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Economy

When PwC Lavished N2.35m On Business Reporters

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By Modupe Gbadeyanka

October 7, 2016, will not erase in the memory of business reporters in Nigeria. This is because it was a day they were celebrated by a leading professional services firm, PwC Nigeria.

According to PwC Nigeria, it came up with the idea in a bid to celebrate and reward excellence in business reporting in Nigeria.

At a gala night held in Lagos, business journalists went home with a total N2.35 million at the maiden edition of PwC Media Excellence Award.

It was gathered that a total of 55 entries were submitted by journalists in four categories, namely, Tax Reporting, Capital Market Reporting, SME Reporting and Business & Economy Reporting. Winners in each of the categories went home with N500,000 each while consolation prizes of N50,000 each went to the other nominees that made top three.

Of the 55 entries received, 29 were for Business & Economy Reporting; 16 for SME Reporting; eight for Capital Market Reporting and two for Tax Reporting.

Mr Taiwo Oyedele, the PwC’s Tax Partner and Head, Tax & Regulatory Services, PwC West Africa, decried the low reportage of tax issues by Nigerian journalists saying it largely accounts for the poor awareness about tax in the country.

“It is disturbing that only two entries were received in the Tax Reporting category. This goes to show the low awareness level of tax issues in Nigeria. If the journalists who are supposed to inform and stimulate discussions on tax issues in the country are not doing so, probably because of their lack of understanding of the issues, then, the awareness level on tax would be very low among the populace.

“On our part as a corporate organisation, we are set to help resolve this problem by organising various capacity enhancement workshops for Nigeria business journalists,” Mr Oyedele said.

Mrs Simplice Gladys Olajumoke, the Deputy Vice President, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), on her part, also pledged her organisation’s support to ensure that the issue of tax dominates the Nigerian media space.

Mr Tola Ogundipe, the Deputy Senior Country Partner, PwC Nigeria, in his opening remark, said journalists have important role to play in the society as information carriers. According to him, good governance and economic independence can be achieved if the journalists ensure excellence reportage of issues that are well researched.

He urged the Nigerian journalists to always leverage on technology adding that the award was instituted to celebrate and reward excellence in business reporting.

Stanley Opara of Punch Newspapers, Collins Nwaeze of The Nation Newspapers and Abiodun Eromosele of THISDAY Newspapers were the finalists in the Capital Market Category. Eromosele won the first prize with his article titled: ‘Of The Exchange Rate and Devaluation.”

Eromo Egbejule of the Ventures Africa won the first prize in the SME Reporting Category with his article titled: ‘Walk in these shoes: Aba’s very own leather manufacturing plant’. Hannah Ojo of the Nation Newspapers and Oluwamayowa Tijani of The CableNG made top three.

Fisayo Soyombo of The CableNG; Emmanuel Ogunsola of Techpoint NG and Isaac Anyaogu of BusinessDay Newspaper were the finalists in the Business & Economy Category of which Soyombo’s article, ‘Undercover Investigation: Nigeria’s Customs of Corruption, Bribery and Forgery’, came tops.

The two entries in the tax category were from Anthony Matuluko of Tax Matters on TV and Oluwamayowa Tijani of the CableNG. Matuluko won the first prize with interview of secondary school students at the SWIT seminar

Modupe Gbadeyanka is a fast-rising journalist with Business Post Nigeria. Her passion for journalism is amazing. She is willing to learn more with a view to becoming one of the best pen-pushers in Nigeria. Her role models are the duo of CNN's Richard Quest and Christiane Amanpour.

Economy

NASD Exchange Falls 0.22% After Investors Lose N4.8bn

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By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange weakened by 0.22 per cent on Tuesday, April 28, with the market capitalisation down by N4.8 billion to N2.420 trillion from N2.425 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) down by 9.01 points to 4,044.96 points from 4,053.97 points.

During the session, the price of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by N1.82 to N767.05 per share from N78.87 per share, while FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by N1.90 to N100.00 per unit from N98.10 per unit.

According to data, the value of trades increased by 265.7 per cent to N27.1 million from N7.4 million units, and the volume of transactions surged by 305.2 per cent to 1.3 million units from 319,831 units, while the number of deals decreased by 6.9 per cent to 27 deals from 29 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with the sale of 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.8 million units exchanged for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units traded for N1.9 billion.

