Economy
UK to Help Nigeria Achieve Sustainable, Resilient Financial Market
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The United Kingdom has pledged to support Nigeria in achieving a sustainable and resilient financial market because of its importance to the economy.
The British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mrs Ben Llewellyn-Jones, gave this assurance when he held a meeting with the management of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently.
The envoy, who was represented by the Head of Economic Development, Ms Sally Woolhouse, stated that her country intends to make the sector, particularly the capital market, more innovative in the face of emerging climate change challenges.
She said, “our offers cover technical support, including green capital market. FSD Africa is doing an awesome job in partnering with you to drive this mission. Also, we can explore the potential strategic engagement with UK financial market institutions such as the London Stock Exchange, through which SEC could gain insight into emerging trends.”
Mrs Llewellyn-Jones described the UK government as “a long-staying ally of the Nigerian government,” stressing that her country was “committed to supporting the country’s financial sector, particularly the capital market in being more innovative, sustainable and resilient even as we all face emerging challenges such as climate change.”
“We look forward to working more collaboratively with every partner in achieving a sustainable and resilient financial sector in Nigeria,” she said.
In his remarks, the Director-General of the SEC, Mr Lamido Yuguda, thanked the diplomat for supporting the nation’s capital market, reiterating the commitment of the agency to continue to create awareness, impart knowledge and engender public participation in these topical areas.
While commenting on the outcome of the Capital Market Committee (CMC) meeting held last week, Mr Yuguda said members of the team were reminded to collectively work towards the enactment of the Investments and Securities Bill 2022, which will enhance the performance of the Nigerian capital market and align it with global best practices.
The DG reiterated the commitment of the management of the commission to the public on the full implementation of the initiatives of the revised Capital Market Master Plan, which will form the basis of the policy direction of the Commission for the coming years.
Mr Victor Nkiri, representing Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSDA), said developing a capital markets master plan provides a clear roadmap for the development of the capital markets in a holistic and realistic manner whilst setting clear targets and action points.
This, he said, provides positive market signalling to all financial sector players such as policymakers, potential domestic and international investors, peer regulators, ministries of finance etc, as it provides an indication of the direction in which the capital market development is taking in that country.
“Having a clear blueprint (such as a CMMP) also helps to ensure a collaborative and symbiotic market system approach is pursued e.g., incorporating sectors such as pension funds which form a bulk of institutional investors and are key to driving domestic capital,” he stated.
Nkiru said the need to revise the master plan became necessary to align with current global and local economic realities – post-COVID-19 economic recovery and the recent aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war, supply chain disruptions (local macroeconomic challenges, FX volatility) and the need to drive long-term domestic capital to fund economic growth.
“Also, there was a need to align with current market dynamics and disruptions in the capital market space – fintech, decentralised finance (de-fi), digi-assets and blockchain-powered technology.
“To position the market to respond to the global call on climate finance and resilience through the deployment of sustainable finance instruments such as green bonds, social bonds, blue bonds etc, noting that Africa stands to bear the largest brunt of climate change,” he added.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed flat on Wednesday, August 5, as the market witnessed weaker trading activity with only two deals executed.
In the midweek session, the volume of securities exchanged by investors dropped 99.9 per cent to 802 units from the 1.6 million units recorded on Tuesday. The value of securities further decreased by 99.6 per cent to N208,240 from the preceding session’s N47.6 million, and the number of deals significantly went down by 93.9 per cent to two deals from the 33 deals recorded a day earlier.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 76.9 million units transacted for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for 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 valued at N415.7 million.
There were no price gainers or losers yesterday.
As a result, the market capitalisation stood unmoving at N2.739 trillion, while the NASD Security Index (NSI) remained unchanged at 4,563.96 points.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira slid against the US Dollar by N2.28 or 0.17 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, August 5, to N1,363.85/$1 from N1,362.55/$1.
The local currency also declined against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N5.97 to close at N1,837.38/£1 compared with Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,831.41/£1, and against the Euro, it crashed by N6.54 to quote at N1,575.25/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,568.71/€1.
But at the black market, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the greenback yesterday at N1,400/$1, and also remained unchanged at the GTBank FX desk at N1,373/$1.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says rates have narrowed to below two per cent, while the country’s external reserves have risen above $52.5 billion, reflecting the impact of its ongoing monetary and foreign exchange reforms.
CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso, represented by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed this on Tuesday during the CBN Fair in Gombe. He noted that reforms introduced since 2023 had significantly reduced the disparity between the official FX market and the parallel market.
“The Naira continues to strengthen, with the spread between official and Bureau de Change rates now below two per cent,” he said, adding that reserves at $52.5 billion were supported by sustained inflows and renewed investor confidence in the economy.
Interbank FX transactions slid as weaker market activities dropped total Dollar volume exchanged to $75.35 million, a 51.8 per cent decline from $156.23 million in turnover quoted at the previous close.
The deals at the NFEM window also fell as data from the central bank put Wednesday’s quote at 82 from 139.
In the cryptocurrency market, major were down as global risk sentiment softened as a key world equity index slipped and chipmakers fell.
The MSCI All Country World Index snapped a five-day run to fall 0.2 per cent as chipmakers retreated on both sides of the Pacific. South Korea’s Kospi, a bellwether for the AI trade, dropped 4.4 per cent.
Ripple (XRP) depleted by 1.7 per cent to $1.05, Binance Coin (BNB) decreased by 1.0 per cent to $594.87, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $0.1884, TRON (TRX) shrank by 0.2 per cent to $0.3261, Solana (SOL) crumbled by 0.1 per cent to $74.00, and Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.1 per cent to $0.0697.
On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH) gained 2.3 per cent to trade at $1,911.41, and Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 0.8 per cent to $64,759.28, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The domestic stock exchange rebounded by 0.05 per cent on Wednesday on the back of renewed bargain-hunting by investors, though the level of activity waned.
After bleeding for a few days, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited heaved a sigh of relief yesterday, as the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 109.41 points to close at 244,912.24 points compared with the previous day’s 244,802.83 points, and the market capitalisation garnered N71 billion to settle at N158.087 trillion versus Tuesday’s N158.016 trillion.
Business Post reports that despite the rebound recorded by Customs Street at midweek, the market breadth index remained negative, as there were 20 price advancers and 29 price decliners, implying bearish investor sentiment.
Linkage Assurance appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N1.77, AVA Capital rose by 9.55 per cent to N10.90, Fortis Global Insurance advanced by 7.69 per cent to N2.80, McNichols gained 7.34 per cent to finish at N5.85, and Coronation Insurance surged by 5.51 per cent to N2.49.
Conversely, Honeywell Flour depreciated by 9.94 per cent to N16.30, PZ Cussons gave up 9.94 per cent to trade at N74.75, Zichis crashed by 9.74 per cent to N20.76, Learn Africa slipped by 9.62 per cent to N9.40, and Neimeth tumbled by 8.33 per cent to N8.25.
The busiest equity was FCMB, with a turnover of 369.2 million units valued at N4.1 billion. Chams transacted 46.7 million units worth N201.8 million, First Holdco transacted 43.5 million units for N5.7 billion, Access Holdings sold 29.8 million units worth N778.0 million, and Linkage Assurance exchanged 19.6 million units valued at N33.5 million.
At the close of transactions, market participants bought and sold 824.1 million units worth N25.5 billion in 48,114 deals, in contrast to the 1.6 billion units sold for N28.7 billion in 54,160 deals a day earlier, showing a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 48.49 per cent, 11.15 per cent, and 11.16 per cent, respectively.
