Publication

Large corporates enter e-invoicing era as early birds flag hurdles

AS THE deadline for Nigeria’s electronic invoicing mandate ends today, the country’s largest corporations are discovering that adopting the technology is the easy part. Data quality, disjointed internal processes, and uncertainty over compliance...

How Nigeria built 101,000km of fibre that bypasses 130m peoples

NIGERIA HAS built one of Africa's largest fibre-optic networks, stretching more than 101,000 kilometres across its 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). It has welcomed eight international submarine cables carrying more than 400 terabits...

S&P Global’s Agusto deal signals race for Africa’s credit market

S&P Global’s move to acquire a majority stake in Agusto & Co. marks a strategic shift for the world's top credit rating agencies. As global capital markets face criticism over how they evaluate and price African economies, S&P is moving to establish a...

FG'S 2026 budget favours motorcycles over skills amid job crisis

NIGERIA IS spending more than three times as much helping young people buy motorcycles and tricycles as against equipping them with the skills employers say the economy desperately needs, exposing a widening disconnect between government spending and...

Nigeria leads Africa in bank customers but trails rivals in assets

NIGERIA HAS built Africa's largest banking customer base, but it is yet to produce the continent's biggest banks by assets, exposing a structural gap between financial inclusion and financial depth. For years, Africa's banking hierarchy

More money, same struggles: Why higher minimum wage may still leave millions of Nigerians poor

When Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara, the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), in May urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to begin discussions on raising Nigeria’s minimum wage from N70,000 to N100,000, the proposal quickly reopened...

INTERVIEW

Education May Open Doors, But Confidence, Social Intelligence Determine How You Remain in the Room Faith Morey

Dangote Refinery raises Africa’s largest private capital ahead IPO

ALIKO DANGOTE'S oil refinery has locked down $2.5 billion from a private share sale that ranks as the largest disclosed primary equity placement on the continent, setting up a public listing that bankers expect to be Africa's biggest ever. Dangote...

FG signals broader cost-reflective tariffs to lure power investors

NIGERIA IS preparing to expand its cost-reflective electricity tariffs beyond its wealthiest consumers, part of a broader push by President Bola Tinubu's administration to close a power-sector financing gap that experts say now requires roughly ten...

CBN'S rate hold reinforces inflation fight despite easing price pressures

THE CENTRAL Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reinforced its commitment to taming inflation and preserving exchange rate stability by leaving its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 26.5 percent for the second consecutive time on Tuesday, a move analysts said...

Nigeria regains Africa's venture capital crown after four years

NIGERIA HAS regained its crown as one of Africa's premier destinations for startup investment as tech companies pulled in $254 million, their strongest fundraising run in nearly four years, according to new data from Africa: The Big Deal. The...

Nigeria's offshore oil fields draw fresh billions after decade-long drought

FOR MORE than ten years, Nigeria's deepwater oil fields sat largely untouched by the world's biggest energy companies, starved of the investment that once made the country a magnet for offshore drilling. That drought is now easing, as a wave of...

2027: Adekanmbi, Peller Ignite Oyo North as APM “Thank You” Tour Hits Iseyin

The political landscape of Oyo North Senatorial District was electric with immense energy weekend as the Allied People’s Movement (APM) senatorial candidate, Shina Peller, mobilised thousands of passionate supporters, party faithful, and residents to...

The Modern Gele: Why Fascinators Have Become an Obsession for Nigerian Women

Nigeria's pathway to shared prosperity will be defined by scale - CEOS

NIGERIA HAS reached a defining moment in its economic reform journey, where restoring macroeconomic stability is no longer enough and the next challenge is to translate policy gains into jobs, investment and higher living standards for millions of...

How Nigeria’s 2026 budget buried N210bn in overlapping allocations

FOR YEARS, Nigerians have been told that the country can no longer afford waste. Successive governments have defended painful economic reforms, from fuel subsidy removal to foreign exchange reforms, as necessary sacrifices to restore fiscal stability...

Nigeria's inflation to hold near 15.9% on stable naira

BUSINESSDAY'S Inflation Nowcast estimates headline inflation at 15.9 percent in June, with a likely range of 15.7 to 16.1 percent, ahead of the National Bureau of Statistics' official release on July 15. If confirmed, the figure would be marginally...

FG'S fragile naira- for-crude deal forces Dangote to sell fuel in dollars

THE FEDERAL government's signature naira-for-crude arrangement is showing signs of strain as Dangote Petroleum Refinery has stopped selling petrol, diesel and jet fuel for naira, moving all product sales to dollars in a pricing decision that threatens...

