News and analysis of global and local business trends, markets, and industry developments.
Abuja, Nigeria — Nigeria has emerged as Africa’s best-performing nation in the global energy transition rankings, climbing to 61st place globally in the 2025 Energy Transition Index (ETI) released by the World Economic Forum (WEF). This marks a significant leap of 48 positions from last year’s report, with Nigeria scoring 54.8 points—an improvement attributed to…
Nigeria – In a development for Nigeria’s digital financial services, thirteen commercial banks have fully settled their outstanding debts for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, USSD, services owed to Mobile Network Operators, MNOs, paving the way for a new, streamlined billing structure. The remaining three banks are nearing completion of their payments, having cleared over 95…
WhatsApp on Monday announced that users will begin seeing advertisements within the app. This development comes as parent company, Meta, seeks new ways to generate revenue from the messaging service’s vast user base. Nikila Srinivasan, Vice President for product management at Meta, announced this to reporters. According to Meta, the ads will appear in the…
Lagos, Nigeria — The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has announced it will commence nationwide distribution of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and diesel from August 15, 2025, in a bid to bolster fuel supply and support economic development across Nigeria. This announcement was made in a statement released on Sunday, highlighting the refinery’s wide-scale distribution strategy, which…
Nigeria – Nestlé Nigeria Plc has announced an ongoing collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development to launch a dairy technical skills development program aimed at enhancing the quality and volume of milk production in Nigeria. A statement by Victoria Uwadoka, Corporate Communications, Public Affairs and Sustainability Lead, Nestlé Nigeria, said the initiative has…
Abuja, Nigeria—The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently review and reverse economic policies burdening Nigerians, particularly high fuel prices, electricity tariffs, and charges on essential services. In a statement issued Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the PDP urged the government to use the Eid-el-Kabir season to…
Nigeria — The Coca-Cola Company has unveiled a new 60cl PET bottle for its soft drinks, promising Nigerian consumers more volume at no additional cost. According to the statement released, the company said the newly introduced bottle size would deliver more refreshments at the same price. Speaking during the launch, Senior Director of Frontline Marketing, Coca-Cola…
Abuja, Nigeria — The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has achieved a major milestone, negotiating wage increases of up to 300 percent for workers in the oil and gas industry. This development was announced by Comrade Festus Osifo, PENGASSAN President, during his address at the 2025 PENGASSAN Women Annual Convention…
Lagos, Nigeria — Africa’s largest oil refinery, the Dangote Refinery, is now fully capable of meeting the fuel needs of Nigeria and the wider West African region, according to its founder and industrialist, Aliko Dangote. He made the declaration during a high-level visit by ECOWAS Commission President, Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, to the world-class facility…
Abuja, Nigeria — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and financial analysts have raised alarms over Nigeria’s mounting public debt levels as the federal government advances plans to secure nearly $26 billion in new loans to support its 2025–2026 fiscal agenda. The warning follows President Bola Tinubu’s recent $21.5 billion loan request to the National Assembly…
Abidjan, Ivory Coast — Schneider Electric has been honored with the prestigious Gender Leader Award at the 2025 Africa CEO Forum, in recognition of its outstanding commitment to promoting gender diversity and inclusion across the African continent. The award, presented during the forum held in Abidjan, reflects the company’s consistent efforts to embed equity…
Anambra, Nigeria — Federal lawmaker, Afam Ogene, has decried the alleged imposition of N700,000 against traders affected by the closure of the Onitsha drug market by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). Ogene, who is the member representing Ogbaru Federal Constituency in Anambra under the Labour Party said in a…
Nigeria — Dangote Refinery has slashed the pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, by N15 per litre. According to a statement released yesterday, the company said that as a result of the reduction, Nigerians can now purchase the product at N875 per litre in Lagos instead of N890— N885 per…
Abuja, Nigeria— The World Bank has raised concerns over the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPCL) partial remittance of revenue gains following the removal of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) subsidy. This observation was detailed in the World Bank’s latest Nigeria Development Update (NDU), released in May 2025. The report indicates that despite the official…
Lagos, Nigeria — A Nigerian digital bank, Palmpay, has announced that it processed 15 million daily transactions in the first quarter of 2025. The disclosure was made during a media roundtable held in Lagos to review the company’s first-quarter performance on Thursday. According to the fintech firm, PalmPay now has 35 million registered users, with…
