Tag Archives: Drops

Nigeria Drops To 127th Place On WEF’s Global Competitiveness Index

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Nigeria has dropped three places to the 127th position on the latest World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) for 2016-2017, out of 138 countries surveyed. The country was previously ranked 124th on the index.

At 127th position, Nigeria only performed better than Madagascar, Yemen, Venezuela, Congo DR, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Mozambique, Chad, Mauritania and Malawi.

The report, which was released Wednesday by WEF, showed that Nigeria ranked lowest in health and primary education, and was greatly affected by a weaker macroeconomic environment.

“Nigeria is among the African economies hardest hit by the reduction in commodity prices, falling three places to 127th overall,0 almost entirely due to its weaker macroeconomic environment (down 27 places) and financial sector (down 10 places).

“Although still relatively low, the government deficit has almost doubled since last year and national savings have significantly suffered, worsening the current account position.
“Banks are less solid, reducing the availability of credit; despite the central bank ending its currency peg, financial authorities have retained restrictions on access to the interbank market, meaning access to finance will remain difficult for many businesses.

“Additional factors holding back Nigeria’s competitiveness include an underdeveloped infrastructure (132nd), which is again rated as the country’s most problematic factor for doing business; insufficient health and primary education (138th), with only 63 per cent of children enrolled in primary school; and the poor quality and quantity of higher education and training (125th),” it added.

Read More: thisdaylive

Nicki Minaj Drops A Surprise New Track, Shouts Out To Lil Wayne

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Dropping a new track on a Bey Day? But of course… Nicki Minaj just proved she’s the Queen of Rap

After teasing her fans with some super cryptic tweets, goddess Nicki Minaj dropped a surprise new track on Sunday. See below tweet and listen to her new track “Pinkprint Freestyle”:

 

Nigeria Officially In Recession, GDP Growth Drops To -2.06%

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The National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday released the much-awaited Gross Domestic Product figures for the second quarter of 2016 with the GDP growth rate sliding further from -0.36 per cent in the first quarter to -2.06 per cent year-on-year.

The negative growth rate recorded in the second quarter of this year is a confirmation of the predictions by the Federal Government and economists that the country was heading into recession.

A recession is defined as a significant decline in activities across the economy, lasting longer than a few months. It is visible in industrial production, employment, real income and wholesale retail trade.

The technical indicator of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth as measured by a country’s GDP.

In the GDP report released by the NBS, the bureau said, “In the second quarter of 2016, the nation’s Gross Domestic Product declined by -2.06 per cent (year-on- year) in real terms.

“This was lower by 1.70 per cent points from the growth rate of –0.36 per cent recorded in the preceding quarter, and also lower by 4.41 per cent points from the growth rate of 2.35 per cent recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2015. Quarter on quarter, real GDP increased by 0.82 per cent.”

Credit: punchng

Dollar Drops After Federal Reserve Meeting

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The dollar dropped Thursday as records from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting dampened hopes of an imminent US interest rate hike.

Minutes from the US central bank’s July gathering said policymakers were keeping their “options open” but remained divided on the threat of inflation.

A hike in US borrowing costs would tend to lift the dollar by stirring demand for dollar-denominated assets, so Wednesday’s minutes weighed on the unit.

The news comes after William Dudley, the influential head of the Federal Reserve’s New York branch, unexpectedly hinted this week that a rate hike was possible as early as September.

“The message appears to be that as much as a September hike is a possibility, the Fed is unlikely to move until there is a consensus on the outlook for growth, hiring and inflation,” Rodrigo Catril, a currency strategist at National Australia Bank, said in a commentary.

“Recent data would therefore suggest a hike is not imminent.”

The dollar fell as low as 99.65 yen from 100.28 yen Wednesday in New York, before creeping back above the 100 yen level in afternoon trading.

Read More:

http://guardian.ng/business-services/dollar-drops-after-federal-reserve-meeting/

Oil Price Drops As Nigeria’s Output Rises

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Oil prices dropped more than three per cent yesterday due to return of Nigerian and Canadian crude output from outages and as traders booked profits at the end of the best quarter in seven years.

