Economy
Experts Preach Income Diversification to Employees, Entrepreneurs
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The importance of income diversification has been emphasised to salary earners, individuals, self-employed and small business owners by some experts who spoke at the workshop organised by Ecobank Nigeria to commemorate this year’s Worker’s Day.
At the event themed Maximising Your Income: the Power of Diversification, participants were urged to make deliberate efforts to diversify their income stream in light of the current state of the nation’s economy.
The keynote speaker, Dr Yemi Kale, in his presentation titled State of the Nigerian Macroeconomy: Implications for Consumers and Workers, pointed out that the nation’s economy has potential for growth based on its vast youth population, large market, abundant natural and human resources and significant developments in the tourism, telecommunications, manufacturing, and technology industries.
He regretted that such potentials are being hindered by macroeconomic dysfunctions, which include external contagion, political instability, improper planning and poor plan implementation and outright wrong decisions, policies, and strategies.
“Our GDP growth has been steady, slow, and fragile, with high inflation risks, rising public debt indicative of shrinking fiscal space and declining reserves and a slowdown in capital inflow.
“Households and workers must therefore explore multiple sources of income, invest to hedge inflation, buy food items in bulk to evade immediate upward price adjustment and avoid loan accumulation,” he stated.
He identified Ecobank as one of the financial institutions that parade diversified products and services, noting the bank’s decision to organise the webinar was quite laudable because of the attendant benefits.
Further, the former Statistician-General of the nation noted that “Nigeria has potential for strong economic growth. It is the biggest economy in Africa and the largest African market.
“Nigeria has abundant human resources as Africa’s most populous nation with a growing youthful population and low-cost labour. It is the 6th largest gas deposit in the world, the 8th highest producer of petroleum in the world and oil reserves are estimated to be 36 billion barrels.
“We are blessed with 34 solid minerals, over 44 exportable commodities and significant growth potentials in the tourism, telecommunications, manufacturing, and technology industries.”
Also speaking, Ms Daberechi Effiong, who heads Consumer Products at Ecobank Nigeria, highlighted the benefits of saving with the bank and how to diversify income to maximize returns.
She advised customers to spread their portfolios for multiple sources of income and also imbibe the habit of financial planning.
According to her, “Ecobank has a bouquet of high-yielding products with attractive interest rates which customers can invest in. They can take advantage of our savings and current accounts, local and foreign accounts, super savers, and so many others.
“We also have mortgage financing, either re-financing or outright purchase. They can access our services through our digital channels and Xpress points, our agency banking outlets, which are available all over the country. We also offer financial advice and grant loans with low-interest rates to customers.”
Ms Oluyemisi Ogunmola, Managing Director, EDC Fund Management Limited, stated the need for participants to invest in the money market and mutual funds as part of income diversification.
“You should have goals for diversification, either short, medium, or long term. We are also available for financial advice on where and how to invest. It is also important to know that you can start small with the fund you have,” she stated.
Earlier In her welcome address, the Head of Consumer Banking at Ecobank Nigeria, Mrs Korede Demola-Adeniyi, said the webinar focuses on practical financial planning insights on maximizing income and how customers and members of the public can key in as they go through their financial lifecycle.
She added that the webinar is further proof of the bank’s commitment to the financial well-being of its customers, and so urged the bank’s customers as well as non-customers, to make Ecobank their bank of choice.
Ecobank Nigeria Ltd is an affiliate of the Ecobank Group, the leading private pan-African banking group. Ecobank Nigeria offers a comprehensive suite of financial services and solutions to its Consumer, Commercial, Corporate and Investment Banking clients at over 200 branches and 50,000 Xpress Point agency locations in Nigeria.
The Ecobank Group was established in 1985 to drive financial integration and socio-economic development in Africa.
With a presence in 35 sub-Saharan African countries and in France, the UK, UAE and China, we have unrivalled expertise and experience across Africa. The Ecobank pan-African platform provides a single gateway for payments, cash management, trade and investment across Africa and beyond.
By Dipo Olowookere
A 1.08 per cent growth was further printed by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday on improved appetite for Nigerian stocks.
Data showed that the insurance sector lost 0.61 per cent yesterday due to profit-taking as the energy space gave up 0.08 per cent, while the commodity counter closed flat.
However, the industrial goods landscape appreciated by 2.06 per cent, the banking index improved by 1.31 per cent, and the consumer goods sector expanded by 0.83 per cent.
At the close of business on Customs Street, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,563.92 points to 147,040.07 points from 145,476.15 points and the market capitalisation went up by N996 billion to N93.722 trillion from N92.726 trillion.