Abuja, Nigeria — The Senator Representing Borno South, Ali Ndume has applauded the President Bola Tinubu-led administration for banning the importation of foreign goods which have local equivalents. He said the ban, along side the provision of requisite incentives to local producers, will go a long way in creating jobs, boosting local capacity and production…
Yola, Nigeria — In a striking display of demand for public sector employment, the Adamawa State Civil Service Commission has reported over 20,000 applications for just 4,000 job openings within the first 24 hours of launching its recruitment portal. The announcement was made by the Permanent Secretary of the Commission, Mr. Abubakar Maiha, who credited…
Nigeria — In a new development, Dangote Petroleum Refinery has announced a further reduction in the gantry price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol. The new price is set at N835 per litre, down from N865 per litre, marking a 3.5 per cent decrease. This price adjustment follows the recent decline in…
Oyo, Nigeria — Nigerians have taken to social media to express frustration over the recent crash of a high-yield investment platform, CBEX, which netizens have widely described as “MMM Pro Max.” It was reported that a group of angry individuals stormed the CBEX office in the Oke-Ado area of Ibadan, Oyo State, on Monday evening,…
ITALY – Italian fashion house Prada announced Thursday that it had reached a deal with US group Capri Holdings to buy Versace for 1.25 billion euros ($1.39 billion). The acquisition will create a luxury group with revenues of over six billion euros that could better compete with industry giants such as the French conglomerates LVMH…
United States — The United States Trade Representative on Monday, criticised Nigeria’s import ban on 25 categories of goods, claiming that the restrictions limit market access for American exporters. This came shortly after President Donald Trump introduced tariffs on goods entering the US, with Nigeria facing a 14 per cent duty. The USTR highlighted the…
Nigeria – In the first-quarter (Q1) period ended March 31, 2025, 10 stockbroking firms were responsible for 65.79 per cent of the value of stocks traded on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX). Equities transactions by these stockbroking firms, which included Chapel Hill Denham Securities Limited, Cardinalstone Securities Limited, APT Securities and Funds, and other seven…
Nigeria – Dangote Industries Ltd. has reaffirmed its commitment to making Nigeria self-sufficient in key sectors such as cement production, agriculture, mining, and petroleum refining. Dr. Abayomi Shittu, Regional Sales Director (Southeast) of Dangote Cement, made the pledge during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday at the ongoing 36th Enugu…
Abuja, Nigeria — The recent announcement of the newly constituted board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has drawn sharp criticism from the Women in Energy Network (WIEN) over glaring gender imbalance. In a statement issued on Friday, WIEN President Eyono Fatai-Williams praised the president’s reorganisation of the…
Nigeria – The leaders and people of the Host Communities of Nigeria Producing Oil and Gas (HOSTCOM) have urged President Bola Tinubu to contest the 2027 presidential election. They said his reelection would enable him to continue his reforms aimed at Nigeria’s economic recovery, stability, and growth. The President of HOSTCOM, Chief Benjamin Style Tamaranabi,…
Nigeria – The Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, has warned that promoters and operators of any Ponzi Scheme in the country risk a penalty of not less than N20 million or imprisonment to a term of 10 years or both, upon conviction as prescribed by the provisions of the newly signed Investments and Securities Act…
Abuja, Nigeria — Nigeria is losing an estimated $10 billion annually due to its inability to tap into the lucrative global honey market, a challenge largely attributed to an underdeveloped beekeeping industry. This concern was raised by Gideon Dagundoro, President of the Grassroots Beekeepers Association of Nigeria, in an interview where he urged the federal…
Nigeria – Dangote Petroleum Refinery has temporarily stopped selling petroleum products in naira. This decision was communicated to petroleum marketers through an official notice on Wednesday afternoon. According to the refinery, the suspension aims to align sales revenue with crude oil purchase obligations, which are currently in U.S. dollars. The company explained that the value…
Ogun, Nigeria — The President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has accused former Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, of demolishing his cement plant twice during his administration. Dangote made the allegation during his meeting with the state governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun on Monday, March 17, 2025. A statement by the Ogun State…
EU – The European Union (EU) has announced a set of countermeasures against the United States, targeting American products such as boats, bourbon, and Harley-Davidson motorbikes in response to new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen criticized the 25% tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on steel, aluminum,…
NIGERIA – The harsh economic environment led to the closure of about 30 percent of Micro and Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria, amounting to about 7.2 million of the country’s estimated 24 million MSMEs, between 2023 and 2024, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has stated. Chief Economist and Director of Research at NESG,…