Fresh Gulf tensions dim hopes of clearing Nigeria's port container backlog

A GRADUAL recovery in global shipping that had raised hopes of improved cargo movement and lower freight costs for patient Nigerian shippers now

How intelligence, multi-agency pressure forced release of abducted Oyo pupils, teachers 56 days after

No ransom paid - Tinubu Government arrested terrorists’ family members to force victims release - EX-DSS operative Obi reacts, presidency knocks Atiku for late response Sanwo-olu, Oyo NUT, UBEC hail rescue operation Rescue operation spotlights what...

PROFILE

In another remarkable feat for Nigerian academic excellence, mathematics prodigy Onyekachi Egejurum has emerged as a gold winner at the International STEM Olympiad, reinforcing the country’s growing reputation for producing world-class young talents in...

Nigeria beats South Korea to claim world’s best-performing stock market

THE NIGERIAN stock market has extended its streak of record-breaking performances to the global stage, surging to the forefront in grand style. While frontier and emerging markets are notoriously volatile, Nigeria’s ability to outpace a heavy-hitting...

Circle Ventures invests $3.25bn in Flutterwave to expand stablecoin payments

FLUTTERWAVE HAS secured a strategic investment from Circle Ventures at a $3.25 billion valuation, underscoring growing investor confidence in African payments infrastructure and potentially reshaping how Nigerian businesses move money across...

UTM FLNG SIGNS 15YEARS GAS (GSA) with NNPCL/SEPLAT ENERGY JV.

L-R: Roger Thompson Brown, MD/CEO, Seplat; Bayo Ojulari, GCEO, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited; and Julius RONE,GMD/CEO UTM FLNG Limited, after Gas Sales Agreement during NOG Energy week 2026 in Abuja.

Petrol price seen crashing to N800/l as marketers sign new deal with Dangote

RELIEF IS finally on the horizon for Nigerian motorists, as pump prices are projected to plunge to N800 per litre or lower. This anticipated price crash is driven by a landmark agreement allowing the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of...

Inside the unlikely story of how one man fooled CBN, NASS, other agencies

ESCAPING THE checks and balances of the National Assembly, the verification processes of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and oversight mechanisms within the federal bureaucracy, one man has been accused of operating a presidential council that the...

State Police: Readiness varies as fiscal realities confront constitutional reform

As Nigeria moves closer to adopting state police, analysts say the bigger challenge is no longer whether states should have their own police forces, but whether they have the financial strength, governance capacity and institutional structures to...

How Jeremiah Musa, a Lagos street hawker became Africa’s top tech media voice

Jeremiah Musa, founder and publisher of The Bit Gazette, grew up as one of nine children in Agbadocrossing, a working-class community on the outskirts of Lagos. He attended primary school without shoes. He hawked sachet water on the streets to...

Inside ambitious, risky financial reset of Nigeria's football league

ENGLAND, SOUTH Africa and Saudi Arabia offer models for sustainable league growth The National Sports Commission's (NSC) decision to raise the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) champions' prize to N1 billion and introduce a N2 million monthly...

When impossible becomes a daily routine miracle

TWENTY SIX years ago, they said a daily business newspaper in Nigeria could not be sustained. Those who heard the idea of Businessday whispered, actually mocked the people who dared imagine this 'pipe dream.’ My track to being put to this test of...

Oveirmn1p0a0bcn Investors pour into Nigeria's insurance bet

INVESTORS ARE betting heavily on the future of Nigeria’s insurance industry as the sector's recapitalisation drive enters its final phase, according to market sources with knowledge of the deals. Rather than diluting their stakes, merging, or exiting...

Nigeria seeks adviseyresaforrsfiorsft Eurobond sale since November

NIGERIA IS officially laying the groundwork to return to the international debt market. The Debt Management Office (DMO) has requested expressions of interest from financial and legal firms to act as transaction advisers for an upcoming Eurobond sale....

Corporate Nigeria races to beat June 30 e-invoicing deadline as sanctions loom

CORPORATE NIGERIA is on a 24-hour countdown as the National Revenue Service (NRS) prepares to enforce its mandatory electronic invoicing regiment, leaving thousands of large companies racing to meet Tuesday’s June 30 deadline or risk financial...

What numbers say about poverty in Nigeria

When Bayo Onanuga, presidential spokesman, said recently that he did not see “the level of hunger Nigerians are complaining about,” his words landed like a spark in a country already weighed down by hardship. Within hours, social media erupted....

FOOD

7 ways to complain about your food at a restaurant without causing a scene

W ho won & who lost when Niger ia’s star s ditched their labels

Streaming platforms have fundamentally rewired the economics of the Nigerian music industry, shifting power from traditional record labels directly into the artiste hands. By leveraging streaming metrics to reach global audiences, musicians are...

