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Domestic Flight

Domestic flight operations declined by 67 per cent in the first quarter of 2017, compared to the same period in 2016, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority said. NCAA’s Consumer Protection Department, in a document on Monday, disclosed that 10,366 flights operated in the first quarter of 2017 compared to 15,434 flights operated in 2016 by the same eight domestic airlines. The domestic airlines, the agency said, are Aero Contractors, Arik Air, Air Peace, Azman Air, Dana Air, First Nation, Med-View, and Overland.

Gas supply

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and its partners evolved a scheme to grow gas supply for domestic consumption by 285 per cent. NNPC said this in a statement by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu, in Abuja on Wednesday. Ughamadu said the gas growth was expected to rise from three billion standard cubic feet per day (scf/d) to five billion standard cubic feet per day (scf/d) by 2020. NNPC said the federal government had directed it to aggressively pursue gas development to aid the country’s economic development.

BoI

The Bank of Industry introduced zero-interest loans for members of the National Youth Service Corps under its Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund programme. BOI said the zero per cent interest, from 9% previously charged, was part of measures to encourage entrepreneurship and aid business growth. According to BOI, the GEF scheme, being implemented in partnership with the NYSC, is currently on the second edition and has recorded over N262.9 million disbursements to 177 successful candidates. The bank said the zero per cent interest charge took effect from May 1.

Capital Market

Securities and Exchange Commission set aside N5 billion as seed capital for the take-off of the proposed Nigerian Capital Market Development Fund. The commission warned that it would henceforth prosecute investors who use false identity for share subscription. The apex capital market authority also indicated that its shares dematerialisation programme had run its full course, achieving a 100 per cent dematerialisation of shares with over 2.2 million investors mandating their accounts for e-dividend.

Leasing industry

Leasing firms in the country braved the odds and generated N1.26 trillion in 2016. The industry recorded 14 per cent growth in outstanding lease volume from N1.1 trillion in 2015. Consequently, experts believed the Nigerian leasing industry had remained vibrant and continued to provide succour to many organisations across all sectors of the economy, despite the current economic difficulties. Stakeholders said leasing was still attractive to new investors with massive diversification by existing players in the industry.