has approved the submission of the Hon. Minister of State Petroleum (Gas) to defray the outstanding debts owed to the gas supplying companies to the power sector operators.

“The payments will be in parts. We have the legacy debt and the current debt. For the current debt, approval has been given for a cash payment of about N130bn from the Gas Stabilisation Fund, which the Federal Ministry of Finance will pay if it hasn’t already,” he said.

In March, the government paid $120 million out of the $1.3bn indebtedness to gas companies.

On different occasions, Adelabu has blamed indebtedness to gencos for the epileptic power supply in the country.

Business

FAAC shares N1.208trn April 2024 revenue to FG, States and Local govts

The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), on Thursday, shared a total sum of N1,208.081trillion April 2024 federation account revenue to the Federal Government, States and Local Government Councils in the country.

The revenue was shared at the May 2024 meeting of FAAC, held in Abuja.

The balance in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) was $473,754.57.

In a statement on Thursday issued by Bawa Mokwa, Director (Press and Public Relations), Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) said a communiqué issued by the Federation Allocation Account Committee (FAAC) revealed that the N1,208.081 billion total distributable revenue comprised distributable statutory revenue of N284.716 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N466.457 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N18.024 billion and Exchange Difference revenue of N438.884 billion.

Total revenue of N2,192.077 billion was available in the month of April 2024. Total deduction for cost of collection was N80.517 billion; total transfers, interventions and refunds was N903.479 billion.

Gross statutory revenue of N1,233.498 billion was received for the month of April 2024. This was higher than the sum of N1,017.216 billion received in the month of March 2024 by N216.282 billion.

The gross revenue available from the Value Added Tax (VAT) in April 2024 was N500.920 billion. This was lower than the N549.698 billion available in the month of March 2024 by N48.778 billion.

The communiqué confirmed that from the N1,208.081 billion total distributable revenue, the Federal Government received a total sum of N390.412 billion, the State Governments received N403.403 billion and the Local Government Councils received N293.816 billion.

A total sum of N120.450 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared to the benefiting States as derivation revenue.

On the N284.716 billion distributable statutory revenue, the communiqué stated that the Federal Government received N112.148 billion, the State Governments received N56.883 billion and the Local Government Councils received N43.855 billion. The sum of N71.830 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared to the benefiting States as derivation revenue

The Federal Government received N69.969 billion, the State Governments received N233.229 billion and the Local Government Councils received N163.260 billion from the N466.457 billion distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue.

A total sum of N2.704 billion was received by the Federal Government from the N18.024 billion Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL). The State Governments received N9.012 billion and the Local Government Councils received N6.308 billion.

The Federal Government received N205.591 billion from the N438.884 billion Exchange Difference revenue. The State Governments received N104.279 billion and the Local Government Councils received N80.394 billion. The sum of N48.620 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared to the benefiting States as derivation revenue.

According to the communiqué, in the month of April 2024, Oil and Gas Royalties, Companies Income Tax (CIT), Excise Duty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) and CET Levies increased significantly while Import Duty and Value Added Tax (VAT) recorded considerable decreases.