How Nigeria Can Deal With Recession

Nigeria will have to turn to industries other than oil to help pull itself out of recession, experts have said as the latest sobering government figures revealed that the economy fell by just over two per cent in the second quarter of 2016.

The overall decline of Nigeria’s economy is – gross domestic product (GDP) fell 2.06 percent in the second quarter – largely attributed to the global drop in the price of oil, which saw growth of -17.48 per cent in real terms in the same period.

IMF data projects a -1.8 per cent change in real GDP for 2016. This would be the first annual decline in over twenty years, and the worst annual recession to have hit the country since 1987, when GDP growth dropped to -10.8 per ceNigeria plans to borrow as much as $10billion from debt markets, with about half of that coming from foreign sources. Funds from this Eurobond would be spent on power transmission projects, solid mineral development and agriculture.

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Determined to stop the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from moving unclaimed dividends of 12 years to the proposed Nigerian Capital Market Development Fund (NCMDF), some shareholders are planning a court action, THISDAY checks have revealed.

The capital market apex regulator is planning to establish the NCMDF for dividends that have been unclaimed for 12 years and above. The Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) provides that unclaimed dividends for 12 years are statute barred and are returned to the companies that paid the dividends.

However, SEC has proposed a new rule on application of 12 years and above unclaimed dividends.
“All companies and registrars shall not later than 30 days after the end of every calendar year forward to the Commission a report of unclaimed dividends in their custody, which shall specify compliance with Sub Rule (1) of this Rule. Companies shall disclose details of compliance with this Rule in their annual reports,” SEC said in the rule. Read more

Nigerians have been warned to be alert and not to panic as a solar eclipse will occur in some parts of the country on Thursday. 

National Space Research and Development Agency (NSRDA) has urged the public not to panic over the Annular Eclipse which will be experienced between the hours of 7:15am and 10:03am on Thursday, September 1 with slight variations in actual timing across the country.

In a press statement by the Head of Media and Corporate Communications, Dr Felix Ale, the Agency appealed to the general public not to panic or adduce any mystical interpretations to this event, urging them not to observe the eclipse with naked eyes, as this can cause damage. Read more