An economic downturn has an impact on both business owners and employees. With hundreds of headlines threatening uncertainty you may be finding it difficult to know what to do. If you are an employer and your business is struggling, you may be considering cutting back on your workforce. If you are an employee, you may be worried about how your employer will react to the economic downturn and how that will affect you. Our focus this week is to help you [...]
Getting finance to kick start and run your idea can be a daunting challenge in Nigeria, and without capital it’s difficult to take your idea to the next level. In continuation of our series on Doing Business in Nigeria we now bring you several ways in which startups can access necessary capital to drive their ideas. A key starting point to raising capital is financial planning which basically involves the calculation of the amount of expenditure you will incur and [...]
There is a general apathy in Nigeria about making plans for the transferring of assets to the future generation, the thought of planning for the inevitable death puts people in a terrible state of fear that gives them stress, discomfort and anxiety. Notwithstanding the difficulty in deciding to sit down and plan for the day you will no longer be here, it is essential and a real show of care and concern for your family and loved ones if you [...]
A non-governmental organization (NGO), also known as Foundation, Charity, Civil Society Organization etc., is any non-profit, voluntary citizens' group which is independent of Government and driven by people with a common interest. NGO’s perform a variety of service and humanitarian functions, bring citizen concerns to Governments, advocate and monitor policies, encourage political participation through provision of information and are sometimes organized around specific issues, such as religion, human rights, environment, health etc. There are different types of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) [...]
Most disputes between lawyers and clients are over money -- specifically, over how much money the client owes the lawyer. To avoid these problems, it’s advisable that you understand how lawyers charge fees and you should also ensure that there is a written record of what you agreed to pay the lawyer, in case you later have a dispute over legal bills. This advisable documentation will also allow both parties be on the same page on the agreed scope [...]
For the first time, you are now able, as a pension contributor, to utilize part of your contribution to secure your own primary home in accordance with guidelines that were recently issued by the National Pension Commission (PenCom). This new innovation is possible as a result of the amendment of the original Pension Act to allow Pension Fund Administrators (PFA’s) invest directly in real estate, which was not permitted under the old pension law. With this development you can [...]
As the economy continues to slow down its obvious that a lot of people and businesses are facing financial difficulties and a lot of them are having a hard time with creditors who harass them with lawsuits, law enforcement agents etc. Whilst not encouraging financial irresponsibility on the part of debtors, it’s also important that undue and unethical debt recovery methods should be disallowed which is why a lot of debtors are turning to lawyers versed in debt relief [...]
Disputes are a necessary part of human endeavor and in Nigeria parties to a dispute commonly resort to the Law Courts to determine the validity or otherwise of their positions. Its however a fact that most Nigerians are reluctant to approach the courts because of the time delays in getting results which has led to aggrieved persons taking laws into their hands or trying to influence the law enforcement agents to deal with their perceived opponents. The cost and delays [...]
For over a 100 years (1913 –till date), the Nigerian Constitution has been a working document, which outlines the basic structure of Government and also focuses on the rights of individual Nigerian Citizens. We, at IOC realize that an informed citizenry is the first step towards the change we all desire and that is why this week’s edition of IOC Weekly outlines these fundamental rights in easily understandable language. It is our hope that understanding your rights will not [...]