Nigerians spend about $1.7 billion annually to import vehicles. This consists of about 50,000 new and 150,000 used vehicles, according to Aminu Jalal, the Director-General of the National Automotive Council (NAC). “Nigerians spend an average of N400 billion on importing passenger cars. By the time you add trucks and other vehicles, the amount Nigerians spend on imported vehicles will be...

In Nigeria, the Benin-Owena River Basin Development Authority (BORBDA) is set to begin the execution of a four-year strategic plan worth N30.7 billion ($88.7 million) in Edo, Ekiti, Ondo and Delta. This aims to enhance sustainable agriculture production, ensure completion of on-going irrigation projects in the States and expand BORBDA’s commercial investment outlook. According to the Managing...

Port workers have threatened to embark on a nationwide protest on Tuesday, over their disagreement with some sections of the Ports and Harbour Bill recently passed by the Senate. This they claim could lead to massive job losses. The bill which revolves around the efficient and more profitable management of the Nigerian Maritime space is currently awaiting passage by the House of Representatives....

The French Development Agency (AFD) has committed over € 1 billion in Nigeria since 2008, according to the French Ambassador to Nigeria, Denys Gauer (photo). Speaking while receiving a team from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in Abuja on Monday, the Ambassador said the financial commitments were aimed at supporting sustainable growth with emphasis on economic...

In Nigeria, the World Bank has said it will support the Lagos State government with a grant of up to $620 million for school infrastructure projects and other critical areas. This is to encourage out of school children to get back to the classroom. World Bank’s Senior Director for Education Global Practice, Jaime Saavedra Chanduvi (photo, 2nd right), revealed this during an official visit...

The FINACTU Group is very pleased to conduct an important mission for the General Retirement Fund for State Agents (IPS-CGRAE[1]) in Ivory Coast, in order to start up a supplementary pension scheme for the State officials and agents. Indeed, CGRAE, committed to offer quality services to its insured persons, took the initiative to start a very ambitious project to create a funded scheme, which...

The Federal Government of Nigeria this week, approved a National Gas Policy which builds on the policy goals of the government for the gas sector. According to Idang Alibi, the Director of Press at the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the policy aims to ease investment and develop the sector. “The gas policy intends to move Nigeria from an oil-based to an oil and gas-based industrial...

The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) has granted Burkina Faso two financing facilities worth $43 million (about FCFA25 billion) for infrastructure projects. Agreements for the funding were recently signed by Burkina Faso’s minister of economy, finance and development, Rosine Coulibaly, and Yousef Al-Basam, vice president and director general of SFD. The first facility, which amounts...

Lending rate at Nigeria’s interbank on Friday rose to about 15% from the 5% recorded last week. This was after commercial lenders made payment for dollar and Treasury bill purchases, thereby bringing down liquidity, traders told Reuters. “The interbank rate traded above the 40% level on Wednesday because of the treasury bill auction,” a trader said adding that the rates later fell after...

In Cote d’Ivoire, after months of talks with civil servants unions, the Ouattara government has promised on July 6 to pay the workers FCFA249 billion (433 million $) of arrears. “The government made us an offer to pay 249 billion over eight years, but we have not yet signed anything”, said Gnagna Zadi, president of the Platform for Professional Organisations of the public sector....