Economy
Belarus Offers to Support Nigeria’s Agricultural Mechanization Drive
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The government of Belarus has offered to support the agricultural mechanization drive of Nigeria, promising to produce tractors that will fit the nation’s specifications.
This request was made by the Ambassador of Belarus to Nigeria, Mr Vyacheslav Bril, during a visit to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha.
The envoy said his country has a track record in agricultural mechanization, producing 60,000 tractors annually with different modifications, assuring that the federal government of the desire of the landlocked country in Eastern Europe to partner with Nigeria in the area of agriculture, manufacturing, solid minerals, oil and gas, defence and security.
According to him, Belarus is ready to partner with Nigeria to provide the required expertise for sustainable development, noting that through its military-technical cooperation, Nigeria will receive the support of his government in securing modernized ammunitions.
He also assured the federal government that with their gains in the oil and gas industry, they would provide the necessary maintenance and upgrading of refineries to operate optimally.
Responding, Mr Mustapha thanked the diplomat for the visit, affirming Nigeria’s commitment to strengthening its bilateral ties with the Republic of Belarus in order to diversify its economy.
The SGF noted that Nigeria’s long-existing ties with Belarus in the area of trading have not improved and requested the Ambassador to explore means of improving trade relations so as to boost its volume of trade.
“To assure you that slowly but steadily, we will continue to build on this very strong relationship that we believe will be mutually beneficial to Nigeria as a trading partner with Belarus.
“We hope to see improvements in the same as the volume of trade between the two countries have not really increased in the dimension that we want to see over the last couple of years, but we believe that the way you’ve set to engage.
“I can see that since you presented your letters of credence, I think I can see that you’ve begun to engage ministers in cabinet, and you’ve been able to get some visits to Belarus from those ministers. that is the way to go,” Mr Mustapha said.
He commended the government of Belarus on the quality of their products which have received acceptability among Nigerians and promised to seek their support in turning the fortunes of the country’s agricultural drive.
The SGF informed the Ambassador of the federal government’s diversification drive and seeks partnership with the Belarusian government on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a way forward.
“I believe there are certain areas from which we can begin to partner. in the last two quarters, our digital economy and ICT have contributed immensely to our GDP, which is a clear indication that in as much as we are an oil-dependent country, but we can strongly drive the diversification drive in our economy particularly in the service sector.
“ICT stands out as an area we can partner as a nation. I hope you We have an opportunity with the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy (Mr Isa Pantami) so that you can discuss at length on how we can work together in a particular industry to see how, how you can help institutionalize our developmental efforts in that particular area,” he said.
Mr Mustapha also affirmed that the federal government would like the Belarusian government to partner with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development among others to build institutions that would impact and transfer knowledge on entrepreneurship to our teeming youths.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
One of the paint makers in Nigeria, Premier Paints Plc, is currently in talks with a new investor, Xenergi Limited, for the purchase of 51 per cent stake in the company.
Xenergi Limited intends to acquire shares of Clover Global Resources Limited and TGHL Capital Limited in the organisation.
Business Post gathered that the new investor will buy 39.02 per cent from Clover Global Resources Limited and 15.20 per cent from TGHL Capital Limited.
The deal, according to a regulatory notice issued on Tuesday on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, will involve about 63 million shares of Premier Paints.
At the current share price of the paint producer, this should be about N630 million as it closed at N10.00 per unit on NGX on December 16, 2025.
“Subject to obtaining required regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close before January 31, 2026.
“The company will continue to inform the public of the progress of the transaction,” the disclosure signed by the company secretary, Alozie Nwokoro, said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira was flat against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, December 16, retaining the previous closing value of N1,451.82/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency saw no movement against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the spot market during the session at N1,943.98/£1 and N1,705.74/€1, respectively.
Also, the Nigerian Naira remained unchanged in the black market yesterday at N1,475/$1 and was N1,460/$1 at the GTBank forex counter.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has strengthened US Dollar supply with $250 million to authorised dealer banks at the official window cumulatively as foreign portfolio investors, exporters and non-bank corporate supply dripped.
The spread between official and other non-regulated markets decreased to N30.59$/1 from N44.57/$1, from the previous week, research subsidiary of Coronation Merchant Bank Limited said in a report.
FX analysts said foreign exchange inflows through the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market decreased to $716.3 million from $844.70 million in the previous week , a 15 per cent drop in a week.
Foreign portfolio investors accounted for the highest share of inflows at 32.98 per cent, followed by exporters at 30.84 per cent, the CBN (17.36 per cent), Non-bank Corporates (16.94 per cent), others (0.72 per cent) and Individuals (0.63 per cent).
On Monday, Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased to 14.45 per cent in November 2025, down from 16.05 per cent recorded in October, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), representing a decrease of 1.6 percentage points month-on-month and marks a significant moderation compared to the same period last year.
As for the cryptocurrency market, there was some recoveries after overall capitalization falling below $3 trillion for the third time in a month. Large-cap assets, particularly those with Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) exposure, are experiencing selling pressure as institutional investors reassess risk.
Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 1.5 per cent to $1.92, Litecoin (LTC) expanded by 1.5 per cent to $78.91, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 0.8 per cent to $0.1308, Solana (SOL) went up by 0.4 per cent to $127.60, Binance Coin (BNB) grew by 0.3 per cent to $865.40, and Bitcoin (BTC) gained 0.2 per cent to sell at $86,735.17.
On the flip side, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 1.0 per cent to $0.3802 and Ethereum (ETH) slumped by 0.4 per cent to $2,935.85, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) were flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
A marginal 0.01 per cent rise was recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday. This was different from the flattish mode of the market the previous day.
Investor sentiment remained bullish as Customs Street finished with 31 price gainers and 26 price losers, implying a positive market breadth index.
Aluminium Extrusion topped the gainers’ log after it improved its price by 10.00 per cent to N9.35, Guinness Nigeria appreciated by 9.98 per cent to N263.40, Multiverse expanded by 9.95 per cent to N12.15, MeCure Industries also soared by 9.95 per cent to N45.85, and Sovereign Trust Insurance advanced by 9.89 per cent to N4.11.
Conversely, Haldane McCall led the losers’ chart after it shed 9.93 per cent to settle at N3.72, Veritas Kapital lost 9.09 per cent to close at N1.60, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank also declined by 9.09 per cent to N3.50, and Linkage Assurance depreciated by 5.71 per cent to N1.65.
During the trading day, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 21.23 points to 149,459.11 points from the previous day’s 149,437.88 points and the market capitalisation increased by N14 billion to N95.281 trillion from N95.267 trillion.
Yesterday, traders transacted 1.0 billion equities for N21.8 billion in 23,701 deals compared with the 553.1 million equities valued at N13.3 billion traded in 28,907 deals on Monday, representing a decline in the number of deals by 18.01 per cent, and a surge in the trading volume and value by 80.80 per cent and 63.91 per cent apiece.
Access Holdings traded 385.8 million stocks worth N7.7 billion, Champion Breweries transacted 111.8 million shares valued at N817.8 million, Sterling Holdings exchanged 85.5 million equities for N589.9 million, FCMB sold 74.7 million shares valued at N791.5 million, and First Holdco transacted 51.9 million equities worth N1.8 billion.
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