Economy
Afreximbank’s Gamble on Dangote Refinery Paid Off—Elombi
By Adedapo Adesanya
The President of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Mr George Elombi, said the lender’s gamble on the soon-to-be expanded 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery has paid off amid rising energy needs following the United States and Israel’s war on Iran.
Speaking recently on the sidelines of last Monday’s formal signing event to host the bank’s Intra-African Trade Fair 2027 in Lagos, a continental commerce event designed to boost trade across Africa, Mr Elombi said the fears that its involvement in the $20 billion infrastructure “could break Afreximbank” have proven to be a win for the company and the continent.
The $20 billion Dangote Refinery, which was largely financed by Afreximbank, has been described as a transformative project for Nigeria’s energy landscape. It has disrupted local markets as well as foreign markets.
In October 2025, Mr Elombi revealed in Cairo that Mr Aliko Dangote was seeking an additional $5 billion to expand his refinery in Lagos. This came after Afreximbank announced a $1.35 billion facility for Dangote Industries Limited as part of a $4 billion syndicated financing deal to refinance the construction of the complex, the largest single-train refinery in the world, in August. The bank contributed the largest share.
Mr Elombi, who took over the presidency of the lender in October, stated at the time that Mr Aliko Dangote had personally disclosed the plan earlier and assured the bank would explore all possible financing options.
In his latest comment regarding the relationship, he said, “We looked around, and we said, if we didn’t do it, then who else was going to come and take the risk later. Still, the risk is a gamble, but on this occasion we were lucky because it turned out to be a very positive gamble.”
“You gamble on someone like Mr Aliko Dangote, every type of gamble will be on the winning side. So we went along with the gamble, and you can see what the impact is; it is that he can now refine domestically and sell at the domestic rate. We can now use Dangote as an instrument for dealing with our refined product challenges across the Gulf of Guinea and further in some countries,” he added.
He described the refinery as “a development instrument” for African countries in light of the disruptions, saying “he (Dangote) has to use it for that purpose and we will be using it all the way down the Atlantic Coast, Namibia, Botswana, where we intend to put storage facilities so that when crises happens like this, long as is further away from the African coast.”
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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