Blue rail line operations, foreign trade report… 7 business stories to track this week

Here are the seven top business stories you need to track this week — September 4 to September 8.

BLUE RAIL LINE TO COMMENCE OPERATIONS SEPT. 4

The blue line rail system is expected to commence operations on Monday, September 4, 2023, according to Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA).

Abimbola Akinajo, managing director of LAMATA, said the authority decided that the passenger operations should start with 12 trips for two weeks, which will be increased to 76 trips per day.

According to Akinajo, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, will be on the train for the inaugural operation of the blue line rail system.

Providing a breakdown on X, Jubril Gawat, senior special assistant on new media to the governor, said: “A full journey from Marina to Mile 2 will cost N750. Zonal fares will be between N400 and N500 (for people not making the complete full trip)”.

“The transportation palliative announced by Governor Sanwo-Olu will also cover the train system, meaning that the highest fare for the full trip will be N375,” he said.

In June, LAMATA announced that the blue line would be open for passenger operations in August 2023.

NBS REPORT

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is expected to publish a report on foreign trade in goods statistics for the second quarter Q2 of 2023. The report would look into Nigeria’s export and import activities in the quarter.

The NBS over the weekend released a report on the companies income tax and sectoral distribution of value-added tax (VAT) for the second quarter (Q2) of 2023.

‘OVER 41,000 EMPLOYEES UNCREDITED OVER INCOMPLETE DOCUMENTATION BY EMPLOYERS

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) says the retirement savings accounts (RSAs) of over 41,000 employees’ have not been credited due to the failure of employers to provide complete documentation for their pension contributions.

The commission disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.

PenCom said it observed that some employers are remitting the pension contributions of their workers with incomplete documentation.

Consequently, the agency said, “PFAs have been unable to credit the RSAs of the affected employees”.

Available data on the commission’s website show that about 41,628 employees have not been credited.

XE JET’S OPERATIONS SUSPENDED OVER INSURANCE DOCUMENT AUTHENTICITY

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has suspended the air operator certificate (AOC) and air transport licence (AOL) of XE JET over the “inability to authenticate” the airline’s insurance documents.

The suspension took effect immediately, according to a letter dated August 30, 2023, signed by Musa Nuhu, director-general of NCAA.

The authority said the suspension followed the inability of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to verify the authenticity of the aircraft insurance document.

In the letter, titled, ‘Notice of Suspension Of Air Transport Licence NCAA/ATR1/ATK153 and Air Operators Certificate EXJET/AOC/01-22/001″, the agency listed four aircraft that have been suspended pending the conclusion of its investigation.

PRICES OF DIESEL MAY INCREASE AS CUSTOMS IMPLEMENTS VAT 

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it has commenced the implementation of value-added tax (VAT) on automobile gas oil (AGO), also known as diesel, imported into the country.

The service made this known in a memo, dated July 28, 2023, sent to all agents and importers of diesel.

The development means that the price of diesel, which has been surging, may reach unprecedented highs — further worsening the plight of Nigerians and manufacturers.

In July 2023, the price of a litre of the product increased to N794.48 a litre, compared to N774.38 per litre in the corresponding period last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

NIGERIA’S OIL PRODUCTION INCREASED TO 1.67MILLION BPD

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says Nigeria’s crude oil production level (including condensate) is currently at 1.67 million barrels per day (bpd).

Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer (GCEO) of NNPC, spoke at a press briefing in Abuja on Friday.

In July 2023, the country’s crude oil (and condensate) output fell to 1.29 million bpd, from 1.48 million bpd in the previous month.

Giving updates at the news conference, Kyari said oil production increased by over 300,000 bpd.

X TO INTRODUCE AUDIO, VIDEO CALLS FEATURE, SAYS ELON MUSK

Elon Musk, the tech billionaire, last week, said audio and video call features will be added to X (formerly known as Twitter), soon.

In a post shared via the platform, Musk specified that the feature will be compatible with Android, iOS, PC, and Mac.

He said once released, the feature would allow audio and video calls to be made without a phone number.

“Video and audio calls are coming to X; it works on iOS, Android, Mac, and PC; no phone number needed; X is the effective global address book. That set of factors is unique,” Musk, who is the owner of X, said.

The billionaire, however, did not provide a specific date for the launch of the new feature.

On August 18, Musk said X users would no longer be able to block other accounts because the feature made “no sense”.