News
PwC at Workshop Identifies Journalists’ Key Roles in Sectorial Reportage
The PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) network, in recognition of the place of the media, generally and, journalism in particular, in entrenching good governance, sustenance of democracy, and ensuring a conducive climate for investment and economic development, organized a Capability Enhancement Workshop for Journalists in Lagos, last weekend.
Uyi Akpata, country senior partner, Nigeria and Regional Senior partner for PwC West Market Area, said the initiative was in recognition of this indispensable role of the media especially in the areas of finance and business reporting.
The workshop, in its second year, was developed to help financial journalists improve the contribution they make in terms of their reporting and to ensure an in-depth analysis of the subject, he said.
The workshop had a rich outline of topics including Understanding & Reporting the Budget; Economy and Monetary Policy; the Oil & Gas Value Chain and Impact on Crude oil & gas pricing; Governance & Corporate Reporting; ICT as a major advancement tool in Nigerian Media Practice. Business reporting is particularly challenging for journalists because it is an extremely diverse area involving a complex and technical range of issues covering policy, tax, economics, finance, governance as well as financial reporting.
According to Akpata, “We recognise that it takes extreme care and skill to get a business story right, and convey it to the public in a manner that is factually accurate, yet comprehensible and easy to understand. We are therefore partnering with the media to demonstrate our commitment to high-quality journalism in Nigeria”.
Key Take Away from the Workshop
Understanding and Reporting the Budget
According to Taiwo Oyedele, partner, head of Tax & Regulatory Services, PwC, aligned with the school of thought that budget is the second most important document of a country next only to the Constitution.
He defined a budget as “simply a plan of revenue and expenditure over a specified period of time. It provides the framework on which the government’s key policy agenda is built and implemented. Given the federal system of government in Nigeria, detail allocation of revenue and resources across the different tiers of government as well as government departments, ministries and agencies is part of the budgeting process”.
He therefore, said that the budget is an important tool for identifying sources of revenue, allocate the scarce resources in an efficient manner, and ensure effective implementation of the strategic goals that should improve the welfare of the people. “In terms of transparency and accountability, the budget provides a framework to measure the performances of political office holders and for stakeholders and the public in general to demand accountability for the resources of the country. Legal bases and reality check Based on the law, the Constitution requires that there must be a budget.
“Section 81(1) provides that the President shall cause to be prepared and laid before each House of the National Assembly at any time in each financial year estimates of the revenues and expenditure of the Federation for the next following financial year.
“In section 81(2), the heads of expenditure contained in the estimates (other than expenditure charged upon the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation by this Constitution) shall be included in a bill, to be known as an Appropriation Bill (that is, Budget), providing for the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the sums necessary to meet that expenditure and the appropriation of those sums for the purposes specified therein. The Fiscal Responsibility Act also requires a cash plan and schedule of disbursement within 30 days of enactment of Appropriation Act.
“In addition, quarterly reports are to be prepared within 30 days of the end of each quarter.
“Unfortunately in reality, the budget is usually presented late by the Executive with further delays in debate between the executive and legislature on less important issues bordering on benchmark oil price rather than revenue generation. Also, very little information is provided regarding actual implementation.
“Salient Questions and Food for thought. Certain questions must be addressed for change to happen rather than sustaining the status quo.
“These include: 1. why do we start our budget from a zero base every year? What happens to the unspent amounts from previous years due to budget under-performance?
“3 2. Why do we not subject actual implementation to value for money audit? The question is whether what “it is” is as good as “what could have been”. 3. Should Nigeria continue to depend on crude oil to drive our budget? How do we diversify our source of revenue? 4. How do we ensure that the budget is prepared and approved timely and actually serves its purpose and not just a “tick-the-box” exercise.
Concluding Thoughts
When analysing the budget, journalists must be able to read between the lines. It is often what has not been said that is more important that what was actually said; Learn to connect the dots from one period to another and also with respect to different components even within the same budget. For instance, it will be useful to relate Debt to GDP ratio versus debt service to total revenue; budget deficit and capital expenditure; subsidy and oil benchmark etc and The media needs to track performance and report over the entire period not just during the budgeting process; Tell a story, give statistics, and a balanced perspective.
