Economy
Concerns Grow as Nigeria’s Foreign Reserves Decrease to $38.3bn
By Dipo Olowookere
**May Drop to $37bn in Few Days’ Time
**Shed $4.5bn in 2019, $306m So Far in 2020
**Dangote Fears Devaluation Imminent
**No Cause for Alarm—CBN
Though the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said Nigerians should not panic over the gradual decline in the foreign reserves, observers have cautioned both the fiscal and monetary authorities not sleep with their eyes closed because it might spell doom for the country.
This is because if the depletion of the reserves continues with the steady fall, the nation, which is Africa’s largest economy, may fall into another recession under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
During his first term in office as a civilian leader of the country, just after a year he was sworn into office in 2015, Nigeria went into an economic recession. However, a year later, 2017, Mr Buhari and his team led the nation out of the crisis.
One of the main reasons for sliding into recession was a decline in the price of crude oil at the global market coupled with decline in the volume of the commodity produced.
The period was when restive Niger-Delta youth were attacking oil facilities in the oil-rich region, making it difficult for Nigeria to meet its daily production, resulting into lesser revenue from the sale of crude oil, the country’s main source of foreign earnings.
But when federal government held meetings with stakeholders from that part of the country, the attacks reduced and Nigeria started producing up to 1.7 million barrels per day, resulting into more money.
In 2019, the average price of crude oil at the international market was around $59 per barrel, while the benchmark for the country’s budget was $55 per barrel. This year, the benchmark was put at $60 and the price has remained around $63 to $65.
But despite the excess recorded from the sale of crude oil last year, the external reserves have been reducing, making some observers to raise concerns, urging the central bank to do something fast to prevent a devaluation of the Naira, which the present government does not support.
Business Post reports that the apex bank has been taking from the reserves to support the local currency, making it stable around N360 per Dollar at most of the various segments of the foreign exchange market.
For example, at the beginning of a new week, the CBN regularly releases the sum of $210 million to the forex market, with wholesale sector normally getting $100 million, the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the invisible segments receiving $55 million each. At the end of the week, it also injects over $200 million into the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS).
These interventions have contributed to the decline in the country’s reserves and the central bank has promised not to stop defending the Naira so as to avert currency speculations, which pushed the local currency exchange rate to over N500 to a Dollar over three years ago.
According to data obtained by Business Post from CBN, Nigeria’s external reserves have dropped about $306.1 million since the beginning of this year to $38.3 billion as at Friday, January 10, 2020.
In 2019 alone, the reserves depleted by $4.5 billion, depreciating to $38.6 billion at December 31 from $43.1 billion at January 2, 2019.
In November 2019, Business Post reported that Governor of the CBN, Mr Godwin Emefiele, told some potential investors in London, United Kingdom, that the devaluation of Naira would only be possible if the nation’s external reserves go below $30 billion and the international price of crude oil drops to $45 per barrel.
In 2017, President of Association of Bureau de Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Mr Aminu Gwadabe, said Mr Emefiele assured his members that the bank had no intention to devalue the Naira.
But Africa’s richest man, Mr Aliko Dangote, is already planning ahead of a possible devaluation of the Nigerian Naira by the CBN.
He recently told Mr David Rubenstein of Bloomberg TV that in order not to be caught off guard, he was considering getting an office space in New York, United States of America, to protect the wealth of the family, expressing concerns that a devaluation of the currency may weaken his local investments.
“In Africa, you know we have issues of devaluation, so we want to really preserve some of the family’s wealth,” Mr Dangote, 62, was quoted as saying on the David Rubenstein programme, noting that the office space in New York will help to diversify his business and avoid the risk of currency fluctuations on his home continent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Workers at Seplat Energy will resume work after a strike action that impacted production was called off by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) over the weekend, with the company issuing written commitments on pay rises.
Top employees began an indefinite strike last Friday as talks over a collective bargaining agreement and staff welfare issues broke down. The action came at a time when Nigeria is seeking to maximise production amid rising global oil prices.
According to Reuters, in an April 4 letter to the chief executive of Seplat Nigeria, Mr Roger Brown, PENGASSAN said it had directed members at the local energy firm to immediately suspend industrial action after negotiations resumed with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited. Other less-skilled workers are covered by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and did not partake in the strike with PENGASSAN.
The union said talks on a 2026 collective bargaining agreement would continue, with the aim of concluding outstanding issues by April 13. However, according to the publication, the union did not disclose more details about its financial demands.
“We can confirm that the union has suspended its notice of industrial action to allow negotiations to conclude on outstanding items within an agreed framework,” Seplat spokesperson, Mr Ogechukwu Udeagha, said, adding that “operations are recommencing at our various locations.”
Seplat Energy’s group production averaged 131,506 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2025, according to its latest audited results. That is the equivalent of around 7 per cent–9 per cent of Nigeria’s total liquids production.
