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Customs awaits report on list of duties, charges for waived goods under AfCFTA

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By Tanko Mohammed

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says is waiting for National Action Committee (NAC) on the list of duties and charges waived for liberalised goods under African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The service made this known  in a statement issued by its Public Relations Officer, Mr Joseph Attah, on Tuesday in Abuja.

Attah said that the list included the 90 per cent liberalised National Trade Offers and 70 per cent Non-liberalised exclusive goods at the regional level.

He said another list being awaited was the list of three per cent on Non-liberalised sensitive goods.

The public relations officer said another important issue to be addressed was appointment of a competent authority responsible for issuing and authenticating certificates of origin and registering enterprises and products within the region.

“NCS acknowledges the transformational impact this agreement portends for businesses within the continent in general and Nigeria in particular, and are fully committed to its success.

“Further, the Service recommends that each member country should have a representative in the continental Chamber of Commerce to ensure transparency within the body, thereby generating confidence in the system.

“This in our view should be complementary to the activities of the various Chambers of Commerce of each country in the region.

“While awaiting clear directives concerning tariffs for all goods covered by this agreement, we want to assure the public of our preparedness to fully deploy our services at the shortest notice.

“Our desire is to imbue trust in the system while guaranteeing the economic safety and wellbeing of businesses within the country.

“We look with optimism to an era of complete economic integration which will lead to growth and prosperity for businesses within the region,” he stated.

Attah reiterated the willingness and readiness of the service to play its role as trade facilitators in this regard, but reminded the public that customs’ functions were highly automated and primarily systems driven.

He said it was necessary to methodically harvest and integrate all data associated with AfCFTA into the service’s system for easy deployment, access and use by the trading public.

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Nigerian stock market extends losing streak, drops 0.07%

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By Chris Ndibe

Trading activities on the nation’s bourse extended losing streak on Tuesday, declining further by N16 billion due to profit taking on 21 stocks.

Speficially, the All-Share Index lost 30.75 points or 0.07 per cent to close at 41,051.63, from 41,082.38 posted on Monday.

Consequently, month-to-date and year-to-date returns moderated to 1.9 per cent.

In the same vein, the market capitalisation lost N16 billion to close at N21.474 trillion compared with N21.490 trillion recorded on Monday.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Ardova Plc, BUA Cement, UACN, Access Bank and Red Star Express.

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said: “Following two consecutive days of losses, we expect investors to take position in bellwethers.”

Japaul Gold and Ventures led the losers’ chart in percentage terms with 9.86 per cent to close at N1.28 per share.

Ardova followed with 8.63 per cent to close at N18 per share.

FTN Cocoa Processors and Honeywell Flour Mill shed 8.33 per cent each to close at 66k and N1.10, while Chams lost 6.67 per cent to close at 28k per share.

Conversely, Afromedia, Guinea Insurance, NEM Insurance, Prestige Assurance, Union Diagnostic & Clinical Services and Wapic Insurance drove the gainers’ chart in percentage terms, gaining 10 per cent each, to close at 22k, 22k, N2.53, 55k, 33k and 66k per share, respectively.

Livestock Feeds followed with 9.91 per cent to close at N2.55, while AIICO Insurance rose by 9.85 per cent to close at N1.45 per share.

Transcorp topped the activity chart with an exchange of 42.94 million shares valued at N50.24 million.

Japaul Gold and Ventures followed with 39.59 million shares worth N50.87 million, while Zenith Bank traded 28.53 million shares valued at N745.99 million.

BUA Cement sold 25.69 million shares worth N2.05 billion, while Courteville Business Solutions transacted 21.97 million shares worth N5.33 million.

In all, the total volume of shares traded dropped by 28.9 per cent as investors bought and sold 525.01 million shares worth N5.34 billion in 5,965 deals.

This was in contrast with a turnover of 738.52 million shares valued at N4.17 billion transacted on 7,396 deals on Monday.

Gas-flaring

LPG consumption in Nigeria hits 1m metric tonnes

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 By Tanko Mohammed

The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has reported that Nigeria’s domestic consumption of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), popularly known as cooking gas, exceeded one million Metric Tonnes (MT) in 2020.

