Economy
African Corridor Management Alliance to Strengthen Economic Corridors
By Dipo Olowookere
The Economic Commission for Africa, through the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) is holding a meeting in collaboration with the Walvis Bay Corridor Group and other Corridor management Institutions (CMIs) to establish the African Corridor Management Alliance.
The Alliance is expected to coordinate the sharing of best practices and other strategies in support of the development and management of economic corridors on the Continent.
Held against the backdrop of promoting corridors as vehicles for economic transformation and boosting intra-African trade, the inaugural meeting in Walvis Bay, Namibia will also map out a strategy for the new organization.
In his welcoming address, Willem Goeiemann, Permanent Secretary of Works and Transport of Namibia said, “The process of establishing ACMA is a major milestone in defining Corridor Management Institutions’ performance and prospects in the integrated management of economic corridors through enhanced investment in infrastructure.
“With effective management, economic corridors will improve physical connectivity between the Corridor States, thereby enhancing access to markets, while expanding economies of scale for value chain.”
Stephen Karingi, Director of the Capacity Development Division of ECA, in his opening statement highlighted the potential for ACMA to contribute to regional integration and intra-African trade particularly in the area of trade facilitation. He stressed that the establishment of ACMA is timely in view of the 2017 deadline for the conclusion of negotiations to establish the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA).
David Luke, Coordinator of the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) drew attention to ECA’s historic role in helping to create specialized institutions to enhance economic integration on the Continent.
“The African Regional Standards Organization and the African Alliance for Electronic Commerce are examples of ECA’s contribution to institution building in this regard,” he said. He expressed the hope that the establishment of ACMA as an umbrella organization can become a channel through which ECA’s engagement with the CMIs can be further strengthened.
For his part, Johny Smith, Chief Executive Officer of the Walvis Bay Corridor Group and interim chairperson of ACMA noted that through ACMA, CMIs would identify the necessary conditions that should be realized for corridor development initiatives to play a catalytic role in bringing together trade, infrastructure, spatial initiatives, industrial development and other economic activities to foster market integration in the Continent.
The meeting, which is hosted by the Walvis Corridor Group brought together Heads of several CMIs, representatives from the ECA, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Union Commission (AUC), the NEPAD Agency, the African-Export-Import bank (Afrexim Bank) and various other economic integration stakeholders. Among the most prominent CMIs on the continent are the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor, the Northern Corridor that links Mombasa to Kigali and Kampala, the Walvis Bay Corridor with routes to seven southern African countries and the Maputo Corridor connecting Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira recorded its first relative gain against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) this week on Friday, March 28.
The domestic currency appreciated against the greenback by 65 Kobo or 0.04 per cent during the session to settle at N1,538.26/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s exchange rate of N1,538.91/$1 as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) boosted forex liquidity to stabilize the market.
Over the last few sessions, the local currency had depreciated due to FX liquidity squeeze in the absence of interventions from the central bank.
So far, interventions in the market this month have neared $1 billion in a bid to strengthen the Nigerian currency.
However, the Naira lost against the British Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N1.00 to sell for N1,991.87/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,990.87/£1 and against the Euro, it declined by N1.40 to quote at N1,660.99/€1, in contrast to the preceding session’s value of N1,659.59/€1.
At the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira gained N5 against the US Dollar yesterday to close at N1,555/$1 compared with the preceding trading day’s value of N1,560/$1.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it was down on Friday amid a sell-off in US stocks due to poor economic data, with crypto-focused stocks also suffering heavy losses.
Continued macroeconomic woes weighed on the broader crypto market with the implementation of broad-scale US tariffs next week on April 2 by the administration of Mr Donald Trump, which compounded investor concerns across markets.
Ripple (XRP) lost 5.3 per cent to finish at $2.13, Solana (SOL) slumped by 4.8 per cent to trade at $126.89, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 4.4 per cent to sell at $0.1755, and Binance Coin (BNB) depreciated by 4.2 per cent to $606.31.
Further, Litecoin (LTC) dropped 3.1 per cent to close at $86.21, Cardano (ADA) went down by 2.9 per cent to settle at $0.6869, Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 2.5 per cent to $83,699.86, and Ethereum (ETH) slid by 2.2 per cent to $1,877.62, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.17 per cent on Friday, March 28, spurred by a boost in the price of Nipco Plc and Geo-Fluids Plc.
Yesterday, the market capitalisation added N3.27 billion to close for the session at N1.915 trillion compared with the previous day’s N1.912 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased by 5.66 points to 3,316.17 points from Thursday’s 3,310.51 points.
Nipco Plc gained N19.50 to finish at N220.00 per share compared with the previous day’s N200.50 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc grew by 20 Kobo to sell at N2.70 per unit, in contrast to the previous session’s N2.50 per unit, while UBN Property Plc lost 20 Kobo to close the day at N1.98 per share versus the N2.20 per share it was sold a day earlier.
Trading data showed an increase of 76.8 per cent in the volume of securities transacted to 1.3 million units from the 712,439 units traded in the previous trading day, the value of transactions slid by 71.2 per cent to N8.8 million from the N30.5 million recorded in the preceding day, and the number of deals went down by 76.1 per cent to 11 deals from the 46 deals recorded a day earlier.
When the bourse ended for the session, Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 533.9 million units valued at N520.9 million, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with the sale of 70.0 million units worth N23.8 million, and Geo Fluids Plc with 44.1 million units sold for N89.0 million.
The most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis was FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with the sale of 13.7 million units valued at N528.6 million, trailed by Impresit Bakolori Plc with a turnover of 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 17.8 million units sold for N364.2 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices fell on Friday due to worries that the US tariff war could spark a global recession, as America put pressure on the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as well as Venezuela and Iran.
During the session, Brent crude futures went down by 40 cents or 0.5 per cent to $73.63 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) dropped 56 cents or 0.8 per cent to close at $69.36 a barrel.
The US President, Mr Donald Trump, plans to announce reciprocal tariffs targeting a wide range of imports, effective April 2.
For instance, JPMorgan analysts said in a note to its clientele that the trade war has investors worried about a potential recession.
“Concerns about a trade war, coupled with elevated U.S. policy uncertainty, are weighing heavily on sentiment,” the bank said.
It added that although the risk of recession was elevated, high-frequency oil demand indicators have held up relatively well for now.
Regardless, the possibility sent jitters to traders.
Meanwhile, traders continued to look at escalating US sanctions on Venezuela and Iran.
The Trump administration’s decision to impose a 25 per cent tariff on countries importing Venezuelan crude sent ripples through the physical market.
India’s Reliance Industries, the operator of the world’s largest refining complex, halted Venezuelan imports in response, reinforcing fears of a looming supply squeeze.
Also, the US renewed enforcement of Iranian oil sanctions—targeting refiners and shipping linked to China—further tightened available barrels.
The US has issued four rounds of sanctions targeting Iran’s oil sales since Mr Trump’s return to the White House.
The combined impact from both measures threatens to cut off hundreds of thousands of barrels per day from the global market, with Chevron’s potential 200,000 barrels per day production loss in Venezuela adding to the pressure.
The Trump administration extended the deadline to May 27 for US producer Chevron to wind down operations in Venezuela.
In addition, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) will likely stick to its plan to raise oil output for a second consecutive month in May.
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