SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
Try "researchers"
Home Blog Page 2484

Nigeria rakes N864.7bn from Company Income Tax In 2021

Hauwa Abubakar Anaja
-
0

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said the Federal Government raked in a total of N864.7 billion Company Income Tax (CIT) in the first six months of 2021.

The “Company Income Tax By Sectors (Q22021)”, document of the NBS indicated that in the second quarter of 2021, the government raised N472.07 billion and N392.64 billion in first quarter in 2021.

It recalled N402.03 billion generated in Q2 2020 representing 20.23 percent increase Quarter-on-Quarter and 17.42 percent increase Year-on-Year.

NBS said: “Data on Company Income Tax breakdown by sectors for Q2 2021 reflected that N472.07billion was generated as CIT as against N392.64billion generated in Q1 2021 and N402.03bn generated in Q2 2020 representing 20.23 per cent increase Quarter-on-Quarter and 17.42 per cent increase Year-on-Year.”

The document explained that Professional Services generated the highest amount of CIT with N130.09 billion generated and closely followed by Other Manufacturing which generated N87.27billion, Banks & Financial Institutions generated N60.01billion while Textile and Garment Industry generated the least and closely followed by Automobiles and Assemblies and Pioneering with N27.23million, N62.15million and N64.30million generated.

According to the document, out of the total amounted generated in Q2 2021, N412.74billion was generated as CIT locally while N51.61billion was generated as foreign CIT payment.
In the period under review, the NBS said the balance of N2.72 billion was generated as CIT from other payments.

 

 

Nation/Hauwa Abu

”Airports concession will not cost jobs”- Aviation Minister

Mercy Chukwudiebere
-
0

The Nigerian Government has allayed the fears of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) workers of any lay-offs as plans to concession four major international airports in the country get underway.

The Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika gave the assurance at a virtual meeting with aviation stakeholders in Lagos on Wednesday, on the concession update of the airports.

Sirika said that ”the concession would instead allow for more hands to be engaged as most of the airports were under staffed.”

Airports for concession
The Airports billed for concession are: the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano state and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos state.

Others are the Port Harcourt International Airport, River and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

The Minister informed the stakeholders that the country’s asset would not be sold off but given out on concession in order to modernise the airports.

He explained that this would allow the airports to be operated in a way to create more jobs as well as generate more revenue for the country.

“We will not sell the assets that belong to over 200 million Nigerians and the future generation of this country.

“We are not going to sell because those that were sold were lost. So, we in government believe that we should hold those assets for the Nigerian people in trust.

“We must make those assets better to provide the services that are needed. So, we said, rather than sell outrightly, we will concession.

“In other words, we would give it up to someone who would operate them and make them better.

“We will then get more money, the people will enjoy better services, the industry grows and after a certain time, the airports will come back to us,”Sirika  said.

Revenue generation
The Minister further explained that the airport terminal buildings to be given out on concession would generate their revenues from non-aeronautical resources.

He said that ”all other facilities at the airports and existing concessions, outside the airport terminals, would still be managed by FAAN.”

Service level agreements
Sirika stressed that the concessionaire would sign service level agreements for runway, taxiway, security and air traffic Management with FAAN and NAMA to ensure that the airport operated efficiently.

The Minister also said that the concessionaire would provide the investment required to upgrade the existing terminals.

According to him, they would also take over the maintenance of new terminals over a period of time, based on the financial assessment of each transaction.

Sirika said that existing concessions within the terminals, however, would be inherited by the concessionaire and allowed to run their course before any review.

The Minister said that tariffs would be regulated in accordance with the procedures set out in the concession agreement.

Sirika also explained that the Passenger Service and Security Charges would be paid directly to FAAN by IATA and shared by the concessionaires and FAAN.

He pointed out that the airport authority would be required to provide manpower, through AVSEC, for the security of both the airside and landside.

