Economy
Retirement Planning Specialist Urges Investors to Avoid Quick Returns

By Dipo Olowookere
A retirement planning expert, Ms Folashade Onanuga, has advised investors not to be tempted to invest in assets that offer quick returns as they wipe away their funds.
She gave this advice at the first virtual education summit organised by the Professional Insurance Ladies Association (PILA) themed Redefining Success in A Changing World.
During her presentation, she urged investors to consider diversifying their portfolio ahead of retirement as this would ease pressure on them when one asset class was doing badly.
“If you are planning for a good retirement, you must be able to distinguish between your needs and your wants right now.
“To retire well, you need money, you need assets and don’t put all of your assets in one basket, diversify. Always avoid the desire for quick returns and most importantly manage your health,” Ms Onanuga stated.
Another speaker at the conference, Ms Adetola Adegbayi, the Executive Director in charge of Corporate Services at Leadway Assurance, reminded the audience of the redefined place of women in the modern-day.
“Our society now requires and says women must come to the front and when they come to the front, they must be fearless, they must not say this is how things are done. They must be careful of dogmas, they must challenge everything.
“We have to see how we can create value and as we create that value, where we need to be, the ladder we need to step, the mountains we need to climb and the flag we need to fly on top of that mountain would obviously come,” she said.
On his part, a foremost Gambian Insurance expert, Mr Frederick Bowen John, while commenting on redefining insurance in Africa in the 21st century as well as gender diversity from an international perspective, highlighted the challenges facing insurance globally and in the African market and the possible solutions to address these challenges.
As for the CEO of Edumark Consult, Ms Yinka Ogunde, she detailed how professional women spoke can attain leadership positions and make a change.
“Preparation is very important if you want to get into the C-Suite. It is a place that requires extensive experience, proven impact, excellent leadership skills, strong management attributes and great problem-solving capacity, the vision to see what others see and before others see,” she submitted.
The president of PILA and MD/CEO of African Alliance Insurance Plc, Mrs Joyce Ojemudia, while setting the tone for the event, said, “As we all know, success, by its very essence is about meeting and exceeding set expectations.
“In this COVID-19 imposed new normal, the parameters for measuring success have become quite stricter. However, if there is one thing we all here have in common, it is that we are in the business of uncertainty being insurance practitioners.
“We, therefore, are supposed to naturally thrive in uncertainties due to our training and professional leanings. But you and I know this is usually not the case.
“It is with this at the back of our minds that PILA has put together this education summit to help us, reinvigorate us, remind us and indeed realign our thoughts towards success despite the uncertainties.”
The education summit organised by PILA was first held in 2002 as an educational seminar for women in insurance which later transformed into an international program where members would embark on an educational tour in an African country. This year’s summit was the association’s first virtual summit due to the restriction of COVID-19.
The event had other opinion leaders in the Nigerian insurance industry like Funmi Babington-Ashaye, MD/CEO, Risk Analyst Insurance Brokers; Adeyinka Adekoya, former MD/CEO, Coronation Insurance PLC and Ebelechukwu Nwachukwu, MD/CEO, NSIA Insurance, amongst others in attendance.
Economy
FrieslandCampina, Afriland Properties Weaken NASD Index by 0.24%

By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange fell by 0.24 per cent on Friday, April 25 after the duo of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc and Afriland Properties Plc landed on the losers’ table.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N2.58 to sell at N35.37 per unit compared with the previous day’s N37.95 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 2 Kobo to close at N17.78 per share versus Thursday’s closing value of N17.80 per share.
However, Geo-Fluids Plc appreciated by 10 Kobo during the trading day to sell for N1.80 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1.70 per unit. The rise in the price of the stock could not prevent the fall of the bourse yesterday.
Consequently, the market capitalisation of the trading platform went down by N4.64 billion to N1.914 trillion from N1.918 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) declined by 7.92 points to 3,269.06 points from 3,276.98 points.
The final trading session of the week ended with a surge of 1,695.8 per cent in the volume of securities transacted to 3.7 billion units from the 206.2 milion units transacted in the previous trading day.
Equally, the value of transactions jumped by 2,592.6 per cent to N9.5 billion from N354.1 million on Thursday, and the number of deals decreased by 47.4 per cent to 20 deals from the 38 deals recorded a day earlier.
Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units sold for N520.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 259.3 million units worth N456.1 million, and Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units valued at N4.9 billion.
Also, Okitipupa Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 153.6 million units valued at N4.9 billion, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 15.6 million units worth N598.5 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 533.9 million units sold for N520.9 million.
Economy
Nigeria’s Stock Market Gives up 0.30% Friday