According to Reuters, the market soared more than 25 per cent in the second quarter, as part of an 85 per cent rebound since hitting 12-year lows early this year, as unplanned production cuts from Canada to Nigeria eased the glut that prompted the worst price rout in a generation.

However, production in Nigeria has risen to about 1.9 million barrels per day (bpd) from 1.6 million, due to repairs and a lack of new major attacks on pipelines in the Delta region, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said.

Resurgent Nigerian supply will put pressure on prices, Goldman Sachs said, adding that outages caused by Canadian wildfires would virtually end by September.

 OPEC’s oil output rose in June to its highest in recent history, a Reuters’ survey showed, as Nigeria’s output partially recovers from militant attacks and Iran and Gulf members boost supplies.

Brent futures for August delivery, which expired yesterday, settled down 93 cents, or 1.8 percent, at $49.68 a barrel. The more active Brent contract for September delivery settled at $49.71, down 3.1 percent.

Credit: Nation

Power Generation Drops Further To 1075MW

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The nation’s electricity generation, yesterday, crashed further to 1075 Mega Watts, an indication that electricity consumers would experience more frequent power outages.

The generation statistics obtained by The Guardian yesterday showed that the generation level assumed a dwindling trend from 2,903MW recorded last week Thursday. It dropped to 1624MW on Sunday and further to 1075MW yesterday.

However, the daily operational report of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) issued at the weekend showed that many of the power plants are currently affected by gas shortage, water management and transmission problems. No fewer than 16 thermal plants were affected lack of gas supply, as the Niger Delta militants continued to attack gas facilities in the region. Among the thermal plants that have suffered from sabotage attacks were Olorunshogo NIPP which lost 480MW; Omotosho (228MW); Geregu (435MW); Delta lost 410MW; Olorunsogo Gas (228MW); Sapele (258MW) and Egbing lost 717MW among others.

This situation has triggered concerns from the consumers who believed that the privatization of the power sector would have done more good to the nation, if proper planning was in place.

Meanwhile, some aggrieved persons have continued to vent their anger on electricity workers who were on duty for disconnection exercise. Some staff members of Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHED) and the security personnel attached to them were allegedly attacked by residents of Epie Community in Bayelsa State recently.

The attack, according to the company resulted in injury to three policemen, the Business Service Manager, Pere Alazigha, a linesman, Christian Umegbewe and other staff members involved in the disconnection exercise.

Credit: Guardian

Oil Drops In Cautious Trade Ahead Of OPEC

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Oil prices dropped Wednesday, as traders trod cautiously before this week’s OPEC meeting in Vienna, and set aside upbeat Chinese data. The market has however rebounded strongly from January lows of under $30 per barrel, and last week topped $50 for the first time this year on production outages in Canada and Nigeria.

But oil has since retreated and remain at less than half of their 2014 peaks of over $100 because of chronic global oversupply. At about 1145 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in July weakened 64 cents to $48.46 per barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for August delivery, a new contract, also fell 64 cents to $49.25 a barrel compared with Tuesday’s close. “Brent crude continues to be constrained by the $50 per barrel level ahead of tomorrow’s bi-annual OPEC meeting,” noted Inenco analyst Dorian Lucas.

The 13-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meets on Thursday for its first meeting with Saudi Arabia’s new oil minister — a close ally of Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been outspoken about not reducing oil production. The recent recovery in prices has eased pressure on the group to turn down the taps at this week’s gathering, analysts say. “This week’s OPEC meeting could be quite interesting, although with oil prices where they are, I would be very surprised if any plans to cut or freeze production are announced,” noted Oanda analyst Craig Erlam.

OPEC, which pumps around a third of the world’s oil or some 30 million barrels every day, has historically responded to a fall in prices by cutting production. But in the current cycle producers led by kingpin Saudi Arabia have changed strategy, maintaining output even with lower prices in order to pressure US shale producers.

