Nigeria is targeting a 35% increase in its tax base this year from the current 14 million to 17 million payers as the country seeks fund to finance its 2017 budget. To achieve its target the government plans to employ about 7, 500 graduates between 18 and 35 years. Known as the Community Tax Liaison Officers (CTLOs), their job will be to raise awareness and educate citizens at all levels about...

Nigeria’s annual wheat imports rose by 54% to $201 million in the first quarter of this year against the $130.9 million the same period last year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows. This result, among others, is due to the lack of High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF), a composite which is mixed with wheat by flour millers for flour production. Explaining the...

Dangote Oil Refinery Company Ltd has awarded DuPont Clean Technologies a contract for the provision of proprietary equipment needed for the construction of its new oil refinery and petrochemical plant in Lekki, Lagos Nigeria. Under the contract, DuPont will be supplying Dangote with equipment such as an alkylation unit, sulfuric acid regeneration (SAR) unit, sulfur recovery unit (SRU) tail gas...

Nigerian fuel marketers have threatened to halt the supply and distribution of oil products across the country if the Federal Government does not pay the $2.2billion subsidy debt owed to them for imports. In a joint statement on Thursday, the marketers explained that majority of the debts were bank charges on loans acquired to order for gasoline cargoes between 2014 and Q1 of...

The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, (FMITI) says it is partnering with Microsoft to digitally transform services delivery in Nigeria. FMITI through the Microsoft Africa Open4Business programme plans to use integrated cloud technologies to change the reach and scope of government-to-investor services and establish an active and investment friendly environment in the...

The European Commission has granted Nigeria a €143 million support package for near-term humanitarian aid and an extended development support for those in areas ravaged by Boko Haram attacks in Borno State. The package comprises development aid of €123 million from the Nigeria 11th European Development Fund National Indicative Programme and €20 million from the EU...

The National Bureau of Statistics in a report published on Thursday revealed that Nigeria’s annual inflation fell to 16.25% in May against 17.24% in April. The statistics office in a separate food price index disclosed that inflation was at 19.27% compared to the 19.30% in April. “The rise in the (food) index was caused by increases in prices of meat, bread and cereals, fish, potatoes,...

14 million euros. That is the amount of the facility provided to Madagascar by German development bank KfW for a rural electrification project. The funds will be used to build five hydropower dams, with a total capacity of 13.3MW, in the Sava region. The plants’ output will help cut by 80% the budget dedicated to the purchase of fuel used to generate electricity in the region. “The...

In Senegal, a commission will be put in place by the Louga municipal council, in the northern part of the country, to “shed some light into multiple cases involving fragmentation of lands which are later given out cheaply”, in some areas of Ndiambour. This was reported by the Agence de Presse sénégalaise (APS). Concerned about land management in the area, municipal authorities, will the...

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the two remaining consortiums competing for the project regarding the construction of the Inga II hydropower dam were invited to submit a joint bid for the project. This was announced by the Agency in charge of the development and promotion of the Great Inga Project (ADPI-RDC). “The two consortiums have been invited, after examination of their respective...