”The concessionaire would similarly be expected to provide and maintain landside equipment which would allow FAAN continue to provide and maintain airside security equipment,” the Minister said.

Improvement needed
Sirika noted that Airports in the country were currently operating in a sub-optimal environment and needed improvements that would be provided through the participation of the private sector.

He said that Private sector participation would have impact especially in infrastructure investments, runway maintenance, navigation aids as well as investment in terminal facilities.

The Minister added that with the increasing population, a private operator of the four main airports would run them based on international standards and expand the facilities, in accordance with traffic demands at each of the airports.

 

 

NAN/Mercy Chukwudiebere

ECOWAS urges region to leverage on energy potentials for industralisation

Lateefat Ibrahim
-
0
The Speaker of Ecowas Parliament has urged member states to leverage on the region’s huge energy potentials for industrialisation. 
Dr. Sidie Tunis stated this  in Abidjan, Ivory Coast at the start of a week long Delocalised meeting of the ECOWAS Parliament Joint Committees on Energy, Mines, Industry, Private Sector and Environment.
“I wish to observe with delight that our region has tremendous potential for all sources of energy.
 As regards conventional energies, the terms of reference of our meeting indicates that our region accounts for about one third of verified reserves of oil and one third of natural gas reserves on the African continent. 
We are not unaware that such fossil energies are the cause of the emissions of greenhouse gases. 
As for renewable energies, the ECOWAS region has a wide range of very diverse energy resources, from biomass to solar and marine energy, including hydraulic, geothermal and wind energy, among others. 
These renewable energies can contribute significantly to improving energy security for both households and companies in the region.”
“Recently, during the First Ordinary Session of 2021, the Community Parliament I issued a favourable opinion for the adoption by ECOWAS, of various regulations relating to the application of standards by Member States as part of the project for improving governance in the renewable energies and energy efficiency sector,” he said.
”It is often said that when things are rightly put in perspective, they are easier to understand. 
So, in terms of energy efficiency, let us consider the situation of our farmers for example, who are making efforts to mechanise their farms, but are confronted with exorbitant costs of energy to run their means of production. 
On, the situation of our young artisans, who cannot use their tools because of frequent power outages in their districts, thus stifling their creativity. 
On the situation of school children in our countries, who cannot continue studying beyond school hours, due to lack of electricity. Or the actual numbers of scholars, inventors, geniuses, in short, sheer talents being lost by Africa as a result of lack of energy. 
These examples that I have just given, unfortunately concern more than 60% of the population of our region, estimated at close to 400 million inhabitants.
 Even in our major cities, industries lack reliable and affordable energy.
 Dare we say bluntly that today energy security is a matter of survival for companies. 
I mean a matter of survival, given the cost of energy and its accessibility.”
“In the ECOWAS region, the rate of access to electricity is one of the lowest in the world. This leads to growing energy demand, coupled with rapid population and urbanisation growth and economic development,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of the Community Parliament also expressed his displeasure over what he calls the continuous non- compliance to the rulings of the Community Court of Justice by the region’s Attorneys-General of member states.
 According to him, ECOWAS cannot come up with such a Court only for member countries to disregard its rulings.
“Before I round up this brief address, permit me to use this medium to flag up an issue that has been of major concern within the Community. 
Here, I wish to refer to the continuous non-compliance with the rulings of the Community Court of Justice by Member States and other major actors within the region. 
Respect for the Rule of Law, of which total compliance with court judgements is an integral part, is a major symbol of democracy.