UAC Nigeria led the advancers’ log yesterday after it grew by 10.00 per cent to N96.80, Transcorp Hotels jumped by 9.71 per cent to N172.80, Royal Exchange appreciated by 8.89 per cent to N1.96, Ikeja Hotel soared by 8.74 per cent to N31.10, and Veritas Kapital leapt by 8.07 per cent to N1.74.
On the flip side, Union Dicon declined by 10.00 per cent to N6.30, ABC Transport slipped by 9.88 per cent to N3.10, AXA Mansard depreciated by 7.19 per cent to N12.90, FTN Cocoa lost 4.62 per cent to trade at N4.75, and Guinea Insurance dropped 3.36 per cent to finish at N1.15.
A total of 38 stocks ended on the gainers’ table and 17 stocks finished on the losers’ table, representing a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Traders transacted 361.6 million equities for N14.8 billion in 21,051 deals yesterday versus the 1.9 billion equities worth N19.2 billion traded in 23,369 deals a day earlier, showing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 80.97 per cent, 22.92 per cent, and 14.20 per cent, respectively.
The busiest stock for the session was Zenith Bank with 59.5 million units worth N3.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 46.1 million units valued at N973.0 million, Fidelity Bank exchanged 29.4 million units for N560.4 million, FCMB transacted 27.9 million units worth N293.9 million, and Tantalizers sold 13.0 million units valued at N29.8 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Energy stocks influenced the 4.76 per cent loss recorded by the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Friday, December 5.
The culprits were the duo of 11 Plc and Nipco Plc,with the former shedding N32.17 to end at N291.83 per share compared with the previous day’s N324.00 per share, and the latter down by N21.00 to sell at N195.00 per unit versus the previous session’s N216.00 per unit.
Consequently, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) slumped by 170.16 points to 3,401.37 points from 3,571.53 points and the market capitalisation lost N101.81 billion to close at N2.035 billion from the N2.136 trillion quoted in the preceding session.
The OTC securities exchange suffered the decline yesterday despite the share prices of three companies closing green.
Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc was up by N1.80 to close at N39.80 per share compared with Thursday’s price of N38.00 per share, Air Liquide Plc appreciated by N1.09 to N11.99 per unit from N10.90 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc grew by 78 Kobo to N56.57 per share from N55.79 per share.
During the session, the volume of transactions rose by 6,885.3 per cent to 18.2 million units from 4.3 million units, the value of transactions ballooned by 10,301.7 per cent to N389.7 million from N347.2 million, but the number of deals declined by 29.7 per cent to 26 deals from 37 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units valued at N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units worth N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc also finished the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.2 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units worth N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira depreciated further against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, December 5, as FX demand pressure mounts.
The Nigerian currency lost N2.60 or 0.18 per cent against the greenback to close at N1,450.43/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,447.83/$1.
Equally, the domestic currency declined against the Pound Sterling in the official forex market during the session by N4.48 to trade at N1,935.45/£1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,930.97/£1 and shrank against the Euro by 43 Kobo to end at N1,689.17/€1 versus the preceding session’s rate of N1,688.74/€1.
Similarly, the local currency performed badly against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX counter by N2 to close at N1,455/$1 versus Thursday’s N1,453/$1 but traded flat at the parallel market at N14.65/$1.
As the country gets into the festive period, pressure mounted on the local currency reflecting higher foreign payments and lower FX inflows.
However, there are expectations that the Nigerian currency will be stable, supported by interventions by to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the face of steady dollar Demand and inflows from Detty December festivities that will give the Naira a boost after it depreciated mildly last month.
Traders cited by Reuters expect that the Naira will trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450/$1 next week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.
As for the crypto market, it was down yesterday due to profit-taking associated with year-end trading. However, the December 1-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation by the University of Michigan fell to 4.1 per cent from 4.5 per cent previously and 4.5 per cent expected. The 5-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation fell to 3.2 per cent from 3.4 per cent previously and 3.4 per cent expected.
With the dearth of official economic data of late, these private surveys have taken on a new level of significance and the market banks of them to make decisions.
Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 5.7 per cent to $0.4142, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 5.1 per cent to $0.1394, Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 3.9 per cent to $3,039.75, Solana (SOL) declined by 3.8 per cent to $133.24, and Litecoin (LTC) fell by 3.7 per cent to $80.59.
Further, Bitcoin (BTC) went down by 2.6 per cent to sell at $89,683.72, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 2.2 per cent to $883.59, and Ripple (XRP) shrank by 2.1 per cent to $2.04, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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