BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Fuel scarcity looms; S’Court voids AMCON takeover of Lagos Hotel; Other stories

Hello, and welcome to Business Roundup this week. Here, we bring you highlights of events that happened during the week —from the capital market to the mainstream business activities, while not forgetting the tech/economy build up.

Here are the Headlines:

• Fuel scarcity looms as NARTO threatens supply cut
• Non-performing Discos to lose 50% operating expenditure —FG
• CBN raises Customs import duty rate to N1,481/$1
• Supreme Court voids AMCON takeover of Lagos Hotel

Summary

Nigerians have been told to brace up for fuel scarcity as the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) has vowed to suspend operations from Monday, February 19, 2024 over rising operational costs.

The association’s National President, Yusuf Lawal Othman, made this known in a press statement he issued from Abuja while noting that the statement was an official announcement from the association’s headquarters that the members are parking their trucks from Monday.

He stressed: “Why? Because what we spend on operation is more than what we get in total: both in local and bridging.”

Following the rampant cases of blackout across the country, the federal government of Nigeria has threatened to sanction non-performing Distribution Companies (DisCos) in the country.

According to the stipulated sanctions which were unveiled by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) at the 1st Nigeria Electricity Supply Industry NESI Stakeholders Meeting of 2024 in Lagos, any DisCo that perform below stipulated are going to lose 50 per cent of their operating expenditures.

Speaking at the event, the Vice Chairman, NERC, Musiliu Useni, urged Discos to improve their performance or suffer consequences.

The food crisis in Nigeria may take a turn for the worse as the Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria has said it would withdraw its service nationwide from February 27, if the Federal government refused to implement the agreement it entered into with the association in 2020.

The association called for the immediate implementation of financial support palliatives for bakers as promised by the Federal Government as post COVID-19 support programmes for Small and Medium Enterprises for bakers who have lost over 40 per cent of their membership and still counting.

It also called for the suspension of all forms of taxation on the bakery industry for now at the federal, state and local government levels.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has increased the exchange rate for Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) import duty rate at the nation’s seaports.

The rate was reviewed upward on Wednesday morning from N1, 444.56/$ to N1, 481.48/$1, according to information obtained from the official trade portal of the NCS.

For the British Pound, the exchange rate was increased from N1,824.19/£1 to N1,871.40/£1 while it was upwardly reviewed from N1,556.08/€1 to N1,598.51/€1 for the Euro.

The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeal which nullified the takeover of the landed property of Suru Worldwide Ventures Nigeria Limited by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

Justice Emmanuel Agim in his judgment dismissed the appeal filed by AMCON and affirmed the lower court’s decision to halt the company’s takeover and ordered a new hearing at the High Court.

“I find no merit in this appeal. The judgment of the court of appeal is hereby affirmed,” he declared.

ON NGX ROUND: BUA, PZ among top entities as investors gain N887b

Investors at the Nigerian capital market went home with N887 billion at the close of trading on Friday.

This followed the rise in the market capitalization to N57.8 trillion from N56.9 trillion posted by the bourse on Thursday.

Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI) rose to 105,722.78 from the previous 104,100.00 basis points.

ON TECH SCENE: Carbon, One Credit Limited, MasterCard, Logidoo, Roam, Finom, Kema, Ilara Health, X, Unlearn.AI, are some of the names that made the headlines this week.

Pan-African fintech startup, Carbon, has announced expanding its offerings by acquiring Vella Finance, a Nigerian fintech startup specializing in SME banking through its parent company, One Credit Limited.

Also, MasterCard, a prominent player in digital payments and technology, has announced the appointment of Folasade Femi-Lawal as the Country Manager and Area Business Director for West Africa.

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