Daily Watch – Dangote begins concrete road building in select states, Inflation may surpass 17%

8th August 2016

  • Analysts at FSDH Merchant Bank say that the NBS will announce the sixth consecutive spike in inflation rate next week. In a preview of the inflation report expected to be released on August 18, 2016, analysts at FSDH Merchant Bank said year-on-year inflation rate could rise to 17.35 percent for the month of July, from 16.48 percent recorded in June. The expected increase will come from the increase in the prices of food items and other non-food items as a result of the depreciation in the value of the naira.
  • Airline operators in Nigeria have complained that domestic carriers are being undermined by the government through lack of support for their operations. Speaking on behalf of airline operators, Noggie Meggison, said that while foreign exchange was regularly being allocated to importers of petrol at ₦285 per dollar, domestic airlines received no such support from the government. “The road transporters don’t pay five per cent VAT, or the regulatory five per cent ticket sales tax, or other multiple taxes being charged the airlines today, where as much as 35 per cent of the total ticket price is paid as taxes and levies. Apart from the question of no support on the fixed rate of jet fuel, the government is not making dollars available for the airlines to carry out their operations. To this end, therefore, it will seem like the airlines are being undermined.”
  • Dangote Industries has announced the commencement of the construction of concrete roads in various states across the country, particularly in Lagos, Bauchi, Kogi, Kaduna and Ogun states. Aliko Dangote, the chairman, Dangote Cement, recently reiterated his plea to the FG to consider the use of concrete in road construction in the country saying that it would be to the benefit of Nigerians if the FG embraced the option of using concrete for roads in the country, adding that aside from being cheap, concrete roads were more durable, with near zero maintenance cost.
  • AMCON has said it will conclude the process for the sale of Keystone Bank within the next two weeks. Keystone Bank, formerly Bank PHB, is the only remaining from the three bridge banks that were acquired by AMCON in 2011. Enterprise Bank was sold to Heritage Bank in 2014, while Mainstreet Bank was acquired by Skye Bank in 2015.