Five things to know to start your Tuesday

Customs: Nigeria, Benin Republic address multiple taxes on transit cargoes

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and its Benin Republic counterpart on Monday agreed to address the multiple taxes on transit cargoes along the ECOWAS corridor.

They also agreed to harmonise the import prohibition policy to ensure that whatever was banned in Nigeria would also be banned in Benin.

The Acting Comptroller-General of NCS, Adewale Adeniyi, said this during a working visit to Cotonou, where some decisions were reached between the two countries.

Read also: Tinubu’s policies drive growth of green buildings

Council trains exporters in A’Ibom on seafood’s best production techniques

Pauline Ndulaka, the Deputy Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), said that the agency has trained exporters in Akwa Ibom on the best production techniques for seafood to boost exports in the nation’s non-oil sector.

Ndulaka said this at a one-day workshop for exporters in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom capital, on Monday. She said that one of the visions of the agency for non-oil exports was to have seafood saturate the global market.

The Deputy Director noted that for the vision to be realised, exporters and stakeholders in the seafood value chain must be updated on the global best production techniques and practises.

Ondo summit to attract $2bn investments – Aiyedatiwa

Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the acting Governor of Ondo State, said that the “Develop Ondo 2.0 Investment Summit” would attract $2 billion in investments to the state.

Aiyedatiwa made this revelation on Monday in Akure while declaring open the three-day investment summit. He said it would also create 70,000 new jobs and engage 100 donor partners and 1,500 investors.

The “Develop Ondo 2.0 Investment Summit” was organised by the state government in partnership with the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme to showcase the investment potential and opportunities in the state.

The acting governor said that the state was blessed with abundant renewable energy sources, such as solar and biomass, making it an ideal location for investments in renewable energy generation and related infrastructure.

Forex crisis: Passengers panic over hikes in foreign airlines fares

The rapid fall of the naira in exchange for other major international currencies is currently having a terrible impact on travellers. This has had a major impact on ticket fares, as the price of international trips has increased greatly.

Economic uncertainties, coupled with high costs associated with the fall of the naira, have left many passengers stranded and forced them to take extreme measures just to buy tickets.

Since President Bola Tinubu floated the naira, the Nigerian currency has lost so much of its value. Falling from N471/$ at the I&E window when the announcement was made to trading at N870/$ at the parallel market.

The immediate impact of this radical change is likely to leave many intending international students hoping to resume school in September stranded.

This situation has left many intending travellers with the only option of using other African countries as a route to travel to their preferred destination, as it is cheaper there.

Oil prices edge higher on tighter supply, China hopes

Oil prices moved an inch higher on Tuesday, following information that the Chinese government plans to shore up the world’s second-biggest economy.

Brent futures gained 7 cents at $82.81 a barrel at 00:07 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 11 cents at $78.85.

Both benchmarks rose over 2 percent the previous day, and hit their highest closes since April.

Analysts expect that the price of crude oil will continue its upward movement as expectations of supply tightening from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies like Russia, a group known as OPEC+, take centre stage.

According to Reuters, China, the world’s second-largest economy and second-biggest oil consumer, leaders pledged to step up policy support for the economy amid a tortuous post-COVID recovery, focusing on boosting domestic demand.