Business

Macron steps back from midnight threat against UK exports in fishing row

France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has shelved his threat to clog up UK exports and ban its fishers from landing catches at French ports from midnight in a dispute over access to British fishing waters, as his deadline approached.

Discussions resumed after a proposal was put forward by Macron’s government late on Monday. Downing Street had previously said it was bracing for Paris to deliver on its vow to retaliate over the issue of fishing permits.

“Since this afternoon, discussions have resumed on the basis of a proposal I made to prime minister [Boris] Johnson. The talks need to continue,” Macron told reporters on the sidelines of the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow. “We’ll see where we are tomorrow at the end of the day, to see if things have really changed.”

A UK government spokesperson said: “We welcome the French government’s announcement that they will not go ahead with implementing their proposed measures as planned tomorrow. As we have said consistently, we are ready to continue intensive discussions on fisheries … We welcome France’s acknowledgement that in-depth discussions are needed to resolve the range of difficulties in the UK-EU relationship.”

France had been expected to impose extra customs checks and ban British fishing boats at some French ports from midnight. Official sources initially reported that neither side was backing down in the post-Brexit row.

However, David Frost, the UK’s Brexit secretary, is to meet Clément Beaune, the French minister for EU affairs, in Paris on Thursday, to discuss possible ways out of the crisis. Beaune tweeted that he had already spoken to Frost on Monday and that he expected a response to Paris’s compromise proposal by Wednesday.

He wrote that he looked forward to an “in-depth discussion” with Frost over the range of post-Brexit issues causing problems in the British-Franco relationship.

France has been infuriated that some of its small boats are being denied permission to fish in the waters around the UK and Channel Islands. The UK insists its licensing regime is reasonable and it will continue to require boats to provide evidence that they have previously fished in those waters on at least four days in the last four years.

Johnson and Macron had bumped fists as they arrived at the Cop26 summit on Monday.

At a post-G20 press conference on Sunday, Macron initially insisted that Britain had to give ground or France would trigger trade reprisals this week. “The ball is in Britain’s court. If the British make no movement, the measures of 2 November will have to be put in place,” he said.

But on Monday evening, the French president said he had pushed back the deadline by which Paris had said it would impose the new measures.

Earlier in the day, Liz Truss, the UK foreign secretary, had told France it had 48 hours to back down on threats or Britain would begin dispute talks set out in the Brexit deal.

A spokesman for Johnson suggested there would not be retaliatory UK trade measures, but action could be triggered through the dispute mechanism. “Depending on if, or what, the French decide to do, we will enact them as and when we need to,” he said.

A meeting to find a compromise, organised by the European Commission with officials from the UK, Jersey and France, had initially been marked by a lack of movement by both sides on Monday, with sources describing the mood as sour.

Jersey’s government was preparing to provide its fishers with financial support in the expectation that its vessels would not be able to land catches in French ports. The Jersey Fishermen’s Association (JFA) also called for the island’s authorities to respond in kind to the expected crisis by closing off the whelk and scallop fisheries to French vessels and banning dredging and trawling “with immediate effect for a period of six weeks”.

The talks continued late into the evening, however.

The diplomatic row over fishing, a very small sector of the UK economy, threatened to overshadow the G20 talks, which took place in Rome at the weekend, and also the Cop26 summit.

Almost 1,700 EU vessels have been licensed to fish in UK waters, equating to 98% of EU applications for fishing licences, the UK government says, but this figure is disputed in Paris. The main area of disagreement is over the number of small French vessels given access to the immediate coastal waters of the UK and Jersey. On Monday evening, the UK government spokesperson said it would consider any new evidence to support the remaining licence applications.

Truss had suggested on Monday that Macron may be making “unreasonable threats” because he has a difficult election looming.

Asked about whether France and the UK had come to an agreement, she told Sky News: “The deal hasn’t been done. The French have made completely unreasonable threats, including to the Channel Islands and to our fishing industry and they need to withdraw those threats.”