The company expects output to rise to 155,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, making any sustained disruption particularly sensitive for Nigeria’s supply outlook. This comes as it seeks to scale production while remaining a major supplier of gas to Nigeria’s domestic power market.
With the company’s output expected to rise, any prolonged disruption would have significantly impacted Nigeria’s oil supply and fiscal outlook.
By Dipo Olowookere
The weekly turnover of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited shrank by 27.70 per cent or 1.094 billion equities, partly due to the inability of market participants to trade last Friday as a result of the Good Friday public holiday declared by the federal government.
In the week, investors bought and sold 2.856 billion equities worth N113.597 billion in 215,287 deals versus the 3.950 billion equities valued at N201.312 billion transacted in 359,642 deals in the preceding week.
The activity chart was led by the financial services industry with 1.811 billion shares valued at N61.901 billion in 86,818 deals, contributing 63.41 per cent and 54.49 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
The services sector traded 299.895 million stocks worth N2.966 billion in 13,797 deals, and the ICT segment exchanged 183.233 million equities for N14.654 billion in 25,287 deals.
Wema Bank, Access Holdings, and Secure Electronic Technology accounted for 734.659 million shares worth N14.134 billion in 12,319 deals, contributing 25.72 per cent and 12.44 per cent to the total trading volume and value apiece.
Data from the NGX said 29 stocks gained weight versus 47 stocks of the previous week, as 57 shares lost weight versus 45 shares in the preceding week, while 62 equities closed flat versus 56 equities a week earlier.
Multiverse led the gainers’ chart after it gained 20.66 per cent to trade at N20.15, UPDC REIT appreciated by 15.49 per cent to N8.20, International Energy Insurance chalked up 12.54 per cent to quote at N3.32, Austin Laz grew by 10.47 per cent to N4.43, and Unilever Nigeria rose by 10.00 per cent to N103.40.
Conversely, Secure Electronic Technology topped the losers’ table after it lost 21.54 per cent to close at N1.02, John Holt declined by 18.47 per cent to N15.45, May and Baker depreciated by 16.57 per cent to N35.00, Aluminium Extrusion moderated by 16.27 per cent to N10.55, and Legend Internet slipped by 16.00 per cent to N6.30.
Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 0.39 per cent to 201,698,89 points, and the market capitalisation rose by 0.65 per cent to N129.806 trillion.
In the same vein, all other indices finished higher apart from the main board, insurance, MERI Value, consumer goods, industrial goods and growth indices, which went down by 0.29 per cent, 4.25 per cent, 0.36 per cent, 1.74 per cent, 0.24 per cent, and 0.06 per cent, respectively, while the sovereign bond index closed flat.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 3.8 per cent week-on-week decline in the 14th trading week of 2026, which had only four trading sessions.
This happened because of the public holiday observed on Friday for Easter celebrations in Nigeria and across the globe.
Last week, the market capitalisation of the bourse went down by N95.36 billion to N2.417 trillion from N2.512 trillion in Week 13, while the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) shrank by 159.39 points to 4,040.30 points from 4,199.69 points in the previous week.
In the week, there were five price losers and eight price losers led by 11 Plc, which crumbled by N94.57 to N256.60 per unit from N351.17 per unit.
MRS Oil Plc lost N39.00 to close at N171.00 per share from N210.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N17 to N93.00 per unit from N110.00 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc shed N2.10 to close at N78.00 per share versus N80.10 per share.
Further, NASD Plc dropped N4.14 to end at N37.36 per unit versus N41.50 per unit, UBN Property Plc crashed by 22 Kobo to N1.98 per share from N2.20 per share, Food Concepts Plc slid by 13 Kobo to N2.87 per unit from N3.00 per unit, and Capital Bancorp Plc contracted by 10 Kobo to N1.90 per share from N2.00 per share.
On the flip side, IPWA Plc gained 55 Kobo to sell at N6.06 per unit versus N5.51 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc appreciated by 7 Kobo to N3.25 per share from N3.18 per share, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc improved by 5 Kobo to 57 Kobo per unit from 52 Kobo per unit, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc grew by 2 Kobo to 52 Kobo per share from 50 Kobo per share, and Acorn Petroleum Plc moved up by 1 Kobo to N1.34 per unit from N1.33 per unit.
The volume of transactions witnessed a 5,490.9 per cent surge last week to 3.5 billion units from 62.7 million units, and the value of transactions soared by 437.7 per cent to N9.7 billion from N1.7 billion. These trades were completed in 163 deals and involved 20 stocks.
The most traded stock by value was GNI Plc with N8.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with N630.5 million, Geo-Fluids Plc with N162.7 million, CSCS Plc with N57.5 million, and Friesland Campina Wamco Nigeria Plc with N37.1 million.
The most trased stock by volume was also GNI Plc with 3.4 billion units, Geo-Fluids Plc traded 50.1 million units, Okitipupa Plc transacted 21.0 million units, UBN Property Plc quoted 2.5 million units, and CSCS Plc sold 0.73 million units.
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