Adeosun Confirms Payment of N22.5b to Workers of MDAs

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira put up a weak performance against the United States Dollar across the various segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Thursday. November 30, 2023, the last trading session of the month. In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) window, which is the official market, the Nigerian currency lost 0.1 per cent or 85 Kobo against the greenback during the session to settle at N832.32/$1 compared with the preceding day’s value of N831.47/$1. A slight strain in the supply of forex into the spot market was partly responsible for the weakening of the local

By Aduragbemi Omiyale President Bola Tinubu has said the 2024 budget presented to the joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday was designed to achieve macroeconomic stability, a better investment environment, greater access to social security, poverty reduction and enhanced human capital development. According to him, if these goals are achieved, the standard of living of Nigerians will improve and the citizens will enjoy the dividends of democracy. While presenting the 2024 Appropriation Bills to the parliament yesterday, the President said this was why he christened the budget proposal as the Budget of Renewed Hope. Mr Tinubu told the

By Adedapo Adesanya  Angola, one of Africa’s top crude oil producers and a key member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has officially rejected the proposed production quota for the year 2024 and may even exit the group. This was signalled by Mr Diamantino Pedro Azevedo, Angola’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, confirming the nation’s decision and indicating a divergence from OPEC’s suggested allocations for both member and non-member countries. The announcement was made during the 26th OPEC+ Meeting on Thursday, where the organisation proposed 1.11 million barrels of crude oil per day production quota for

By Adedapo Adesanya A milk-producing company, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria, helped the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange return to the green territory by 0.54 per cent on Wednesday, November 29. The firm improved its value by N3.50 in the midweek session to settle at N73.50 per share compared with the previous day’s closing price of N70.00 per share. It suppressed the 10 Kobo decline posted by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which ended lower at N17.00 per unit versus Tuesday’s value of N17.10 per unit. Consequently, the market capitalisation of the alternative stock exchange went up by N6.28 billion to

By Dipo Olowookere An employee of Skye Bank Plc identified as Mr John Alikah has been arraigned for allegedly withdrawing the sum of N1.4 million from two customers’ accounts. The suspect was dragged to the Igbosere Magistrates’ Court in Lagos on Wednesday by the police prosecutor, Inspector Abbass Abayomi. Mr Abayomi informed the court that Mr Alikalih, who works as a customer service officer with Skye Bank, allegedly committed the act on Friday, January 19, 2018, at about 1pm at the Isheri Ojodu Branch of Skye Bank. The accused was slammed with a three-count charge bordering on fraud. He was

By Adedapo Adesanya Crude prices continued to trade higher with the Brent gaining 61 cents or 1.39 per cent to sell for $44.36 per barrel at the market on Wednesday. The rise in the value of the commodity was supported by a smaller-than-expected increase in the United States crude stockpiles last week, which also pushed the price of the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude higher by 36 cents or 0.87 per cent yesterday to $41.73 per barrel. At the midweek trading session, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a moderate 800,000 barrels increase in crude oil inventories for the week

Ten persons have been selected by the She Leads Africa (SLA) for the 2016 SLA Accelerator Programme which commenced on July 11 in Lagos. About 120 applications were received from across Nigeria, but only 10 start-ups’ ideas caught the attention of the organisers based on their traction and progress in the market, management team and vision to grow and scale across Africa. Selected businesses included Fresh Direct Produce and Agro-Allied Services, an eco-friendly social enterprise that produces premium organic produce through hydroponics and community action; DeliveryBros, which helps save time and stress through pickup and drops from the market to

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Naira has recorded a marginal gain of N5 at the parallel market barely 24 hours after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a circular threatening to suspend any erring authorised foreign exchange dealer not complying with its new forex policy. The apex bank on Sunday gave banks 48 hours to honour forex demands from their customers who needed to pay medical bill and school fees. The CBN had also ordered banks in the circular “to process and meet the demand for Travel Allowances (PTA/BTA) by end-users within 24 hours of such application, as long as

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The two-year training programme for 11 engineers at the Saipem yard, Port Harcourt, Rivers State has been concluded by Total Upstream Nigeria Limited (TUPNI). This is in fulfilment of the firm’s commitments to Nigerian Content Human Capacity Development initiatives. The 24-month exercise was conducted as project based trainings on the back of the execution of the Umbilicals, Flowline and Risers (UFR) modules by Saipem Nigeria for Total. Speaking at the graduation ceremony, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Simbi Wabote commended Total for ensuring that the youths received qualitative training, adding that

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The positive momentum, which returned on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) yesterday, mainly influenced by Nestle, was again retained today also by gains recorded by Nestle at the market. Business Post reports that at the close of transactions on Thursday, investors posted a gain of N70 billion, further boosting their confidence that the week might eventually end positive tomorrow. Unlike yesterday, the volume of transactions and market turnover increased today with 128.3 million shares transacted by investors in 3,241 deals worth N2.7 billion, compared with 119.9 million shares traded on Wednesday in 3,015 deals

By Nneka Okumazie In a world of incredible scientific capability, massive military power and economic might, the coronavirus has shown how unknowns, fears and uncertainty outstrip the confidence of nations. The scientific confusion of COVID-19, changing information, diverging prognosis, relapses, mutations, symptom emergence, etc. show deficiency in what should be known by the smartest people on the planet, expert in their own practice of decades. Busy places and cities like China, Italy, South Korea and others have gone ghost due to coronavirus. Caution has heightened in usual routines. Cancellation of events continues. Certain cruise ships became a nightmare. Some contracted

By Modupe Gbadeyanka As part of its corporate social responsibility, Heritage Bank Plc has partnered Oyo State government in transforming the healthcare sector through the N50 billion Healthcare Endowment Fund aimed at making healthcare delivery affordable and accessible to all. MD/CEO of the bank, Mr Ifie Sekibo, at the flag-off of the endowment fund for restoration and transformation of government hospitals and health centres in Oyo State, said as part of support, Heritage Bank would adopt a health and maternity centre at the state teaching hospital, thereby expanding its capacity from 45 to 60 beds. He also stated that apart