Economy
Delta Eyes Blue Economy Development to Attract Investment
By Adedapo Adesanya
Delta State has said the development of a blue economy in Nigeria will attract huge investment to the state in the areas of seaports, tourism, rail and road development, airport, agriculture, oil and gas, housing, among others.
This is ahead of the Nigeria Blue Economy Stakeholders Conference in Lagos between January 25 and 27, 2022.
The event is organized by Alfe City Institution and will bring together the primary stakeholders of a prospective Nigerian Blue Economy, including the nine littoral states, the Ministries and agencies that would be involved in the management of the new sector.
Confirming the full participation of the state, Mr Olorogun Lucky Oghene-Omoru, Director General, Delta State Investments Development Agency (DIDA), said the full execution of the initiative will contribute to the state’s revenue generation.
“If the Blue Economy initiative is faithfully and successfully implemented in the nine littoral States, 11 River Basins and with a strong commitment by the Federal Government of Nigeria and the state governments, including MDAs which are considered to be the primary stakeholders to the blue economy initiative and the development partners, the country could substantially grow its GDP through investments in seaports, tourism, rail and road development, airport, agriculture,” he stated.
Mr Oghene-Omoru said all the 25 Local Government Areas (LGA) in Delta State will be impacted by the scheme and specifically asked that the state as a critical stakeholder in the proposed project should be included in the development of the initial conceptual framework and implementation processes.
Specifically, on tourism, he said, “Delta State is a tourism haven on account of its warm and highly hospitable people, spectacular sand beaches along the coastline, many cultural festivals, biodiversity of the ecosystem, historical monuments and sites among others.
“The state government’s policy on tourism is to create the enabling environment through the provision of infrastructure and encouragement of a private sector-driven tourism industry.”
He explained that the challenges of the Blue Economy are global and will require global solutions that can be adapted to national and local priorities.
“The majority of the governments around the world should participate in the discussion about innovative methods, technologies, and cutting-edge research to tackle sustainable Blue Economy opportunities,” he said.
On the potential of the blue economy in accelerating the economic growth of Nigeria, Mr Oghene-Omoru said “it involves building an ecosystem of industrial and mercantile business activities in order to comprehensively harness the abundant natural, aquatic and marine resources of the Atlantic Ocean, rivers, lakes, inland waterways and the River Basins, etc in Nigeria.
“Incidentally, these aquatic bodies are characterized by marshy, swampy and difficult terrain which are costly to develop and pose challenges regarding the provision of infrastructural facilities.
“However, concerted efforts must be made to mobilize investment capital in order to turn these areas into Nigeria’s industrial and business hubs and the grow the national GDP as was done in Cape Town in South Africa, Istanbul in Turkey, Singapore, Malaysia and many Australia and Chinese and USA cities to mention a few examples around the world.
“Every government should involve and engage all segments of the population, including women, youth, and other marginalized groups.
“Governments should invest in data, science and cutting-edge technology to support governance prioritization, reforms, and shaping management decisions.”
Delta State is among the nine Littoral States with a total of 850 kilometres of coastline out of which Delta State alone has 163 kilometres making the state have about 19.2 per cent of the country’s total coastline which is the longest. In addition, there are so many rivers that transverse the length and breadth of the state such as River Niger, Ethiope, Orogodo, Warri, Benin, Forcados and River Ramos, etc such that the State is easily a Blue Economy Hub.
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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