The economy is on the right path and will soon turn the curve. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu expressed this enthusiasm yesterday following the report that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew in the second quarter (Q2).

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) put the growth of GDP in Q2 at 3.2 per cent year on year far above the 2.51 per cent recorded in the same period of 2023.

The report followed the drop in headline and food inflation last month – the first time in 19 years.

Experts said this development will reverse the economic crisis in the next few months.

The President is excited about the new figure, according to his Special Adviser on Information & Strategy Bayo Onanuga.

He said in a statement: “President Tinubu has welcomed the latest report by the National Bureau of Statistics on the state of the economy, as the country’s Gross National Product (GDP) posted another growth.

“According to NBS, the real GDP grew by 3.2 per cent year on year in Q2, higher than the 2.51 per cent recorded in the same period of 2023.

“After another report on declining food and headline inflation, this latest report affirms that the economy is on the right trajectory and is indeed on the path to recovery.

“As the President said in his August 4, 2024 national broadcast, our economy is recovering.

“Sooner than later, Nigerians will begin to feel, see, and enjoy the impact of his administration’s economic re-engineering efforts.

“We want to reiterate that this government will continue to work assiduously to rekindle Nigerians’ hope and confidence.

“President Tinubu is working to build a solid and resilient economy.

“President Tinubu urged Nigerians to retain their faith in the government and not allow themselves to be swayed by naysayers intent on aborting and undermining the current reforms for their selfish ends.

“According to the NBS report, the growth rate in Q2 is higher than the 2.51 per cent recorded in Q2 2023 and higher than the 2.98 per cent growth in Q1 2024.

“The GDP’s performance in the second quarter of 2024 was driven by the service sector, which recorded a growth of 3.79 per cent and contributed 58.76 per cent to the aggregate output.

“The agriculture sector grew by 1.41 per cent in contrast to the 1.50 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2023.

“The industrial sector’s growth was 3.53 per cent, up from the -1.94 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2023.

“The NBS also reported that crude production grew to 1.41 million barrels per day, compared with 1.22 million barrels a year earlier.

“We are confident that with the policies we have put in place, we expected production to rise to about two million barrels very soon.

“In terms of share of the GDP, the industry and services sectors contributed more to the aggregate GDP in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the corresponding quarter of 2023.

“In the quarter under review, aggregate GDP at basic price stood at N60,930,000.58 million in nominal terms.

“This performance is higher than the second quarter of 2023, which recorded an aggregate GDP of N52,103,927.13 million, indicating a 16.94 per cent year-on-year nominal growth.”

Experts applaud growth

A breakdown of the NBA report showed significant improvements across key sectors, with the services sector rising by 3.79 per cent, contributing 58.76 per cent to the aggregate GDP.

The agriculture sector grew by 1.41 per cent in the second quarter as against 0.18 per cent recorded in the first quarter and 1.50 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2023.

Also, the industry sector recorded growth of 3.53 per cent in the second quarter, compared with a negative -1.94 per cent recorded in the comparable period of the second quarter of 2023 and 2.19 per cent recorded in the first quarter.

The oil sector’s real GDP grew by 10.15 per cent in the second quarter, nearly double of 5.70 per cent recorded in the previous first quarter and a major turnaround from a decline of -13.43 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of the second quarter of 2023.

The non-oil sector real GDP remained flat at 2.80 per cent over the past two quarters, lower than the 3.58 per cent recorded in the comparable period of the second quarter of 2023.

Most analysts commended the economic outlook, highlighting gains from the government’s efforts aimed at tackling oil theft and boosting the productive sectors.

Managing Director, Arthur Steven Asset Management, Mr Olatunde Amolegbe, described the economic growth as “a pleasant surprise”, expressing optimism that the growth momentum will build up further in the quarters ahead.

He said concerted efforts should be focused on non-oil sectors of manufacturing, transport, agriculture and services to further boost the economy.

“All in all, it’s a welcome step that we hope will continue in subsequent quarters,” Amolegbe said.

Managing Director, AIICO Capital, Dr Femi Ademola, said the GDP report appeared to show some gains of ongoing activities aimed at optimising the contribution of the oil sector.

“The growth is generally expected due to the increase in oil production from 1.22mbd to 1.41mbd over the period.

“The devaluation of naira over the period also improved the accruable value to the federal government in naira terms.

“The value increase in other non-oil exports and other commodities also contributed to the 2.8 per cent increase in non-oil GDP.

