The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Income

  • Economist recommends panacea for sustainable income growth

    Economist recommends panacea for sustainable income growth

    An economist, Professor Doyin Salami has urged business leaders to recalibrate their strategies for sustainable income growth in Nigeria’s tightening and rapidly changing economic landscape.

    Salami made the recommendation while delivering a keynote address at an Executive Business Roundtable organized by Pierrine Consulting in Lagos to explore nexus between consumer behavior, and economy for sustained incomes.

    He noted that while income was growing across board, growth was concentrated at the top.

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    Salami said it was critical that businesses continuously retune their methods for sustainable income growth in the light of shifting income distributions.

    He said: “Every business must not only understand where they make their incomes from; they must also understand where their consumers get their own incomes from, to grasp the industries that will impact their consumers’ spending power.”

    Speaking on the strategic importance of the Business Roundtable, Pierrine Consulting’s Chief Executive Officer, Oluseyi Adeoye, said his firm brought together the select group of top business leaders to analyse recent insights and the business outlook for 2025.

    Adeoye said the essence was to foster a collaborative environment where industry peers could build context and share strategies that will drive sustainable growth.

    “This event reinforces our commitment to thought leadership and positions us as a trusted strategic partner in today’s dynamic market,” Adeoye added.

    On his part, Tobi Adeojo, Senior Manager at Pierrine Consulting, weighed in on a key finding from the Consumer Sentiments Report presented during the roundtable, noting that the report clearly indicated that while consumer incomes were on the rise, there was a palpable shift towards quality and value in spending.

  • Nigerians should learn to create multiple streams of income, says MD

    Managing Director, Flobal Trust Limited, Mr Abayomi Adeyeri, has advised Nigerians to seek ways of creating multiple streams of income for sustainable wealth and good living standards.

    He said Nigerians must learn to optimise their incomes and cultivate good attitudes that would make them  succeed early in life.

    He pointed out that Flobal Trust Limited, an investment advisory company licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),   aims to build a world-class investment institution with sustainable growth, and to expand the worth of its customers by providing innovative investment advisory services.

    A former senior management member of Ecobank Nigeria and author of Multiple Bold Steps, Adeyeri said with its real estate and investment company subsidiary called Flobal Capital LLC in the United States, Flobal Trust’s mission is to provide effective platform and enabling environment that will facilitate and ensure convenient and accessible services and opportunities to its customers.

    Speaking against the background of the introduction of the Multiple Bold Steps, Adeyeri said  Nigerian youths, especially those not employed and salaried workers should learn how to create multiple streams of income without necessarily compromising good values, adding that civil servants in Nigeria should step up their customer service skills and imbibe ownership spirit.

    According to him, his desire to see others succeed in life and the urge to pass a strong message that anyone can make it irrespective of colour, gender and challenges of life motivated him to put his experience and knowledge as a senior wealth creation expert into a book.

    “I intend to speak to our youths never to quit and not to be discouraged. The power to create lies in every youth. They are to activate same and turn their desires into reality. The various tools required for activation of creation power are enumerated in this book. Also, every employee should know that they are limited in wealth creation. The true wealth creators are entrepreneurs,” Adeyeri said.

    He said the book takes people through the art of taking multiple bold steps and serve as a confidence booster, noting that in order for anybody to take bold steps, such a person must be courageous and have a strong positive attitude.

    “The thrust of the book is to plan well and put strategies that will ensure success in life in place in the various cycles of life discussed in this book. This is my first book and I intend to write more. It is currently available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Multiple Bold Steps website and most online bookstores with delivery period of between two days to one week depending on your location in the world. However, we plan to partner with any reputable publisher in Nigeria to publish the Nigeria version of this book soon,” Adeyeri said.

     

  • MAN seeks company income tax reduction

    MAN seeks company income tax reduction

    •’Morocco’s admission into ECOWAS will further de-industrialise Nigeria’

    Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) President Dr. Frank Jacob Udemba has called on the Federal Government to review downwards company income tax (CIT) from 30 to about 20 per cent or less.