 

Member States to continue disrespecting its judgements with impunity. I believe we are a more serious people and can do much better than that,” he called on AGFs in the region to respect the Court. ”
He called on all Attorneys General in all Member States, to as a matter of grave concern, not only to our people, but to the International Community, urgently organise a special meeting to address the ugly trend.
“All Laws must be obeyed and all court rulings must be adhered to. 
Failure to do so has the propensity to drift any society into anarchy.
Dr. Tunis said ECOWAS Parliament is gravely concern about this subject.
Lateefah Ibrahim

African young farmers missing out on AgriTech innovations

Nneka Oyibo Ukachukwu
-
0

A new 11-country survey by Heifer International indicates that only 23% of youths engaged in agriculture are using any form of agricultural technology—noting a lack of financing and training This is despite having a wide range of agritech innovations that could propel African farmers to profitability

The report: “The Future of Africa’s Agriculture: An Assessment of the Role of Youth and Technology”, released on International Youth Day, includes responses from almost 30,000 young Africans and follow-ups with hundreds of farmers and farm organizations. It points to the need for new investments to stimulate access to innovations that could encourage African youth now turning away from agriculture to reconsider opportunities in the sector ,especially given the need to generate jobs and repair food systems battered by the pandemic.

“As a continent with a thriving young population, Africa’s agricultural sector must provide the investments in agritech innovations that will encourage youth to embrace agriculture-related endeavors, because they are the key to revitalizing Africa’s food system,” senior vice president for Africa Programs at Heifer International, Adesuwa Ifedi, said.

 “But as this report reveals, Africa is not providing the financing or training to ensure its young people have easy access to the same agritech tools like drone technologies, precision soil sensors and digital farmer services that are transforming food production around the world,” she added.

Scope of survey
The report surveyed 29,900 youths, 299 smallholder farmers and 110 agriculture technology start-ups, innovation hubs and technology organizations in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It identifies challenges faced by smallholder farming communities and potential areas for innovation and growth.

The study also provides new insights into how the pandemic is affecting African farmers. Some 40% of agriculture organizations featured in the survey report that they were forced to close at least temporarily due to the pandemic; 38% experienced a reduction in average purchase amount per customer and 36% still do not have the financial capital to grow back their businesses.

“Youth engagement in agriculture will be essential to recovering from the economic impacts of the pandemic, both to rejuvenate the continent’s agri-food system and develop economic opportunities for young Africans,” Ifedi said.

Young African innovators
But despite the challenges they face, the report also provides a window into the many ways young African entrepreneurs across the continent are developing creative, useful agritech tools and services for smallholder farmers. It highlights many young innovators who are boosting farm productivity and profits in Africa via artificial intelligence, remote sensing, geographic information software (GIS), virtual reality, drone technology, application programming interface (API) technology and a variety of precision tools for measuring rainfall, controlling pests and analyzing soil nutrients.

For example, a company in Ghana is providing drones that offer precision applications of pesticides and fertilizers; they can even serve as “scare crow drones” and a company in Kenya is making  obtaining a tractor as easy as booking an Uber. Ifedi noted that these and other endeavors explored in the report show the potential to harness home-grown innovation to accelerate a strategic transition to sustainable, profitable farming across Africa.

Youths in agriculture
More than half of Africa’s rural population is employed in the agriculture sector. Young people under the age of 25 account for approximately 60% of Africa’s population and a large share of the 1.8 billion people around the world who are between the ages of 10 to 24 years old, according to the United Nations. Despite current youth migration to urban areas, the report found that young people are still interested in entering the agriculture sector. But they lack access to finance or training to build businesses that can provide sustainable incomes and rewarding careers.

The report identifies pain-points and critical needs for supporting youth to adopt advanced technologies and build businesses that advance Africa’s food security and agri-food systems agenda. It reveals that:

  • Access to financial capital, capacity building and land will spur youth interest in agriculture.
  • Smallholder farmers will embrace advanced technologies if the tools are affordable, and they can receive training in how to use them.
  • Agriculture innovations have a pulling power for every stakeholder in the sector. They can create opportunities for young people who might otherwise ignore agriculture while sustainably increasing productivity for smallholder farmers, which can improve their livelihood and stimulate growth in the wider economy.

Impediments
The respondents also affirmed the damaging effect of climate shocks (30%); insects, pests and disease (17%); and technology barriers (14%) on farmer productivity.