GNI Plc also finished as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units sold for N1.2 billion.

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Economy

Naira Crashes to N1,380/$ at Official Market, N1,390/$1 at Black Market

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By Adedapo Adesanya

Pressure is beginning to mount on the Nigerian Naira in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market despite an oil windfall triggered by the Middle East crisis.

On Monday, April 27, the domestic currency further weakened against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) by N16.47 or 1.2 per cent to N1,380.71/$1 from the previous day’s N1,364.24/$1.

It was not different against the Pound Sterling in the same market window, as it lost N16.04 to trade at N1,863.76/£1 versus Monday’s closing rate of N1,847.72/£1, and against the Euro, it slipped by N12.72 to close at N1,615.01/€1 versus N1,602.29/€1.

The Naira also depreciated against the Dollar at the black market yesterday by N5 to quote at N1,390/$1 compared with the previous price of N1,385, and at the GTBank forex counter, it further crashed by N9 to settle at N1,379/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,370/$1.

The continued decline of the Naira comes as traders increasingly seek other safe-haven currencies amid continued global disruptions.

The benefit awash in the global market is making foreign portfolio investors stay short in Nigerian markets. Despite this, the daily FX publication released showed that interbank turnover rose to $98.829 million across 78 deals, up from $76.65 million.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market remained cautious, with Bitcoin (BTC) trading at $77,216.66 despite surging oil prices and geopolitical tensions over a potential extended US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Analysts say the supply overhang has finally dried up, and the sellers who were spooked by macro shifts or quantum fears have already exited, leaving the market much thinner on the sell-side.

Investors will await decisions made by central banks this week. The US Federal Reserve will announce its rate decision later on Wednesday, while the European Central Bank (ECB) follows on Thursday.

Ethereum (ETH) gained 1.5 per cent to trade at $2,324.59, Dogecoin (DOGE) chalked up 1.4 per cent to sell for $0.1016, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 0.6 per cent to $84.85, Cardano (ADA) grew by 0.5 per cent to $0.2483, and Binance Coin (BNB) advanced by 0.2 per cent to $627.15.

However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 0.6 per cent to $0.3224, and Ripple (XRP) lost 0.03 per cent to sell at $1.39, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) were unchanged at $1.00 each.

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Economy

Oil up 3% as Hormuz Disruption Outweighs UAE OPEC Exit

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By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil was up by nearly 3 per cent on Tuesday as persistent worries about supply constraints from the closed Strait of Hormuz continued, with Brent futures for June rising by $3.03 or 2.8 per cent to $111.26 a barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures growing by $3.56 or 3.7 per cent to $99.93 a barrel.

An earlier round of negotiations between the United States and Iran collapsed last week after face-to-face talks failed.

Ship-tracking data showed significant disruptions in the region, with six Iranian oil tankers forced to turn back due to the US blockade, but some traffic is still moving.

Prices trimmed some of the advances after the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the fourth-largest producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said on Tuesday it would exit the group on this Friday, May 1, 2026.

This dealt a blow to the oil-exporting group and its de facto leader, Saudi Arabia.

The UAE could quickly ⁠add between 1 million and 1.5 million barrels per day of output. However, with the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed, analysts said that there’s nowhere for that supply to go.

The UAE joined OPEC in 1967, but tension with Saudi Arabia over production quotas has been building for years.

Under the OPEC+ deal, the country has been held to roughly 3 million barrels per day while sitting on capacity above 4 million. It has been pushing toward 5 million barrels per day by 2027, and that target is hard to achieve with quotas built around someone else’s view of the market.

The war in Yemen broke whatever was left of diplomatic patience.

President Donald Trump said he was unhappy with the latest Iranian proposal to end the war. The proposal would avoid addressing the nuclear programme until hostilities cease and Gulf shipping disputes are resolved.

The Idemitsu Maru, ‌a Panama-flagged ⁠tanker carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi oil, and an LNG tanker managed by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) crossed the Strait on Tuesday, shipping data showed.

Vortexa data showed that the amount of crude oil held around the world on tankers that have been stationary for at least seven days rose to 153.11 million barrels as of April 24.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States fell by 1.79 million barrels in the week ending April 24. The official data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released later on Wednesday.

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