Forte Oil has raised N9 billion ($30 million) from the sale of five-year bonds, with an interest rate coupon of 17.5%, its advisers said on Wednesday. They added that the bonds, which were issued under a N50 billion debt programme, came at a par value of N1,000 each. The Nigerian oil company in March 2016 disclosed plans to raise capital to expand its operations in the country, either through a...

The Federal Government of Nigeria has secured a $1.5 billion counterpart loan from China to fund the Lagos-Ibadan rail project expected to commence by March this year. This was declared by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, on Wednesday. According to him, the project which the federal government has already released a N72 billion counterpart funding for, would begin before the...

The Nigerian Government has approved a new project financing model for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). Through this new model, private investors would be invited to bid, procure fund and develop some of the company. According to the Managing Director on TCN, Abubakar Atiku (photo), the new financing model is aimed at allowing the company reinforce and renovate the transmission grid...

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved a new National Tax Policy will be used as a guideline for operations, help review the Nigeria’s tax system and provide a foundation for future tax legislation and administration. ‎According to Kemi Adeosun (photo), Minister of Finance, the implementation of the policy, which begins immediately, would bring about a rise in Value Added Tax (VAT)...

Donor countries and global financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will monitor the implementation of the 2017 budget, in order to ensure proper utilization of funds for projects. According to the Guardian, countries like Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States, China and other development partners have voiced concerns over the humanitarian...

Morocco is looking at issuing bonds worth about $1 billion on the international market this year. According to a senior official from Morocco’s ministry of finance who asked not to be named, the fundraising will be the Kingdom’s first step toward plugging its budget deficit, Reuters reports. While this deficit is expected to expand to 3% of the gross domestic product for 2017, the...

As part of the reform of the Société nationale d’investissement (SNI – National Investment Company), the secular arm of the Cameroonian State in the creation or acquisition of stake in companies, the government should solicit funding from the World Bank, the African Development Company or Proparco, we learned from good sources. These lending institutions should enable the launch of the...

Outraged by the unfair treatment to women in terms of access to agricultural lands, eight women associations organized an information workshop on the theme “concerns of Senegalese women in regards to land access and ownership”. During the workshop, State secretary in charge of support and mutualisation of farmers’ organizations, Moustapha Lô Diatta, pledged to establish a committee that...

Italy’s minister of foreign affairs, Angelino Alfano, announced on January 30 that his country would launch a €200 million fund to fight human trafficking in Mediterranean and curb clandestine immigration from Africa. “We will disburse €200 million to curb clandestine immigration and human trafficking,” he said in a statement. The official added in the same source that the...

The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment has secured over $600,000 as grant from the African Development Bank (AfDB) for the expansion of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country. According to the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Aisha Abubakar, the fund will be used to conduct a pre-development study for the conversion of six out of the 23...