Five reasons SEC halted Dangote IPO pr omotion

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently cracked down on a wave of unauthorised promotional campaigns soliciting investments

Meet 16 heir s of Niger ia’s power families v y ing for office ahead 2027

As political parties wrap up primaries ahead of the 2027 elections, Olumide Osoba, son of former Ogun State governor, Olusegun Osoba, stepped once again into the abyss of power when he secured the All Progressives Congress, APC, ticket to represent the...

How five Niger ian families ar e closing widening income gap

Few financial decisions are more difficult for Nigerian parents than moving their children from private schools to public schools. For Usman Bello and his wife, it became a business decision. Bello, a 44-year-old federal civil servant in Abuja, earns...

Niger ia stocks shed N8.24tr n as investor s pull pr ofit

Nigerian stocks have shed about N8.24 trillion in value since the start of June as investors locked in gains following months of strong rallies, triggering a long-anticipated market correction.

Oyebanji poised to break Ekiti’s second-term jinx as voter turnout surges64

Governor Biodun Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) appears set to break Ekiti State’s longstanding second-term jinx following what observers described as an impressive voter turnout in Saturday’s governorship election. Since the creation...

Femi Olayebi: Building a Finished Leather Sector is Our Pathway to Wealth Creation

L-R:

Taiwo Adeeko, country manager, Nigeria/vp global acquiring, Payaza; Ifelade Ayodele, CEO, Blaaiz Innovations Technology; Shola Asiru, CMO, Payaza; Yemi Euba, zonal head, Keystone Bank; Tolulope Atomori, CPO; Kehinde Omotoso, head of engineering; Esther...

Wheat dream stalls as finance ministry with holds million-dollar AfDB funds

Nigeria’s ambition to slash its wheat import bill and achieve self-sufficiency has run aground due to a bureaucratic logjam at the highest level of economic governance. For 18 months, critical funding secured from the African Development Bank (AFDB)...

Niger ian fir ms pick expensive debt over equity raise

The boardroom of Primal Nigeria Limited (not real name) smelled of stale filter coffee and unspoken panic. On the left side of the mahogany table sat Kunle Abayomi, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), flanked by three thick, leather-bound folders...

Pension tur ns lifeline as jobless Niger ians withdraw N12bn to sur vive

Nigeria’s worsening employment and economic challenges are forcing thousands of workers to fall back on their retirement savings for immediate survival, with more than N12 billion withdrawn from pension accounts by unemployed contributors in just three...

Niger ia’s middle class wanted better car s. T he nair a had other plans

Kekemeke Karatei realised he had saved up more hope than cash after arriving at the car lot to be informed that the N6 million he had been nursing for many months to finally own a 14-year-old used Honda was only sufficient to get him something even...

June 12 throws challenge for INEC ahead of 2027

■ Public trust erodes as voter turnout hits historic lows

Niger ia’s minimum wage no match for N700,000 sur vival cost

By the third week of every month, Ibrahim Olarinrin’s salary is gone. The 38-yearold Lagos resident earns N300,000 a month working for a professional services firm in accounting and finance. Yet feeding his wife and two children now costs about

How Electoral Act 2026 consumed its architects

When members of the National Assembly passed the Electoral Act 2026, many lawmakers clinked glasses and hailed it as a bold attempt to deepen internal party democracy, curb impunity, and sanitise Nigeria’s chaotic nomination process. For years, party...

Niger ia’s ginger expor t cr ashes fr om N26 billion to zer o in thr ee year s

Nigeria’s non-oil export ambitions suffered a severe setback, with ginger exports collapsing to zero by the end of 2025, down from N26.2 billion three years prior. A devastating combination of a persistent fungal blight and soaring production costs has...

Price surge tilts Nigeria toward rate hold

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is facing severe pressure to maintain the benchmark interest rate at its upcoming meeting. Renewed geopolitical volatility in the Middle East has heightened global inflation...

Politics before people: How 2027 ambitions are reshaping government spending

Long before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officially fires the starting gun for the 2027 general election, government spending across Nigeria is already beginning to wear the colours of campaign politics. In many states,...

Port delays choke national shipping portal six weeks af ter launch

Six weeks after its launch on March 27, the heavily anticipated National Single Window (NSW), a national shipping portal introduced to centralise trade documentation, is facing mounting criticism from operators who say it has lengthened clearance...

CBN dr ains r ecor d nair a liquidit y as election season shapes up

Traditionally, pre-election years in Nigeria are characterised by a deluge of campaign spending that could drown the economy in inflationary pressure. To preempt this surge, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has ramped up its Open Market Operations...