“The combination of these developments drove the GDP growth. The continued efforts in curbing oil theft and leakages appear to be yielding results,” Ademola said.

President, Association of Capital Market Academics in Nigeria, Prof Uche Uwaleke, called for more support to drive inclusive growth, especially across the productive sectors.

According to him, the economic structure should be such that productive sectors such as industry and agriculture are favoured in fiscal and monetary decisions.

“Indeed, structural change is strongly recommended as one of the ingredients of building productive capacities,” Uwaleke said.

He pointed out that the aggressive hike in the monetary policy rate in February and March by the CBN took a toll on output in the second quarter, which might be responsible for the decline recorded in major contributors to GDP such as manufacturing, trade, information and communication technology and real estate.

He said the growth pattern, weighted in favour of the services sector, is not healthy for a developing economy such as Nigeria’s and called for efforts to drive more inclusive growth.

Analysts at Cordros Capital noted that the economy “maintains growth trajectory”, pointing out that the economy sustained its positive growth momentum in the second quarter.

I earned N7m in one year growing tomato, pepper, says Gombe farmer

In what is seen as a reflection of the growth in agriculture, a farmer has said that he made N7 million in one year from selling his agricultural produce.

Mr Saleh Maikudi, 35, who hails Bula community in Akko Local Government Area of Gombe State, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that he became a millionaire from growing vegetables.

He said that investing in tomato and pepper farming yielded good returns.

Maikudi said he spent over N1.5 million on 30 hectares of farmland which he cultivated in 2023.

“In 2023, I made N7 million from cultivating tomato and pepper.

“I only spent N1.5 million as the total cost of preparing and planting the vegetables.

“I cultivated tomato, bell pepper (Tatashe), chilli pepper, Cayenne pepper (shombo) and Scotch bonnet (hot pepper) on my farmland.”

Maikudi, who is also the chairman of Vegetables Farmers’ Association in the community, said he cultivated 30 hectares of the vegetables annually.

He said that it took 10 weeks after cultivating the vegetables to start harvesting the commodities for another period of 10 weeks.

The farmer said that in the present wet season, farmers had started harvesting and off-takers had been coming to their community to buy the commodities for supply to various states.

He said that the year’s rainfall, which he described as moderate, was good enough for his vegetables to grow and that his tomato and pepper did well.

“If the market is good this year, I am expecting nothing less than N10 million because my vegetables really did well.’’

Maikudi advised the government to build a modern market in the community.

According to him, the facility will help standardise the marketing of vegetables and other agricultural produce as well as provide farmers with the platform to centralise the selling of the commodity.

“Also, the government can establish mini-processing factories to help farmers cut post-harvest losses, boost food security and provide more jobs for youths in the state,” he said.

The Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi, has expressed hope that the suspension of duties and taxes on imported food items over some time would help reduce food prices.

Adeniyi stated that his service is dedicated to implementing the policy as outlined by the government.
He spoke at the security heads’ meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.

Adeniyi said, “The protest was premised on a number of things, one of them being to end hunger. We discovered that a significant amount of food consumed in Nigeria is imported. Importation takes some time. So one of the things the president has done to cushion the effect of the cost of importation is to suspend customs duties and taxes on imported food items for a period of time.

“We believe that when this is implemented, it will help to bring down prices of food items in the markets. Nigerian Customs is committed to the implementation of this particular fiscal policy as enunciated by the government.

“What does this kind of intervention imply for the local markets? Because we are trying to address the interests of all stakeholders. Those that are going to enjoy these duty waivers and concessions are also being cultivated by Nigerian farmers.”

He said there was a need to ensure the interests of all the stakeholders were considered before the implementation of the policy.

The Customs boss urged Nigerians to be patient, adding that some of the imported items already in the country would be cleared without duties and taxes.

Adeniyi said, “There is the issue of striking a balance between the long-term interests of Nigerian farmers, Nigerian stakeholders who are involved in the production of these items, and the short-term interests of food inflation.

“So, the guidelines are being worked out at the Ministry of Finance and I can assure you that within the next week, these guidelines will be ready and Nigerian Customs will begin implementation of these particular fiscal policies. So, I therefore urge Nigerians to be a little bit patient, believing that some of these items that have already arrived at our shores will be cleared without the imposition of Customs duty and taxes.”

The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, stated that although tensions had eased in some states following the presidential broadcast, subversive campaigns had emerged in states like Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, and Bauchi.

