Poly Products Nigeria Plc, a manufacturer of polythene and other plastic products, recently disclosed plans to delist from the Nigerian Stock Exchange. In this interview with Vanguard, Mrs. Funmi Ajayi-Tomori, a Director in the company, gave an insight into the delisting plan, arguing that quoted companies are still burdened by excessive charges from the regulatory authorities among other things. EXCERPTS

As the Nigerian economy continues to attract foreign investors, a group of Americans have concluded plans to establish a tractor manufacturing firm in Nigeria. This is in line with the vision of the federal government to diversify the nation’s economic base from oil to other sectors such as agriculture where the country has comparative advantages.

A Kano State-owned mortgage bank, the Dala Building Society, says it has disbursed N1.36 billion housing loans to no fewer than 2, 400 civil servants in the state. The Acting Managing Director of the bank, Alhaji Abdulnasser Abdu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano on Saturday that N480 million were disbursed 2,000 workers from May 2011 to date.

Barely seven years after the much-talked about debt cancellation, the issue of debt over-hang is in the news again. Recent statistics released by the Debt Management Office (DMO) showed that Nigeria ’s total debt stock as at March 2012 was N6.8 trillion, which translates to $44 billion. Out of the total amount, N5.96 trillion ($38.3 billion) is said to be domestic debt and N919 billion ($5.9 billion) is external debt.

Talk about regional growth and development took centre stage at the second South–South Economic Summit which was held in Asaba, Delta State recently. The six states that make up the economic group with the acronym BRACED – Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta – said they wanted to see a restructured Nigeria where the central government is unbundled to strengthen the states for better service delivery.

Globacom Limited Friday introduced a unique, low tariff calling platform tagged Oloja, a variant of Glo Infinito tariff platform, for market men and women in Ogun State in the company’s bid to make telephony affordable to them.

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State on Wednesday called for the revival of the nation’s textile industries to boost job creation and expansion of the economy.