Finance
Saraki speaks on Senate’s passage of 2018 budget
The Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, on Wednesday said the implementation of 2018 Appropriation Bill passed by the senate should commence immediately.
He said the immediate implementation of the budget will enable Nigerians to “benefit from the objective of the budget and opportunities it opens.”
Speaking on the floor of the Upper Legislative Chamber, Saraki urged agencies of government to eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy and speed up the procurement process.
According to Saraki, “Distinguished colleagues, let me thank you so much for the industry you have put into bringing us to this point. Let me thank the relevant sub-committees, especially, for the patriotism and commitment to the delivery of a more efficiency oriented budget.
“When we received the 2018 Draft Appropriation Bill, I reiterated the need for us to reassess the relationship between oil and our economy. We must grow our economy away from oil. Hopefully, the current budget, when signed into law, should help us in this regard, especially with the coming into focus for implementation, the economic reform bills we have passed so far and those on the way to full passage.
“We have always believed that government spending must continue to grow on issues relevant to the welfare and security of our people. In the same vein, government spending should reduce in areas where the private sector is better placed to catalyse progress. This will free up funds for Education, Health, Water and Sanitation services, amongst others.
“On this note, it with great delight that I announce that the 2018 Budget has met the threshold of reserving at least 1% of total budget to health. This is historic. We were focused on this commitment of the 1% set aside for the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF). We promised, and we have delivered.
“For us this is not a commitment to numbers; it is a commitment to the health and well-being of our people. It is a commitment to ‘Making Nigeria Stronger’. We expect that this will continue and even inch upwards as we work to eradicate malaria, and significantly reduce infant and maternal mortality. The statistics that show Nigeria as having one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world – is not the Nigeria we want to leave behind for our children. The journey starts now; let us not look back.
“As you will recall, I had indicated the need for the Executive and the Legislature to come together, especially in the formation and passage of the Appropriation Bill. However, while we may have made progress in the formation stages, there is a lot more that needs to happen, to minimise delays and other stumbling blocks in the process.
“One of the symptoms of the unhelpful aspects of the prevailing culture hampering the process, remains the neglect or refusal of certain agencies of government to honour invitations to budget defence. It is our hope that we will see a major change in this regard, going forward.
“The Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) has been passed; it should of course be duly signed and implemented, so that our people can reap the full dividends of this landmark legislation. We are committed to passing all three parts of the legislation – i.e. Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) – thereby ushering in major reforms that will sanitise the oil industry. I am confident that we will redouble efforts towards passing other major component parts of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) – namely the Fiscal and Host Communities Bills – a process that is currently ongoing.
“Further to the goal of increasing independent revenue, there is the need to review agreements that government has signed with some private sector service providers. It is pertinent to observe that many of these agreements are biased and clearly not in the interest of the country. These are important steps toward freeing up funding for our critical sectors especially now with the increasing need for strengthening our security architecture and capacity across the country to improve on the safety and confidence of our people in government’s ability to provide for their welfare and security.
“It is also hoped that we have put together a Budget that will lend itself easily to the government priority of revamping the economy, creating jobs and fuelling the economic recovery in a manner that has meaning for the ordinary man on the street.
“We would like to see that the process of implementation of the budget starts immediately so that our people will begin to benefit from the objective of the budget and opportunities it opens. In order for us to have an efficient budget implementation, we will advise that agencies of government eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy and speed up the procurement process.
“I congratulate us all, once again, on this accomplishment of passing the 2018 Appropriations Bill; and I enjoin everyone in the legislature and the Executive to do their very best to ensure its successful implementation, for the greater development of our country.”
Flutterwave, Africa’s leading payments technology company, has announced today that its online merchants in Nigeria can now accept American Express payments.
American Express Card Members – with consumer, business, or corporate cards – will be able to make payments directly to e-commerce businesses using Flutterwave in Nigeria.
This service will also be available to Flutterwave merchants in other countries including Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and Uganda in the near future.
This collaboration facilitates online transactions and offers a range of benefits for both merchants and online shoppers:
- Flutterwave merchants can attract business from a new customer base of American Express Card Members in Africa and around the world. This includes consumers with personal cards and spenders with business or corporate products. Terms and conditions apply.
- For shoppers, there is more choice when it comes to being able to select their preferred method of payment when transacting with Flutterwave merchants. This collaboration strengthens the American Express global network and increases the number of locations across Africa that can be used by American Express Card Members to purchase a range of different goods and services.
Speaking on the development, Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola, Founder and CEO, Flutterwave, said:“At Flutterwave, we’re always looking for ways to connect the world to Africa through payments. This is one of our initiatives to ensure that more people across the world can pay using Flutterwave in Africa. We understand the value of providing shoppers with payment methods that work for them, as well as helping businesses to expand their customer bases. This collaboration also provides more options of where to shop and what to buy to American Express card holders across the globe. By offering American Express as a method of payment, Flutterwave will make the payment process faster and simpler for American Express card holders, and improve the experience for e-commerce businesses using Flutterwave, helping them to start locally and sell globally.”
