Business Planning

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Business Planning General News

UK defends welfare cuts, economists warn 250,000 could fall into poverty

London, March 28, 2025- The UK government is fighting to defend new welfare cuts that independent economists, think tanks and even some of its own backbench MPs warn will force tens of thousands of people into economic hardship. The measures were announced in the House of Commons yesterday by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who denies that her government is pursuing economic austerity, something it has promised not to do. Reeves made the same point on Thursday, telling Sky News that she is “absolutely certain” that the reforms “will get people into …

Business Planning Investment

Osinbajo underscores Africa’s economic integration as existential issue

Addis Ababa, March 24, 2025 – The economic integration of Africa must be seen as an existential issue, the former Nigerian Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo underscored. Professor Osinbajo stressed the importance of strong political leadership to push forward the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which is one of the key instruments to expediting economic integration in the African continent. “If the AfCFTA succeeds, it will mean phenomenal success for African economies,” he said. On a related note, Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA, provided updates on the agreement’s …

Business Planning Manufacturing/Industry Maritime/Shipping Money market

BOI launches N10bn intervention fund, commits to bridging funding gap for women entrepreneurs

Lagos, March 22, 2025 – Dr Olasupo Olusi, the Managing Director of Bank of Industry (BOI), has expressed the bank’s commitment to providing financial assistance to female entrepreneurs in Nigeria. He made the commitment in Lagos during the launch of a N10 billion special intervention fund for female entrepreneurs tagged, “Guaranteed Loans for Women (GLOW)” According to a statement by the bank, Olusi said the N10 billion GLOW Fund was established in collaboration with the Women Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Manufacture and Agriculture (WCCIMA) to enhance women entrepreneurs’ access to …

Business Planning Investment

Global markets tumble as Israeli airstrikes intensify

Washington, March 19, 2025 – Global markets reacted on Tuesday as Israeli airstrikes on Gaza escalated geopolitical tensions, sending Wall Street into decline and pushing gold prices to record highs. The selloff came as the U.S. Federal Reserve convened for a crucial monetary policy meeting amid rising economic uncertainty. According to Reuters, the latest round of Israeli missile attacks resulted in the deaths of over 400 people in Gaza, intensifying Middle East tensions. The renewed conflict also overshadowed a call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, …

Business Planning

Global growth to slow amid trade tensions – OECD

France, March, 18, 2025 – Global growth is expected to slow due to “trade barriers” and “increased geopolitical and policy uncertainty,” the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said Monday. Growth is projected to slow to 3.1% in 2025 and 3.0% in 2026, with the Paris-based policy forum lowering its projections from 3.3% for both this year and next. “Increasing trade restrictions will contribute to higher costs for both production and consumption. It remains essential to ensure a well-functioning, rules-based international trading system and to keep markets open,” OECD …

Business Planning

Trump’s tariffs will slow China’s economy, impede global trade – OECD

Beijing, March 18, 2025 – Chinese economy is seen to grow 4.8 per cent this year, with any decline in demand felt across multiple industries and regions China’s economy is set to slow further as a result of new tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, with global repercussions, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Monday. According to the OECD’s latest outlook, the Chinese economy will likely grow by 4.8 per cent this year before slowing to a 4.4 per cent clip in 2026. The organisation attributed …

Business Planning Foreign

Trump’s trade wars will hit Americans hardest – analysis

Washington, March 17, 2025 – Donald Trump’s escalating trade war will hit the president’s supporters the hardest, according to a new analysis. The president has beefed up the tariffs as part of his effort to reshape America’s trading partnership with the world. The retaliatory tariffs target industries in swing states that employ 9.5 percent of people in Wisconsin, 8.5 percent of people in Indiana and 8.4 percent of people in Iowa.  Experts say industries hit by retaliatory tariffs are likely to sell fewer goods on foreign markets, which could lead …

Business Planning Oil and Gas

IPMAN denies opposing recent drop in petrol price

Lagos, March 16, 2025 – The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has denied a report that it opposed the recent drop in the price of petrol from the Dangote Refinery and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited. The association made the denial on Sunday in a statement issued by its National Vice President, Hammed Fashola. It said it had never opposed the recent fuel price reduction resulting from full deregulation of the downstream sector, stressing that the association had long canvassed for full deregulation of the Nigerian oil …

Business Planning

Tinubu economic policies driving exports, boosting trade surplus – TMV

Abuja, March 14, 2025 – The Tinubu Media Volunteers (TMV) has described the rise in Nigeria’s exports in the last one year as yet another manifestation of the efficacy of the economic policies of the President Bola Tinubu administration. This, according to the group, is clear from the progressive rise in trade surplus between the fourth quarter of 2023 and that of 2024. In a statement signed by its Chairman Chukwudi Enekwechi and Secretary Shedrach Sunday, TMV noted that the latest foreign trade report from the National Bureau of Statistics …

Business Planning General News Money market

UK economy shrinks in January below expectations

London, March 14, 2025 – Britain’s economy unexpectedly shrank in January, official data showed Friday, piling more pressure on the Labour government ahead of its Spring Statement on the economy. Gross domestic product contracted 0.1 percent in the month after GDP rose 0.4 percent in December, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement. Britain’s finance minister Rachel Reeves is expected to make billions of pounds of spending cuts, including to welfare, in the government’s Spring Statement on March 26, a follow-up to her inaugural budget last October, …