The report will inform investments in advanced technologies by Heifer Africa, accelerating on-farm adoption and business growth. It also will help guide Heifer International’s programs in Africa, including the AYuTe Africa Challenge that will invest up to $1.5 million in agritech businesses run by young Africans in 2021.

 

PR/Nneka Ukachukwu

APC Congresses: Appeal panel receives petitions from 15 States

Mercy Chukwudiebere
-
0

The Congress Appeal Committee set up by the All Progressives Congress to review petitions from last Saturday’s ward congresses has so far received petitions from 15 states.

Report says petitions were received from Kwara, Osun, Lagos, Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Niger, Kano and Ogun among others.

Of the 33 States where congresses were held, only 21 submitted their reports as at close of business on Wednesday.

Congresses were not held in three states namely: Zamfara, Bayelsa and Anambra.

The National Secretary of the Caretaker/ Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee of the APC, Senator John Akpanudoede had while inaugurating the Appeal Panel, urged ”members to be fair to all parties and ensure justice was done.”

The Spokesperson for the Concerned APC members, Abdullahi Dauda, however said, “For justice to be done, there should be a total review of what happens last week. There were no congresses in most of the states, people just sat down somewhere and said they did consensus.”

 

 

NP/Mercy Chukwudiebere

Nigeria’s IDA debt hits $11.7bn-DMO

Hauwa Abubakar Anaja
-
0

Nigeria’s International Development Association (IDA)’s Debt Stock stands at USD11.7 billion, the Debt Management Office (DMO), has said.

 

IDA loans represent one of the most favourable borrowing options for countries like Nigeria and is also consistent with the Medium Term Debt Management Strategy of the Federal Government,” DMO said in a statement yesterday.

 

In response to claims that Nigeria is a high-debt risk nation, the DMO said  the World Bank’s report “focused only on the composition of IDA’s Loan Portfolio and did not make any reference to the debt sustainability of the top 10 beneficiary countries of IDA loans, such as India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana that the report erroneously referred to as ‘high-debt risk nations”.

 

According to the DMO, “IDA loans are typically for tenors of between 30-40 years, grace period (moratorium on principal repayment) of seven-10 years and service fee of only 0.75 percent”.

The highly concessional nature of IDA loans, the DMO added, “satisfies the requirements of the provision of Section 41(1)(a) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, which states that government at all tiers shall only borrow on concessional terms with low interest rate and with a reasonably long amortisation period”.

The World Bank’s Report described Nigeria as a high-debt risk nation, but the DMO said the report “was an assessment of the performance of IDA and not the performance of the IDA loans nor the debt repayment capacity of the beneficiaries of IDA loans”.

 

The World Bank, through IDA, gives concessional loans to poor and developing countries to help them achieve improvements in growth, job creation, poverty reduction, governance, the environment, climate adaptation and resilience, human capital, infrastructure, and debt transparency. Nigeria is a beneficiary of IDA loans.

 

The highly concessional nature of IDA loans, the DMO added, “satisfies the requirements of the provision of Section 41(1)(a) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, which states that government at all tiers shall only borrow on concessional terms with low interest rate and with a reasonably long amortisation period”.

 

 

Nation/Hauwa Abu

 

More than 52 people die in Niger Republic floods

Confidence Okwuchi
-
0

More than 52 people have died in Niger Republic floods with 34 being injured and thousands losing their homes.

This includes five who died between Tuesday and Wednesday after heavy rains in the capital Niamey, causing significant damage and rendering hundreds homeless.

According to the Civil Protection Service’s flood monitoring report, more than 4,000 houses and 200 huts collapsed and 800 heads of livestock were washed away.

Several regions of the country have been affected by the floods that have been occurring since the beginning of June.

The capital is among the most affected cities – with 144mm of rain recorded between Tuesday and Wednesday.

