By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria is planning to establish a central investor desk within the Federal Ministry of Finance in 2026 to fix fragmented communication and inconsistent policy signaling with stakeholders and investors.

According to reports, the desk’s existence will sharpen policy communication, improve transparency and restore confidence among domestic and foreign investors after years of macroeconomic volatility.

The Ministry of Finance in a statement said this would also serve as an interface between the government and existing and prospective investors, development finance institutions, credit rating agencies, and market analysts.

“To deepen investor confidence, improve transparency, and ensure sustained engagement with domestic and international capital providers, the federal government will establish a central investor desk housed within the Federal Ministry of Finance,” said Mrs Doris Uzoka-Anite, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Finance.

She said the desk would focus on “consistent communication, timely disclosure and proactive engagement” around macroeconomic policy, reform progress and investment execution.

The initiative forms part of a broader 2026 economic agenda that seeks to move Africa’s most populous economy from a phase of stabilisation into one of expansion, following two years of far-reaching but disruptive reforms under President Bola Tinubu.

Those reforms — including exchange-rate unification, energy market restructuring and fiscal tightening — helped correct long-standing distortions but also weighed on growth and investor sentiment in the short term.

This comes at a time that inflation has cooled to 14.45 per cent and economic growth is gradually picking up.

The investor desk is also expected to support deal flow. Engagements coordinated through the platform will focus on building investment pipelines, deploying blended finance solutions and accelerating the execution of projects across priority sectors, including energy, agribusiness, manufacturing, housing, healthcare, digital services and solid minerals.

The government has also pledged to restructure domestic debt to reduce short-term interest burdens and ease pressure on financial markets.

Mrs Uzoka-Anite said the administration understands that credibility will be judged by delivery rather than declarations. By centralizing investor engagement and aligning it with macroeconomic coordination and development finance, the government hopes to convert Nigeria’s scale and reform momentum into sustained capital inflows, job creation and faster growth starting in 2026.

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian stock market hit a record high on Monday, January 1, 2026, with its value crossing N100 trillion threshold after it closed higher by 1.74 per cent.

During the session, the market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited went up by N1.869 trillion to N101.807 trillion from N99.938 trillion and the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 2,725.86 points to 159,218.22 points from last Friday’s 156,492.36 points.

Customs Street has been on bull run due to renewed bargain-hunting by investors, with today’s trading session witnessing a surge in activity level.

Business Post reports that investors traded 695.7 million shares valued at N18.6 billion in 56,632 deals compared with the 440.0 million shares worth N25.0 billion transacted in 40,245 deals in the preceding session.

This showed that the trading volume and the number of deals soared by 58.11 per cent and 40.72 per cent apiece, and the trading value declined by 25.60 per cent.

The most traded stock for the session was Tantalizers with a turnover of 71.8 million units valued at N181.8 million, Zenith Bank traded 53.4 million units worth N3.5 billion, Linkage Assurance transacted 51.7 million units for N93.1 million, Chams exchanged 35.0 million units worth N138.5 million, and Access Holdings sold 34.7 million units valued at N846.5 million.

The top five best-performing equities were Regency Alliance, Fidson, May and Baker, PZ Cussons, and Coronation Insurance after they chalked up 10.00 per cent each to sell for N1.21, N60.50, N20.90, N49.50, and N3.85 each.

The worst-performing equity for the day was Juli, which lost 9.93 per cent to trade at N7.26, Ikeja Hotel shrank by 9.91 per cent to N40.45, Sunu Assurances declined by 4.55 per cent to N5.25, Sovereign Trust Insurance dropped 2.36 per cent to settle at N3.72, and Berger Paints depreciated by 2.08 per cent to N47.00.

The market breadth index was positive after the bourse finished with 73 advancing stocks and seven declining stocks, representing a strong investor sentiment.

A look at the sectorial performance revealed that the insurance space grew by 4.97 per cent, the banking counter expanded by 4.71 per cent, the energy index improved by 3.75 per cent, the consumer goods sector rose by 2.06 per cent, the commodity industry soared by 1.59 per cent, and the industrial goods segment jumped by 0.95 per cent.

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited witnessed a significant rise in turnover last week, which had four trading sessions compared with the preceding week with three trading days.

According to data, investors bought and sold 7.821 billion shares worth N134.471 billion in 150,799 deals versus the 2.876 billion shares valued at N63.832 billion recorded in 80,229 deals a week earlier.

Last week, the market closed its doors to traders on Thursday for New Year’s day celebration, while in the preceding week, no trading activity happened on Thursday and Friday for Christmas and Boxing Day.

Last week, the financial services industry led the activity chart by volume with 5.992 billion equities sold for N67.024 billion in 55,598 deals, contributing 76.61 per cent and 49.84 per cent to the total trading volume and value apiece.

The ICT sector transacted 946.959 million shares worth N8.028 billion in 15,443 deals, and the consumer goods space traded 258.820 million stocks for N9.381 billion in 24,133 deals.

Cornerstone Insurance, Chams and Access Holdings accounted for 5.317 billion units worth N37.361 billion in 10,441 deals, contributing 67.97 per cent and 27.78 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.

In the week, 73 equities appreciated versus 44 equities a week earlier, while 23 equities depreciated versus 30 equities in the previous week, and 51 equities closed flat versus 73 equities in the preceding week.

Austin Laz was the biggest price gainer with 45.94 per cent rise to close at N4.67, Aluminium Extrusion gained 45.57 per cent to finish at N23.80, Eunisell improved by 43.26 per cent to N126.00, ABC Transport zoomed further by 37.92 per cent to N4.51, and Honeywell Flour grew by 29.58 per cent to N23.00.

On the flip side, eTranzact was the biggest price loser after giving up 9.92 per cent to trade at N11.35, First Holdco lost 7.92 per cent to finish at N48.80, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank depleted by 7.61 per cent to N3.40, CAP shrank by 6.76 per cent to N69.00, and Champion Breweries weakened by 6.67 per cent to N14.00.

It was a bullish week as the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 1.92 per cent to 156,492.36 points and the market capitalisation soared by 2.09 per cent to N99.938 trillion, with all other indices closing higher.