Finance
Active Nigerian Telephone Subscribers Hits 169 Million
“As at November 2018, the active Telephone Subscribers base grew from 165 million in October 2018 to 169 million.”
Active Telephone Subscribers – Total number of active voice subscriptions in Nigeria telecom services sector has reached an impressive 169 million, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has stated.
Executive CHAIRMAN – Dambatta on Active Nigerian Telephone Subscribers
Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta, gave the figure at a breakfast meeting with editors and Bureau Chiefs of media houses, in Abuja, yesterday.
He also said internet subscription base, as at end of last month, stood at 109 million, up from 107 million in October.
He stated: “As at November 2018, the active voice subscribers’ base grew from 165 million in October 2018 to 169 million.
If you want to give the percentage of penetration, you have to reflect the reality of what the population is and I think from 2019, we are going to start using the figure of 190 million to give the statistics in percentage point but for now, we will give you the actual statistics. The internet subscription grew equally from 107million in October 2018 to 109 million in November.”
Danbatta added that the Commission, in the period under review, exceeded the broadband target it set as part of its eight-point agenda.
He stated further: “As at November 2018, we have a total of almost 59 million Nigerians who have subscribed to broadband services in different part of the country. Therefore the broadband penetration, using a percentage point based on population of 190 million estimates is 30.9 per cent. We set a target of 30 per cent, which means we have exceeded the target by 0.9 per cent.”
The NCC boss added that for the purpose of evaluation, the Commission would commence monthly update of its key performance indicators starting from December this year; a development he said, would continue through 2019.
Author: Eunice Johnson, Abuja
President of the African Development bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has announced that the bank has secured 15.6bn dollars for the construction of the Lagos-Abidjan highway corridor, which would ease transportation across West Africa.
Adesina made this announcement during the 2021 Africa Investment Forum’s virtual boardroom closing session on Thursday.
The AFDB President said the 15.6bn dollar deal which is the biggest deal for the boardroom is a 46-lane highway corridor which will connect Lagos, Cotonou, Lome, Accra and Abidjan.
According to him, the project would support trade in West Africa, impacting the lives of over 500 million people, reducing transport costs and increasing intra-regional trade volume.
The bank will also be establishing a 1m dollars AFAWA women advisory facility to support women with advisory services.
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Author: Gift Wada, Abuja
THE Debt Management Office on Thursday said Nigeria’s total public debt stock increased to N39.56tn in 2021 from N32.92tn in 2020.
The Director-General, DMO, Patience Oniha, said this at a media briefing in Abuja.
According to her, the total debt includes new borrowings by the Federal Government and the sub-nationals.
She also said that the amount helped in financing the budget deficit, capital projects and support economic recovery.
Oniha said, “Nigeria’s total public debt as at December 31, 2021, was N39.56tn or $95.78bn. The amount represents the total external and domestic debts of the Federal Government of Nigeria, 36 state governments and the federal capital territory.
“The comparable figure for December 31, 2020, was N32.92tn or $86.39bn. The public debt stock for December 31, 2021, includes new borrowings by the FGN and the sub-nationals. For the FGN, it would be recalled that the 2021 appropriation and supplementary acts, included total new borrowings (from domestic and external sources) of N5.49tn to part-finance the deficit.
“Borrowings for this purpose and disbursements by the multilateral and bilateral creditors account for a significant portion of the increase in the debt stock. Increases were also recorded in the debt stock of the states and the FCT.”
She further said that despite the debt increase, the country is still within the total public debt stock to the Gross Domestic Product limit of 55 per cent set by the World Bank and 70 per cent set by the Economic Community of West African States.
Oniha also said that the Federal Government was “mindful of the relatively high debt-to-revenue ratio” and has established certain measures to increase revenues through the strategic revenue growth initiative and the introduction of Finance Acts since 2019.
She said, “The new borrowings were raised from diverse sources, primarily through the issuances of the Eurobonds, sovereign Sukuk, and the FGN bonds. These capital raisings were utilised to finance capital projects and support economic recovery.
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“With the total public debt stock to GDP as at December 31, 2021, of 22.47 per cent, the debt-to-GDP ratio still remains within Nigeria’s self-imposed limit of 40 per cent. This ratio is prudent when compared to the 55 per cent limit advised by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for countries in Nigeria’s peer group, as well as, the ECOWAS convergence ratio of 70 per cent.”
However, findings showed that Nigeria spent N2.93tn on debt servicing payments in 2021, according to the data obtained from the DMO.
Between January and March 2021, Nigeria spent N612.71bn on domestic debt servicing, while it spent $1bn (N415.92bn) on external debt servicing, giving a total of N1.03tn.
From April to June 2021, the country spent N322.7bn on domestic debt servicing and $299m (N124.36bn) on external debt servicing, showing a total of N447.06bn.
From July to September 2021, Nigeria spent N808.49bn on domestic debt servicing and $520.78m (N216.6bn) on external debt servicing, giving a total of N1.03tn.
Between October and December 2021, Nigeria spent N310.5bn on domestic debt servicing, while it spent $286.35m (N119.1bn) on external debt servicing, giving a total of N429.6bn.
The official exchange rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria, which showed $1 =N415.92 as of March 17, was used for the external debt servicing.
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Nigeria has officially raised 1.25 Billion dollars through the issuance of a seven-year Eurobonds in the International Capital Market (ICM).
The Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Patience Oniha made this known in a statement on Thursday.
Oniha said that with this feat, Nigeria has become the first African country to access the ICM in 2022.
According to her, the country’s ability to access the Eurobonds at this time was a confirmation of her established presence with the ICM and engagement with investors on a continuous basis.
She said that the proceeds of the bonds would be used to finance the budget and bridge infrastructural deficits.
“The offer was launched at an initial price thought of 8.75 per cent per annum and on the back of strong investor demand, Nigeria was able to reverse the price guidance to 8.5 per cent per annum.
“The order book continued to grow, reaching a peak of four billion dollars,” she said.
She said that the order book included many quality investors in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
“With this strong investor interest the price was tightened at 8.37 per cent per annum, the order book still remained high at 3.67 billion dollars and still retained quality investors,” she said.
She said that Nigerian investors also participated in the offer with a total subscription of 60 million dollars.
She added that the Eurobonds would also strengthen economic recovery and contribute directly and in full to the level of Nigeria’s External Reserves.
Reports Show that the DMO had earlier on Thursday revealed that Nigeria ’s ’total debt stock as at December 2021 was N39.55 trillion.
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