The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) says exporters in Imo generated a total of 1,244,095 dollars as proceeds from export trade in 2025.

The Imo Coordinator of the council, Mr Anthony Ajuruchi, disclosed this during a follow-up engagement with cocoa farmers in the state on Thursday in Owerri.

50 cocoa farmers and exporters in Imo received 30 cocoa seedlings each in 2025 as part of interventions to boost production for export.

Ajuruchi said the amount was derived from proceeds of both formal and informal export transactions carried out by the farmers within the 2025 fiscal year.

He commended the Executive Director of NEPC, Mrs Nonye Ayeni, and the management team for their support and commitment to the growth of the export market in Imo and across the country.

According to him, the council recorded notable achievements in 2025, including the organisation of capacity-building programmes on non-oil export, product packaging and labelling.

“In addition to our interventions for cashew farmers, we conducted trainings on product development and adaptation, export contracts, market penetration, product certification and export documentation procedures.

“We also trained about 600 exporters and small and medium-scale enterprises,” he said.

Ajuruchi said the engagement with the cocoa farmers was aimed at obtaining feedback and brainstorming on strategies to increase production and export volume in 2026.

One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Sophia Orji, said the cocoa seedlings she received were doing well and had started fruiting after 17 months.

Another farmer, Mrs Mary Okeke, said her cocoa plants were thriving and appealed to NEPC to extend similar support to farmers during the rainy season.

Also speaking, Mr Canice Nze, Director of Produce in the Imo Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Investment, urged the farmers to register with the ministry to enable them benefit from cooperative structures and access possible government grants. (NAN)

The Federal Government has proposed a total allocation of N87.31bn for the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development and its agencies in the 2026 Appropriation Bill, with the bulk of the funding directed towards capital expenditure.

Details of the budget proposal show that N70.

19bn, representing more than 80 per cent of the total allocation, is earmarked for capital projects. At the same time, N14. 78bn is set aside for personnel costs and N2.34bn for overheads.

The document contained no provisions for retained independent revenue or aid and grant funding.

The Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development received the highest allocation of N50.65bn, with N48.

55bn for capital projects. Personnel and overhead costs were budgeted at N1.35bn and N745.74 million, respectively.

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency was allocated N11.84bn, with personnel costs accounting for N9.15bn, overheads N393.73m, and capital expenditure N2.29bn, highlighting the agency’s labour-intensive operations.

Similarly, the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, is to receive N11.28bn, comprising N4.28bn for personnel, N464.44m for overheads, and N6.54bn for capital projects.

The Nigeria Airspace Management Agency was allocated N6.3bn, entirely for capital expenditure, with no provision for personnel or overhead costs in the budget breakdown.

Also, the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau is expected to receive N7.24bn, with N734.09m for overheads and N6.51bn for capital projects, again with no allocation for personnel costs.

The strong tilt towards capital spending aligns with the position of the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, who has consistently argued that infrastructure renewal remains critical to improving safety, efficiency and service delivery in the aviation sector.

On 22 January 2025, the ministry formally presented its 2025 budget to the Joint National Assembly Committee on Aviation and Aviation Technology at the National Assembly Complex. During the presentation, Keyamo emphasised the ministry’s commitment to transparency and accountability in the management of public resources.

He provided a breakdown of the ministry’s 2024 budget performance, noting that capital appropriation achieved an utilisation rate of 30.9 per cent, personnel costs were fully utilised at 100 per cent, while overhead expenditure recorded a near-complete utilisation rate of 99.97 per cent.

The minister told lawmakers that the proposed 2025 budget of N71.12bn for the ministry reflects its strategic priorities in advancing the aviation and aerospace sectors. The proposal comprised N69.22bn for capital expenditure, N1.16bn for personnel costs and N745.74m for overheads.

According to Keyamo, the capital-heavy structure of the budget is designed to support infrastructure upgrades, enhance service delivery and strengthen safety oversight across the sector.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s revised minimum capital requirement for capital market operators is expected to trigger mergers and acquisitions in Nigeria, with smaller players likely to exit the market, experts say.

In an interview on Monday, the Chief Economist and Managing Editor of Proshare, Teslim Shitta-Bey, explained that fund managers and asset managers operate differently from banks.

“Fund managers take money from third parties. They don’t invest their own money. If I’m managing assets that are in excess of N500 bn, but it’s not my money, why should I be capitalised at N2 bn or N3 bn?” he asked.

Shitta-Bey stressed that capitalisation requirements designed for banks may not be appropriate for capital market operators.

“Banks lend money to third parties, so they need a capital buffer in case loans go bad. Fund managers manage assets on behalf of clients; most of the money they use is not their own. It is intended to purchase assets with a market value that are tradable. So, the nature of capitalisation is different,” he said.

He noted that many top-tier operators have already exceeded the required capital thresholds. “Many of them already have skin in the game. They have traded on their own accounts. If you value the assets under management, their own assets are far in excess of N2 bn. These are fairly liquid assets that are tradable on an exchange. So, I’ve already met the requirements,” Shitta-Bey said.

Warning about the potential market impact of overcapitalisation, he added: “If you have N2bn and you don’t know what to do, you could decide to buy equities. Now, if everybody is buying equities at the same time, you are likely to push up the value of any particular stock. And once the stock becomes overvalued, you are generating a potential for market correction.”

Shitta-Bey also highlighted the implications for smaller operators. “For marginal players, yes, there might be some challenges. Well-run smaller ones may merge to meet the capital requirement. Others will gradually exit the system. You will see a lot of mergers and acquisitions going on, but the lesser, smaller ones will just melt out of the system,” he said.

The SEC recently issued a circular revising minimum capital requirements across all regulated capital market entities. The move targets core and non-core operators, market infrastructure institutions, fintechs, virtual asset providers, and commodity market intermediaries. For instance, full-scope portfolio managers are now required to maintain a minimum capital of N5bn, while brokers handling client execution only must hold N600m. Compliance is expected by 30 June 2027, with transitional arrangements considered on a case-by-case basis.

Also commenting, the National Coordinator of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Moses Igbrude, criticised the policy, saying it risks concentrating market power and excluding ordinary investors. “Stockbrokers do not lend money and therefore do not require massive capital buffers. They receive money from investors to buy shares and manage custody. That is their job,” he said.

Igbrude questioned the rationale behind requiring N1bn for stockbrokers. “Why do we need people to come and buy penny stocks or small amounts when I have N2bn at my disposal to trade, pay staff, and run operations efficiently?” he asked.

He warned that the new requirements could create an elitist market. “You are creating an elitist investment, cutting off a group of people. If you want to grow an economy of over 270 million people, you don’t cut off your people from the system,” Igbrude said.

He argued that the policy appears to concentrate business in the hands of a few. “The Commission is deliberately forcing consolidation. They are trying to remove some categories of investors from the system. It’s only for the big money holders. The Nigerian economy is not only made for the big boys. It’s made for everybody,” he said.