Asked why the row had emerged, she said: “You might say there’s a French election coming up.” Seeming angered by the dispute, she added: “I’m not remotely happy about what has happened.”

Business

Dangote refinery commits to petrol price stability, reduction in Nigeria

Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals has reaffirmed its commitment to premium motor spirit price stability despite the fluctuations in global crude oil prices.

The 650,000 barrels per day refinery disclosed this in a statement on Monday by its spokesperson, Anthony Chiejiena.

This comes as crude oil prices dwindled around $63 to $65 per barrel while local petrol went between N910 per litre and N930 nationwide.

Reacting in a statement, Dangote Refinery said it is committed to alleviating the burden of fuel cost on Nigerians.

The company added that to the implementation of the Nigeria First Policy recently approved by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“This decision reflects our unwavering commitment to supporting the Nigerian economy and alleviating the burden on consumers from the increase in fuel prices by maintaining price stability.

“It underscores our dedication to providing affordable, reliable, and high-quality petroleum products without compromising operational efficiency and sustainability.

“Our approach aligns with the objectives of the federal government’s Nigeria First policy, which promotes the prioritisation of locally produced goods and services.

“By refining petroleum products domestically at the world’s largest single-train refinery, we are proud to make a substantial contribution to Nigeria’s energy security, foreign exchange savings, and overall economic resilience—aligning with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which is focused on addressing the nation’s economic challenges and improving the well-being of Nigerians. We are immensely grateful to His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu, for making this possible through the commendable Naira-for-Crude Initiative, which has enabled us to consistently reduce the price of petroleum products for the benefit of all Nigerians.

“We assure all stakeholders—consumers, partners, and the government—of our continued dedication to operational excellence and national service.

“Dangote Petroleum Refinery remains committed to ensuring that the benefits of our local refining capacity are fully realised and enjoyed by the Nigerian populace. We will continue to prioritise affordability, quality, and national interest in every facet of our work,” the statement reads.

Recall that Tinubu approved the implementation of the Nigeria First Policy and ban on foreign goods.

Business

FAAC: FG, States, LGAs share N1.681tr in April

The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared a total sum of N1.681 trillion, being April 2025 Federation Account Revenue to the Federal, States and the Local Governments at the May 2025 meeting held in Abuja.

The N1.681 trillion total distributable revenue comprised distributable statutory revenue of N962.882 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N598.077 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N38.862 billion and Exchange Difference N81.407 billion.

A communiqué issued by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) indicated that total gross revenue of N2,848.721 trillion was available in the month of April 2025.

Total deduction for cost of collection was N101.051 billion while total transfers, interventions, refunds and savings was N1066.442 billion.

According to the communiqué, gross statutory revenue of N2,084.568 trillion was received for the month of April 2025.

This was higher than the sum of N1,718.973 trillion received in the month of March 2025 by N365.595 billion.

Gross revenue of N642.265 billion was available from the Value Added Tax (VAT) in April 2025. This was higher than the N637.618 billion available in the month of March 2025 by N4.647 billion.

The communiqué stated that from the N1,681. 228 trillion total distributable revenue, the Federal Government received total sum of N565.307 billion and the State Governments received total sum of N556.741 billion.

The Local government Council received N406.627 billion, while the sum of N152.553 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared to the benefiting State as derivation revenue.

On the N962.882 billion distributable statutory revenue, the communiqué stated that the Federal Government received N431.307 billion and the State Governments received N218.765 billion.

The Local Government Councils received N168.659 billion and the sum of N144. 151 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared to the benefiting States as derivation revenue.

From the N598.077 billion distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue, the Federal Government received N89.712 billion, the State Governments received N299.039 billion and the Local Government Councils received N209.327 billion.

A total sum of N5.829 billion was received by the Federal Government from the N38.862 billion Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL).

The State Governments received N19.431 billion and the Local Government Councils received N13.602 billion.

From the N81.407 billion Exchange Difference, the communiqué stated that the Federal Government received N38.459 billion and the State Governments received N19.507 billion.

