Economy
Ngige Wants Special Fund for Employment from AfDB
By Dipo Olowookere
Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr Chris Ngige, has called on the Africa Development Bank (AFDB) to create what he called a Youth Fund for Employment.
He explained that with the growing number of youths joining the informal labour sector, the immediate take-off of the fund would greatly assist in skills training and formal technical education needed to improve productivity while helping to also formalize the informal sector.
Mr Ngige, who was the head of Nigeria’s delegation to the Second Specialized Technical Committee on Social Development, Labour and Employment summit in Algiers, Algeria last week, opined that the Future of Work in Africa would remain bleak without a corresponding new way to effectively tackle the challenges posed through innovations which have changed the manner work and productions are organized.
He said, “In Nigeria and I believe is the same in many African countries, emphasis is shifting from limited white-collar job to the expansive opportunities that abound in the blue-collar sector.
“A great deal of effort is being invested in entrepreneurial studies to make our environment fit for enterprise creation in job rich areas such as agriculture, mining and ICT, all intended to close the existing gap between graduate employability and demands of the labour market.
“The new visions should be for graduate entrepreneurs who would not be job seekers but establishers of business for themselves and employing others, especially the high school leavers who normally stream into the informal sector. When this fund takes off and made available to all, will assist in no small measure.”
Also discussing the theme on ‘Women Empowerment in African Labour Market,’ the Minister said apart from women forming about 50 percent of the African population, their roles in population growth and other multiple societal roles make investment in them an overriding issue.
He further noted that “harnessing the development potentials of women is largely dependent on their capacity to participate in developmental process in significant numbers and at high enough levels of responsibility.”
Recounting Nigeria’s experience in women empowerment, the Minister said mainstreaming of women has been a cardinal agenda of successive Nigerian government in line with 35 percent Beijing affirmative action, in the appointment of women into managerial positions.
He affirmed that Nigerian constitution captured all the relevant sections of the ILO Convention on the rights of women as clearly stated in section 17 (3) (a) the which gives adequate protection to the rights of all citizens against discrimination either in employment or occupation on the basis of sèx: (3) (b) which abolished forced labour: and (3) (e) which guarantees Equal Pay for Equal Work without discrimination on the grounds of sèx.
“Government went step further to establish agencies such as National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) to further protect the rights of women and girls against abuses and slavery. It has also made progress in the improvement of health facilities for women’s health leading to reduced maternal mortality rate,” he added.
He emphasized that the micro credit scheme (Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programmes – GEES) for market women and farmers as well as the home-grown school feeding programme which the Buhari administration introduced, was designed to insulate them from extant economic shock while relieving mostly rural women of the burden of child feeding and further enhance their domestic economic capability.
The Minister concluded that with the degradation of Boko Haram terrorist group, some of the women and girls in captivity have been freed while government was making further efforts to free the rest and stamp out terrorism.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its gains by 0.91 per cent on Wednesday, June 3, spurred by three price gainers led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which rose by N13.90 to sell N210.41 per share versus the previous day’s N196.51 per share. MRS Oil appreciated by N10 to N190.00 per unit from N180.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc added 5 Kobo to sell at N3.00 per share versus N2.95 per share.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N23.91 billion to N2.660 trillion from N2.636 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gained 39.97 points to finish at 4,446.27 points, in contrast to Tuesday’s 4,406.30 points.
The NASD exchange witnessed three price losers at midweek, led by Nipco Plc, which shrank by N21.30 to close at N325.97 per unit compared with the previous session’s N347.27 per unit, Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc went down by N1.20 to quote at N24.30 per share versus the preceding session’s N25.50 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc weakened to by 69 Kobo to N75.41 per unit from N76.10 per unit.
The volume of trades yesterday significantly improved by 71.5 per cent to 527,221 units from Tuesday’s 307,363 units, as the value of transactions soared by 49.9 per cent to N64.2 million from the preceding session’s N49.9 million, and the number of deals surged by 9.5 per cent to 46 deals from 42 deals.
