Economy
NSE Backs Social Bonds Issuance for New, Existing Projects
By Tenebe Anthonia
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has thrown its weight behind the issuance of social bonds for the execution of new or existing projects with positive social outcomes.
Business Post reports that in March 2020, the African Development Bank (AfDB) launched $3 billion three-year social bonds to help ease the negative economic effect of coronavirus disease.
The CEO of the exchange, Mr Oscar Onyema, while speaking on Wednesday at a webinar on Capital Markets in a Pandemic, said the COVID-19 pandemic has propped up the social bonds investments.
According to him, before now, attention had been on the ‘E’ and ‘G’ of the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) sides of investments.
“At the exchange, we have a robust sustainability agenda. While we have focused on the ‘G’ in ESG, creating governance-based indices and heightened awareness on governance imperatives, we have also worked with several stakeholders to address the ‘E’ by creating green bonds in support of projects with strong climate credentials.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is now forcing us to set our sights on social bonds as a way of raising capital to support new or existing projects with positive social outcomes,” Mr Onyema said.
On his part, the CEO of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, Mr Robert Scharfe, stated that, “Over the last few months, we have seen the green bond market shift quickly towards social bonds.
“We have seen over $20 billion raised in response to COVID-19. This is an indication that investors are interested in these types of investments and I think this is just the beginning of the shift for shift ESG investments from a niche asset to the mainstream.”
Another panellist, Mr Nikhil Rathi, the CEO of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), who spoke on the matter, said, “We anticipate a change in the nature of investing with ESG considerations featuring across asset classes.
“The LSE is, therefore, excited over our foresight in building a dedicated Green Bond Segment and introducing a green economy classification for equities. In fact, our first listing for the year was a green energy company.
“It will, therefore, be interesting to see how this plays out over the next ten or so years even as issuers respond to investors’ demands to build a better world.”
Looking ahead, the panel discussants reiterated the critical position of exchanges in supporting economies which can be encapsulated in the words of the CEO of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), Ms Nandini Sukumar.
She said, “The focus today is on rebuilding the economy. Exchanges have made the requisite investments to keep markets open and maintain fair and orderly markets during this pandemic.
“They will remain fundamental to capital market stakeholders who require access to capital to build, grow and develop the various sectors of the economy.”
She further expressed her delight over the NSE’s efforts in operating an efficient and transparent market, commend the NSE for promoting sustainable finance in West Africa, and also recognise Mr Onyema on the thought leadership displayed in convening the webinar.
In closing the event, the National Council President, NSE, Mr Abimbola Ogubanjo, stated that, “Today, we have highlighted some of the steps that we can expect to see in the near future including the development of alternative and sustainable asset classes; dependence on technology and digital innovation; commitment to customer centricity; and drive for collaboration across regions.
“With these, capital market players can rest assured that exchanges will continue to execute on their mandate to deliver a platform to raise and access capital even during a crisis.
“Certainly, we are living in unprecedented times but from what we have heard, I believe that we can all leave with the confidence that there is a lot to look forward to in this ‘new normal.”
The webinar, organised by the exchange, had over 350 participants in attendance and was moderated by CNN correspondent, Ms Eleni Giokos.
The forum proved to be rather timely in addressing topical issues around the vulnerability and unique opportunities that the COVID-19 pandemic has created and how they are being – and will continue to be – addressed by stock exchanges.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Food Concepts Plc neutralized the gains recorded by three securities, returning the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange into the negative territory with a 0.27 per cent loss on Thursday, December 4.
Yesterday, the share price of the parent company of Chicken Republic and PieXpress declined by 34 Kobo to sell at N3.15 per unit compared with the previous day’s N3.49 per unit.
This shrank the market capitalisation of the OTC bourse by N5.72 billion to N2.136 billion from N2.142 trillion and weakened the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 9.57 points to 3,571.53 points from 3,581.10 points.
Business Post reports that Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by 50 Kobo to N38.50 per share from N38.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained 29 Kobo to sell at N55.79 per unit versus N55.50 per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc added 5 Kobo to close at N4.60 per share compared with Wednesday’s closing price of N4.55 per share.
