French Council of Ministers has adopted a bill ratifying the end of the use of CFA franc by eight French West African countries. A spokesperson for the French government, Sibeth Ndiaye, said the bill ratifying the end of the 75-year old currency was adopted on Wednesday. According to the Voice…

Nigeria suffered a setback in its pursuit of justice over the controversial Malabu deal as a London judge ruled Friday that the $1 billion suit against oil giants Shell and Eni could not go ahead in England. According to Law360.com, High Court Judge Christopher Butcher said the courts do not…

Amidst economic disruption occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic, Japan's economy has fallen into recession. The world's third-biggest economy shrank at an annual pace of 3.4 per cent in the first three months of 2020, for the first time since 2015. The coronavirus is wreaking havoc on the global economy with…

The Nigerian government has impounded an aircraft owned by a United Kingdom company for operating commercial flights into Nigeria as the country battles coronavirus. The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, made this known via his verified Twitter handle, @hadisirika, on Sunday. Mr Sirika said the company, Flair Aviation, was authorised…

The successful listing of FBNQuest Merchant Bank’s N5 Billion three-year 10.50 per cent Bond on the Nigeria Stock Exchange was commemorated with a digital closing gong ceremony on Friday. The Nigerian bourse said the development once again showed that it has made good on its promise to continue to provide…

Facebook said on Friday that it has acquired the animated graphics startup, GIPHY. News site Axios reported Friday that the social networking platform added that it would integrate GIPHY in its Instagram visual social network. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the news site said the California-based tech…

Nigeria's Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has given aviation agencies a 45-day ultimatum to relocate to Abuja, Nigeria's capital city. The minister noted that the directive is due to the need to reduce the cost of governance and manage scarce resources. The ministry confirmed the development in a tweet Friday.…

Details have emerged of how a Nigerian businessman and principal suspect in the Malabu OPL 245 scandal, Abubakar Aliyu, allegedly withdrew N24 billion ($60,593,000) in cash. According to the transcript of a Milan court hearing held in 2018, but obtained recently by PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Abubakar, an ally of controversial…

Amid scarcity of foreign currency, the naira exchanged at N445 against the dollar in the parallel market on Monday. Analysts attributed the development to scarcity and shrinking liquidity in the forex market. The president, Association of Bureax De Change Operators of Nigeria, Aminu Gwadabe, attributed the development partly to the…

A New York federal judge has ruled that Nigeria can subpoena 10 banks in the United States for information needed to prosecute government officials allegedly connected to a British Virgin Island engineering firm's alleged bribery scheme and subsequent $9.6 billion arbitral claim. According to a May 8 report in legal…

Oil prices rallied on Monday after Saudi Arabia said it would cut oil production by an additional one million barrels per day. As of 8:43 on Monday, WTI Crude was up 2.02 per cent at $25.18, while Brent Crude traded at $31.28, up 0.97 per cent. Saudi Arabia’s new plan is coming against the…

At least 256 Nigerians evacuated from the United Arab Emirates arrived Lagos Wednesday night. They arrived the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, via an Emirates Airline flight, PREMIUM TIMES gathered. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, confirmed their arrival in a tweet Wednesday night. “The flight conveying 256 Nigerians…

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday said more than 82.9 million Nigerians are poor. The bureau made this known in its report on Poverty and Inequality in Nigeria 2019, released on Monday. According to the NBS, 40.1 per cent of the total population in Nigeria was classified as…

The Nigerian government is demanding records of 60 companies and individuals from 10 banks in the United States as part of its efforts to overturn the controversial $9.6 billion P&ID fine. Among the individuals whose bank records are being sought are a former Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan; his wife, Patience…

Two oil giants, Eni and Shell, have argued to stop or stay proceedings in a $1 billion lawsuit brought by the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN). Virtual hearings in the case took place between Tuesday and Thursday during which the companies argued to halt the $1 billion English suit as…

Global remittances are projected to decline sharply by about 20 per cent in 2020 due to the economic crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic shutdowns across the world. The projected fall, which is expected to be the sharpest decline in recent history, is largely due to a…

A former Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan, has again said that he has no account or property abroad. Mr Jonathan said this in a statement Tuesday. The statement, signed by Ikechukwu Eze, spokesman to Mr Jonathan, was issued in response to moves by the Nigerian government to subpoena bank records purportedly…

Against the backdrop of the ripple effect of coronavirus outbreak on global travel, British Airways is set to cut up to 12,000 jobs from its 42,000-strong workforce. The airline's parent company, IAG, said it needed to impose a "restructuring and redundancy programme" until demand for air travel returns to 2019…

Serious disruption to court systems around the world caused by the global coronavirus crisis is having a major impact on Nigeria’s asset recovery programme as the country struggles to claw back billions of dollars that it claims were looted from the country via one of the most “corrupt” oil deals…

The management of FirstBank Nigeria Plc on Saturday confirmed the death of Abdullahi Lawal, one of its staff at its Kano Main branch. In a statement released on Saturday to mourn the deceased, Folake Ani-Mumuney, group head, marketing and corporate communications, asked that the family be allowed to grieve privately.…

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) says the projected economic growth of the region may slump to 2 per cent from 3.3 per cent if the coronavirus pandemic ends in June. The group noted that the economic forecasts indicate that the economic growth rate would fall to a…

African airlines could lose $6 billion in passenger revenue in 2020, the International Air Transport Association has said. The association made this known as flight restrictions due to the novel coronavirus hit the sector on the continent and other parts of the world. "We have not seen the desired help…

The Italian government has re-nominated Claudio Descalzi as Chief Ececutive Officer of Eni, Italy’s largest multinational company and the country's largest foreign oil producer in Africa. Mr Descalzi is set to maintain the leadership role despite an ongoing criminal trial over corruption allegations surrounding the billion dollar 2011 acquisition by…

As parts of measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic, the Nigerian government on Monday extended the closure of airports in the country by two weeks. This decision was disclosed by the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, via his Twitter handle. The Nigerian government shut all international airports in the country…

Oil prices in the United States crashed on Monday to a record low amid a collapse in demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. oil futures went below $0 a barrel, the worst level since NYMEX opened oil futures trading in 1983. The development came against the backdrop of…