By Dipo Olowookere
A 0.30 per cent fall was recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday as a result of profit-taking in the industrial goods sector.
This was mainly caused by sell-offs in Dangote Cement Plc, which released its financial statements for the first quarter of 2025 yesterday.
The cement maker lost 10.00 per cent during the session to trade at N432.00, Regency Alliance lost 8.06 per cent to close at 57 Kobo, VFD Group depreciated by 7.57 per cent to N17.10, Chams declined by 7.27 per cent to N2.04, and Sovereign Trust Insurance crashed by 6.12 per cent to 92 Kobo.
Conversely, International Breweries, Legend Internet, and Ikeja Hotel gained 10.00 per cent each to sell for N7.70, N6.82, and N12.10 apiece, Vitafoam Nigeria surged by 9.93 per cent to N44.85, and Eterna rose by 9.92 per cent to N39.90.
The industrial goods index was down by 4.73 per cent on Friday, as the others finished in green territory.
The consumer goods space rose by 2.21 per cent, the banking sector appreciated by 1.55 per cent, the insurance counter expanded by 1.50 per cent, the energy sector increased by 0.07 per cent, and the commodity industry went up by 0.04 per cent.
At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 321.21 points to 105,753.05 points from 106,074.26 points and the market capitalisation shrank by N202 billion to N66.465 trillion from N66.667 trillion.
The level of activity increased yesterday as the trading volume, value, and number of deals grew by 30.40 per cent, 94.23 per cent, and 17.64 per cent, respectively.
This was because investors transacted 428.1 million shares worth N20.2 billion in 14,284 deals compared with the 328.3 million shares valued at N10.4 billion in traded in 12,142 deals a day earlier.
GTCO led the activity chart with 60.7 million equities sold for N3.8 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 41.4 million stocks worth N829.3 million, Access Holdings exchanged 40.6 million shares valued at N968.3 million, MTN Nigeria sold 33.0 million equities for N8.2 billion, and Zenith Bank transacted 22.9 million stocks worth N1.1 billion.
Economy
Naira Now N1,599/$1 at Official Market, N1,605/$1 at Black Market

By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira extended its gains against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, April 25 by 0.22 per cent or N3.59 to sell for N1,599.42/$1 compared with the N1,603.01/$1 it was traded in the previous session.
The Nigerian currency also improved its value against the Euro in the official market by N1.36 to close at N1,818.53/€1 compared with Thursday’s closing price of N1,819.89/€1.
However, the domestic currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment yesterday by N1.90 to wrap the session at N2,130.44/£1 versus the preceding session’s rate of N2,128.50/£1.
At the black market segment, the Naira appreciated against the greenback on Friday by N2 to quote at N1,605/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s value of N1,607/$1.
In the cryptocurrency market, a possible regulatory progress about digital assets in the US spurred buying interest among investors during the trading session.
The chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Paul Atkins, was at a crypto roundtable on Friday and he devoted his inaugural speech to assuring the industry that he will continue to remake securities policy to favor digital assets innovation.
Litecoin (LTC) rose by 3.0 per cent to $87.24, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 2.7 per cent to $0.1862, Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 1.3 per cent to $94,687.84, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $1,797.51, Cardano (ADA) improved by 0.9 per cent to $0.7235, and Ripple (XRP) gained 0.6 per cent to close at $2.20.
On the flip side, Solana (SOL) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $151.64, and Binance Coin (BNB) lost 0.8 per cent to sell for $602.89, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
-
Feature/OPED5 years ago
Davos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism9 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz2 years ago
Estranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking7 years ago
Sort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy2 years ago
Subsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking2 years ago
First Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports2 years ago
Highest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn
-
Technology4 years ago
How To Link Your MTN, Airtel, Glo, 9mobile Lines to NIN