President Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday assented to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2019.
The anti-trust bill which was first proposed by the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE) fifteen years ago will seek to eliminate monopoly and ensure competitive trade in Nigeria.
The Federal Government has unveiled its Strategic Revenue Growth Initiative (SRGI) for sustainable revenue generation in various sectors of the economy, part of which is to increase Excise Duty rates on certain goods as well as Value Added Tax (VAT) from the current 5%.
Speaking in Abuja while launching the SRGI, Wednesday, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, said the implementation of the initiative would significantly boost the federal government revenue outlook in the months and years ahead.
The Federal Government, yesterday, renewed the three-year partnership agreement with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, UNITAR and Diageo, parent company of Guinness Nigeria, aimed at reducing deaths and injuries through accidents in Nigeria.
The agreement was signed on behalf of Nigeria by the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, while Mr. Baker Magunda, Managing Director of Guinness Nigeria and Mr. Nikil Seth, Executive Director, UNITAR, signed for the various organizations.
The Senate, on Tuesday called on the Federal Government to suspend the planned excise duty increase on locally produced alcoholic beverages set to go into effect on June 4th. The Upper Chamber of the National Assembly said that the increase which would raise the excise duty rate on alcoholic beverages from the current rate of 20% to 67% represents a 300% increase and should be suspended until there is a better understanding of the new policy by all stakeholders in the interest of the national economy.
The National Union of Food Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) has criticised the Federal Government and threatened to go on a labour strike over the planned increase on the excise duty rates for alcoholic beverages and tobacco.
While speaking at a meeting by the organised labour, President of NUFBTE, Lateef Oyelekan, said that more than 20,000 workers are presently employed in the alcoholic and tobacco sector and may lose their jobs if the amendment takes effect.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that the recently implemented excise duty rates for alcoholic beverages and tobacco products by the Federal Government of Nigeria were too low and instead should be higher to act as “a fail-proof revenue raising strategy.”
The World body is recommending a 100% increase in excise duty be slapped on the affected products to conform to global norms.
The much anticipated FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour arrived in Nigeria on Wednesday, with a first stop in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital and was received by the President, Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa. Also present at the welcoming ceremony were other stakeholders such as the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung, officials of the Coca-Cola Company including the Managing Director of Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, Bhupendra Suri and his counterpart and Managing Director at the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC), Georgios Polymenakos.
Soft drinks giant Coca-Cola on Thursday announced the launch of “The Safe Birth Initiative” a new programme to aid the Health Ministries of Ivory Coast and Nigeria tackle high maternal and infant mortalities.
The pledge was made by the company’s Group President for Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA), Brian Smith while paying a courtesy visit to the President of Ivory Coast, His Excellency Alassane Ouattara.
The First Nigerian Beer Festival got underway on Monday evening as billed amid an atmosphere of celebration at the Atlantic City Waterfront, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The event opens daily with hundreds of fun seekers trooping to the waterfront to enjoy the excitement, fun and entertainment of the carnival.
Nigeria’s agricultural production of sorghum has leaped to the second place, now trailing only the United States in annual production.
Data obtained from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts world sorghum production at 59.34 million metric tonnes for 2017/2018.
Of this number, USA’s output is projected to reach 8.4m metric tonnes while Nigeria is second with 6.4m metric tonnes, and Mexico comes in the third position with 6.0m metric tonnes.
