ABCON Seeks Regular Forex Supply to BDCs for Naira Stability

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil fell on Monday as traders approached the market with caution over plans by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) to cut production in the first quarter of 2024. Brent crude futures lost 85 cents or 1.08 per cent to finish at $78.03 a barrel while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures depreciated by $1.03 or 1.39 per cent to sell at $73.04 per barrel. OPEC+ announced voluntary production cuts at its meeting last week and this has raised doubts about whether or not producers would fully implement them. Investors

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Naira opened the week stronger on the American Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, December 4 as pressure eased amid continued foreign exchange (FX) liquidity squeeze in the market. In the official market, the Naira appreciated against the greenback by 9.6 per cent or N89.42 to settle at N837.77/$1 compared with last Friday’s closing price of N927.19/$1. Also, the Naira gained N172.53 against the Pound Sterling in the NAFEM segment of the market during the session to close at N1,031.57/£1 versus last Friday’s rate of N1,204.10/£1 and against the Euro,

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has revealed that a $1 billion facility would be used to provide insurance to more than 40 million farmers across the continent against severe impacts of climate change. Initially unveiled at the Africa Climate Summit held in Nairobi in September, the Africa Climate Risk Insurance Facility for Adaptation (ACRIFA) brings together governments, development agencies, the insurance sector and the private sector, said the president of the bank, Mr Akinwumi Adesina, while speaking during a side event at COP28 in Dubai. He said ACRIFA aims to mobilise $1 billion of concessionary financing,

By Adedapo Adesanya Bitmama Incorporated, a crypto exchange company, has confirmed the acquisition of Payday, a virtual card service provider. According to reports, the chief executive of Bitmama, Mrs Ruth Iselema, has offered PayDay investors $1 million worth of equity in the crypto company at a $30 million valuation. The news comes barely nine months after Payday announced its $3 million seed round and three months after its exploration of sale options was confirmed. Facilitated through Bitmama’s cross-border payments product, Changera, the acquisition marks a pivotal shift from earlier speculations, including a potential acquisition by lead investor, Moniepoint. Changera is

By Ahmed Rahma An online audio distribution platform and music sharing website, SoundCloud, has declared on Tuesday that it will become the first streaming service to start directing subscribers’ fees only to the artists they listen to, a move welcomed by musicians campaigning for fairer pay. Unlike other streaming services like Spotify, Deezer and Apple, which put royalty payments into one big pot and dish them out based on which artists have the most global plays, the company based in Germany is set to direct royalties due from each subscriber-only to the artists they stream from April 1. Many artists

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A former Governor of Adamawa State, Mr James Bala Ngilari, has been sentenced to five years imprisonment after he was found guilty of corruption charges against him. Mr Ngilari was prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in September 2016 on a 17 count criminal charge bordering on award of contract without due process to the tune of N167.8 million. In his ruling on Monday, March 6, 2017, Justice Nathan Musa of the Adamawa State High Court sitting in Adamawa found the former Governor guilty of the charges brought against him and sentenced him to

By Investors Hub European shares are seeing modest strength on Friday as German factory orders data beat estimates and investors digested a raft of mixed corporate earnings results. The upbeat U.S. jobs data has also generated positive sentiment. German factory orders grew 1 percent in June from May, when they increased by revised 1.1 percent, official data showed. Orders were forecast to grow by 0.5 percent. Meanwhile, the U.K. economy is “a little bit” better placed to cope with a possible rate hike, Bank of England Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent told BBC radio. “I think there may be some possibility

By Dipo Olowookere The first power-generating company to list its shares on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, Geregu Power Plc, is already attracting the attention of a fresh investor just two months after it joined the platform. On Wednesday, October 5, 2022, the company listed on the stock exchange a total of 2.5 billion units of its shares at N100.00 per unit by way of introduction, increasing the market capitalisation of the exchange by N250 billion. On that day, the share price of the organisation rose by a maximum of 10 per cent at the NGX as a result of

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria’s dollar bonds rallied after President Bola Tinubu was officially conferred as the 16th president of Nigeria, a day that he announced plans to scrap the fuel subsidy programme, unify the exchange rate regime, as well as reduce high interest rates. Bonds with a maturity date of 2047 jumped 3.3 per cent to 66.750 cents on the Dollar. The debt instrument due in 2049 gained 2.9 per cent, and those maturing in 2051 advanced 3.5 per cent. The gains came as markets in London and the US reopened following national holidays as well as a day after

By Adedapo Adesanya MTN Nigeria Plc grew its profit after tax by 5.6 percent to N51.1 billion in the first quarter of 2020 compared with N48.4 billion reported during the same period in 2019. This information was contained in the telecommunications company’s interim financial statements for the first three months of this year sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday. In addition, the company’s revenue for the period grew by 16.7 percent to N329.2 billion from N282.1 billion recorded in Q1 2019. MTN Nigeria, the leading telecommunications firm in the country, explained that the increase in its revenue

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria is considering restructuring its debt and extending the repayment period of its credit obligations. This was disclosed by the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, in an interview with Bloomberg TV. She also revealed that the country has appointed consultants to advise the government on the proposed debt restructuring as it faces a rising debt-service burden, adding that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari also plans to refinance domestic debt obligations that are due this year and 2023. This will happen as the country’s N20 trillion in outstanding borrowings from the central

By Anastasia Walsh Electrification is an on-going and foundational investment, and a necessary one to realize all modern-day development objectives. Despite bullish policies, the fact remains that over 640 million Africans lack access to electricity. The effect of this is apparent. It impedes economic growth; it inhibits the advancements of self-reliant local communities, and it threatens national security. African governments are beginning to rethink their electrification plans. Grid modernisation, specifically the deployment of microgrids in rural areas, provides a promising strategy. The Centralized Utility Model Is Not Adequately Serving Africa’s Needs Attempting to replicate the centralized utility models implemented in