Economy
Dangote to Cut Nigeria’s Sugar Import by 40% to Create 30,000 Jobs
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc is planning to create employment for over 30,000 youths through the reduction of sugar import into Nigeria by 40 per cent.
Speaking with newsmen recently, the president of Dangote Group, Mr Aliko Dangote, stated that this would be achieved through the Phase II of the company’s sugar project.
The integrated sugar complex to be located in Tunga, Awe Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, comprises a 60,000ha sugar plantation and two sugar factories with the capacity to produce 430,000 tonnes of refined white sugar per annum.
Mr Dangote stated that this project will also help the nation save scarce foreign exchange (forex).
Meanwhile, the shipping data of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) revealed that Auarius Honor and Ocean Crown would be at Greenview Development Nigeria Limited (GDNL), a subsidiary of Dangote Group to offload 45,850 tonnes and 46,750 tonnes respectively.
Following high demand in the food and drinks sector, GDNL took delivery of 187,000 tonnes from four vessels in May this year.
At the terminal, Common Galaxy came with 48,800 tonnes; Bonny Island, 47,200 tonnes; Chayanee Naree, 46,000 tonnes, and Karteria Bluesrar, 45,000 tonnes. Also, in April, the terminal took delivery of 91,600 tonnes when Unity Bluestar offloaded 47,200 tonnes and Ecoatlantic, 44,400 tonnes.
The NPA shipping data also noted that 67,000 tonnes of sugar were offloaded at ENL Consortium and GDNL, noting that the ENL terminal took delivery of 20,000 tonnes from Doro, while Baltic Mantis discharged 47,000 tonnes at GDNL.
It added that Genco Picardy arrived with 46,500 tonnes in February, while two vessels offloaded 101,422 tonnes in January, stressing that Desert Calm berthed with 55,352 tonnes and Pauline, 46,070 tonnes. Finding from Index Mundi, a trade portal revealed that the country has already imported 965,000 metric tonnes of raw this year.
Also, the country imported $1.82 billion in beet sugar, sugar syrups, and other sugar confectionery in the last two years. Sugar is currently on the list of commodities on the foreign exchange restriction list of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Also, statistics from Trade Data Monitor (TDM) based on the Brazilian Foreign Trade explained that Brazil’s exports rose from $458.9 million in 2019 to $702.8 million in 2020.
According to TDM, Brazil’s cumulative raw sugar exports to Nigeria in the 2020/21 season were 1.62 million tonnes, while domestic cane sugar production has slumped from 75,000 tonnes to 70,000 tonnes, about a 6.7 per cent decline within one year. The country had projected to meet the 800,000 tonnes target of raw sugar production by 2022 as demand by the food and drink manufacturing and retail markets is on the increase.
However, Nigeria could not meet up to five per cent target as data from the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) revealed that in 2016, local production of refined sugar was 25,000 tonnes; 2017, 20,184 tonnes; 2018, 14,918 tonnes and in 2019, 28,597 tonnes; 2020, 75,000 tonnes and 2021, 75,000 tonnes.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rallied by 1.70 per cent on Thursday, June 25, after three price gainers overpowered the two price losers recorded at the close of business.
Consequently, the market capitalisation of the trading platform increased by N43.79 billion to N2.618 trillion from N2.574 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 72.96 points to close at 4,362.32 points, in contrast to Wednesday’s 4,289.36 points.
Yesterday, the price advancers were led by Nipco Plc, which chalked up N31.79 to close at N349.76 per unit versus the preceding day’s N317.97 per unit. Okitipupa Plc gained N18.00 to end at N298.00 per share versus the previous session’s N280.00 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went up by N7.11 to N86.79 per unit from N79.68 per unit.
On the flip side, Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc crumbled by 32 Kobo to close at N21.09 per share compared with the N21.41 per share it closed at midweek, and Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 25 Kobo to N2.51 per unit from N2.76 per unit.