On his part, Briana Wilsey, Vice President and General Manager of Global Network Services EMEA at American Express, said: “American Express continues to expand in Africa to enable greater payment choice for businesses and consumers. Through the agreement with Flutterwave, a trusted payment provider, we are giving e-commerce merchants in Nigeria the opportunity to reach American Express Card Members around the world. The collaboration is a win-win because it also increases the number of places where our Card Members can use their Cards in Nigeria.”
Flutterwave and American Express share similar visions; to enable businesses across the world to expand their operations in Africa and other emerging markets through a platform that enables local and cross-border transactions via one Application Programming Interface (API).
Flutterwave has processed over 630M transactions in excess of USD $31B, serves global and African customers like Uber, Air Peace, Bamboo, PiggyVest, and across various industries. On the other hand, American Express is a globally integrated payments company, providing customers with access to products, insights and experiences that enrich lives and build business success.
…Posts N3.3trn Net Profit, Declares N2.1trn Dividend
…Targets 2mbpd Crude Oil Production by December 2024
The NNPC Limited has released its 2023 Audited Financial Statement (AFS), declaring a net profit of N3.297 trillion at the close of the financial year which ended in December 2023, an increase of over N700billion (28%) when compared to the 2022 profit of N2.548trillion.
In a world press conference held at the NNPC Towers in Abuja on Monday, the Chief Financial Officer of the Company, Mr. Umar Ajiya said the release of the AFS is a testament to the Company’s commitment to transparency and accountability.
“Our fiscal performance reflects both strategic foresight and operational resilience. Despite inherent challenges of our operational and economic environment, we have improved the productivity and the financial performance of this great company,” Ajiya stated.
Ajiya added that posting such impressive returns demonstrates NNPC Ltd’s commitment to sustaining profitability and supporting the attainment of national energy security as stipulated by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, and by extension, as expected by the Company’s shareholders.
Explaining that the NNPC Ltd will announce Initial Public offer (IPO) once the shareholders and Board make a decision, Ajiya also debunked claims on subsidy payment, saying the Company was only taking care of the shortfall on PMS importation between it and the Federation.
Speaking earlier at the press conference, the Chairman of the NNPC Ltd Board, Chief Pius Akinyelure said that the excellent performance came as the fruit of the PIA 2021, the commitment of the Board, Management and staff of the company.
Akinyelure added that the shareholders of the company have since approved a final dividend of N2.1trn in line with PIA 2021 provisions.
In her remarks at the briefing, the Executive Vice President, Upstream, Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan said with improvements witnessed as a result of the renewed vigour in the war against crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, NNPC Ltd is targeting 2million barrels per day crude oil production by the the end of the year.
On the current fuel queues in parts of Lagos and the FCT, the Executive Vice President, Downstream, Mr. Dapo Segun appealed for understanding from Nigerians, saying that the the Company is working with relevant stakeholders to address the distribution, evacuation and logistics challenges.
It would be recalled that in 2021, NNPC declared profit in its operations for the first time. From a loss position of N803 billion in 2018, it reduced the loss further down to N1.7 billion in 2019.
However, in 2020, it posted its ‘first ever’ profit of N287 billion, then in 2021, it recorded a N674.1 billion profit and in 2022, the profit grew to N2.548, an unprecedented achievement in its financial performance. The N3.297 trillion profit declared for 2023 is the highest since the Company’s inception, 46 years ago.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed deposit money banks in the country to start charging 0.5% cybersecurity levy on some transactions done by their customers.
The apex bank gave the directive in a circular dated May 6, 2024 and sent to all commercial, merchant, non-interest and payment service banks as well as mobile money operators and payment service providers.
“Following the enactment of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) (amendment) Act 2024 and pursuant to the provision of Section 44 (2) (a) of the Act, ‘a levy of 0.5% (0.005) equivalent to a half percent of all electronic transactions value by the business specified in the Second Schedule of the Act’, is to be remitted to the National Cybersecurity Fund (NCF), which shall be administered by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA),” the circular partly read.
The apex bank said that the implementation of the levy would start two weeks from the date of the circular.
“The levy shall be applied at the point of electronic transfer origination, then deducted and remitted by the financial institution. The deducted amount shall be reflected in the customer’s account with the narration, ‘Cybersecurity Levy’. Deductions shall commence within two weeks from the date of this circular for all financial institutions and the monthly remittance of the levies collected in bulk to the NCF account domiciled at the CBN by the fifth business day of every subsequent month,” the circular said
The apex bank added that this new levy will not be applied on transactions such as loan disbursements and repayments, salary payments, intra-account transfers within the same bank or between different banks for the same customer, intra-bank transfers between customers of the same bank.
Also exempted from the levy were inter-branch transfers within a bank, cheque clearing and settlements, Letters of Credits, Banks’ recapitalisation-related funding only bulk funds movement from collection accounts, savings and deposits including transactions involving long-term investments, among others.
This current implementation however is not sitting well with some netizens as they reacted to the new development.
Here were some of their reactions from X.
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