    This, the association said, will technically reflect on the prevailing operating environment and economic situation of the country.

    Udemba, who disclosed this in a chat with The Nation, said it would  assist in reducing poverty and stimulating the economy, especially in the manufacturing sector.

    The government, he advised, should expedite action on the resource-based industrialisation programme adopted by it through deliberate funding and creation of an enabling environment. HE stressed that it would fast-track the development of selected mineral resources through backward integration, especially those with high inter-industry linkages.

    Udemba urged the government to release some of the money dociled in the TSA to deposit money banks, explaining that the money could be re-invested or ploughed back into the economy to generate more income.

    Udemba re-echoed that Morocco is a member of the European Union (EU), stressing that the Federal Government should strongly resist its admission into ECOWAS as it would be a deliberate effort to de-industrialise the manufacturing sector in the region.

    He said: “The implication is that admitting Morocco, who is a member of the EU, will result in signing EPA through the back door. So, our members cannot compete favorably with them. This means that products from Europe would find their way easily into the regional market. If there is no ulterior motive, I see no reason why Morocco that is in North Africa would want to join ECOWAS.”

    According to Udemba, MAN and other members of the Organised Private Sector of Nigeria (OPSN) had unanimously rejected Morocco’s admission into ECOWAS as it would not help the region to develop.

    He pointed out that MAN, as the OPSN leading voice on trade-related matters, maintains that signing the EPA in its present form would adversely affect the manufacturing sector, dispel the industrialisation headways already made, and worsen the unemployment and poverty levels in Nigeria.

  • Radio, TV advert income gets tonic

    Radio, TV advert income gets tonic

    A team of industry experts have been set up to work out modalities for scientific Audience Measurement System, as part of measures to boost radio and television advertising revenue in the country.

    Announcing the inauguration of the team was set up by Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Monday, at the launch of the Digital Switch-Over (DSO) in Enugu, the Minister noted that the move which will bring Nigerian TV advertisement market in line with global best practices could bring an additional 200-400 million dollars in revenue to the industry.

    The task team according to him comprises of representatives of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), Signal Distributors, and Advertisers’ Association of Nigeria (ADVAN), among others.

    The team’s terms of reference include to identify best practice Audience Measurement System that will support the sustainable growth of the Nigeria Creative and Entertainment Industry; recommend a framework for supporting the sustainability of the Audience Measurement System, independent of the Federal Government, and recommend a payment and disbursement framework among the key stakeholders in the industry.

    Alhaji Mohammed said the current Diary Audience Measurement System is not ideal for the critical transitional phase before full Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) migration, adding: ”We need an objective and scientific Audience Measurement System that articulates the value of the content to consumers as well as the value of the audience to

    advertisers, particularly in the television sector.”

    He said the delay in adopting a scientific Audience Measurement System had resulted in under-investment in the sector, which is necessary to foster the growth of the industry as the advertising community continues to rely on subjective factors when making decisions on the content they want, as opposed to how many viewers the content truly attracts.

    “As a consequence, television platforms are subjected to renting out space on their channels to sustain their business, and content producers have become increasingly over-reliant on sponsorship which, unfortunately, skews the authenticity of their creative output in favor of a few decision makers, rather than the millions of TV viewers,” the Minister said.

    On the DSO launch in Enugu, Alhaji Mohammed said the state is the fifth, after Plateau, FCT, Kwara and Kaduna, to enjoy digital television.

    “There is no better evidence of our commitment to rapidly spread the massive benefits of digital television to the people of Nigeria…We are now at the cruise level of the journey we started in Jos Plateau State, in April 2016, as the DSO train has now traversed Abuja, Ilorin, Kaduna, to arrive here in Enugu, its latest stop. From here, the DSO train will proceed to Osun State, as we continue our rapid rollout of digital television across the country,” he said.

    The Minister announced the donation of 100 set-top boxes to Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, while the Governor also announced the purchase of 10,000 set-top boxes to be given free to low-income households across the state.

  • Social protection affordable in low-income countries, says ILO

    Social protection affordable in low-income countries, says ILO

    The International Labour Organisation (ILO) in its  World Social Protection Report 2017-2019 has said  the poorest countries can afford to extend social protection to all citizens.