During the session, the value of securities traded by investors went down by 86.7 per cent to N10.9 million from the preceding session’s N82.9 million, and the volume of securities dropped 84.9 per cent to 10.9 million units from the previous 82.9 million, while the number of deals grew by 84.2 per cent to 35 deals from 19 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 68.4 million units exchanged for N4.7 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited further suffered a 0.64 per cent decline on Thursday as the bears tightened their grip on the bourse.
For the second straight session, all the key sectors of Customs Street pointed south, with the energy counter down by 5.22 per cent. The insurance index slumped by 2.59 per cent, the banking space depreciated by 0.28 per cent, and the consumer goods segment moderated by 0.06 per cent, while the industrial goods sector was flat, though with a marginal fall.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 1,493.71 points to 233,580.83 points from 235,074.54 points, and the market capitalisation retreated by N959 billion to N149.888 trillion from N150.847 trillion.
Investor sentiment remained weak after a negative market breadth index, as there were 21 price gainers and 34 price losers.
Aradel and Deap Capital went down by 10.00 per cent each to N1,575.00 and N4.05, respectively. Trans-Nationwide Express fell by 9.90 per cent to N3.64, Regency Alliance slipped by 9.57 per cent to N85 Kobo, and C&I Leasing dipped by 9.48 per cent to N28.12.
Conversely, Red Star Express grew by 9.60 per cent to N24.55, Legend Internet expanded by 9.09 per cent to N6.00, Neimeth appreciated by 7.10 per cent to N8.30, Abbey Mortgage Bank rose by 5.45 per cent to N8.70, and Ellah Lakes improved by 4.65 per cent to N9.00.
Yesterday, market participants traded 393.7 million equities valued at N19.2 billion in 45,813 deals compared with the 488.1 million equities worth N20.9 billion transacted in 46,239 deals recorded a day earlier, implying a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 19.34 per cent, 8.13 per cent, and 0.92 per cent, respectively.
The most active stock for the session was Access Holdings with a turnover of 39.1 million units worth N896.2 million, Chams traded 24.5 million units valued at N96.5 million, Fidelity Bank sold 24.1 million units for N436.9 million, Sterling Holdings exchanged 23.8 million units valued at N182.2 million, and Zenith Bank transacted 18.9 million units worth N2.1 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira recorded a marginal gain of 43 Kobo or 0.03 per cent against the United States Dollar on Wednesday, June 25, in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) to sell for N1,380.11/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,380.54/$1.
However, the Nigerian currency lost N3.21 against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session to close at N1,818.84/£1, in contrast to Wednesday’s exchange rate of N1,815.63/£1, and against the Euro, it fell by N3.21 to trade at N1,566.84/€1 versus midweek’s value of N1,563.63/€1.
In the same vein, the Nigerian Naira depreciated against the Dollar at the GTBank FX deck yesterday by N3 to sell for N1,383/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N1,380/$1, and at the black market window, it remained unchanged at N1,395/$1.
Interbank FX turnover at the NFEM window surged by about 56 per cent day-on-day to close at $195.371 million from $125.588 million reported on Wednesday, according to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The Naira continues to feel the impact of rising FX payments and a strong US Dollar amid a sharp slowdown in forex market interventions by the central bank, with more than six weeks of no support for the local currency.
Nigeria’s foreign reserves increased further to $51.142 billion, while oil prices continue to be held in the $70 range by developments in the geopolitical scene.
Meanwhile, in the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin sank below $60,000 as more than $1 billion in crypto positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, with longs accounting for $842 million of the damage. About 148,500 traders were wiped out. The largest single position was a $38 million bitcoin-dollar bet on Hyperliquid. It led at $489 million in liquidations and dropped 2.8 per cent to sell at $59,862.61.
Ethereum (ETH) crashed by 5.5 per cent to $1,554.57, Ripple (XRP) declined by 4.8 per cent to $1.03, Cardano (ADA) fell by 4.3 per cent to $0.1433, Dogecoin (DOGE) dropped 3.4 per cent to sell at $0.0745, TRON (TRX) slid 2.2 per cent to $0.3215, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.8 per cent to $561.34, and Solana (SOL) dipped by 0.3 per cent to $62.94, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) sold flat at $1.00 each.
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