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NESG Lauds 2021 Finance Act, Seeks Implementation

The Nigerian Economic Summit Group, NESG, has lauded 2021 Finance Act as it enhances non-oil revenue and supports the implementation of Nigeria’s annual budget.

This was stated by Laoye Jaiyeola, the CEO of the NESG, who was represented by a Board member of the NESG, Nnanna Ude, during a webinar on ‘Impact Assessment of 2021 Finance Act The Fiscal Policy Roundtable the NESG’.
Jaiyeola said the Fiscal Policy and Planning, Trade Investment and Competitive Policy Commission of the NESG organised the event in order to address the impact of the 2021 Finance Act on the macro and micro economy of the nation.
He also explained that the primary objective of the 2021 Finance Act is to enhance non-oil revenue and support the implementation of Nigeria’s annual budget and that the Act addresses critical areas including fiscal policy, domestic mobilisation, tax administration, financial sector reforms and public financial management, noting that the 2021 Finance Act will accelerate non-oil revenue generation and help close the widening fiscal gap.
However, he (Jaiyeola) pointed that the 2021 Finance Act poses “a dilemma on how much tax revenue can be raised without a deleterious impact on households and that it introduced some tax increases that may be burdensome for individuals businesses”, and that impact assessment of the 2021 Finance Act with the aid of evidence-based advocacy to assess the impact on households, sub-sectors and its wide economic impact will aid the identification of crucial bottlenecks while articulating an action plan that will assist the implementation of the Act.
Also speaking was the thematic lead, Fiscal Policy and Planning, Trade Investment and Competitive Policy Commission of the NESG, Taiwo Oyedele, asserted that the fiscal landscape must be seen from the perspective of public debt, public revenue and public spending, noting that Nigeria’s debt is growing faster than her revenue.
According to Oyedele, Nigeria’s tax base is small and faces structural problems, but policies must be instituted to solve the issues by ensuring appropriate fiscal policy responses and review of extant laws while encouraging growth and raising revenue.
The president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, Engineer Mansur Ahmed, during the panel discussion, pointed that it is needful to put short- and long-term considerations into the implementation of the 2021 Finance Act.
Ahmed maintained that the need to balance revenue mobilisation alongside tax burden on taxpayers and that for government to improve revenue, there is a need to critically analyse the fiscal space with consideration of Nigeria’s tax net not broad enough to ensure that taxable people pay the right amount of taxes as at when due.
“The finance act 2021 introduced technology for tax collection. It must be implemented so that taxpayers don’t see it as an additional burden, and stakeholders should be sensitized, helped or exempted, particularly small and medium scale businesses.
“Regulators should become more effective and help promote the growth of relevant sectors and should not see themselves as gate-keepers of incentives but help ensure that the implementation of the Act does not hamper small businesses.
“The manufacturing and industrial sectors should be supported to strengthen their capacity and competitiveness, especially considering the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)”, he stated.
Also speaking was the Vice President and Managing Director of Coca-cola Nigeria, Alfred Olajide, made it clear that all arms of government have to collaborate in attracting foreign and local investors.
Olajide noted that sections of the 2021 Finance Act, including the Excise duties, are targeted at production, as opposed to consumption.
Meanwhile, the President of the Nigeria, NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba wo was represented by Head, Research Department, NLC, Dr Onoho’Omhen Ebhohimien, asserted that subsidy on petroleum products ought to be provided to firms that would reduce production costs, and then passed on down to encourage consumption, but that is not the case in Nigeria due to several factors including the fact that Nigeria imports petroleum products which makes the country subject to the volatility of the foreign exchange market.
“Insurance of the petroleum products, the vessels and freight charges make up 74 percent of petroleum subsidy in Nigeria. Every barrel of crude oil contains 1,500 bye products.
“We export the crude and import only six refined products. The theory of subsidy is not sustainable”, Wuba added.
Temi Popoola, the Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Nigeria Exchange Limited, pointed that the 2021 Finance Act currently helps the government in diversifying its resources.
Popoola also said it has helped provide clarity, strengthen the capital market and eliminate double taxation.
He added that the Act has helped boost investor confidence, but it still has the potential to stifle investors, which may create long-term problems.
News
FG Unveils AI Public Services Platform

Federal government has launched GovGuideNigeria, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered digital platform designed to streamline access to public service information through WhatsApp and the web.

