Shea nut export ban, Petrobras’ return… business stories to track this week

Here are the top seven business stories you need to track this week — September 1 to September 5.

TINUBU PLACES SIX-MONTH BAN ON EXPORT OF RAW SHEA NUTS 

President Bola Tinubu has directed a six-month ban on the export of raw shea nuts.

Tinubu, who was represented by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, gave the directive during a multi-stakeholder meeting on Tuesday at the Presidential Villa.

Abubakar Kyari, the minister for agriculture and food security, said the ban takes effect immediately and the measure aims to promote local processing and add value within the country.

NIGERIA, BRAZIL SIGN MOU AS PETROBRAS PLANS TO RETURN

President Bola Tinubu says Petrobras, a Brazilian state-owned oil company, will return to Nigeria soon.

Tinubu spoke at a joint press conference in Brasília during his state visit to Brazil, according to a statement on August 30 by Bayo Onanuga, his special adviser on information and strategy.

The president said Petrobras’ return would reignite economic cooperation in the energy sector between both countries.

Also, Onanuga said both countries reached several other agreements at the meeting, including one that will see Air Peace, Nigeria’s national flag carrier, begin direct flight operations from Lagos to the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo soon.

AGAIN, CAC EXTENDS IMPLEMENTATIONS OF NEW SERVICE FEES 

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has deferred the implementation of new fees to October 1.

In a statement on Saturday, the CAC said it has resolved to prioritise the full stabilisation of the new company registration portal before the middle of September 2025.

On July 22, CAC postponed the implementation of new fees and penalties for document downloads on its upgraded registration portal to September 1.

CBN DIRECTS BANKS TO GEO-TAG PAYMENT TERMINALS WITHIN 60 DAYS 

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a directive to all commercial banks, microfinance banks, mobile money operators, and other licensed participants in the Nigerian payments ecosystem, mandating full migration to the ISO 20022 standard for payment messaging by October 31.

In a circular signed by Rakiya Yusuf, director of the payments system supervision department, on Tuesday, CBN reminded all licensed operators that ISO 20022 is now the standard for payments messaging both domestically and internationally in line with SWIFT’s global migration timeline.

The apex bank added that compliance validation exercises will commence from October 20.

‘NIGERIA’S EXCESS CRUDE ACCOUNT NOW $535,823’

Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, accountant-general of the federation (AcGF), says Nigeria’s excess crude account (ECA) balance is now $535,823.39 as of August.

Ogunjimi spoke during the 151st national economic council (NEC) meeting, chaired by Shettima, in Abuja.

He said the excess crude account stood at $535,823.39, adding that the stabilisation account stood at N78,453,757,583.19.

BUDGET OFFICE TO RELEASE 2024 IMPLEMENTATION REPORT IN SEPTEMBER 

The budget office of the federation says the full-year 2024 budget performance report will be released by the end of September.

In a statement on Friday, the office said the report will be accompanied by consolidated reports for the first quarter (Q1) and second quarter (Q2) of 2025, after which quarterly publications will resume on schedule.

The bureau attributed the delay in publishing budget implementation reports since Q2 2024 to the care taken to ensure accuracy during Nigeria’s transition to an extended fiscal framework.

NIGERIA’S GAS-TO-POWER SUPPLY INCREASED BY 3.4% IN JULY 

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says average daily gas-to-power supply hit 862.86 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) in July.

In a statement on Saturday, the agency said the supply rose by 3.48 percent from 833.86 mmscf/d in June, and represents the highest in three months.

According to NUPRC, Nigeria’s daily gas production was 7.59 billion standard cubic feet per day (bscfd) in July.