    According to the ILO report, the universal coverage in old-age pensions has been achieved by more than 20 countries, including Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Cabo Verde, China, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mongolia, Namibia, South Africa, Timor Leste, Trinidad and Tobago and Zanzibar (Tanzania).

    It stated that countries normally achieve universal coverage by a combination of contributory social insurance and tax-based social assistance or social protection floors.

    “Finding out just how much social protection floors cost is easy, thanks to the ILO’s new calculator. The ILO Social Protection Floors Calculator  makes it possible to estimate the costs of child and orphan allowances, maternity benefits, public works programmes for those without jobs, disability and old-age pensions,” the report said.

    The report also highlighted that the cost of universal benefits for 364 million children, 81 million pregnant women, 103 million persons with severe disabilities and 153 million older persons ranges from 0.3 per cent of GDP for Mongolia to 9.8 per cent of GDP for Sierra Leone – with an average cost of 4.2 per cent of GDP in 57 lower income countries.

    “From a global perspective, these life-changing benefits for 700 million people – nearly 10 per cent of the world’s population – would require only 0.23 per cent of global GDP. That’s just 1.1 per cent of what G20 countries spent to bail out the financial sector in 2009. It is a question of priorities,” said Isabel Ortiz, director of the ILO’s Social Protection Department.,

  • Linkage posts N4b premium income

    Linkage posts N4b premium income

    Linkage Assurance Plc has recorded a Gross Premium Income of N4.03 billion in its 2016 financial year from N3.78 billion in 2015, representing a six per cent growth.

    The firm also recorded a boost in its underwriting profit by 55 per cent to N701 million from N1.2 million.

    The 2015 dividend income from Stanbic IBTC Pension Limited that was not received during the year led to a drop of 36 per cent to N951 million from N1.4 billion in 2015.

    Also, its Profit before Tax grew marginally by 2 per cent to N544 million from N508 million in 2015.

    Speaking at the company’s 23rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos, its Chairman, Dr. John Eseimokumoh, said the firm’s oil and gas business improved its gross premium income.

    He said the firm was positioning to take competitive advantage of the transformation and regulatory efforts of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) intended to deepen insurance penetration, and provide huge growth prospect for underwriting firms.

    He disclosed that the firm had embarked on a new phase of growth that guarantees greater returns on investment (ROI) for its teaming shareholders.

    He said this is coming from the strategic initiatives of the new management to navigate the organisation towards better performance and profitability even with the challenges of the current market environment.

    In addition, the company’s chairman said the company was introducing affordable retail products with superior value propositions to the insurance market via numerous business channels, especially online platforms, to increase insurance acceptability and improve perception by the teaming population.

    Managing Director, Dr. Pius Apere, told shareholders that this is a new era in the life of the company, assuring them that come next AGM shareholders would be glad they invested in Linkage.

    He said: “We have repositioned the company for growth and stronger returns on investment for shareholders, and this is evidenced in our half year 2017 performance, which is already in public domain.

    “We will continue to explore new growth opportunities in the economy to increase its market share; reengineered its operations for increased efficiency via state of the art business technology to drive productivity and empowerment of its workforce in its efforts to deepen insurance penetration in the economy.

  • VAIDS begins collection of Nigerians’ income, assets data

    THE Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) has begun the collection of data on the income and assets of high net-worth individuals and companies.

    Federal Ministry of Finance said this in a statement issued by the VAIDS office.

    According to the statement, useful data of payments and receipts, which were in excess of N100 million between 2010 and 2015, were collected from the Nigerian Customs Service. Similarly, data on beneficiaries of payments in excess of N100 million has been received from the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

    Over the next few weeks, a lot of data is expected to be mined from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), State Lands Departments (SIRS), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and land registries.

    Other sources from which data will be derived are banks, instruments such as treasury bills, Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and payment platforms such as Remitta.

    The ministry said the move was the first step to collect intelligence on corporate entities  and individuals, who may refuse to take advantage of VAIDS.

