5G Auction: NCC Fixes N75bn for 3.5GHz Spectrum

By Adedapo Adesanya  Oil prices fell on Friday as the release of some hostages in Gaza reduced the geopolitical risk premium and indicated that the Israel-Hamas tensions may not have much effect on the oil market. Brent crude futures depreciated by 84 cents or 1 per cent at $80.58 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped $1.56 or 2 per cent to close at $75.54. There was no settlement for WTI on Thursday owing to the US Thanksgiving holiday. Prices notched their first week of gains in over a month ahead of next week’s meeting of

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited is planning to grow its revenue to N4.5 trillion as it plans to end the importation of premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, by December 2024. The chief executive of the company, Mr Mele Kyari, while speaking on Thursday, said the nation would not need to rely on fuel from outside the country because its refineries would have been fully operational. Nigeria is currently revamping its four refineries to make the product available to residents of the country as it officially stopped the payment of subsidy on petrol

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, November 27 as expectations of renewed confidence that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would offer stability to the market. Before the market closed, there were indications that the CBN Governor, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, would share his plans for the Nigerian economy at a dinner for bankers in Lagos and this boosted a fresh hope, considering he had not offered a direction prior then. In the official market, the domestic currency gained N161.44 or 16.9 per cent against the Dollar

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government has set plans in motion to raise $200 million from philanthropic individuals and organisations as part of efforts to create jobs and support Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria. Nigeria is home to over 36.9 million MSMEs, comprising 96.7 per cent of all businesses in Nigeria. According to data, 67 per cent of these businesses are youth-owned. MSMEs contribute over 45 per cent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), with 98.8 per cent of them in the micro cadre. They account for nearly 90 per cent of the jobs in the

By Investors Hub European stocks have moved mostly higher during trading on Monday as trader look ahead to the historic summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump backed out of a joint communiqué after the G7 summit over the weekend, and although this has raised trade war concerns, traders appear to have shrugged off this development for now. While the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index are both up by 0.1 percent. On the economic front, data released by the Office

By Dipo Olowookere England striker, Mason Greenwood, will not continue his footballing career at Old Trafford, a statement from Manchester United on Monday has confirmed. The notice said both parties agreed to mutually end their contract. Mason Greenwood was earlier accused of abusing his partner, which led to his suspension from the club, and triggered the involvement of the police. However, the charges against Mason Greenwood were dropped, but the club continued with its internal investigation into the matter. Last week, Manchester United released a statement, saying it was in the “final stages” of the probe, noting that the ultimate

By Investors Hub The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Thursday, with stocks likely to see further upside following the rebound seen over the course of the previous session. The markets may benefit from easing concerns about a potential trade war between the U.S. and China, which have recently led to considerable volatility on Wall Street. The U.S. and China have recently engaged in tit-for-tat tariff announcements, although traders seem optimistic that the threats are only a precursor to negotiations of a trade agreement between the two countries. Nonetheless, overall trading activity may be somewhat

By Dipo Olowookere The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday resumed the sale of treasury bills via the Open Market Operations (OMO). During the exercise, the apex bank raised a total of N748.69 billion from investors who participated in the auction. However, the 264-day bill attracted the most attention of market players, which was oversubscribed by N184.84 billion. Business Post reports that the central bank raised N684.84 billion from the instrument and sold it to investors at N14.30 percent. However, it was observed that from the N200 billion worth of the 91-day bill offered to traders, the apex bank

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The legal action instituted against Seplat Energy Plc and its chief executive, Mr Roger Brown, by the federal government, has been withdrawn. The energy firm disclosed this in a statement issued on Thursday and signed by the chairman of the company’s board of directors, Mr Basil Omiyi. The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) had dragged Seplat before a Federal High Court in Abuja on behalf of the national government. The agency accused the organisation of breaching the country’s immigration law, forcing the Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, to revoke the visa and working permit issued to Mr

By Investors Hub Asian stocks gave up early gains to end mixed on Friday after the Senate vote on the tax bill was delayed and a private survey showed that activity in China’s vast manufacturing sector slowed in November to the weakest pace in five months. The dollar held steady against the Japanese yen and oil prices extended overnight gains after a decision by the world’s biggest oil producers to extend oil output cuts until the end of 2018, helping support underlying sentiment to some extent. Regional manufacturing surveys also painted a mostly positive picture. Chinese stocks ended roughly flat

By Adedapo Adesanya The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has made a remittance of N7 billiion to the federal government as excess funds generated in 2020. Giving a breakdown, JAMB disclosed that it made an interim remittance of N3.5 billion to the federal government’s consolidated account, which was added to an initial N3.5 billion made from the UTME candidates by way of the reduction of the cost of electronic PINs as approved by the Federal Government. In a statement signed by the Head of Media at JAMB, Mr Fabian Benjamin, the Registrar, Mr Is-haq Oloyede, had directed that more

By Dipo Olowookere Shareholders of WAPIC Insurance have been advised to partake in the rights issue of the company because the price the shares are being offered has the likelihood of yielding a 18.42 percent gain. The company is planning to rake N5.9 billion from the exercise by offering 15.6 billion ordinary shares on the basis of 7 new shares for every 6 existing ordinary shares held as at the close of business on Thursday, September 19, 2019 at 38 kobo per unit. According to analysts at Meristem Research, smart investors can buy the rights issue based on their projection