PODECast (Aso Villa Newsletter): April 23, 2018

Numbers:

US$322,515,931.83: Amount recovered in December 2017 from Abacha loot stashed away in Switzerland. Upon handover of the money by the Swiss Government, it was deposited into a special account in the Central Bank, and has been earmarked for the National Social Safety Nets programme of the Federal Government.

FIRS: The Buhari Administration has raised Nigeria’s taxpayer base from 13 million in 2015 to 17 million currently (2018)

National Bureau of Statistics (NBS): The Nigerian economy expanded 1.92 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017 and 0.9 percent for the full-year 2017. Agriculture, which accounted for 25% of GDP in 2017, grew by 4.23% in Q4 2017; while Industry grew by 3.92%. The Services sector, which is about 53% of GDP, returned to positive growth in Q4 2017. Nigeria's non-oil sector experienced a strong growth of 1.45% in Q4 2017 as compared to a contraction in the previous quarter and the whole of 2016. This showing, the strongest since 2015, points to steady improvements across the economy.

Central Bank of Nigeria: Nigeria’s foreign reserves have now risen to US$47.93 billion in April 2018, from $40 billion at the beginning of January 2018, and $24 billion in October 2016. The current figure is the highest in more than four years.

Central Bank of Nigeria's Anchor Borrowers Programme in Numbers:
Amount disbursed so far: N55.526 billion
Beneficiaries: 250,000 farmers
Hectarage Cultivated: 300,000
Jobs Created: 890,000 direct; 2.6 million indirect

Central Bank of Nigeria: Nigerian businesses are showing more confidence in the macroeconomy as the overall Confidence Index (CI) rose to 24.5 index points in March from 14.5 index points recorded in February 2018.

Social Investment Programs (SIPs): A total of 7.9 million persons have so far benefited directly from the Federal Government Social Investment Programs (SIPs), since its creation two years ago.
Development Bank of Nigeria: This year, the Bank will disburse N59 billion to 200,000 MSMEs through its Partnering Financial Institutions (PFIs). Visit http://www.devbankng.com to see the list of the PFIs that MSMEs can access DBN loans through.
The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), conceived by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) in collaboration with global development partners as a wholesale bank to support MSMEs in Nigeria, and licensed by the Central Bank in 2017, has so far disbursed 5 billion Naira to three National Microfinance Banks -- Fortis Microfinance Bank Plc, LAPO Microfinance Bank Ltd and NPF Microfinance Bank -- for on-lending to more than 20,000 MSMEs across Nigeria.

Ministry of Finance: 3-month Extension of the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) Tax Amnesty Window. Avoid investigation and prosecution for tax offences by taking advantage of VAIDS today: https://vaids.gov.ng