The agency disclosed this in a statement signed by Abdulkadir Saidu, the Executive Secretary, PPPRA, in Abuja, on Tuesday.

He said the consumption rate made 2020 the first year in the nation’s history where LPG consumption had reached the one million MT threshold.

“Nigeria consumed 840,594.37 MT LPG in 2019, indicating an increase of 60.5 per cent over 635,452.061MT recorded in 2018.

“This steady and sustained pattern of growth culminating in the over one million metric tonnes of LPG domestic consumption milestone in 2020 has placed the country 1st in West Africa and one of the leading LPG consuming nations on the continent.

“With this laudable feat, the country is on track to meet the five million MT by 2022 target, set in the Nigeria Gas Policy (NGP) of 2017,” he said.

This, he said translated to an average of 1million MT/year, with a collective effort to sustain and ramp up intervention efforts and initiatives of government and stakeholders.

He noted that the Federal Government’s resolve to deepen LPG penetration in the country sought to create a healthier life for all Nigerians by providing access to a cleaner source of energy for cooking, vehicular transportation and other domestic uses.

“The attainment of the one million MT domestic utilisation milestone is a testimony to the progress made so far in ensuring the provision of alternative sources of fueling to Nigerians in place of the traditional PMS, AGO and DPK,” Saidu said.

According to him, the move will help in altering the nation’s energy mix in favour of locally-available options.

To support the move, Saidu further said that Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited, had increased its allocation of LPG to the domestic market from 350, 000MT to 450, 000MT in 2021 in order to achieve its goal.

“Also, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) recently commenced LPG production and load-out in its newly commissioned Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited (NPDC) Oredo Gas handling facility, which has an estimated production stream of 330MT daily.

“The remarkable growth in the domestic LPG market remains largely driven by the impact of the federal government’s policies and programmes, coupled with the efforts of relevant stakeholders and regulatory bodies in the industry.

“The avowed commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, to the Gas Revolution Agenda remains the game changer and key growth driver.

“The culmination of the Year of Gas with the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) Autogas rollout, is expected to foster exponential growth within the industry as more and more Nigerians begin to embrace the utilisation of LPG/CNG as fuel for their automobiles,”  he added.

He assured all stakeholders that the PPPRA remained steadfast in its commitment to growing the LPG/Gas value chain to such heights that would deliver maximum dividends to Nigeria and Nigerians.

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Stock market resumes week with N40bn loss

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By Chris Ndibe

The Nigerian stock market opened for the week on Monday with a loss of N40 billion, halting five consecutive days positive run.

Speficially, the market capitalisation which opened at N21.530 trillion shed N40 billion to close at N21.490 trillion.

Also, the All Share Index which opened at 41,176.14 lost 93.76 points or 0.23 per cent to close at 41,082.38.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, among which are; Dangote Cement, Flour Mills, Guinness, NASCON Allied Industries and FBN Holdings.

Analysts at United Capital said that investors would take advantage of gains posted recently to book profit.

“While we expect investors to book some profit from last week’s gains, demand for high-yield dividend companies should sustain the market’s bullish momentum,” they said.

An analysis of the price movement chart shows that Japaul Gold and Ventures led the losers’ chart in percentage terms, losing 6.58 per cent to close at N1.42 per share.

Flour Mills trailed with a loss of 5.49 per cent to close at N31, while Wema Bank dipped 5.33 per cent to close at 71k per share.

Neimeth shed 4.76 per cent to close at N2, while GlaxoSmithKline depreciated by 4.29 per cent to close at N6.70 per share.

Conversely, African Alliance Insurance, AIICO Insurance, Cadbury Nigeria, R.T. Briscoe, Trans-Nationwide Express and Universal Insurance dominated the gainers’ chart in percentage terms, gaining 10 per cent each, to close at 22k, N1.32, N10.45, 22k, 88k and 22k per share, respectively.

BOC Gases followed with 9.98 per cent to close at N13.77, while Livestock Feeds rose by 9.95 per cent to close at N2.32 per share.

