Business Tips

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday said the nation’s huge infrastructure gap could be addressed with investments in sustainable finance initiatives such as Green Bonds.

The SEC Acting Director-General, Ms Mary Uduk, stated this in Lagos on the sidelines of the Green Bond issuance rules launch.

According to her, the Green bonds were created to fund projects that have positive environmental and/or climate benefits.

Nigeria has granted a three-year tax exemption and export incentives to intending tourism investors.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said on Wednesday at the fourth edition of the Tourism Investors Forum and Exhibition (NTIFE).

Mohammed, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mrs Grace Isu-Gekpe, said the incentives would ensure that the sector met the country’s development expectations in line with the National Tourism policy of Nigeria and existing fiscal incentive regime for investment.

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has launched a project facility aimed at increasing the availability of viable well-prepared projects in Africa and at making such projects bankable and attractive to investors.

The Afreximbank President, Benedict Oramah Afreximbank who made this known during the launch of the Afreximbank Project Preparation Facility (APPF), in South Africa disclosed that the bank had set it up with an initial seed capital investment of up to $15 million.

Billions of dollars in fines owed by South African companies MTN and Standard Bank to Nigerian regulators could increase the risk to South Africa’s financial system, the central bank said on Wednesday. The Nigerian central bank in August accused telecoms firm MTN and its lender Stanbic, a Standard Bank subsidiary, of illegally sending $8.1 billion abroad.

The Nigerian government has also demanded $2 billion in related taxes from MTN. The South African mobile operator makes about a third of its annual core profit in the West African country.