Credit: vanguardngr

Power Drops Below 2,800mw– NERC

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The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has said that power supply through the national grid which peaked to 5000mw in past two weeks had dropped below 2,800mw due to vandalism. Dr. Anthony Akah, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the commission disclosed this while signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Consumer Protection Council (CPC). A statement issued on the ceremony by Dr. Usman Abba- Arabi, Head, Public Affairs Department of NERC was made available to newsmenon Wednesday in Abuja. In the statement, Akah expressed dissatisfaction and worries over the spate of vandalism in the power sector. It stated that the NERC boss enjoined the public and the CPC to collaborate with Distribution Companies (DISCOs) and security agencies to safeguard electrical installations. The statement also said that the NERC would soon compel the DISCOs to publish their meter deployment schedules. It added that the publication would ensure adherence to the meter roll out plan contained in the performance agreement signed with government by the utility firms. “Such publication will make unmetered customers to be aware of the estimated period they have to wait before they can be metered,’’ it stated It stated that NERC had issued warning to the DISCOs against wrongful estimated billings and the acts of compelling customers to buy, install and repair transformers and poles. The statement said the MoU between, NERC and CPC was part of concerted efforts to reduce the incidence of estimated billing completely. According to the statement, the Director General of CPC, Mrs. Modupe Atoki, commended NERC for the long standing relationship between the two agencies. Atoki, according to the statement, expressed CPC’s cooperation and renewed effort to protect electricity consumers from abuse of their rights.

Credit: Vanguard

Power Supply Drops To 2,665MW Due To Explosions, Gas Constraint

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Inadequate supply of gas to the power station and explosions at transmission lines in the Lagos area and Jebba have resulted in a drop in electricity generation to 2,665MW.

With this development, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has directed the 11 distribution companies (Discos) nationwide “not to pick loads to avoid a system collapse”.

Data obtained from a source at TCN on the “Daily Load Analysis and Day Ahead Consumption” for yesterday showed that between 1 am and 6 am on Saturday, generation fell to 2,500MW.

However, between 6 am and 11.59 pm, the hourly dispatch to the Discos rose to 2,721.20MW, thus averaging 2,665.90MW for the whole day.

The chief executive of one of the Discos, who did not want to be named said yesterday that with the abysmally low level of generation, TCN directed the Discos not to pick loads to forestall a system collapse.

“When generation is very low like this, TCN tries to stabilise it and the only way to stabilise it is to balance the load. Right now, we can’t pick any load, otherwise there will be a system collapse,” he said.

TCN had at the beginning of this month announced for the first time that the country generated about 5,074.7MW of electricity.

The attainment of the new record peak generation as well as the highest maximum daily energy of 109,372 megawatts hour (MWH) was recorded on February 2, 2016.

Credit: Thisday

Nigeria’s Gross Statutory Revenue Drops By Over 102bn Naira

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Nigeria’s Gross Statutory Revenue for the month of November dropped by 102 billion Naira to 297 billion Naira compered with the month of October, a government official said on Tuesday.

The current revenue position was made known by the Minister of Finance, Miss Kemi Adeosun, during the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting.

The FAAC during the meeting distributed the sum of 369 billion Naira to the Federal, States and Local Governments for the month of November.

Addressing reporters in Abuja after the meeting, the Minister of Finance said that the Gross Statutory Revenue for the month which stood at 297 billion Naira was less than what it was in October.

Credit: ChannelsTv

Nigeria’s Foreign Reserves Drops To $30.04bn- CBN

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Nigeria’s foreign reserves dropped to $30.04 billion by Thursday, November 26, the Central Bank of Nigeria has said.

The bank disclosed this on its website on Monday.

It said the figure dropped by $7 million, from $30.11 billion recorded on October 26.

The bank said the $30.04 billion represented the “gross” amount, while $29.33 billion was “liquid” and $719.32 million “blocked”.

Nigeria’s foreign reserves has oscillated between $28 billion and $36 billion in the last one year.

The reserves hit $36.3 billion in October 2014, fell to $32.4 billion in January 2015, and stood at $28.6 billion by May 2015.

Under the new government of Muhammadu Buhari, it gained marginally to $31.9 billion by July, before sliding again to $29.9 billion by September.