    “The data being collected is on individual and corporate firms as well as fixed assets and income over the last five years both within and outside Nigeria. Data collected will be profiled against tax payments made by such individuals and corporate entities,” the statement said.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Boosting farmers’ income through value chain

    Boosting farmers’ income through value chain

    The Federal Government has embraced value-chain development (VCD) to stimulate growth, promote agric and combat rural poverty. One of the agencies promoting it is the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), Ilorin, Kwara State. The institute is deploying VCD to empower rural people and  increase food security. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    For years, life has been a  struggle for many rural farmers in some parts.

    To them, building a better life on the farm takes energy, hard work and commitment. Despite this, their crops wither under severe drought and other circumstances, the fields produce poor yields, the result is  meagre stocks at the end of the season.

    They attribute this to inefficient technologies, poor access to credit and poor marketing strategies.

    To them, the sector has suffered from weak food production, an unfavourable weather, and significant poverty. The outcome is a vicious cycle for farmers, which jeopardises  food security.

    So, how can farmers break out of this cycle?

    In August 2012, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) provided $74.5million loan to the Federal Government to help improve food security and incomes of smallholder farmers through a Value Chain Development (VCD) Programme.

    Expectedly,VCD Programme  falls  in line with the government’s vision for agricultural development, which focuses on strengthening farmers’ capacity to take advantage of market opportunities and overcome constraints along the value chain. The loan agreement for the programme was signed in Abuja.

    More than 200,000 poor rural households have benefitted from the programme, with a particular focus on women and young people.

    Since then IFAD has financed some programmes and projects in the country, benefitting more than one million rural households.

    Equally, the Federal Government has made the development of the value chain one of the spear points of its  rural empowerment strategy.

    One agency at the vanquard of promoting value chain agriculture is the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), Ilorin, Kwara State. For them, a productivity-led growth  in the sector is key to new employment opportunities, higher incomes, and a brighter future in rural areas.

    This gave birth to its Commodity Value Chain Development Programme, (CVCDP) programme to promote economic growth and employment, through an integrated agro training programme for small farmers micro and small enterprises.

    In addition, ARMTI has launched the first-ever National Association of Agricultural Commodity Value Chain Development (VCD) facilitators in the country.

    Inaugurating the facilitators in Abuja, Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, reiterated the government’s readiness to implement measures to reduce productivity constraints for crops and other farm activities.

    Represented by the  Deputy Director (Engineering & Mechanisation,  Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development, Abdullahi Garba Abubakar, an engineer, Ogbeh said the government will continue to create long-term and sustainable small farmer livelihood opportunities in rural areas through agribusiness ventures.

    Earlier this year, during the launch of the Green Alternative Policy,  Ogbeh  had reiterated  that strengthening the food value chain was one of the most important ways to foster rural-urban development.

    One of the major priorities of the policy, the Minister said, is to accelerate sectoral restructuring in the direction of increased value and sustainable development.

    According to him,  development of food supply chains would help increase farmer’s income and promote rural development.

    He said the government was  determined to build agri-value system in collaboration with private players, urging the producers, manufacturers, and agro businesses  to  come forward and partner with it in the quest to build a value chain system.

    ARMTI ‘s Acting Executive Director, Dr Olufemi Oladunni, said CVCDP started in 2012 when the institute undertook a nationwide baseline study on selected agricultural commodity value chains and organised a National Seminar in Abuja for relevant stakeholders to brainstorm on the subject.

    “To further deepen the impact of the programme, the institute had envisioned and identified a gap that needed to be properly blocked, and had proactively taken the initiative to do so. That is the matter of trained manpower to manage the gains of the value chain programme nationwide.”

    According to him, identifying the need to develop a crop of seasoned commodity value chain facilitators for the nation informed the application and securing of approval from the Federal Government to carry out a National Training of Trainers (TOT) for Agricultural Value Chain Development Facilitators as one of the capital projects for execution by ARMTI in 2013.

    TheTOT, after its completion aimed at spreading the messages of the CVCDP across the nation’s geo-political zones through many trainers that would have been churned out after the training.