At least 70 people were killed by flooding in Niger last year and 350,000 others were affected.

BBC/Confidence Okwuchi

Long queues as Zambians vote in general election

Lateefat Ibrahim
-
0

 

Voting began in Zambia’s general elections early on Thursday morning, with long queues reported in some polling stations.

President Edgar Lungu, who faces a stiff challenge from opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema, was among the first people to vote as polls opened in the capital Lusaka.

There are 14 other presidential candidates in the race.

“We are winning, otherwise I wouldn’t have been in the race if we were not winning,” President Lungu told journalists after voting, noting that Zambians had “come in to vote in numbers”.

The country’s electoral commission has said it would announce the results of the elections within 72 hours.

The vote is coming amid a worsening economy with the youth demanding better prospects including more job opportunities.

 

BBC/Christopher Ojilere

Kanye’s Second Listening Event Records 5.4 million views

FELA OLAGUNJU
-
0

American rapper Kanye West has broken his own record that was set just two weeks ago on Apple Music and now has the most-viewed livestream of all time with a jaw-dropping 5.4 million viewers tuning in for his second “DONDA” listening event.

Kanye almost doubled His previous record, despite the fact that the release date for his 10th album “DONDA” is currently still a mystery.

Two weeks ago, Kanye West made headlines for racking up 3.3 million viewers for his initial “DONDA” listening event at Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium on July 22nd, making it the most viewed Apple Music livestream ever.

However, it appears that the only person to top Kanye is himself, as his fans were glued to his extravagant performance which means in total, 8.7 million people around the world tuned in to see what Ye was cooking up!

Kanye also made $7 million in revenue from in-person sales of his “DONDA” merchandise.

Additionally, the “Beats” commercial starring Sha’Carri Richardson that features Kanye’s new song “No Child Left Behind,” is said to have amassed more than 35 million views since it was released almost a month ago.

Meanwhile, the wait for “DONDA” continues, as fans grow increasingly frustrated by expected and missed release dates although Kanye himself has never actually confirmed when the project would be released.

 

S.I/S.S

Kano PDP backs Secondus

Confidence Okwuchi
-
0

The Kano State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP says its loyalty to the party’s national leadership remains total and unwavering.

The State PDP Chairman, Mr. Shehu Wada-Sagagi, said this in a statement, while responding to calls for the resignation of Uche Secondus by some PDP members in the state.

“We received with dismay the news that a nonexisting group named: Coalition of Support Groups of PDP, Kano State, called for the resignation of our National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus.

“In fact, it is the evil machinations of the enemies of our party in the state.

“It is important to for the general public to know that our party members in the state remain loyal to our National Executive Council, National Working Committee, and the Board of Trustees.

“We are working tirelessly to see the success of our party in the upcoming 2023 general elections,” he said.

The chairman, therefore, called for calm and prayers for the progress of the party.

“We, therefore, call on the national party leaders and party members across the country to disregard such ill-conceived call.

“We appreciate Secondus’s leadership style and his efforts to move the party forward.

“He is the first national chairman to be in the opposition, all the previous ones have been chairmen with the ruling party at the national level.

“That is why some people don’t appreciate that, but we in Kano, who have been in the opposition from 2015 to date, know how difficult it is to operate under that atmosphere.

“We appreciate his leadership style and stand by him,” Wada-Sagagi added.

 

NAN/Confidence Okwuchi

1...2,4832,4842,485...3,663Page 2,484 of 3,663

HEALTH

ENTERTAINMENT & TOURISM

WORLD

NEWS COMMENTARY

NEWS FEATURE

Voice Of Nigeria Mission is “Reflecting Nigerian and African perspectives in our broadcasts, winning and sustaining the attention, respect and goodwill of listeners worldwide, particularly Nigerians and Africans in the Diaspora … making Nigeria’s voice to be heard more positively in the shaping of our world.”

More from CN

Contact

© Voice of Nigeria Broadcasting Service