By Adedapo Adesanya

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has urged the federal government to ensure total transparency in the domestic pricing matrix in line with the Naira-for-Crude policy.

Speaking in a new interview with a Nigerian newspaper, New Telegraph, the Director-General of the manufacturing body, Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said that the government should ensure that local refineries received their full, unhindered daily crude quotas without bureaucratic bottlenecks.

The Naira-for-Crude policy introduced in October 2024 is a strategic initiative to boost local refining and reduce pressure on foreign exchange reserves. The policy directs the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) to sell crude oil to local refineries, notably the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, in Naira, with a focus on stabilising the local currency and reducing reliance on USD for energy imports.

“The federal government should mandate total transparency in the domestic pricing matrix and ensure that local refineries receive their full, unhindered daily crude quotas without bureaucratic bottlenecks.

“The true macroeconomic benefit of this policy must be allowed to materialise for the end consumer and the productive sector,” he told the paper.

According to Mr Ajayi-Kadir, while the implementation of crude oil sales in Naira to local refineries is a landmark structural victory, its current execution requires unmitigated optimisation.

His comments come on the back of recent worries by Dangote Refinery and other smaller refiners not getting enough crude feedstock to serve their structures. This has led to an increase in crude importation from other countries at a premium, which is in turn making fuels expensive.

Analysts note that most of Nigeria’s crude production is already tied to export contracts as the country sells a large share of its oil through long-term agreements with international oil companies via joint ventures. These contracts, often priced in Dollars, are hard to redirect even as local refiners need supply.

He also urged the government to accelerate the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative by heavily subsidising the conversion of commercial and industrial transport fleets as part of the effort to roll out alternative energy aggressively.

He said that logistics accounted for a massive chunk of consumer goods inflation, adding that shifting from Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and diesel to abundant, locally sourced CNG was the ultimate inflation-buster.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Four price gainers extended kept the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange in the green territory by 0.88 per cent on Wednesday, April 22.

The advancers were led by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which went up by N3.33 to close at N66.48 per share compared with the preceding day’s N63.15 per share. FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc added N1.79 to sell at N99.00 per unit versus N97.21 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by 16 Kobo to N16.00 per share from N15.84 per share, and UBN Property Plc rose by 7 Kobo to N2.25 per unit from N2.18 per unit.

Consequently, the market capitalisation chalked up N12.99 billion to close at N2.375 trillion compared with Tuesday’s N2.354 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased by 34.69 points to 3,969.96 points from 3,935.27 points.

At midweek, the value of securities traded by investors surged by 11,468.9 per cent to N21.5 million from N5.7 million, the volume of securities ballooned by 708.1 per cent to 49.5 million units from 185,420 units, and the number of deals soared by 21.7 per cent to 28 deals from 23 deals.

At the close of business, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, trailed by CSCS Plc with 58.9 million units exchanged for N3.9 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units traded for N1.9 billion.

GNI Plc also ended the trading session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units valued at N1.2 billion.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira halted its recent depreciations against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, April 22.

According to data, the domestic currency chalked up 0.17 per cent or N2.29 against the greenback at midweek to exchange for N1,348.45/$1 compared with the previous day’s rate of N1,350.74/$1 despite concerns over liquidity pressures, policy transparency, and confidence in Nigeria’s FX market, especially as the country’s foreign reserves are expected to decline further amid fluctuations in crude oil prices in the global commodity market.

However, the Naira appreciated against the Pound Sterling yesterday in the official market by N4.72 to trade at N1,821.75/£1 versus Tuesday’s price of N1,826.47/£1, and gained N7.42 against the Euro to sell at N1,582.00/€1 versus N1,589.12/€1.

The Nigerian currency maintained stability against the Dollar in the parallel market during the session at N1,375/$1, but depreciated by N9 at the GTBank forex counter to N1,363/$1 from N1,354/$1.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced a decline in interbank liquidity to N66.084 million across 87 deals from N91.866 million across 106 deals the previous day, a signal that FX payment requests eased on Wednesday.

Traders say weak fiscal discipline and budget overlaps are key drivers of pressure on the Naira in the black market. They raised worries, including excessive spending, delayed budgets, and the running of overlapping budget cycles.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin briefly touched $79,388 the cryptocurrency market on Wednesday before easing back to about $78,201.31.

The rally’s concentration in BTC, alongside negative funding rates that have persisted for roughly 47 days, suggests a narrow, derivatives-sceptical bid rather than broad-based enthusiasm across digital assets.

Geopolitical tensions, including a U.S. naval blockade near Iran, Iranian gunboat fire in the Strait and stalled cease-fire diplomacy, are feeding market uncertainty, with Cardano (ADA) down by 3.2 per cent to $0.2474.

Further, Solana (SOL) fell by 2.5 per cent to $85.97, Ripple (XRP) slipped by 2.3 per cent to $1.42, Ethereum (ETH) shrank by 1.7 per cent to $2,352.18, TRON (TRX) slid by 1.4 per cent to $0.3281, Dogecoin (DOGE) tumbled by 1.1 per cent to $0.0961, and Binance Coin (BNB) dropped 0.8 per cent to sell for $637.46, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.