The Local Government Councils received N15.039 billion, while the sum of N8.402 billion (13% of mineral revenue) was shared to the benefiting States as derivation revenue.

Bawa Mokwa Director (Press and Public Relations) said in April 2025, Petroleum Profit Tax(PPT), Oil and Gas Royalty, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), Value Added Tax (VAT), Excise Duty, Import Duty and CET Levies increased significantly while Companies Income Tax (CIT) decreased considerably.

Business

‘We Will Keep Crashing Rice Prices,’ BUA Chairman Rabiu Warns Hoarders

The Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu, has pledged to further lower the prices of rice and other food items, which he said have already decreased over the past year.

He commended President Bola Tinubu for granting waiver on imported food items, saying that his “foresight” helped crash food prices in the country.

In July 2024, the Tinubu administration announced the suspension of customs duties on imported food items to stem food inflation.

Speaking to State House Correspondents after meeting with President Tinubu on Thursday, Rabiu said BUA Foods keyed into that policy and was able to import quite a lot of wheat, maize and rice.

“And the moment the shipment started coming, we started processing, we crushed the prices of some of these commodities. And today I’m happy to inform you that the price of rice is about N60,000 from what it was last year at N110,000. Flour is today N55,000 Naira per 50 kilo bag.

“Maize is about N30,000. And this happened because of Mr President’s foresight and vision by introducing that one-off duty waiver for a period of six months, and with that, we’ve been able to bring down the prices of these commodities,” Rabiu said.

The billionaire businessman further explained the causes of the food price increases and how the President’s policy helped to curb the trend.

“So, what has been happening and a lot of people probably don’t know this, is that Nigerians, a lot of companies in Nigeria usually buy a lot of paddy. That is rice paddy. Rice Paddy is what you use to process rice. So, the moment the harvest season starts, a lot of people will now buy a lot of these paddy and hold it for a period of three to four months. The moment the season finishes, then the price will double. So a lot of people don’t know that, but that has always been the problem.

“That does not really in any way affect the farmer, because the farmer is getting his four to N500,000 per ton of paddy. But the people that are buying and holding for three to four months, once the season finishes, it goes back up to N800,000. Hence why you are getting N110,000 per bag.
“So, what that intervention did at the time when we brought in was to create an issue for those hoarders. Because the moment we imported, we were selling, and those orders had a lot of paddy, they could not sell, and the price now came down, and it is still down.
So a lot of those holders are actually crying now and losing money.”

He said that the Rice Millers Association has come together to address the issue of hoarding by some companies, adding that the association will not allow any of its members to hoard rice.

“What we are doing as rice Millers is that we want to ensure that rice Millers are not buying and hoarding Paddy, although at the end of the day, it’s quite difficult to stop that. But what is happening is that once they know that there is rice availability imported, because BUA has imported enough rice to last us until the end of the year, for example.

“So, they know that if they try to hot rice and try to take it up, Bucha is there and will crash the price. So I am hopeful that at the end of the day, the price of rice going forward is not going to go any higher than what it is today.

“And I’m sure as soon as the season starts, the farmers will get the price they’ve always gotten, and the price of rice is going to stay the same, because people will be wary of hoarding, because if they hoard it is going to be a problem for them, because they might lose money. So that is on rice.

“And again, let me use this opportunity to thank His Excellency, for his foresight, for his vision, because I actually didn’t see that. I didn’t know that that was going to work, but we keyed in. We imported and we have supported, and now prices are down. So that is what we did, and we will continue to do to support the efforts of the government to ensure that food prices continue to come down. And I’m sure prices will come down.

“It is quite interesting that when prices were quite high, N100,000 everybody was shouting, now that prices are down or are coming down, it is like, nobody is coming out to say, look, food prices are coming down, but I’m happy to say that food prices are coming down, and they will continue to come down. That is what BUA foods is doing to support the efforts of the government in ensuring that food prices are down,” Rabiu said