When trading activities ended for the day, 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 64.6 million units exchanged for N4.4 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 sold 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 transacted for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The positive run of the Naira against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) continued on Wednesday, June 3, with the former chalking up N3.79 or 0.28 per cent against the latter, closing at N1,357.26, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,361.05/$1.
Similarly, the Nigerian currency gained N10.52 against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session to close at N1,822.67/£1 compared with the previous rate of N1,833.19/£1, and appreciated against the Euro by N9.56 to N1,574.83/€1 from N1,584.39/€1.
Further, at the black market, the Naira improved its value against the greenback at midweek by N5 to trade at N1,375/$1 compared with the N1,380/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the GTBank FX counter, it gained N6 to sell for N1,372/$1 versus N1,378/$1.
The boost came as the country’s external reserves continued to gain momentum. A look at the updated data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that foreign reserves continue to increase with two consecutive inflows in June 2026, settling at $49.876 billion as of Tuesday.
Foreign portfolio investors, exporters and non-bank corporates continue to keep the supply side strong, with the less aggressive FX interventions by the CBN at the official window in recent times helping to ease worries about capital flight.
The apex bank reported that interbank FX turnover declined to $133.731 million across 136 deals, from $169.822 million the previous day.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market remained bearish due to sell-offs triggered by geopolitical uncertainties and the US stock market rally.
Cardano (ADA) dipped by 5.5 per cent to $0.2046, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 4.8 per cent to $627.56, Solana (SOL) shrank by 3.9 per cent to $72.99, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 2.9 per cent to $1,844.53, and Bitcoin (BTC) slipped by 2.7 per cent to $65,675.87.
Further, Dogecoin (DOGE) depleted by 1.4 per cent to $0.0928, Ripple (XRP) declined by 0.7 per cent to $1.21, and TRON (TRX) lost 0.4 per cent to sell at $0.3336, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) gained 0.01 each to settle at $0.9986 and $0.9997, respectively.
By Dipo Olowookere
Nigeria’s stock market further depleted by 1.44 per cent on Wednesday following panic sell-offs by investors, who are cutting down their exposure to local equities.
Business Post observed that profit-taking dominated Customs Street at midweek, with all the key sectors of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closing in red.
The insurance space shed 2.76 per cent, the industrial goods index lost 1.55 per cent, the banking counter declined by 1.53 per cent, the consumer goods segment shrank by 0.28 per cent, and the energy sector weakened by 0.05 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 3,554.05 points to 243,132.61 points from 246,686.66 points, and the market capitalisation moderated by N2.279 trillion to N155.940 trillion from N158.219 trillion.
Lafarge Africa led the losers’ chart yesterday after it gave up 9.97 per cent to trade at N307.90, Zichis lost 9.82 per cent to close at N29.20, Learn Africa depreciated by 9.80 per cent to N11.50, John Holt crashed by 9.80 per cent to N13.80, and Consolidated Hallmark dipped by 8.84 per cent to N6.19.
On the flip side, Abbey Mortgage Bank topped the gainers’ log after it grew by 9.93 per cent to N7.75, International Energy Insurance appreciated by 9.89 per cent to N6.00, Tripple G gained 9.80 per cent to sell for N4.37, Universal Insurance expanded by 8.91 per cent to N1.10, and Royal Exchange improved by 7.14 per cent to N1.50.
A total of 17 stocks gained weight yesterday, while 43 stocks lost weight, indicating a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment. This has been the mood of the market since the beginning of this week.
Market participants transacted 923.0 million shares worth N42.3 billion in 69,332 deals on Wednesday, in contrast to the 718.8 million shares valued at N29.3 billion traded in 71,683 deals on Tuesday, representing a drop in the number of deals by 3.28 per cent, and a rise in the trading volume and value by 28.41 per cent and 44.37 per cent, respectively.
Sterling Holdings led the activity chart with 264.6 million units valued at N2.1 billion, Access Holdings traded 76.7 million units worth N1.8 billion, Linkage Assurance exchanged 55.1 million units for N99.2 million, VFD Group sold 35.5 million units worth N378.8 million, and Ellah Lakes transacted 33.1 million units valued at N334.3 million.
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