Meanwhile, the total volume of shares traded increased by 10.77 per cent as investors bought and sold 738.53 million shares worth N4.17 billion in 7,396 deals.

This was in contrast with 666.61 million shares valued at N6.39 billion achieved in 6,980 deals on Friday.

Transactions in the shares of Japaul Gold and Ventures topped the activity chart with 92.36 million shares worth N145.79 million.

Universal Insurance followed with 51.79 million shares valued at N10.41 million, while Transcorp traded 43.15 million shares worth N46.17 million.

FBNH traded 39.77 million shares valued at N298.25 million, while AXA Mansard Insurance transacted 38.19 million shares worth N63.88 million.

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Commodity market positions Nigeria for effective operations as AfCFTA takes off

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The Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX), has been positioned to facilitate efficient export of commodities as the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) takes off.

Its Managing Director, Mrs. Zaheera Baba-Ari, made the declaration in Abuja where she noted that the AfCFTA was an important and strategic platform that would serve to enhance the economies of African countries.

“The establishment of the continental trade bloc will be beneficial to African countries if properly managed,’’’ she said.

Baba-Ari said that in view of the expected adverse effects of COVID-19 on the world, AfCFTA would boost intra-African trade and mitigate rapid decline in the GDP of African countries.

She said the exchange had established a network of 20 licensed delivery warehouses across major production areas in the six geo-political zones of the country for efficient receipt and storage of agro-commodities to be traded on the exchange.

The warehouses, located in Zamfara, Kano, Kaduna, Nassarawa, Benue, Bauchi, Sokoto, Plateau, Ebonyi, Ekiti and Kogi have combined capacity to store 50 trillion tonnes of goods, she said.

Baba-Ari added that other warehouses located in Adamawa, Gombe, Taraba, Jigawa, Edo, Cross River and Ondo States would be ready within the year.

The managing director said the Exchange had established fully equipped Quality Assurance Laboratories in each of the delivery warehouses.

She said the laboratories were for the purpose of testing the quality of commodities such as paddy rice, cocoa, sesame seed, soya beans, maize, sorghum and cashew nuts that would be traded on the exchange.

“The NCX has acquired robust Trading Application System for seamless buying and selling of commodity to ensure market integrity, price transparency and the facilitation of cross border trades.

“It has also acquired a Warehouse Management System that assures an efficient management of warehouse inventories.

“We have perfected Memorandum of Understanding with relevant foreign and Nigerian Commodity Associations like the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange and the Export Merchants Association of Sudan to trade in selected agro-commodities,’’ she said.

On standards and quality of commodities, Baba-Ari said that the NCX Quality Control department was headed by a professional certified by the Institute of Public Analysts of Nigeria.

She added that the exchange’s laboratory was being rigorously upgraded for ISO22000 certification which combines ISO 9001 with Food Safety Management and Hazard Analysis, including Critical Control Point System (HACCP).

“’The HACCP identifies specific hazards and proffers measures for the control of identified impurities in the food processing sector,’’’ she said.

She said Nigerian farmers and manufacturers would likely face the challenges of global competitiveness as a result of high cost of production, poor yields, low capacity utilisation and high prices.

“The issue of tariff on agro-commodity exports from Nigeria should be addressed to increase efficiency of trade flows.

“There is also the need for Nigeria to improve its position on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking from its current 131st rung of the ladder.

“This should be done by using focus indicators such as paying taxes, trading across borders, starting a business and connecting minority investors.

“This is in line with the goal of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) to be the top 70 among a total of 190 countries,’’’ Baba-Ari said.

NAN reports that the agreement establishing the AfCFTA was signed in March 2018, in Kigali, following conclusion of the main legal texts.

It is a free trade area among 54 of the 55 African Union nations. Trading in the Area began on Jan. 1, 2021.

It is aimed at creating a single market for goods and services; facilitate the movement of persons; promote industrial development, sustainable and inclusive socio-economic growth within the African continent.

Under AfCFTA trading, tariffs on various commodities where rules of origin have  been agreed will be drastically reduced and traders of all sizes will have access to a much bigger market than before.

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