He said, “We are all aware that in the last 5-6 days, our country has been troubled with the spate of violent protests in some states. After the address of Mr President on Sunday, tension doused, and peaceful protesters heeded the call of Mr President to a brief dialogue.

“But we still have in a few states, in Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, and Bauchi states, groups of people who started a subversive campaign waving flags of other countries and openly calling for a military takeover of our country.”

Egbetokun warned youths to desist from accepting foreign flags from agents of destabilisation.

He said, “This is not a protest, but an offence of treasonable felony. The Police have arrested a number of them and they will be dealt with accordingly. I want to use this opportunity to warn our youth to desist from accepting foreign flags from agents of destabilisation.

“It is very, very implicative for them to be seen with flags of other countries while protesting. So far, the situation is under control and we believe that after this press conference, those misguided elements and their sponsors will desist from this act of treason.”

As hardship protests began all over the country on Thursday, the Nigerian equities opened the new month on a decline with N236 billion loss, indicating subdued investors participation and a lack of significant market movement as investors contin­ued to offload their holdings.

The All-Share Index lost 414.46 points, representing a loss of 0.42 percent to close at 97,359.76 points. Also, market capitalisation de­clined by N236 billion to close at N55.278 trillion.

The downturn was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks among which are MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN), Dangote Sugar Refinery, Oando, Guinness Nigeria and MeCure Industries. ­

However, market breadth closed positive, as 22 stocks gained relative to 19 losers. Unit­ed Capital emerged the highest price gainer of 9.95 percent to close at N11.05, per share. Africa Prudential and CUTIX followed with a gain of 9.94 percent each to close at N9.40 and N5.64, respec­tively, while Tantalizer advanced by 9.52 percent to close at 46 kobo per share.

UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust rose by 8.99 percent to close at N4.85, while Cadbury Nigeria appreciated by 8.65 percent to close at N20.10 per share.

On the other side, MeCure In­dustries led others on the losers’ chart with 9.94 percent to close at N8.15, per share. Thomas Wyatt Nigeria followed with a decline of 9.74 percent to close at N1.76, while Wapic Insurance shed 8.24 percent to close at 78 kobo per share.

Oando lost 8.00 percent to close at N23.00, while Dangote Sugar Refinery shed 7.67 percent to close at N34.30 per share.

The total volume of trades de­creased by 69.26 percent to 565.116 million units, valued at N8.531 bil­lion, and exchanged in 6,821 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Fidelity Bank led the activity with 372.914 million shares worth N3.945 billion. United Bank for Africa (UBA) followed with an account of 23.030 million shares valued at N458.087 million, while Zenith Bank traded 19.242 mil­lion shares valued at N651.440 million.

Oando traded 19.035 million shares worth N445.427 million, while Access Holdings traded 15.758 million shares worth N289.552 million.

The Chairman of First Bank Holdings Holdings and billionaire, Femi Otedola said that Nigeria’s government’s windfall tax on commercial banks’ foreign exchange gain in 2023 will ensure fairer wealth distribution.

Otedola disclosed this in a recent statement.

He becomes the first financial heavyweight in Nigeria to announce support for the tax.

The billionaire also called on banks to halt extravagant spending on private jets, urging a focus on operational efficiency and customer service.

He emphasised the need for reforms in the Nigerian banking sector to enhance economic stability and integrity.

“Windfall taxes, which are levied on companies or individuals who receive substantial, unexpected profits, ensure a fairer distribution of wealth,” he said.

“This allows those who benefit disproportionately to contribute more significantly to the broader societal good.”

we recalls that the windfall tax, initially proposed by President Bola Tinubu at 50 per cent on bank profits FX profits in 2023, was increased to 70 per cent by the Senate and passed into law. This tax will be in effect from 2023 to 2025.

The Federal Capital Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS), has collected and remitted N126.54 billion from January to June 2024, it was learnt on Monday, July 29.

Acting Executive Chairman, Haruna Abdullahi, disclosed this during the FCT-IRS mid-year briefing in Abuja.

The executive chairman was represented at the event the Director Tax Operations, Mrs Chioma Anohu-Ndu.

He said the figure was 53.5 per cent higher that the N82.46 billion collected in the first half of 2023.

He added that the N126.54 billion was 119.7 per cent higher than the N57.59 billion collected in the half year of 2022.

This, according to him, is an indication of a year-on-year growth.

“This stellar growth highlights our commitment and determination to overcome obstacles while striving to boost revenue generation.”

