NaijaNewsFlash

House bemoans poor performance

The Managing Director of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, George Uriesi has revealed that FAAN has generated N20billion against the revenue target revenue of N35 billion this year, recording a shortfall of N15 billion. He stated this during a press conference at the Murtala Murhammed Airport in Lagos, when the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation visited FAAN, in an oversight function, adding that it may not be able to meet the target given that the year have almost come to an end.

read more

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI during the week rated the performance of the Nigerian economy in the third quarter of 2011 low.

Chief Femi Deru, the President of LCCI, said, at the quarterly media briefing in Lagos that the chamber was concerned about the increasing cost of operations arising largely from high energy and transportation costs.

“The chamber believes that the economy has yet to benefit from the government's transformation agenda in the area of energy, foreign exchange market, inflation, Gross Domestic Growth and others,’’ Deru said.

read more

Brent crude oil rose above 107 dollars on Thursday, recovering from the previous day's losses.

Potential strong winter fuel demand and turmoil in the Middle East offset fears that a global economic slowdown could hurt consumption.

Crude stockpiles in the U.S. unexpectedly fell last week as refinery rates rose and crude imports were down.

A botched German bond sale on Wednesday raised alarm that the crisis could hit even Europe's largest economy.

read more

By Onu Okorie

Chairman of Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Engineer Elias Mbam has warned that a new revenue formula without an appreciable increase in size of the national cake may do little to lift the 36 States out of their present financial quagmire and potent fears of insolvency.

So the Commission is taking the diversification and enhanced revenue generation campaign to the grassroots for stakeholders’ buy-in as part of efforts to pursue and achieve an ever-increasing size of the cake for sharing among the three tiers of government,

read more

By Peter Jones Ailuorio, Lagos

There are strong fears that South Africa which led Africa into prosperity in telecommunications may just also lead it into ruin as there are strong indications that the state may soon muzzle the powers of the regulator.

Nigerian Pilot gathered recently that there is a draft of a proposed bill on changes to the Electronic Communications Act which clearly heads to strengthen the powers of the Minister and reduce those of the ICASA, Independent Communications Authority of SA.

read more

By Blessing David-Adewole

Concession Development Company, CDC, a manufacturer of renewable electrical appliances, is set to flood the market with over 4 million energy inverter bulbs capable of saving 3, 000 to 5, 000 megawatts in the country.

Managing Director of the company, Val Ozieh in an exclusive interview with our correspondent, said the objective of the initiative was to enable every Nigerian have access to renewable energy and efficient electrical appliances, among others.

read more

By Peter Jones Ailuorio, Lagos

As it seeks to re-define itself in a post-Steve Jobs era, Apple has appointed Arthur D. Levinson, one of Silicon Valley’s most respected leaders, as the company’s new Chairman of the Board.

Levinson, one of the longest serving members of Apple’s Board of Directors, was handpicked by Steve Jobs to join in 2000 when he chairman and CEO, the multibillion-dollar biotech company, Genentech.

read more

The federal government has inaugurated a 17-man committee to monitor activities at the ports in a build-up to ensuring the clearance of goods within 48 hours. Dr Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, said, while inaugurating the committee on Tuesday in Abuja, that it would monitor the progress on the reform of the ports.

She said that the inauguration was an indication of government’s commitment to creating the enabling environment for the private sector to save the cost of doing business in the country.

read more