Photo: Ambassador Idaere Gogo Ogan

‎The Niger Delta Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Trade, Mines and Agriculture (NDCCITMA) has unveiled plans to attract up to five billion dollars structured investments to the oil-producing region in five years.

The Chairman of NDCCITMA, Ambassador Idaere Gogo Ogan, made the disclosure at a pre-summit conference ahead of the Niger Delta Economic and Investment Summit in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

He said that the initiative would catalyse no fewer than 500,000 direct and indirect jobs as well as spur investments and create wealth.

‎He said the summit with the theme, “Driving Investment, Innovation, and Industrial Growth in the Niger Delta”, slated for Port Harcourt, would deliberate on investment mobilisation, enterprise growth, industrial expansion, and regional coordination.

The President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has expressed concerns about the ongoing Middle East crisis taking many countries back to the COVID19 era’s work from home.

Dangote stated this on Monday, after a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at his residence in Lagos.

While expressing concern about the economic impact of oil price uncertainty, Africa’s Richest man noted that Nigeria and other African countries might be forced to start working from home, just like the COVID19 era.

Dangote called for prayers and international intervention to end the conflict which has affected the price of fuel and other energy sources in the country.

He said, “In some countries today, what they’ve done is ask everybody to work from home because they cannot afford it.“I think in Indonesia, they only go to work four days a week. And they will look at the situation. If it doesn’t improve, they will ask everybody not to go to work anymore. We will do like that time of COVID, where people will now go and work from home,” Dangote said.

It’s not only energy. Some people will try to take a chance and say, ‘Ah, this is an opportunity. So, let me make money. So, if this thing doesn’t de-escalate, it is going to keep going up and governments cannot really now go and add salaries also. So, people will really feel the pinch,” he said.

Dangote explained that the crisis would hit hardest at ordinary Africans operating small businesses, “People who are barbers, people who are doing bread, people who have industries who have to pay their own generator, I mean, you can see what is happening,” he said.

Binance Holdings Limited on Tuesday said it is exploring a resolution of the tax evasion charges filed against it by the Federal Government, signalling a pause in the trial.

Sunday Agaji, the company’s counsel disclosed this before Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Moses Ideho, counsel to the government a deputy director in the legal department of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (now Nigeria Revenue Service), confirmed the development.

Although the matter was slated for continuation of trial, Ideho told the court he had been informed earlier by the defence that the company had approached the tax authority to discuss an out-of-court settlement.

Agaji said discussions were ongoing.

“My lord, parties are exploring settlement. That is essentially where we are,” he said.

Following submissions from both parties, Justice Nwite adjourned the case until May 12 for a report on settlement talks.

( Business Day)