Agric, Transport Boost Business Activity in January

By Adedapo Adesanya Foreign trading and investment firm, Risevest, has acquired Chaka, a digital trading platform. According to Techcabal, which first broke the news, the deal, which was for an undisclosed sum, will see both entities operate as different products, though the capitalisation table of the acquiree will be updated in due course. Speaking on this, Mr Tosin Osinbodu, Chaka’s founder, said, “I’m excited about how Chaka’s product will evolve and how we’re going to learn from the Risevest team.” “With booming growth in many nations around the world, investors can now own a stake in the growth of other

By Adedapo Adesanya  The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is planning to use oil traders to fund a $3 billion loan to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, which is aimed at stabilising the weakening Naira. According to a Reuters report, the Cairo-based bank has made contact with traders to gauge their interest in lending their support to the oil-backed loan to Nigeria’s national oil company. The sources who spoke to the publication also disclosed that Afreximbank has made an attempt to come up with the terms that they will present to trading houses. “There is a lot of interest,

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) kicked off the first trading session in the last week of the third quarter of the year on a negative note, with the key performance indices going down by 0.66 per cent on Monday. This was partly caused by the reaction of investors to the 30 Kobo interim dividend declaration of the board of Access Holdings Plc. A few days ago, its peer, UBA Plc, raised its interim dividend payment by 150 per cent to 50 Kobo and it was expected that Access Holdings would follow the same path. However, the company disappointed

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil prices moderated in choppy trade on Monday as Russia relaxed its fuel ban amid a widening demand worry. Brent crude futures lost 2 cents during the session to trade at $93.29 per barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude depreciated by 35 cents to close at $89.68 per barrel. Last week, prices were down after a hawkish Federal Reserve rattled global financial markets and raised concerns that interest rates could stay higher for longer affecting oil demand. This snapped a three-week rally of more than 10 per cent after Saudi Arabia and Russia constrained

By Dipo Olowookere There was a renewed vigour on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Wednesday on the back of fresh bargain hunting on some fundamentally sound stocks. This further pushed the market higher by 0.56 per cent at the midweek session, with investor sentiment closing positive as 18 equities appreciated in value while 16 shares depreciated in price, indicating that the market is beginning to regain investors’ confidence. The major driver of the bullish momentum was the consumer goods counter, which rose during the session by 0.39 per cent mainly due to gains printed by BUA

By Nneka Okumazie Bribery can be inherited, so is corruption and fraud. These, for example, passed from an administration to the next shows that it can be passed from one generation to another – biologically, culturally, etc. There is a way to look at bribery and how it works great in some societies in terms of inheritance than as a norm. There are many societies around the world guided closely by ideology, some communism, some totalitarianism, etc. There are often controls and streamlines by the authorities for all to get along with the program, but ideology at least allows for

By Ayomide Oriade When the wave of COVID-19 swept from the street of Wuhan to other corners of the world in the year 2020, businesses were forced to think on their feet for survival strategies. Health and safety measures enforced by authorities across global borders crippled business activities. Digital platforms sustained what was left of business activities. The year turned out to be a massive one for e-commerce brands globally. With the second wave of the virus raging like a wild wind, the narrative signals to be the same in 2021, with certain trends expected to be at the forefront

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) have expressed their commitment to work with African leaders to redouble efforts at strengthening food security in the continent. This formed part of the decisions reached at a two-day virtual High-Level Dialogue on Feeding Africa: Leadership to Scale-up Successful Innovations hosted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The commitment was also made in partnership with the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) system organisation. The international organisations pledged to make adequate funding available to modernise Africa’s

By Modupe Gbadeyanka In an attempt to improve the life of Nigerian creative industry practitioners, especially dancers and choreographers, fast-rising Nigerian Afro hip-hop sensation, Mofe Boyo, has lent her voice to the recent movement by some elite entertainers on the ill-treatment endured by dancers in the country. The talented artiste, who recently shot some videos from her yet to be released album, remarked that “just like so many young people, I love dancing even more as a form of art. I knew dancers work a lot but I never knew they invest and work this much. They deserve to be

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Acting Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Mary Uduk, has said in order to encourage the listing of small companies on the trading floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), there must be financial incentives in place for publicly quoted firms. The SEC chief explained that, “Our case for fiscal incentives for listed companies on the NSE is actually based on experience. “What we are saying is that Nigerian companies doing the same business these foreign companies are doing if they are listed should be encouraged in terms of public procurement or whatever government

By Adedapo Adesanya One of Nigeria’s leading telecommunication service, 9mobile, in collaboration Google and Kirusa, are set to revolutionize enterprise communication with Rich Communication Services (RCS) Business Messaging. This came at a recent workshop held in Lagos for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), Aggregators, and brands to introduce RCS, and showcase how through the RCS Business Messaging (RBM), companies are effectively changing how companies communicate. RCS is a next-generation native messaging evolution better than SMS for Android users which allows enhanced smartphone messaging and contains other features such as high-resolution photo and video sharing, location sharing, group chats, read receipts among

By Modupe Gbadeyanka An experienced business and project development consultant in Nigeria, Ms Helen Ese Emore, has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director of Courteville Business Solutions Plc. In a formal notification to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Courteville explained that Ms Emore has a demonstrated track record of driving growth, reducing costs and improving operations of businesses and non-governmental organizations. It was disclosed that the appointee is currently an Independent Director on the Board of Directors and the Chairman of the Governance and Compliance Committee of STACO Insurance Plc, Lagos. The notice further said in the past eight years,