Also, ensure accuracy of information, do research, speak to experts; Ask the right questions even if they are difficult and Be creative, give substance -don’t just collate information We hope there will be a positive change in our approach to Budgeting as a nation with significant improvement in level of implementation and ultimately transparency and accountability.
ICT: A Major Advancement Tool in Nigerian Media Practice
Mr. Joseph Iruafemi, business/lead strategist, Web-Fair Solutions and co-director, Founders Institute, urged media practitioners to embrace modern technologies to enhance their performances.
Iruafemi said that with software, virtual newsrooms are possible; where news-gathering and editing are done real-time through collaborative-editing tools, cloud-sources, between the reporter and the editor.
He added that with iReports, news platforms in the country have empowered the people to be part of the news gathering, although authentication of the news credibility has posed greater challenge.
On news dissemination, he said with over 90 million Nigerians having access to the internet, searching for credible news, the onus falls on the professional journalists to harness the opportunity to better their worth, while repositioning the nation in the comity of new world information order (NWIO).
“Is it possible for us to have a website that coverts words to audio, because most young people prefer to listen to audio to reading letters/words. We are in an era of software for micro-contents; where media houses partner the telecoms on additional news contents dissemination. This will help in expanding the horizons of the media and the readership will broaden,” he suggested.
He further urged the participants not to allow the social media to wrestle the pen from their hands, adding that authentication of reports and analytical reports would always endear the conventional media to the readers’ heart.
The Nigerian Insurers Association has urged the House Committee on Capital Market and Institutions to respect the constitutional separation of powers as it carries out a probe on over 20 insurance firms.
In a statement on Tuesday night, the Director General/Chief Executive Officer of NIA, Mrs Bola Odukale, said the decision of NIA and the affected firms to approach the court was to seek clarity on the constitutional limits of the House Committee’s probe.
It would be recalled that the House of Representatives on Monday is investigating no fewer than 25 insurance companies operating in the country for various financial infractions spanning financial reporting, claims settlement, premium remittance, and issuance of policies.
The Chairman, House Sub-Committee on Capital Market and Institutions, Kwamoti Laori, during a meeting with the management of the insurance companies at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja, said the meeting was convened following the receipt of a petition on infractions by the insurance companies.
In the statement, Odukale said, “The Association wishes to state unequivocally that all actions taken by the NIA and the affected member companies in response to the Committee’s invitations and pronouncements were based entirely on legal advice by its Solicitors. It was on the firm instruction of legal counsel that recourse was made to the courts.
“The objective of approaching the Court is to seek judicial guidance on the legality, propriety, and constitutional limits of the Committee’s intervention in order to safeguard institutional integrity, uphold regulatory independence, and ensure that legislative oversight remains within the bounds of law.
“The Court action seeks to determine whether the current posture of the Committee reflects an exercise of legislative judgment, which, by constitutional design, is the exclusive province of statutory regulators, such as the National Insurance Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigerian Exchange, Financial Reporting Council, Nigeria Data Protection Commission, and the National Information Technology Development Agency.
“This raises serious questions about legislative overreach and an erosion of the doctrine of separation of powers, a cornerstone of Nigeria’s constitutional democracy.”
Odukale maintained that the NIA was committed to lawful and constructive engagement with all arms of government, provided that such engagement respects the autonomy of statutory regulators and the boundaries established by the Constitution.
“The NIA will continue to provide its full support to all member companies while upholding the principles of legal compliance and sector-wide integrity,” Odukale concluded.
17 of the companies that went to court were represented by their lawyer, Mr Abimbola Kayode, at the meeting with the committee.
Finance ministers and development partners from the Horn of Africa have called for enhanced digital integration to boost trade, drive economic growth and promote regional stability during the 25th Ministerial Meeting of the Horn of Africa Initiative (HoAI).
Held in Nairobi, on July 14, the meeting was co-chaired by the African Development Bank’s Vice President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery, Nnenna Nwabufo and Somalia’s Minister of Finance, Bihi Iman Egeh. Discussions underscored the critical role of digital integration in reducing trade barriers, boosting government service delivery and creating employment — particularly for the region’s youth.
“Digital technologies are shaping today’s economy and tomorrow’s industries. By embedding these technologies into our programs, we can not only improve inclusion but also leapfrog outdated development models,” said Nwabufo.
