Good evening.Here’s what happened earlier today! Enjoy

1. Buhari to present N7.28trn 2017 budget next week Wednesday

President Muhammadu Buhari will next week Wednesday present a budget of N7.281trillion for the 2017 financial year to a joint session of the National Assembly. The proposed budget which represents an increase of ‎20 percent over the 2016 appropriation of N6.06 trillion excludes salary increment which workers have yearned for. Read more here https://goo.gl/lQGW

 

 2.  NSE misses $1 trillion market value target

An ambitious target set by Oscar Onyema, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) in 2012 to achieve US$1 trillion in market capitalisation by 2016, is off target by more than US$970 billion a few weeks to the end of 2016. Currently, there are about 16 stock exchanges in the world with a market capitalisation in excess of $1trillion and they are mainly in North America, Europe and Asia. Read more here https://goo.gl/4mDLAa

3. U.N. launches record $22.2bn humanitarian appeal for 2017

The United Nations needs a record $22.2 billion to cover humanitarian relief projects next year, covering the needs of 93 million people in 33 countries, U.N. humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien said on Monday.

“This is a reflection of a state of humanitarian need in the world not witnessed since the Second World War,” he told a news conference, adding that 80 percent of the needs stemmed from man-made conflicts, such as those in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Nigeria and South Sudan.

 

4.Five West African countries ban ‘dirty diesel’ from Europe

Five West African countries have announced measures to end the practice of European oil companies and traders exporting “African quality” diesel – highly polluting fuels that could never be sold in Europe.  Swiss commodity traders were accused in a report published in September by Swiss NGO Public Eye of exporting fuels to west Africa. Read more https://goo.gl/EbAwJL

5.Recession threatens Nigeria’s health insurance scheme

Nigeria’s health insurance scheme is under threat as a combination of inadequate funding from the public sector and poor capitations to doctors compound problems in the sector. Capitations which represent fixed amount of money per unit of time paid in advance to the physician, clinic or hospital for the delivery of healthcare services. Read more https://goo.gl/Ke6qqv

6.Nigeria to issue N95bn bonds on Dec. 14 – DMO

Nigeria plans to sell N95 billion ($302 million) worth of bonds on Dec. 14, its last debt auction for the year, the Debt Management Office (DMO) said on Tuesday. The office said it would sell N35 billion of a bond maturing in 2036, N25 billion of paper maturing in 2026 and N35 billion of debt maturing in 2021, using the Dutch auction system.

Sovereign bonds are issued monthly to support the local bond market, create a benchmark for corporate issuance and fund its budget deficit.

 

7.Buhari seeks better Legislation to protect women, girls from Violence

President Muhammadu Buhari is seeking better legislation to protect citizens especially women and girls from violence,even as he decried the startling figure indicating that  60 percent of trafficked persons in Nigeria are female while  about 46 percent of the trafficked are children.  Represented by the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Aisha Alhassan at the Public Presentation of the Book Titled:’8 Evils of Human Trafficking’ in Abuja, on Tuesday,the President said human trafficking is one of the worst forms of slavery experienced in the 21st Century,while calling  on all hands to be on deck to address the menace. Read more https://goo.gl/osr0nx

8. No famine in Nigeria, Ogbeh assures

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has reassured Nigerians that there will be no famine due to the massive food production in the country. Ogbeh said this in Abuja while addressing newsmen on the sidelines of the three-day 11th African Economic Conference which began on Monday

Read more here https://goo.gl/Yp5iLa