Skip to main content

FG- Imo: :Regulatory Oversight of The State Electricity Market Is Now Underr ISERC

By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade  The Federal Government yesterday( Monday) announced the transfer of Regulatory Oversight of the Electricity Market in Imo State to the state electricity regulatory commission, otherwise known as (ISERC). In a statement issued by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Common( NERC), the development is in compliance with the amended Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (CFRN) and the Electricity Act 2023 (Amended), reiterating that all transfers envisaged by this order shall be completed by 31 December 2024. According to the Commission,the transfer Order’s provisions include: “Direct Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) to incorporate a subsidiary (EEDC SubCo) to assume responsibilities for intrastate supply and distribution of electricity in Imo State from EEDC, and that EEDC shall complete the incorporation of EEDC SubCo within 60 days from 27th June 2024. The subcompany shall apply for and obtain licence for the in
Post a Comment

Only five percent SMEs get credit facilities in Nigeria, says NBS, NSME

By Akinola Ajibade

Operators of Small and Medium Scales( SMEs) who have access to credit facilities in Nigeria are not more than five percent, the National Bureau of Statistics ( NBS) and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria ( MESAN) have said.  

The two agencies, in a joint report released on the state of financing businesses in the country, said that access to credit is still very low in Nigeria, and that financial institutions have limited the credit advanced to SMEs and related organistions in the country.

The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, CRC Credit Bureau Limited, Tunde Popoola, gave vent to this assertion, in a speech with the theme: " The Role of Credit Reporting in Facilitating Consumer Credits at the May 2022 forum of the Finance and Business Online Publishers’ Association FiBOP, held in Lagos recently.

According to him, the The access to credit in Nigeria  is practically demonstrated in various ways, apart from through credit penetration and credit bureau coverage.

He said: "First, only few Nigerian consumers and SMEs enjoy credit facilities from Nigerian banks. According to statistics, Nigeria could boast of over 41 million micro, small and medium enterprises, MSMEs.

Citing a report jointly released by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, SMEDAN, and the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, on January 12, 2022, he said that the MSMEs represent over 96.7 percent of total businesses in Nigeria; they contribute about 46.31 percent to GDP and 6.21 per cent of gross exports during the year under review. However, less than 5% of Nigeria MSMEs have access to credit”.

Continuing further, Popoola said that the country is characterized by significant disproportionate allocation of credit to different sectors. The sectors that contribute the most are denied credit while credit goes to the sector with relatively little contribution to the GDP.

“For example, while agriculture contributed over 21 per cent to GDP in 2018, the share of bank credit to agriculture was the lowest at 3.8 per cent. On the other hand, while oil and gas received 23 percent of bank credit, its contribution to share of GDP was less than 10 per cent. In addition, the cost of borrowing is very steep in Nigeria, and this serves as a disincentive to borrowing to a lot of businesses especially the SMEs”, maintained the GMD.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

HAPPY 70 TO ELDER ADE ADEDAMOLA OGIDAN

PLATINUM BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY OF ELDER ADE ADEDAMOLA OGIDAN, A FOREMOST JOURNALIST & EDITOR By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade Like a new born child, beaming with smiles for coming out of his mother's womb in order to live a fulfiled life, the celebrator,Ade Ogidan fits perfectly well into this category. Simply known as AAO, a shorten form of Ade Adedamola Ogidan, the thorough based journalist is without doubt, a  well grounded newsman.. With Bachelor of Science ( BSC) Degree in   Sociology and Anthropology( 1976 ) from University of Nigeria, Nsukka,  Ogidan has cut his teeth well in Journalism. Prior to this, he  taught in Osogbo Grammar School and worked at the Nigerian Communication respectively  after his youth service, a development, which no doubt prepared  him well for journalism profession and other future engagements. Pragmatic, resilient and outspoken, where it matters, Ogidan ensured  that his tenure as the first Chairman of Pineapple Estate, Ikorod
1 comment
Read more

NNPC Completes Mechanical Rehabilitation of Port Harcourt Refinery Plant

By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, says that it has mechanically completed the rehabilitation of Area 5 Plant of the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC). The nation's oil company began rehabilitation of the refinery two years ago, while at the same time, promised to complete its by 31st December 2023. The Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Ltd., Mr. Mele Kyari, said as of December 15th, 2023, 84.4% of Area 5 Plant, a key component of the Refinery, and 77.4% of the entire rehabilitation project have been completed. “In our quest to ensure that this refinery is re-streamed to continue to deliver value to Nigerians, we made a promise that we will reach a mechanical completion of phase one of the rehabilitation project by the end of December and get the other plants running in 2024. Today, we have kept those commitments,” Kyari stated. The GCEO commended NNPC's staff and the EPCIC contractors for doing a g
Post a Comment
Read more

Fed Govt Commences New VAT Sept 1

By Favour & Akinola Ajibade Buoyed by the resolve to deepen the country's revenue base and further and further speed up implementation of capital projects in Nigeria, the  Federal Government will in the next six days, precisely September 1, this year, starts collecting the  new Value Added Tax( VAT).  The government is achieving  this goal through the Federal Inland Revenue Service(FIRS).  FIRS, in a statement,  said subject to the Finance Act 2023, VAT withheld or collected, VAT on items excluded from building, the new Tertiary Education Tax rate of 3 per cent and Investment Allowances and Convertible Currencies will become effective September 1, 2023. Certain amended provisions of the Finance Act 2023 were enacted on 28th May, 2023 with the effective date of 1st May 2023. However, the effective date was changed to 1st September 2023. Some of the amended Sections are 14 (3) which deals on VAT Withheld or Collected. The VAT Act was amended to the effect that persons
Post a Comment
Read more