Economic hardship protest, FCCPC vs WhatsApp… business stories to track this week

Here are the seven top business stories you need to track this week — August 5 to August 9.

PROTEST CONTINUES, SLOWS DOWN BUSINESS ACTIVITIES

The nationwide protests have forced commercial banks and other companies to halt operations.

The protests over Nigeria’s soaring cost of living and economic hardship began on August 1.

The demonstrators are demanding a reversal of the petrol subsidy removal policy implemented by President Bola Tinubu, and believed to be one of the policies that engendered hardship in the country.

Despite Tinubu’s speech on Sunday, there are indications that the protests may continue this week.

OTEDOLA, ELUMELU BACK 70% WINDFALL TAX

Femi Otedola, chairman of FBN Holdings, has expressed his support for the implementation of the federal government’s windfall tax on the foreign exchange (FX) gains of banks.

Otedola, in a statement on July 31, said revenues generated from the policy could be channelled into essential public services such as healthcare, education, and infrastructure, benefiting all citizens and helping to reduce social inequalities.

On his part, Tony Elumelu, chairman of the United Bank of Africa (UBA), also backed the federal government’s windfall tax policy, saying the move was aimed at alleviating poverty.

The national assembly on July 25 increased the windfall tax on banks’ FX gains to 70 percent — from the proposed 50 percent — in the amended Finance Act of 2024.

FG GROUNDS ARIK AIR’S AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS

The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) says it grounded some aircraft belonging to Arik Air over a $2.5 million debt case.

The agency said the decision was a sequel to an order by a federal high court.

NAMA said the court’s order was regarding a case of $2.5 million owed by Arik to Atlas Petroleum International Ltd.

However, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) noted that Arik Air’s flight operations have not been suspended.

‘FG DIDN’T INSTRUCT TELCOS TO TAMPER WITH NETWORK’

Bosun Tijani, minister of communications, innovation and digital economy, says there were no instructions for telecommunication operators to disrupt network services because of the protest.

Tijani spoke on August 1 during an interview on Channels Television.

Nigerians had reported experiencing bad internet connectivity across all service providers on Thursday, with many describing the development as part of the federal government’s tactics to stifle protesters.

But the minister, speaking on the issue, denied the federal government’s involvement in the network disruption.

NCC ORDERS TEMPORARY REACTIVATION OF ALL LINES AFFECTED BY NIN-SIM VERIFICATION

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on July 29, ordered telecommunication operators to immediately reconnect all phone lines that were blocked as part of the NIN-SIM verification exercise.

Between July 27 and July 29, many Nigerians were unable to access their phone lines due to their “inability to verify” the linkage of “their national identification numbers (NINs) with their subscriber identification modules (SIMs)”.

This meant that their numbers were blocked by their telecom service providers in keeping with the country’s NIN-SIM linkage policy.

NNPC SCOUTS FOR CRUDE-BACKED $2BN LOAN

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited is currently scouting for a fresh $2 billion loan in Europe.

This will be repaid with 35,000 barrels per day over the tenor of the loan, insiders have told TheCable.

Reuters recently reported that Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer (GCEO) of NNPC, was in talks for a new oil-backed loan to finance the firm’s operations.

WHATSAPP VS FCCPC

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) says WhatsApp’s threat to exit the country in response to a $220 million fine is a strategy to influence public opinion.

In a statement on August 1, the FCCPC said the threat was also a move to force the commission to reconsider its decision.

On July 19, the FCCPC had imposed a fine of $220 million on Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, for multiple data privacy violations.

A spokesperson at WhatsApp told TheCable that the company relies on limited data to run its service and keep users safe, and it would be impossible to provide WhatsApp in Nigeria or globally, without Meta’s infrastructure given the FCCPC’s demands.

“This order contains multiple inaccuracies and misrepresents how WhatsApp works and we are urgently appealing the order to avoid any impact to users,” the WhatsApp spokesperson had said.

However, the commission said its actions stemmed from justifiable worries about data privacy and consumer protection.