The Federal Government’s bond offer and allotment rose by N1.99tn in the first six months of this year to N13.66tn, from the N11.67tn recorded in the corresponding period of last year,a report has said.

The Financial Markets Department of the Central Bank of Nigeria disclosed this in its half-year activity report for 2021,saying the rise was due to government’s drive to fund fiscal deficit from the domestic market.

 The report stated that, “In the review period, FGN bonds worth N900bn was offered, while public subscription and sale stood at N1.73tn and N1.42tn, respectively. The amount offered comprised new issues and re-openings of FGN bonds.

“In the corresponding period of 2020, FGN bonds issue, subscription and allotment were N615bn, N2.45tn and N1.31tn, respectively. The increase in offer and allotment in the first half of 2021 was attributable to the government’s drive to fund fiscal deficit from the domestic market. Consequently, the total value of FGN bonds outstanding at end-June 2021 stood at N13.66tn, compared with N11.67tn at end-June 2020, indicating an increase of N1.99tn or 17.01 per cent.”

The report stated that in the first half of 2021, there was no new issue of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Treasury Bonds.

it added that the outstanding stock stood at N100.99bn, same as at end-June 2020.

A breakdown of the outstanding showed that the CBN held N18.01bn, while N82.98bn was held in the sinking fund.

In the corresponding period of 2020, it added, the CBN held N27.99bn, while N73bn was held in the sinking fund.

The report stated that during the first six months of 2020, “the total NTBs issued and allotted was N1.6tn apiece, indicating an increase of N149.94bn or 9.89 per cent above N1.52tn issued and allotted apiece, in the corresponding period of 2020.

“Total public subscriptions stood at N3.1tn, compared with N2.9tn in the corresponding period of 2020.

“The increase in public subscription was attributed to the increased yield on NTBs, which was market driven amidst investors’ demand for higher yields.”

It added that the holding structure of the instrument indicated that Deposit Money Banks took up N1.25tn or 75.31 per cent, while mandate and internal funds customers, including CBN branches accounted for the balance of N411.22bn or 24.69 per cent.

The Lagos State House of Assembly has  passed the Year 2022 budget estimate with a slight increase of the grand total from the initial N1.38 trillion to N1.758 trillion.

The budget was passed at a sitting presided over by the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, after a presentation of the report by Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu, Chairman of the Committee on Economic Planning and Budget.

Yishawu,  after the plenary, explained that the total budget size passed has addition of leftovers from the previous allocations in the 2021 budget.

He said the leftover was rolled into ‘contingency fund’ in the Y2022 budget.

He also put the Capital and Recurrent Expenditure ratio at 66:34 respectively.

While the recurrent expenditure is N591,280,803,486 billion, the Capital expenditure is N1.166,915,843,358 trillion, which brings the budget total size to N1,758,196,44,844 trillion.

According to him, the loans, bonds and ISPO funds are captured in the budget that was passed.

Speaking after the passage of the budget, Obasa thanked his colleagues for working assiduously to ensure that the appropriation bill was passed.

The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), the leading philanthropy empowering young African entrepreneurs across all 54 African countries, has opened applications for the 2022 TEF Entrepreneurship Programme

African entrepreneurs with business ideas or existing businesses under five years, are encouraged to apply now for $5000 seed capital, mentorship, business management training and more on the 2022 Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme

Since 2015, the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme – the only African-funded entrepreneurship catalyst of its kind – has empowered 15,847 African entrepreneurs with non-returnable seed capital of $5,000 each; twelve weeks of business management training; access to experienced mentors; and membership to Africa’s largest entrepreneurial ecosystem.

In 2021, the Tony Elumelu Foundation disbursed USD$24.75 million to 5000 African entrepreneurs across Africa for its 2021 Entrepreneurship Programme. The Foundation’s Entrepreneurship Programme remains one of the largest private sector responses to driving the economic recovery of African youth, women and SMEs given the effects of the covid19 pandemic across Africa. Across Africa, the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme beneficiaries are starting and growing trailblazing businesses that have collectively created over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs.

According to 2015 Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur, Hauwa Liman, female business owner and Founder of Afrik Abaya: “I am always proud to say that I am from the inaugural cohort of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme. My business is located in Kaduna, in northern Nigeria. I benefitted from this Programme in 2015, and it opened up lots of doors and opportunities. It is not just about the seed capital, but what really fascinates me about the programme is the knowledge.

“I call it a mini-MBA programme, because from the ideation stage it teaches you how to really articulate your business, and it gave me my first business plan. The network, visibility and opportunities are endless.

“My entrepreneurship experience cannot be complete without the Tony Elumelu Foundation. I will start exporting to other countries soon courtesy of the Foundation. We now employ ten permanent staff and an additional eight staff on a commission basis.”

Commenting on the launch of the 2022 Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme, CEO of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu shared, “We are constantly blown away by the quality of businesses that come from Africa every year. This motivates us to scale our efforts to empower even more entrepreneurs on continent. The innovation, knowledge and resilience of African entrepreneurs is central to charting Africa’s socio-economic transformation and meet the continent’s development objectives. We are also proud of the increase in female participation on our Programme, especially with the 2021 cohort where we witnessed a record 68% selection of women entrepreneurs.”

Founding Trustee of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Dr. Awele Elumelu stated, “Through the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme, we seek to democratise luck. Hard work plays an important and undeniable part in success, but one must not discount the role of luck – someone being willing to take a chance on you or business idea by empowering you through training, mentorship or funding.

“Our hope is that, through the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme, we would help the next business leader or captain of industry be whom they are meant to be. This is our own way to give back and also to empower the generation coming behind us so that they can go even further than we have. As a parent, one’s desire is for your children to do better than you and so you will provide the resources and materials that they need to ensure that they go far in life. Similarly, at the Foundation we are equipping the next generation with the tools they need to succeed.”

As the foremost champion of entrepreneurship in Africa, the Tony Elumelu Foundation is empowering women and men across the African continent through entrepreneurship to catalyse economic growth, drive poverty eradication and ensure job creation.

Police from the Department of Technology Crimes in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, have cracked down on a Nigerian suspect who was active in crimes on social media.

The operation took place on December 26, 2021, with the coordination of the prosecutor of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. With the permission of General Santibandit Neth Savoeun, National Police Commissioner.

Lt. Gen. Chea Pov, director of the Anti-Technology Crime Department, who led the crackdown, confirmed that the operation was carried out in collaboration with law enforcement forces. Phnom Penh Municipal Police cracked down on the suspect named as Chukwueke Felix Chibueze, male, 47 years old, a Nigerian, living in Phnom Penh.

He added that the suspect set up fake Facebook accounts, pretending to be in love and befriend the victims by telling them that he lives abroad, has a package to send, and have a lot of materials like US dollars and some gold and created a series of incidents for the victims to pay continuously.

On December 28, 2021, Chibueze was remanded in custody. At the same time, the authorities would like to remind those who always use social media to be very careful to avoid being cheated.