    So far, he said, 109 have been trained.The participants, he said, have been empowered and mandated to further step down the training to the grassroots level in their respective states.

    “As facilitators in VCD, you will mobilise the stakeholders – producers, processors, marketers and even consumers – to unite in their activities to ensure food security, provide employment and increase income.”

    According to him, an interim executive body would be elected and commissioned; and ARMTI is willing to provide facilities for a secretariat for the association.

  • CBN sells N173b T-Bills, fixed income securities’ yields rise

    CBN sells N173b T-Bills, fixed income securities’ yields rise

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has sold N172.85 billion ($550 million) at its first treasury bill (T-Bills) auction of the year with yields unchanged from the previous auction, held on December 21.

    Yields on fixed income securities have been rising in recent months with the CBN mopping up naira liquidity to try to lure back foreign investors who sold naira assets following the plunge in the price of oil, the country’s economic mainstay.

    Fixed income traders said the apex bank auctioned N115.85 billion of one-year debt at a rate of 18.68 per cent, the same as the previous auction.

    The traders said the CBN also sold N35 billion of 91-day paper at 14 per cent and N22 billion of six-month bills at 17.5 per cent, unchanged from the previous auction.

    Subscription at the auction came to N194.12 billion, well up from N42.68 billion at the previous auction.

    T-bills are marketable short-term money market securities that serve the purpose of raising money for the government and also help in monetary policy management of the CBN. The T-bills’ maturities range between three months and a year and would be raised today, according to the CBN.

    The CBN issues treasury bills to raise cash to fund the government budget deficit, help manage banking system liquidity and curb rising inflation.

    The CBN had on August 3, raised N245.18 billion ($773.44 million) worth of T-bills to settle short-term obligations. The CBN issued N45.18 billion in three-month debt, N80 billion of six-month paper and N120 billion of one year bills in a Dutch auction, traders said. Indicative rates for the auction are 16 per cent for three-months, 18 per cent for six-months and 18.5 per cent for one-year bills. The auction’s results will be published the day after the sale.

    The main investors in government securities are mainly pension funds and commercial banks which control more than 60 per cent of the market, followed by insurance funds and a few micro-finance institutions.

  • Report: Financial inclusion ‘still a challenge in Africa’s low income communities’

    Africa’s financial environment is as competitive as other developing and high income regions in some countries, but access to finance remains a challenge, according to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales  (ICAEW).

    In its report, Economic Insight: Africa Q3 2016, the accountancy and finance body notes that whilst some countries have excellent financial soundness access to credit remains a challenge for many Africans.

    The report undertakes a comparative review of the financial systems and regulations in Africa relative to the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region. It compares indicators of the financial environment (including credit metrics, risk evaluation and monetary policy), as well as regulation and supervision standards.

    The report looks at the role financing can play in economic development across the continent, and likely developments in the cost of financing in the coming years. In 2016 rankings, Rwanda performed best in SSA in terms of getting credit, followed by Zambia, Kenya, Ghana, Mauritius and Uganda. This likely stems from the fact that Rwanda has made six reforms to facilitate getting credit during the 2010-16 period, strengthening borrowers’ and lenders’ collateral laws.

    However, Regional Director, ICAEW Middle East, Africa and South Asia, Michael Armstrong, notes that “financial inclusion remains low in Africa. According to him while many of Sub-saharan Africa’s population have access to a formal banking system, in low income communities the degree to which individuals can access financial services is limited, especially when considering the limited availability of private credit.  He observed the situation could have real effects on economic growth if it remains unchanged. Governments hoping to drive prosperity should consider how they can increase access to finance.

    Quoting a report “Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A)”, he said  in 2015 only 23 per cent of African households had access to formal or semi-formal financial services adding that that there is evidently significant variation between countries’ levels of financial sector development.

    The report notes that South Africa and Mauritius have the highest Private Sector credit extension (PSCE))to GDP ratios on the continent, with South Africa’s figure estimated at 150 per cent in 2015 while Mauritius’ ratio is estimated at around 104 per cent.