Procedure for a Foreigner to Establish Business in Nigeria


For foreign investors that wish to invest in any sector of Nigeria's economy, here are the steps to follow.

STEP1

Incorporation of the Business at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in accordance with the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990.

STEP 2

Registration of the company with Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission for the granting of Business Permit. IPC also grants approvals for expatriate quota positions and incentives.

a. Requirements for Business Permit


  •  Purchase NIPC form I for N10,000.00. Completed form submitted with original receipt.
  • Certificate of Incorporation.
  • A minimum share capital holding in the joint venture.
  • Details of share holding in the joint venture.
  • Joint venture/partnership Agreement where applicable.
  • Memorandum and Articles of Association.
  • CAC’s Form CO2 and CO7 duly certified.
  • Evidence of capital importation for wholly foreign companies.
  • Approval from the appropriate professional bodies where applicable.

Expatriate Quota


In addition to the requirements listed under Business Permit, the following additional requirements have to be met for expatriate quota approvals.


  • Evidence of acquisition of operational premises and operational machinery/equipment in the case of industrial establishment.
  • Evidence of Foreign Capital Importation.
  • Management and Technical Services agreement (for service companies).
  • Tax Clearance Certificate.
  • Minimum authorized share capital of N5million.
  • Evidence that the personnel required is not likely to be available in Nigeria.
  • Minimum share capital of N15 million (for two automatic expatriate quota positions) and of N30 million share capital (in case of four automatic expatriate quota positions).
  • Supply names, address, qualifications and positions to be occupied by the expatriates.
  • The company must produce its project implementation program.
  • The company must produce a training program for Nigerians in addition to management succession schedule.
  • The company will furnish its feasibility report where applicable especially for new and prior industries.


Incentives


These include pioneer Status and Technical Agreement incentives:

1. Pioneer Status

The benefit of a Pioneer Status Certificate is that the holder (i.e. the company) is exempted from payment of tax for a specified number of years (5 years or 7 years for companies located in economically disadvantaged areas).

Requirements:

*Certificate of Incorporation
*Memorandum and Articles of Association
*Feasibility study
*Tax Clearance Certificate
*Joint Venture Agreement
*Evidence of acquisition and installation
*Evidence of development carried out at factory site
*NIPC Form II (to be purchased from NIPC at N10,000 and should be returned with original purchase receipt)
*The company must not be more than one year old from its commencement date of production
*Evidence of physical development of the factory site
*Joint venture must attain a minimum expenditure of N5 million

2. Technical Service Agreement

This is a form of technical co-operation agreement in which a party will agree to offer technical services to a company for the payment of a fee.

Details and terms of such agreements are normally worked out between the parties involved but such agreements should be registered with the National Office for Technical Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP).


Fees Payable


  • Purchase of NIPC Form I or II N10,000.00
  • Approval Fees
  • Business Permit N5,000.00
  • Expatriate Quota N5,000.00 per slot
  • Renewal or re-designation of Quota N5,000.00 per slot
  • Amendment of Business permit N2,500.00
  • Permanent Until Reviewed (PUR) $5,000 per slot
  • Pioneer Status N10,000.00
  • Technical Committee on Business Approvals 


A committee of NIPC has been constituted to consider and grant or reject applications for business permit, pioneer status and expatriate quota within 14 days. The committee is headed by the Executive Secretary.

Applying Dollar Cost Averaging(DCA) Strategy In Maximizing Your Bitcoin( and Altcoins) Investment


By now you must have known that Bitcoin is highly volatile.
No one can predict where the Bitcoin price will be a few months --or years-- down the line, as is the case with any other asset.

By following a simple and well known investing method called Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA), investors can protect themselves against fluctuations and downside risk.


What is dollar-cost averaging?

Dollar-cost averaging (DCA) is an investment technique of buying fixed amounts of a particular asset on a regular schedule, regardless of the price. The investor purchases more of the asset when prices are low and less when prices are high, but always the same fixed currency amount.

Related post: How I Make Money Daily On LUNO Platform

When does DCA make sense?

With dollar-cost averaging, you take a lot of the emotion and fear out of investing because you are more focused on a long-term strategy. You are less concerned with the immediate ups and downs, as long as you stick to a regular investment plan.

EXAMPLE 1 - LUMP SUM

Let’s say at the beginning of the year you put $120,000 into Bitcoin, which was then trading at $400 USD per 1 BTC . You thus bought 300 Bitcoins ($120,000/ $400).

By the end of the year, the price increased to $450. In this example, your ROI is 13% (you made $15,000 in profit since you owned 300 Bitcoins and the price in Dec ‘16 was $450 ($450 * 300 BTC = $135,000)

EXAMPLE 2 - DCA

Instead, let’s say you evenly bought $10,000 of Bitcoin per month over twelve months, no matter what the price was at that time. When the Bitcoin price went down, you ended up buying more units, and when it went up, you purchased less. But the total amount you spent is still $120,000, same as in Example 1.




dollar-cost-averaging-example
Investing a fixed local currency amount each month

In this scenario, you ended up buying a total of 320.78 Bitcoins, because you consistently bought (and in this example, bought when the price went down).

And now the value of your portfolio at the end of the year would be 320.78 x $450 = $144,352. You have made a profit of $24,352, resulting in an ROI of 20% (7% more than the previous case).


