MPC meeting, Dangote-FG row… business stories to track this week

Here are seven top business stories you need to track this week — July 22 to July 26

CBN’S 296TH MPC MEETING

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is set to hold its 295th monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting from July 22 to 23.

At the last meeting held on May 20, the committee raised the monetary policy rate (MPR), which benchmarks interest rates from 24.75 percent to 26.25 percent.

The MPC retained the asymmetric corridor at +100 basis points and -300 basis points around the MPR.

FG TO IMPOSE ‘ON-TIME WINDFALL TAX’ ON BANKS ’ FX GAINS 

President Bola Tinubu has asked the national assembly to amend the 2023 Finance Act to impose a one-time windfall tax on banks’ foreign exchange (FX) gains.

Tinubu requested the amendment in a letter read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio on the floor of the upper legislative chamber on Wednesday.

He said the amendment will allow a one-time windfall tax on the FX gains realised by banks in their 2023 financial year.

The president also has asked the national assembly to increase the 2024 appropriation Act by N6.2 trillion.

The N6.2 trillion budget is to provide N3.2 trillion for infrastructure projects and N3 trillion for recurrent expenditure.

DANGOTE TO HALT PROPOSED INVESTMENT IN STEEL TO AVOID ‘MONOPOLY’ ACCUSATION 

Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Industries Limited, says the company will no longer continue with plans to enter Nigeria’s steel industry.

Dangote’s threat comes two months after his company said it was making plans to invest in the steel industry and expand the economy.

Addressing journalists at his refinery in Lagos on Saturday, the billionaire said the organisation’s board decided to avoid the steel industry “to prevent accusations of being branded a monopoly”.

GLOBAL IT OUTAGE GROUNDS AVIATION, MEDIA, FINANCIAL SERVICES 

Airlines’ operations in countries like Singapore, the United States and Australia were disrupted due to a major global cyber outage that affected services.

The massive information technology (IT) outage, which began in the early hours of Friday, also affected banks and media outlets.

According to international media, several airports and over 4,000 airlines reported issues with their IT systems, as the outages spread.

FCCPC IMPOSES $220M FINE ON META FOR DATA PRIVACY VIOLATIONS 

On July 19, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) imposed a fine of $220 million on Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, for multiple data privacy violations.

The FCCPC said the penalty follows a joint investigation with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) into Meta platforms’ conduct, privacy policies, the operation thereof, and practices between May 2021 and December 2023 — a period of 38 months.

The commission said it found Meta culpable of denying Nigerians the right to self-determine, unauthorised transfer and sharing of Nigerian data, including cross-border storage in violation; discrimination and disparate treatment, abuse of dominance, and tying and bundling.

On July 20, WhatsApp said Meta disagreed with the decision made by the FCCPC, adding that it will appeal the $220 million fine.

TCN THREATENS TO DISCONNECT AEDC FROM GRID OVER ‘NON-COMPLIANCE’

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), on July 19, issued a suspension notice to the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) over alleged noncompliance with market rules.

In the notice, the TCN said the disCos has also failed to provide the market operator (MO) with an adequate bank guarantee in line with the MO regulations.

The TCN said the DisCo had been notified of these defaults and has been given five business days to restitute or be disconnected from the national grid.

The disconnection date is slated for July 28 at 12 am.

FG MULLS TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF SUGAR-SWEETENED BEVERAGE TAX

 Wale Edun, the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, says the federal government is considering a temporary suspension of the sugar tax.

Edun spoke on July 17 when the National Action on Sugar Reduction (NASR), a coalition of non-governmental organisations, visited him in Abuja.

The tax was introduced to discourage excessive consumption of sugar beverages which is to contribute to diabetes, obesity and other health issues.