The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has revealed plans to launch a microfinance bank and wants the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to grant it an operating licence. Director-General of SMEDAN, Charles Odii, disclosed this during a media parley in Abuja on Wednesday, while unveiling the agency’s five-point agenda for 2026. …
Post-election protests have brought Douala, Cameroon's economic capital, to a near standstill. Shops remain shuttered, markets are empty, transport services are disrupted, and the rising cost of basic goods is squeezing households already struggling with high inflation. Economists estimate the city is losing over 10 billion CFA francs (about €15 million) daily due to business …
Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, has announced that about 98 per cent of Nigerian workers will be exempted from Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) deductions when the new tax law becomes effective in January 2026. Oyedele made this known during a session at the 31st Nigerian Economic Summit (NES31) in …
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) have unveiled a nationwide initiative to provide free business registration for 250,000 nano, micro, and small enterprises. The scheme, announced in Abuja during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two agencies, aims to ease the burden …
Vice President Kashim Shettima has restated the Federal Government’s determination to place micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) at the heart of Nigeria’s economic renewal agenda. He described MSMEs as the “lifeblood of the nation’s economy,” constituting about 80 per cent of businesses in the country. Shettima stated this while delivering his remarks at the …
Esther Ososanya ActionAid Nigeria has urged the Federal Government to suspend its proposed 5% surcharge on fossil fuel transactions, warning that the policy could damage the country's fragile economic recovery and worsen inequality. The new levy, introduced in Section 158 of the recently gazetted Nigeria Tax Act, is scheduled to take effect in 2026. It …