Abdullahi pointed out that the FCT-IRS achieved these impressive results within six months in spite of economic challenges.

He attributed the successes to the service’s resolve to leverage technology and build one of the most functional e-service portals in the revenue sector.

“We also owe this accomplishment to the high compliance rate of taxpayers in the FCT.

“We, therefore, urged everyone to continue choosing voluntary compliance over compulsion,” he said.

On enforcement, the executive chairman said that the revenue service has commenced an enforcement drive to tackle tax evasion and ensure the collection and accounting of all revenue accruable to the FCT.

He added that non-compliant businesses have been sealed, and appropriate legal actions taken to recover all tax liabilities and ensure timely payment of subsequent taxes.

Abdullahi said that FCT-IRS was investing in technological advancements for seamless revenue collection in the FCT.

“We are currently optimising and upgrading our technology to improve tax compliance, reduce costs, and enhance efficiency.

“This will enable us to build a more resilient tax system that will enhance revenue generation while making the tax paying process seamless for our taxpayers,” he said.

He said that FCT-IRS plays a critical role in stabilising the economy during economic challenges by generating revenue for the government to fund essential public services.

“Key expectations include maximising tax collection to increase government revenue and ensuring efficient tax administration by streamlining tax processes, reducing bureaucracy, and combating tax evasion and fraud while educating and enlightening taxpayers.

“The service is also committed to aligning with Federal Government tax policy reforms aimed at stimulating economic growth.

“The service is also dedicated to engaging with taxpayers, businesses, and other stakeholders to understand their challenges to continuously develop solutions that will enhance tax compliance and eliminate tax evasion,” he added.

He commended the Minister of the FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike for his exemplary leadership, support, and commitment to boosting revenue generation in the FCT.

The FCT-IRS boss said that the service was working tirelessly to surpass the N500 billion 2024 revenue target, by remaining focused and sustaining the momentum.

“We encourage all taxpayers in the FCT to prioritise tax compliance, describing it as a crucial aspect of development and nation-building.

“By fulfilling your tax obligations, you contribute directly to the growth and prosperity of the FCT and the nation at large,” he said.

Source: The Nation

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, has given kudos to President Bola Tinubu for successfully fixing a minimum wage for Nigerian workers, describing the development as a remarkable achievement for his administration.

He also reaffirmed the administration’s determination to revamp the economy and lift many people out of poverty.

The minister made the remark at the weekend in Lagos while delivering the 70th-anniversary lecture of Loyola College Ibadan, which was organised by the old boys association of the college.

He spoke on a topic, “Reconstructing the Nigerian Economy for Sustainable Growth and Investment,” with many dignitaries, including the Secretary to the Lagos State Government, Mrs. Abimbola Salu-Hundeyin, in attendance.

According to him, the conclusion of the negotiation on the minimum wage is a good one. The issue has been around for a long time, and getting to this level was quite challenging, I must commend the President for his role in this and also the labour unions.

Edun emphasised the importance of government at all levels in maintaining fiscal stability to be able to support the implementation of the new minimum wage bill.

He acknowledged the huge economic challenges faced by the country, expressing confidence in the government’s ability to surmount them.

He shared insights into some steps taken by the federal government to build “a trillion-dollar economy and develop a billion-dollar business within three to five years and with foreign manufacturer involvement.”

Edun also stressed the need for economic growth that will alleviate poverty, emphasising the importance of investment and the role of savings in driving it.

He said the high inflation rates truly undermine confidence and hinder investment, while disclosing that the government is concerned about food and nutrition security, especially for children who are within their first 1,000 days of life.

Similarly, Edun touched on the government’s efforts to support micro, small, and medium-scale enterprises to thrive.

He noted that the government has many plans, including duty waivers and other incentives to support their growth, adding that the contributions of SMEs to GDP in Nigeria are huge.

Edun, however, commended the organisers of the anniversary lecture for coming up with the lecture, noting that the discussion would bring a positive result.

In his remarks, the President of Loyola College Ibadan Old Boys Association (LOCOBA), Prof. Olufemi Ogunbiyi, highlighted the importance of the school’s 70th anniversary, saying it is to celebrate the school for producing them and also give back to its development.

According to him, Loyola College was founded in 1954 by the Catholic Mission and has produced so many people who are leaders in various fields.

He said a series of events, including essay competitions, career talks, talent hunts, and a gala night, are still in the pipeline for the anniversary.

He commended the minister for honouring the invitation to perform the role of a lecturer at the event.

Source: Tribune