Daily Watch – TSA can increase government revenues by 20%, Ford Ranger to be assembled in Nigeria

12th August 2015

  • According to analysts, the directive of President Buhari to compel government Ministries, Departments and Agencies to maintain the Single Treasury Account (TSA), could whittle down the appetite for the issuance of FGN bonds. If all government agencies pool their revenue into a single account, not only will there be more transparency, but the amount that needs to be borrowed will be reduced, because of the balances available to government agencies. Estimates put out by the All Progressives Congress (APC), suggest that blocking the leakages in government could save a staggering N3 trillion a year, but a more conservative estimate puts savings from leakages at 20 percent of government revenues which can accrue from the TSA move alone.
  • The Ford Motor Company will start assembling its best-selling Ford Ranger pick-up truck in Nigeria by the fourth quarter of this year, as it expands in Africa and Middle East operations. The Nigerian assembly plant, which will be run in partnership with Ford dealer Coscharis Motors Limited, will be the first in the region outside South Africa, in which Ford produces the Ranger for about 148 markets. The plant, which will be located in Ikeja, Lagos, will assemble the Ford Ranger using parts and components imported from South Africa. The plant will have the capacity to assemble up to 5,000 units annually, which will be sold in Nigeria. Other car makers like Renault-Nissan, Kia Motors and Volkswagen have announced plans to assemble vehicles in Nigeria.
  • President Muhammadu Buhari says his government will, in a few weeks, commence the prosecution of persons alleged to have stolen national resources and pillaged the national treasury, whether or not they returned their loot. The President said, that those who have stolen the national wealth “will be in court in a matter of weeks and Nigerians will know those who have short-changed them.”
  • The management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has appointed four new Group Executive Directors to man the four new directorates that have been approved by the Presidency.
    Also in line with the aspiration to reposition the NNPC, twelve people have been recruited from the private sector into the top management cadre to jump-start a new business outlook to enhance the operational environment as a profit-driven business as against the current civil service orientation.