Credit: NAN

Listen To Previews Of Every Song On Adele’s New Album Before It Drops To Avoid Crying In Public

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Adele’s new album ?25 ?doesn’t come out until Friday, but thanks to an extremely excited U.K. music retailer, you can now hear two-minute previews of every song. First single “Hello” and newly heard “When We Were Young” are both there, along with ?25?’s nine other as-yet-unreleased tracks. The streams aren’t embeddable, but you can listen here. Judging by these clips, “Hello” isn’t the only song on ?25 ?that will have you crying in public.

Credit: Cosmopolitan

Amber Rose Drops A Flash Back Twerking Video

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It’s flashback Friday and Amber Rose is taking us back in time. Location is Trinidad and it’s just a year back.

She shared an instagram video of herself twerking in water and the comment section… definitely was divided. Some said she should not feel victimized if she is called a slut, while other say it’s their twerking goal.

Watch video clip below and file in your opinion:

https://instagram.com/p/85lq8Gkq5N/?taken-by=amberrose

Nigeria’s Daily Fuel Subsidy Drops To N1.07 Billion

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The Federal Government’s daily spending on petrol subsidy may dropped from the N2.4 billion it recorded in June to N1.07 billion as at Monday this week.

Specifically, the country’s daily subsidy per litre of fuel has decreased from the N51.61per litre it recorded on June 11 to N22.42 per litre.

The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), which made this disclosure on Monday in its pricing template , put the expected open market price of the product at N109.42.

Based on daily petrol consumption of 48 million litres, the total subsidy cost on the product as of September 7, would amount to N1.07 billion at N22.42 per litre.

Read More: ngrguardiannews

Justin Bieber Drops Fan’s iPhone While Taking A Selfie (PHOTOS)

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Justin Bieber had just left the New York City Z100 radio station when the incident took place.

After signing autographs and taking many pictures, he was left looking pretty ruddy sheepish when one of the iPhone’s slipped out of his hand and onto the floor.

However, Bieber proved that he’s a pretty decent lad as instead of leaving it in pieces on the floor for one of his ‘people’ to deal with, he wasted no time in jumping down to grab everything and put the phone back together in front of the shocked fan and the phone was as good as new.

Credit: Yahoo

Photo Credit: REX

Meek Mill Drops Another Diss Freestyle, Drags Nicki Minaj & Caitlyn Jenner Into the Beef

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Though we (and the rest of the world) have already declared Drake the winner of this beef, Meek Mill can’t seem to accept defeat.

His latest non-wedgie-threatening freestyle, performed at the Pinkprint Tour’s stop not far from Philly last night, introduces a new scapegoat for this squabble: both men’s insecurity around Nicki Minaj. “Said I don’t think it’s ’bout no rapping, it’s ’bout Nicki,” he ponders. Then: “He told us he was first in line, but it got tricky / I still wake up with the lady that you said you first in line with.”

Though he quickly shifts back to his original talking points about authorship, again asking, “If Quentin Miller wrote that shit, what were we buying?” Then, like a Twitter comedian desperate for retweets, he borrows a page out of Eminem’s book, How to Be a Transphobe, and drops the mic on himself with a Caitlyn Jenner joke: “Niggas turn to hos, Caitlyn Jenners turn to Drizzy Drakes.”

And, yes, there are also Wheelchair Jimmy and “yo momma” jabs, in case you were wondering if we’ve reached peak playground fight yet.

See More: vulture.com

 

Zambia’s New Leader Drops White VP

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Zambia’s newly-elected President Edgar Lungu dropped vice president Guy Scott — who was briefly Africa’s only white leader — from his administration when he announced his cabinet on Monday.

As interim president since the death in office of Michael Sata in October, Scott had been the first white leader on the continent since the end of apartheid 20 years ago. He was replaced as vice president by Inonge Wina, a former gender minister and chairwoman of the ruling Patriotic Front.

Scott had sacked Lungu from his position as party general secretary during a power struggle after Sata’s death, but later reinstated him after rioting by supporters.

Read More: yahoo.com