Economy
FG to Distribute 200 Rice Mills Across Nigeria
By Dipo Olowookere
Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Audu Ogbeh, has said that Federal Government would distribute no fewer than 200 rice mills to millers across the states of the federation.
This, the Minister explained, is to encourage fresh milling of locally produced rice in order to make them more palatable than the imported ones.
Mr Ogbeh said said rice importation has reduced in the last two year, from 580,000 tonnes in 2015 to 58,000 tonnes by 2016 and that by the end of 2017, the difference would have been eliminated because more people now grow rice in Nigeria.
He said the Federal Government was working toward achieving self-sufficiency in staples within the next two years excluding wheat.
The Minister, who addressed journalists in Abuja on Monday, the distribution of the 200 rice mills to millers would save Nigeria about $5 million.
“We have never produced as much grains as we did in the last two years in this country’s’ history.
“We have fed not only Nigeria, we have fed West Africa and there are still thousands of tonnes in people’s warehouses.
“Those who bought grains and stored believing that starvation was near and they will make a killing they are now begging us to take off the grains from them because they are getting stock.
“The only shortfall we have is maize because of the disease called the armyworm.
“We are dealing with that and this planting season, we are going to support farmers to make sure that we bring that disease under control. “We have done amazing things in agriculture in two years, we are still going,” Mr Ogbeh told newsmen.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange was pulled down by 0.70 per cent by profit-takers in the final trading session of 2024 on Tuesday, December 31.
As a result of this, the bourse’s investors lost N7.29 billion, leaving the market capitalisation at N1.029 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.036 trillion.
In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went down by 21.25 points at the close of business to 3,002.68 points from the 3,023.93 points recorded at the previous session.
Business Post the alternative stock exchange recorded five price losers, with Acorn Petroleum Plc declining by 14 Kobo to trade at N1.40 per share, in contrast to Monday’s closing value of N1.54 per share.
Further, UBN Property Plc lost 16 Kobo to end at N1.82 per unit compared with the previous session’s N1.98 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc weakened by 90 Kobo to N21.00 per share from N21.90 per share, 11 Plc lost N4.00 to close at N211.00 per unit versus the previous day’s N215.00 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc crashed by 39 Kobo to finish at N40.61 per share, in contrast to the preceding session’s N41.00 per share.
Conversely, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc appreciated by 2 Kobo to end the session at 17 Kobo per unit compared with Monday’s closing price of 15 Kobo per unit, Air Liquide Plc improved by 80 Kobo to N8.80 per share from the preceding closing rate of N8.00 per share and Geo-Fluids Plc rose by 29 Kobo to sell at N3.34 per unit versus N3.05 per unit.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded in the final session of the year depreciated by 0.64 per cent to 2.68 million units from 2.70 million units, and the value of shares traded yesterday went down by 37.50 per cent to N9.2 million from N14.7 million, while the number of deals increased by 59.1 per cent to 35 deals from 22 deals.
Aradel Holdings Plc, which exited the market a few months ago, remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units worth N89.2 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.4 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.7 million units sold for N5.3 billion.
Also, Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units worth N4.0 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.4 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.7 million units sold for N5.3 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The last trading session of 2024 on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a bearish note on Tuesday with a 0.22 per cent loss.
The decline occurred despite the bourse closing with 36 appreciating stocks and 27 depreciating stocks, implying a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Eterna and Union Dicon Salt topped the losers’ chart after they shed 10.00 per cent each to settle at N24.30 and N7.20 apiece, Champion Breweries lost 8.19 per cent to trade at N3.81, PZ Cussons depreciated by 6.90 per cent to N24.30 and Cadbury Nigeria tumbled by 6.52 per cent to N21.50.
On the flip side, Prestige Assurance, Beta Glass, and Universal Insurance gained 10.00 per cent each to quote at N1.21, N64.90, and 66 Kobo, respectively, as Okomu Oil grew by 9.98 per cent to N444.00, and Thomas Wyatt increased by 9.88 per cent to N1.89.
Yesterday, the insurance space gained 4.93 per cent, the energy index rose by 0.43 per cent, and the industrial goods counter appreciated by 0.17 per cent.
However, the banking sector depreciated by 0.34 per cent and the consumer goods industry went down by 0.29 per cent.
At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) shrank by 222.95 points to 102,926.40 points from 103,149.35 points and the market capitalisation decreased by N136 billion to N62.763 trillion from N62.899 trillion.
During the session, investors transacted 437.8 million shares valued at N40.3 billion in 8,830 deals, in contrast to the 641.1 million shares worth N15.5 billion traded in 13,778 deals in the preceding day, representing a jump in the trading value by 160.00 per cent, and a slip in the trading volume and number of deals by 31.71 per cent and 35.91 per cent, respectively.
Access Holdings finished the day as the busiest equity with 30.3 million units sold for N723.9 million, Universal Insurance traded 24.6 million units worth N16.1 million, Prestige Assurance exchanged 24.3 million units valued at N29.3 million, SAHCO transacted 22.2 million units worth N662.2 million, and Aradel Holdings traded 21.7 million units valued at N13.0 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) in the final session of the 2024 year (Tuesday, December 31) by 0.15 per cent or N2.25 to N1,538.25/$1 from the preceding day’s N1,540.50/$1 on the back of operational efficiency and transparency in the nation’s currency market.
Equally, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N4.76 to sell at N1,925.45/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,930.21/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N2.68 to quote at N1,595.41/€1 versus the preceding rate of N1,598.09/€1.
Also, in the parallel market, the local currency gained N5 against the Dollar during the trading session to settle at N1,645/$1, in contrast to the N1,650/$1 it was exchanged a day earlier.
Since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS), which sets new guidelines for authorised Foreign Exchange (FX) dealers earlier in the month of December, the Naira has continued to regain its footing.
However, Fitch Ratings said that while the introduction of the electronic FX matching platform is a step towards greater transparency, progress in addressing FX challenges has been slower than anticipated.
In the cryptocurrency market, profit-taking synonymous with the end of the year occurred with traders expecting the current price action to likely continue until February, weeks after US President-elect, Mr Donald Trump, takes office in the U.S. and set into motion a barrage of policies that may help the market.
Ethereum (ETH) lost 1.9 per cent to trade at $3,333.72, Solana (SOL) slid by 1.7 per cent to $189.36, Cardano (ADA) shrank by 1.6 per cent to $0.8496, Dogecoin (DOGE) fell by 1.4 per cent to $0.3148, Bitcoin (BTC) slumped by 1.2 per cent to $93,237.72, Binance Coin (BNB) declined by 0.6 per cent to close at $701.85, and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) lost 0.02 per cent to finish at $0.9981.
However, Litecoin (LTC) rose by 3.3 per cent to sell at $103.44, and Ripple (XRP) grew by 1.9 per cent to $2.12, while the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00.
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