Trading data indicated that the volume of securities recorded at the session surged by 6,885.3 per cent to 4.3 million units from the 61,570 units posted a day earlier, the value of securities increased by 10,301.7 per cent to N947.2 million from N3.3 million, and the number of deals went up by 146.7 per cent to 37 deals from the 15 deals achieved in the previous trading session.
At the close of business, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 5.8 billion units for N16.4 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units worth N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units valued at N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc also finished the session 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 traded for N524.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The upward trend witnessed at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited in recent sessions continued on Thursday as it further improved by 0.10 per cent.
This was despite investor sentiment turning bearish after the local equity market ended with 23 price gainers and 28 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
UAC Nigeria gained 10.00 per cent to finish at N88.00, Morison Industries appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N3.54, Ecobank rose by 8.53 per cent to N36.90, and Coronation Insurance grew by 8.47 per cent to N2.56.
On the flip side, Ellah Lakes depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N13.14, Eunisell Nigeria also shed 10.00 per cent to finish at N72.90, Transcorp Hotels slipped by 9.95 per cent to N157.50, Omatek shrank by 9.23 per cent to N1.18, and Guinea Insurance dipped by 8.46 per cent to N1.19.
Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 152.28 points to 145,476.15 points from 145,323.87 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N97 billion to finish at N92.726 trillion compared with the previous day’s N92.629 trillion.
Customs Street was bubbling with activities on Thursday, though the trading volume and value slightly went down, according to data.
A total of 1.9 billion stocks worth N19.2 billion exchanged hands in 23,369 deals during the session versus the N2.3 billion valued at N21.0 billion traded in 21,513 deals a day earlier.
This showed that the number of deals increased by 8.63 per cent, the volume of transactions depleted by 17.39 per cent, and the value of trades decreased by 8.57 per cent.
For another trading day, eTranzact led the activity chart with 1.6 billion units sold for N6.4 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 31.0 million units worth N589.3 million, GTCO exchanged 28.3 million units valued at N2.5 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 27.1 million units for N1.6 billion, and Ecobank traded 21.9 million units worth N744.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira marginally depreciated against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, December 4 amid renewed forex pressure associated with December.
At the official market yesterday, the Nigerian currency lost 0.01 per cent or 18 Kobo against the Dollar to close at N1,447.83/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,447.65/$1.
It was not a different scenario with the local currency in the same market segment against the Pound Sterling as it further shed N15.43 to sell for N1,930.97/£1 versus Wednesday’s closing price of N1,925.08/£1 and declined against the Euro by 20 Kobo to finish at N1,688.74/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,688.54/€1.
Similarly, the Nigerian Naira lost N5 against the greenback in the black market to quote at N1,465/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,460/$1 but closed flat against the Dollar at the GTBank FX counter at N1,453/$1.
Fluctuations in trading range is expected to continue during the festive season as traders expect the Nigerian currency to be stable, supported by intervention s by to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)in the face of steady dollar demand.
Support is also expected in coming weeks as seasonal activities, particularly the stylised “Detty December” festivities, will see inflows that will give the Naira a boost after it depreciated mildly last month, according to a new report.
“As the festive Detty December season intensifies, inbound travel, tourism spending, and diaspora inflows are expected to provide moderate support for FX liquidity,” analysts at the research unit of FMDA said in its latest monthly report for November.
Traders cited by Reuters expect that the Naira will trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450 next week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.
Meanwhile, the crypto market was down as the US Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, core PCE, likely rose in September—moving in the wrong direction. However, volatility indices show no signs of major turbulence.
If the actual figure matches estimates, it would mark 55 straight months of inflation above the US central bank’s 2 per cent target. The sticky inflation would strengthen the hawkish policymakers, who are in favour of slower rate cuts.
Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 4.5 per cent to $2.08, Solana (SOL) went down by 3.8 per cent to $138.11, Litecoin (LTC) shrank by 3.1 per cent to $83.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 2.5 per cent to $0.1463, Cardano (ADA) declined by 2.1 per cent to $0.4368, Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 0.9 per cent to $91,975.45, Binance Coin (BNB) crumbled by 0.9 per cent to $899.41, and Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 0.7 per cent to $3,156.44, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 apiece.
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