She called for digital integration a “central enabler” in each of the Horn of Africa Initiative’s pillars – trade, infrastructure, resilience, and human capital,
Learning through experience
Drawing from global and regional success stories, speakers highlighted the transformative potential of technology-led development. The ministers pointed to the Philippines as a strong example, where ICT has generated millions of jobs in business process outsourcing. Similarly, Kenya’s fintech innovation—especially the success of M-PESA—was cited as a model for scaling digital financial services across the region.
Participants urged governments to proactively foster digital ecosystems by capitalizing on the demographic dividend, identifying infrastructure upgrades, tighter regulatory reforms, and digital skills trainings as priorities to enable broader participation in the digital economy.
Minister Egeh reiterated the need for more coordinated regional efforts to create the enabling environment required for accelerated digital integration and expansion. He referenced the HoAI Digital Policy Matrix, adopted in 2023 which provides a blueprint on how to address key obstacles to achieving effective digital integration across the region.
Barack Makokha, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury, underscored the importance of regionally-aligned public private partnerships and advocated for blended financing to reduce investment risk and expand digital access in underserved areas.
World Bank Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa, Ndiame Diop, called for a comprehensive multi-pronged approach, combining cross-border coordination, large-scale financing, robust policy support, and digital infrastructure investments. He pointed out that such measures could transform digital integration into, “a powerful engine of economic transformation” for the Horn of Africa—ensuring no one is left behind in the digital era.
The meeting concluded with a shared recognition that sustained political will and the determination to implement a multifaceted approach are essential to unlocking the region’s economic potential and driving long-term growth.
The event also welcomed observers from the East African Community, Agence française de développement, and Shelter Afrique, reflecting strong regional and international backing for the HoAI in the development community.
Central Securities Clearing System Plc (CSCS), Nigeria’s capital market infrastructure provider, has launched its Custodian Portal, a user-centric digital solution designed to optimise custodian operations through intuitive, secure and efficient features.
Haruna Jalo-Waziri, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), CSCS, announced this in a statement on Monday.
The CSCS is a Public Limited Company with a diversified shareholder base, which serves as the Central Securities Depository for the Nigerian Capital Market.
It serves as the Central Depository for Equities, Commercial Papers, Corporate Bonds, Sub-National Bonds, certain Sovereign Bonds like the FGN Sukuk and the FGN Savings Bond, Equity-traded Funds, Real Estate Investment Trusts, Mutual funds and Commodities.
Jalo-Waziri said that the custodian portal offered a streamlined experience for market participants with powerful tools that facilitate comprehensive portfolio and trade management, document tracking, share transfer operations, client symbol search, and real-time access to vital data.
He explained that the portal, designed to operate through a flexible subscription-based model, empowered users to manage their records effortlessly and securely through convenient payment channels such as GTPay and Paystack.
According to him, “Digital transformation remains at the core of our strategy to enhance the efficiency, transparency and accessibility of Nigeria’s capital market services.
“The custodian portal is a significant leap in that direction, offering custodians a centralised platform to manage critical processes in real-time.
“We are excited about the value this innovation brings to our stakeholders, and we will continue to evolve the platform in line with users’ needs and industry trends.”
The CEO also explained that the portal was designed with user experience in mind with feature tools like portfolio viewing and downloads in PDF or Excel format.
He further said that it also featured tracking of stock movements across date ranges, inbox messaging and request tracking, as well as robust user management capabilities including role assignment and status tracking.
Similarly, the Divisional Head, Business Technology and Digital Innovation, CSCS Plc, Tobe Nnadozie, said that the portal aligned with CSCS’s drive to automate the market.
“In addition to the normal features, the platform is a part of an omnichannel platform for custodians, and includes API services.
“It also connects to the market-wide workflow, which CSCS has built to ensure secured communication and approvals across all major stakeholders in the market.
“The platform is well secured with best-of-breed cybersecurity solutions and our SOC,” he said.
The Custodian Portal reinforces CSCS’s commitment to leveraging technology to streamline back-office functions and support a more agile, data-driven capital market ecosystem.
All custodians in the Nigerian capital market have now been successfully on-boarded on the Custodian Portal, marking a significant milestone in CSCS’s ongoing drive to enhance collaboration, standardise operational processes, and promote digital adoption across the market.
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