BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Gamblers to pay tax in FIRS’ new agenda; South Africa’s Game Stores moves to offload Nigerian assets; and other stories

Hello, and welcome to the 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:

· Kanye West loses $1.5bn, as antisemitic rant crashes deals

· Nigeria to get $1.8bn from Islamic bank

· Gamblers to pay tax, as FIRS commences on-the-spot deductions

· Russia loses Mercedes-Benz investment, as auto maker pulls out

· South Africa’s Game Stores moves to offload Nigerian assets

Summary:

In the next two months, Game Stores, a South African retail giant owned by Game Discount World Limited, will exit the Nigerian market, more than a year after Shoprite discontinued business in the country.

Game Stores in a letter dated October 26, 2022, to business partners, the retail firm said it would leave Africa’s largest economy by way of stock clearance sale, Vice President of Merchandise at Game, Neville Hatfield, noted.

The South African company had previously planned to sell its asset in Nigeria to Xanderwill Limited, but later opted for a stock clearance sale, which is the selling of goods to get rid of them rather than to earn a profit.

The invasion of Ukraine has cost Russia the investment of another foreign investor, Mercedes-Benz, as the vehicle manufacturer announces its decision to sell assets to a local investor.

Mercedes-Benz has entered into an agreement with Avtodom to effect the exit of the German carmaker from Russia, following the path of many western companies leaving the country in protest against the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia had invaded Ukraine in February following reports that the country could join NATO, a move Vladimir Putin’s government is against.

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has disclosed the commencement of tax deductions at online betting transaction sites.

This was announced on Wednesday in Abuja by Mr. Johannes Wojuola, the Special Assistant on Media and Communication to Executive Chairman of FIRS, Malam Muhammad Nami.

According to him, the Sentinal National Payment Gateway and Electronic Solution is used by the FIRS to levy and collect tax.

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American rapper, Kanye West, is no longer a billionaire after his partnership with Adidas for his fashion brand, Yeezy, was terminated by the footwear company.

On Tuesday, Adidas announced that the estimated $1.5 billion deal with Kanye West has been cancelled with immediate effect after the music producer’s antisemitism rants on social media.

Ripples Nigeria had reported that Kanye West was suspended from Instagram and Twitter after making comments that the social networking sites viewed as an attack against Jewish people.

The Federal government is to get $1.8 billion from the Islamic Development Bank, to be used to execute projects across the country.

This was disclosed by the President of the Saudi-based bank, Dr Mohamed Jasser, at a meeting with the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, in Abuja on Monday

The Islamic Development Bank is a multilateral development finance institution focusing on infrastructure development.

On NSE ROUND UP: Investors trade stocks worth N14.2bn as Honeywell, Unilever top losers’ chart

Investors at the Nigerian capital market traded 598.817 million shares worth N14.234 billion in 15,859 deals this week.

This however fell short of the 938.020 million shares valued at N16.701 billion traded by investors in 15,700 deals last week.

By measure of volume, the Financial Services Industry was the best-performing sector this week with shareholders trading 398.264 million shares valued at N2.219 billion in 8,247 deals.

The Conglomerates Industry followed with 37.514 million shares worth N49.503 million in 393 deals while investors in the ICT Industry sold 30.708 million shares worth N8.383 billion in 1,218 deals.

On the tech scene, WhatsApp, Twitter, Hub71, Google, cybergatetech.net, Verti, Satgana, Udaan, Techparley.com, Meta, Square Peg Capital, were some of the names that made the headlines in the tech ecosystem this week.

Tech Giant, Google, during the week, launched a cloud-based node engine service for Ethereum developers and projects.

Also, during the week, a Nigerian-led tech agency, Cybergate Technologies, launched an academy arm of its organization to train future cybersecurity professionals.

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