Business

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says all Iranian airlines will be shut down as Washington intensifies economic pressure on Tehran US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said all Iranian airlines will be shut down from September 23 as Washington intensifies economic pressure on Tehran. Speaking to CNBC’s Squawk Box, Bessent said the US would target services supporting Iranian airlines, including fuel, landing services and ticket sales. He warned that companies providing such services could be cut off from the US dollar financial system. “If they land, you cannot provide them with fuel. You cannot provide them with landing services, you cannot sell them tickets, or you will be knocked out of the dollar system.” Bessent said Washington was pressuring Iran “like never ...

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has cut its interest rate to 23 per cent from 26.5 per cent. The CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, disclosed this during a briefing after the 307th Monetary Policy Committee, MPC meeting on Tuesday. Announcing the rate cut, Cardoso said, “The Committee decided as follows: reset the monetary policy rate to 23 per cent.” He added that the apex bank has been able to raise the country’s foreign reserves to $55 billion.  The MPR cut follows a hold at the two previous MPC meetings and a 50-basis-point cut announced in February 2026. Recall that Nigeria’s inflation rate fell for two consecutive months in July and August 2026, declining to 15.39 per cent in August from 15.43 per cent recorded in July. https://youtu.be/Bg5MfOA2u4E?si=GSiQ7ab...

The Federal Government has dismissed reports claiming it plans to increase electricity tariffs in the country. The Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, dismissed the report in Abuja on Monday, September 21 during a media parley marking his first 100 days in office, covering the period from June 8 to September 16. Tegbe said he received several calls over the weekend following reports that the Federal Government was planning an upward review of electricity tariffs. He described the reports as politically motivated ahead of next year’s general elections, insisting that the administration is focused on improving electricity supply to Nigerians. According to the minister, the government is pursuing renewable energy solutions and conducting a detailed audit of power infrastructure acros...

Bitcoin climbed above $85,000 on Monday, September 21, reaching its highest level in eight months as the cryptocurrency extended its recent rally. The world's largest cryptocurrency rose about 5% in early afternoon trading in London to $85,128, building on a gain of nearly 6% the previous week. Bitcoin has now risen more than 30% since August 19 and remains above the $80,000 level, which had previously proved difficult to sustain. The latest gains came despite the failure to pass the Clarity Act and the Federal Reserve's quarter-point interest-rate increase. Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said cryptocurrency prices were rising broadly, supported by recent investment inflows. “Cryptocurrencies are advancing in a group this morning, a move given strength by recent inflows...

The fresh drop in crude oil prices at the weekend has put Nigerian petroleum products marketers and refiners under pressure to cut the price of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS. A market survey by DAILY POST on Sunday showed that Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dropped by 0.99 per cent and 1.58 per cent to $103.9 and $100.3 per barrel, respectively. Recall that Brent crude had risen above $107 per barrel amid renewed tensions in the Middle East. The escalation in crude oil prices had seen domestic fuel prices go through the roof in Nigeria.  However, the recent drop in crude oil prices has put fresh pressure on refiners and marketers to reduce domestic fuel prices. Nigerian filling stations dispense petrol at between N1,395 and N1,450 per litre, while pri...

The Nigerian Mainstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, has revealed the real reason it cannot fix petrol price in Nigeria. In a statement posted on its verified X handle on Saturday, NMDPRA said the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, 2021 restricts government intervention in pricing strictly to exceptional circumstances, where there is formal evidence of declared market failure. The agency stated that it is only empowered to prevent anti-competitive practices, price-fixing and the abuse of market dominance. It, however, revealed that it is conducting a joint security effort with the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, and other relevant security agencies to intensify surveillance along borders corridors to prevent product smuggling, consumer protection, and ma...

The Global Entrepreneurship Festival, GEF, has appointed Africa’s foremost industrialist and President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, as its Grand Patron. The appointment was formally presented during a visit by the GEF Board to Alhaji Dangote, where the delegation also honoured the business leader with a special recognition for his contributions to entrepreneurship, business development and economic transformation across Africa. The engagement and eventual appointment were facilitated through the efforts of Dr Elizabeth Jack-Rich, Vice Chairman of the Global Entrepreneurship Festival, who played a central role in fostering the relationship and bringing the GEF leadership and Alhaji Dangote together. Her involvement reflects the Festival’s broader commitment t...

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased marginally to 15.39 percent in August 2026, down from 15.43 percent recorded in July.   The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced the movement in its latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, noting a 0.04 percent decrease compared to the previous month. On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation stood at 0.71 percent in August, which was 0.86 percent lower than the 1.57 percent recorded in July, indicating that the average price level increased at a slower rate. The  food inflation rate stood at 19.57 percent on a year-on-year basis in August 2026, marking a significant drop from the 25.30 percent recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year. On a month-on-month basis, food inflation fell to 1.02 ...

Popular Nigerian car dealer Adesuwa Renee Ogiozee, better known as Renee5star, has regained her freedom after spending three years under investigation by US authorities over a fraud case involving one of her customers. Ogiozee was caught up in the case after her customer, Joseph Olawuyi Olaosebikan, was accused of defrauding a victim of about $560,000 in a romance scam. She maintained that her relationship with him was strictly professional and that she had no knowledge of his alleged activities. She said the ordeal saw her subjected to severe restrictions, including wearing a monitoring device around her ankle that had to be charged at a specific time daily. She also claimed she faced constant humiliation and other punishments while the actual culprit remained free in Lagos. Acco...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has warned that the rapid development of artificial intelligence could go “very badly” for humanity in two major ways. “There are two ways AI progress could go very badly, and that we must avoid. First, we could lose control of the future to AI. This is unacceptable; we are unapologetically on Team Humanity,” Altman wrote in a post on X just after midnight Monday. “Second, we could end up in a world with too much concentration of power. If an extraordinarily powerful AI is used by one person or company to impress their worldview onto everyone else, the results could be extremely dystopian.” Altman and rival Elon Musk, who were earlier this year locked in a legal battle, over the weekend backed a lengthy letter from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei urging ...