With dollar cost averaging, you can reduce market risk and build your Bitcoin investments over time, regardless of where the market is going.


Key things to keep in mind

Dollar cost averaging is a strategy that is better suited for investors with a lower risk tolerance and a long-term investment horizon.

This strategy makes the most sense when used over a long period time with volatile investments such as Bitcoin.
The strategy is no guarantee of good returns on your investment. The whole idea is to take emotion out of the picture and have a long term view.

Related post: How I Make Money Daily On LUNO Platform

Bitcoin is the perfect asset to try dollar cost averaging. Prices are somewhat more volatile than other assets and most investors bank on the long term prospects of Bitcoin.

This principle can also be applied to all other forms of cryptocurrency investment.

All the best averaging your Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency  investments!




credit: Vijay Ayyar and Tochukwu  M.
First appeared on LBP.

Nigeria's Central Bank Makes Dollar Available For Genuine Individual Foreign Use


The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, on Monday directed all deposit money banks to immediately commence the sale of foreign exchange to their customers at N360 to the dollar.

In a statement by the apex bank spokesperson, Isaac Okoroafor, all customers requesting forex for their basic transport allowance and personal transport allowance, tuition and medical fees, would henceforth get it at an exchange rate not more than N360 to 1 dollar.

The terse statement reads, “The CBN to sell forex to banks at N357/$1, while banks will sell to their customers at N360/$1 for invisibles (BTA, medicals, fees, etc),” the apex bank said on Monday.

CBN directs banks to post new rates in the banking halls of their branches immediately. CBN examiners to visit banks to ensure the new rates are implemented.

CBN prohibits banks from selling forex funds meant for invisibles to BDCs”

The apex bank said it would sell to commercial banks at N357 per dollar and banks are to post the new rates in their banking halls of their branches immediately.

The Director of Corporate Communications, CBN advised the general public that CBN is providing dollars for 100 percent of genuine applications for PTA/BTA, Medical and Tuition for customers of all Banks. But some banks are still claiming that they don't have dollars.

Consequently, CBN is sternly looking at recent actions of the related Banks as potential economic sabotage. CBN has asked Nigerians that anyone who has submitted application through any Bank branch and if within 24 hrs does not get allocation for PTA or BTA and 48hrs for Medical and Tuition please contact CBN Consumer Protection Department through the details below providing name of Bank, branch and other relevant details.

Phone: 07002255226 
Email: cpd@cbn.gov.ng 

Please keep sharing to create the awareness!

SUPERVISORS AND LEADERSHIP ABILITIES



When do supervisors lose their leadership?

Supervision literally means “watching over”. However, in reality, it’s a lot more complex than just keeping an eye on staff or operations. There is a leadership component in supervision. Hence a good supervisor should also be a good leader – positively influencing others to want to follow.

A bad supervisor is that supervisor who lacks leadership skills, ability or training. In other words, they ‘work’ without the leadership component of supervision.  They might think they are doing a great job, but everyone around them knows they are not. People find it very difficult to follow them because there is no leadership.

So when do supervisors lose their leadership? When they exhibit any of the following actions and behaviors:



Lead and Manage by Intimidation

When a supervisor uses force and threats to get things done, trying to intimidate others with their tone of voice, body language, and harsh words. Being abrasive, harsh, and severe.



Criticize Others

When a supervisor is insecure, they tend to overcompensate by putting other people down, especially in public. They tend to talk down on people to make themselves appear more powerful. They find things to criticize about anyone who is getting positive attention. When they need to reprimand a subordinate, they will often do it in front of other people because they think it makes them look powerful whereas it doesn’t.



Do Not Produce Results

They often talk about what needs to be done, complain about what’s not getting done, and demand that someone else does it. They rarely ever produce real results themselves and they lack initiative in getting things accomplished.



Lack Honesty and Integrity

Character is a vital part of being a great leader, and this is a non-negotiable leadership principle that has been around since the beginning of time. Supervisors who are dishonest and tend to make unethical decisions lose their leadership.



Fail to Learn From Mistakes

They rarely ever admit they are wrong and never says “I’m sorry” if need be. They tend to deny their mistakes, making it impossible to learn from those mistakes and become better as a leader or supervisor. As a result, there is a lack of respect among followers.



Lack Openness to New Ideas or Suggestions

They do not want suggestions or input from others, taking any form of suggestion or input as negative criticism instead of positive ideas. For them, “That’s the way we’ve always done it around here” or “We’ve tried that before and it didn’t work.”



Fail to Make Themselves Accountable Up or Down the Chain

They make decisions without thinking about the consequences or how the decisions might affect others. Additionally, there is no accountability, especially down the chain. Real leaders understand that they are accountable to their followers as well as their supervisors to make principle-based decisions.



Exhibit Poor Communication Skills

The reason God gave us two ears and only one mouth was for us to listen twice as much as we talked. But when a supervisor is only concerned about their thoughts and opinions without really listening to what others want to say, they will lose their leadership. A good supervisor does not interrupt or interject when people are trying to talk. They take the time to validate others in the communication process.



Exhibit High Confidence but Low Competence

When a supervisor shows very high level of confidence but has low level of competence,  subordinates find it difficult to follow them. The supervisor comes off as cocky, arrogant, and know-it-all, but everyone around that person knows they are not good. Unfortunately, the only one who doesn’t know it is the supervisor, which amplifies their incompetence.


credit: PLS