The platform consolidates information from more than 35 federal ministries and over 60 government agencies, marking a significant step in Nigeria’s drive to expand AI-enabled public infrastructure and digital government services.
According to Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s minister of communications, innovation and digital economy, the initiative aims to simplify interactions with government services, particularly for underserved communities that often face challenges navigating complex public-sector systems.
Developed in collaboration with the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Meta, and Publica AI, GovGuideNigeria uses conversational AI to provide real-time responses via WhatsApp and a web interface in English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
Sade Dada, head of public policy at Meta, said the multilingual rollout highlights the growing use of natural language processing within African public institutions to improve digital inclusion and broaden access to services.
Ignatius Willie, chief executive of Publica AI, said the platform demonstrates how Africa’s next generation of digital public infrastructure can be developed locally using African languages.
GovGuideNigeria is intended to address longstanding challenges in Nigeria’s public information system, where citizens often struggle to access reliable guidance because of fragmented government websites, poor communication channels and the expense of travelling to physical offices.
Through AI-driven automation, users can obtain information on immigration procedures, documentation requirements, public programmes and agency-specific services through chat-based interactions.
The launch also reflects Nigeria’s broader ambition to integrate AI into digital governance, while strengthening partnerships between government agencies, global technology companies and local AI startups to modernise public service delivery.
News
Elon Musk to Become First World’s Trillionaire with SpaceX Historic IPO

Elon Musk is poised to become the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX, his company, confirmed plans to go public.

Elon Musk
Because Musk owns the majority of the shares, it could push his net worth over the trillion dollar mark.
The entrepreneur is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X, and xAI.
Musk has been the wealthiest person in the world since 2025; as of May 2026, Forbes estimates his net worth to be $788 billion.
SpaceX has filed for a blockbuster public listing in the United States, paving the way for what could become the largest stock market debut in Wall Street history.
The company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, announced plans to begin trading under the ticker symbol “SPCX” as early as next month.
The listing values SpaceX at about $1.25 trillion, with Musk’s majority ownership potentially worth more than $600 billion alone.
Combined with his existing holdings in companies including Tesla, the IPO could push Musk’s personal wealth above the $1 trillion mark.
The long-awaited filing also offered investors a rare look into SpaceX’s finances.
The company reported $18.6 billion in revenue last year but recorded a net loss of $4.9 billion. In the first quarter of this year, SpaceX generated $4.7 billion in sales while posting a $4.3 billion net loss.
Financial disclosures showed the company holds $102 billion in assets, including rockets, launch infrastructure and satellite systems, while carrying debts totalling $60.5 billion.
Despite the losses, analysts suggested investors were unlikely to be deterred given SpaceX’s dominance in commercial space launches and satellite internet services.
Ruth Foxe-Blader, managing partner at Citrine Venture Partners, described the planned flotation as “extremely exciting.”
“SpaceX is just an absolutely sprawling, enormous project with so many different selling points, and so many points that really point to the future,” she said.
SpaceX operates the Starlink satellite internet network and also owns Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI.
The IPO filing revealed that xAI recently reached a major commercial agreement with rival AI company Anthropic, maker of the Claude chatbot.
Under the arrangement, Anthropic will reportedly pay $15 billion annually to access data centre infrastructure linked to xAI operations in the American South.
The filing also disclosed that SpaceX expects to incur more than half a billion dollars in legal costs from multiple ongoing lawsuits and regulatory disputes.
Among the cases listed were claims alleging that xAI’s chatbot Grok had been used to create sexualised deepfakes of women and girls, alongside patent infringement disputes, music copyright claims, data breach allegations and investigations into compliance with European Union content moderation rules.
Musk has previously said he plans to dissolve xAI as a standalone company and pursue his AI ambitions directly under SpaceX.
The filing came shortly after Musk lost a high-profile legal battle against OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman.
Musk had accused OpenAI of abandoning its non-profit mission after shifting towards a commercial model, but a jury dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that he had waited too long to bring the claims.
News
Moniepoint Boosts UK Payments Security

African financial services platform Moniepoint has partnered with open banking software-as-a-service provider tell.money to deploy a transaction security system in the UK market.

The companies said the partnership will allow Moniepoint to implement Confirmation of Payee, an account name-checking service designed to verify recipient details before payments are processed.
The integration will be rolled out through Monieworld, Moniepoint’s UK remittance subsidiary, as part of the company’s broader European expansion strategy.
Tell.money will provide the underlying verification technology, which the companies said is intended to reduce misdirected payments and help protect users against cross-border fraud.
Ravi Jakhodia, CEO of Monieworld, said: “Our goal with Monieworld is to build financial services for Africans in the diaspora.”
He added that tell.money was selected because it manages compliance and accreditation requirements, allowing the fintech company to focus on customer service.
Moniepoint is entering a competitive UK-to-Africa remittance market that includes established providers such as Wise, WorldRemit and Remitly, as well as African fintech firms including Flutterwave’s Send App.
According to data from the World Bank’s KNOMAD programme, remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries are estimated at about $620 billion annually, with digital -first platforms capturing increasing market share through open banking integrations and automated compliance systems.
The rollout reflects a broader trend of African fintech firms expanding into developed markets by adopting local regulatory and open banking standards.
Industry analysts expect diaspora-focused platforms to evolve beyond money transfers into services such as multi-currency banking, credit and investment products.
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