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 Adedapo Adesanya
Four securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.95 per cent on Friday, erasing N41.17 billion from the bourse, which had its market capitalisation at N2.567 trillion compared with the previous session’s N2.618 trillion.
In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) decreased at the close of business by 85.28 points to 4,277.07 points from 4,362.32 points.
The price decliners were led by 11 Plc, which gave up N20.50 to sell at N200.50 per share compared with the preceding day’s N221.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dropped N16.94 to close at N155.20 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N172.14 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by N2.11 to N84.68 per share from N86.79 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 11 Kobo to end at N16.74 per unit, in contrast to the N16.85 per unit it closed a day earlier.
During the trading day, the value of transactions jumped by 172.1 per cent to N29.9 million from the preceding session’s N10.9 million, and the volume of trades soared by 136.5 per cent to 955,096 units from the previous 403,901 units, while the number of deals went down by 11.4 per cent to 31 deals from 35 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 68.6 million units sold for N4.7 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed 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 last trading session of this week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a negative note, with a 0.66 per cent loss on Friday.
This was influenced by sustained selling pressure and cautious trading, which forced investors into profit-taking.
Data obtained by Business Post showed that the energy sector fell by 4.66 per cent, the insurance counter dipped by 2.23 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.96 per cent, and the banking segment shed 0.28 per cent, while the industrial goods space remained unchanged.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) of Nigeria’s stock exchange went down by 1,531.81 points to 232,049.02 points from 233,580.83 points, and the market capitalisation dropped N983 billion to settle at N148.905 trillion compared with Thursday’s N149.888 trillion.
Aradel was the worst-performing equity after it lost 10.00 per cent to close at N1,417.50. International Energy Insurance slipped by 9.95 per cent to N5.79, Trans-Nationwide Express depreciated by 9.89 per cent to N3.28, eTranzact crashed by 9.79 per cent to N14.75, and UPDC slumped by 9.72 per cent to N28.12.
The best-performing equity for the day was Universal Insurance, which gained 6.32 per cent to close at N1.01, McNichols grew by 5.52 per cent to N8.60, Linkage Assurance expanded by 4.67 per cent to N1.57, NGX Group appreciated by 4.35 per cent to N120.00, and Transcorp increased by 3.62 per cent to N41.50.
As look at the activity level indicated that investors traded 388.7 million stocks worth N18.4 billion in 44,631 deals compared with the 393.7 million stocks valued at N19.2 billion executed in 45,813 deals a day earlier, representing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 1.27 per cent, 4.17 per cent, and 2.58 per cent, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira recorded a loss of 82 Kobo or 0.06 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 26, exchanging at N1,380.93/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,380.11/$1.
Equally, the domestic currency further weakened against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market yesterday by N6.06 to settle at N1,824.90/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,818.84/£1, and lost N10.74 on the Euro to sell at N1,577 .58/€1 versus N1,566.84/€1.
At the GTBank forex counter, the Naira depreciated against the greenback during the session by N4 to close at N1,387/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s value of N1,383/$1, and at the parallel market, it was unchanged at N1,395/$1.
Interbank FX activity among financial institutions has fluctuated amid a sharp slowdown in forex market interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as it allows demand and supply to move the market.
Also, a stronger greenback has generally put significant pressure on emerging-market currencies.
Nigeria has accessed the first tranche of a proposed $5 billion derivatives financing arrangement with First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, the largest lender in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The $5 billion facility, approved by the National Assembly earlier this year, is part of the federal government’s plan to diversify external financing sources and reduce borrowing costs. Structured as a Total Return Swap with First Abu Dhabi Bank, proceeds are earmarked for refinancing debt and supporting infrastructure financing.
If the proceeds are brought into the country through the official FX market, the transaction will increase the currency reserves or Dollar liquidity.
At the cryptocurrency market, Solana (SOL) grew by 2.2 per cent to $71.92, Cardano (ADA) gained 1.1 per cent to trade at $0.1474, Ripple (XRP) also appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $1.05, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 0.9 per cent to $0.0755, and Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.4 per cent to $1,578.84.
On the flip side, TRON (TRX) slid 0.6 per cent to $0.3203, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 0.3 per cent to $564.33, and Bitcoin fell by 0.2 per cent to $60,219.37, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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