The Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, has vowed to make the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector of the economy to become vibrant like their counter parts in China, Japan and the United States, by the year 2012.

Owners Association (NITOA) has appealed to the Federal Government to save the sector from imminent collapse due to huge overhead costs, including high cost of diesel. Mr Joseph Overo, President of NITOA, said in Lagos that the productivity of its members had nosedived as a result of high cost of diesel used in operating the trawlers.

A former ICAN official has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to douse the controversy surrounding the so called Islamic banking by restricting itself to the tenets and spirit of the Banking And Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA).

Mrs Adefunke Kasali, Executive Secretary of Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF), said on Tuesday in Lagos that the newly-introduced soft code titled “Project Aquila” had saved the Federal Government about N300 million. Kasali said that the agency had taken a bold step to eliminate corruption and ensure prompt payment of bridging cost through the introduction of ‘Project Aquila’.

The House of Representatives has summoned the CBN Governor Lamido Sanusi to appear before it today to clarify the proposed daily cash withdrawal limit from banks.

THE water guards of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) has rescued 12 commuters whose boats capsized along the Ebute Ojo creeks in Lagos.

The Federal Government of Nigeria has appointed Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria as sovereign credit ratings advisor for the country.

As part of effort aimed at educating Nigerians on the importance of investing in the Nigerian capital market, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has collaborated with Nollywood to produce a movie.

World leading card manufacturing company, Gemalto, has appointed Konnectronics as her Value Added Reseller (VAR) Partner for the sale of Visa and Mastercard cards respectively in Nigeria.

The Ministry of Trade and Investment is planning to float a Diaspora Fund as part of strategies aimed at unlocking available capital for investment in critical sectors of the economy.