Airtel Africa to Sell 20% Stake in Uganda Subsidiary Via IPO

By Benita Ayo A while ago, it was announced that certain companies would be struck off the corporate register of the Corporate Affairs Commission. The major reason for this is the failure of defaulting companies to file their Annual Returns with the commission. I have always reiterated the fact that approval of an application to register a company does not signify that its officers can fold their hands and go to sleep. There are bundles of requirements to be fulfilled by such companies one of which is the filing of its Annual Returns. The Annual Return is a yearly account

By Adedapo Adesanya The Dangote Group Executive, Mr Devakumar Edwin, has said that the Dangote Refinery will not rely solely on Nigerian crude for its operations. This was one of the points made by the official as he gave a detailed production timeline that shed light on crude and product flows as well as delays on the 10-year project to S&P Global Commodity Insights. The company had announced that it would begin producing up to 370,000 barrels per day of diesel and jet fuel in October and gradually reach 650,000 barrels per day by November. The $19.5 billion refinery, which

By Adedapo Adesanya After three sessions of gains that followed extended production cuts from Saudi Arabia and Russia, oil prices fell on Tuesday as investors took profits, leaving the Brent crude futures down by 9 cents to $94.34 a barrel after it hit a session peak of $95.96, as the US West Texas Intermediate crude futures dropped 28 cents to close at $91.20 per barrel after earlier reaching $93.74 a barrel, also the highest since November. Despite the profit-taking, expectations remain that Brent will trade in a range of $90-100 per barrel over the coming months, with a year-end target

By Dipo Olowookere Ellah Lakes Plc can now go ahead with its plans to raise fresh capital through a rights issue to shareholders, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has declared. In 2022, shareholders of the company authorised the board to source about N2.90 billion. The board later filed an application to the SEC to carry out the transaction. In an update on Wednesday, Ellah Lakes informed the investing community that the apex regulatory agency for the country’s capital market had approved its request. The firm, which operates in the agricultural sector, intends to get N2.90 billion from shareholders from

By Dipo Olowookere The net profit of MTN Nigeria Plc suffered a 3.3 per cent decline in the first nine months of this year, the financial statements of the company have revealed. The profit after tax went down to N144.2 billion as at September 30, 2020, from N149.2 billion it closed on September 30, 2019, the results indicated. This decrease in profit came despite the double-digit growth recorded by the total revenue generated in the period under consideration, rising by 13.9 per cent to N975.8 billion from N856.6 billion. An analysis of the major contributors to the earnings showed that

Scrolling through the news on a Monday morning, I saw this headline: “Interswitch powers easy UTME registration.” and it caught my attention. I chuckled and stared hard at the headline with a giddy sense of nostalgia. It’s high time somebody took the torture out of JAMB registration! Maybe there are people who don’t understand how I felt when I read that Interswitch and JAMB story. Because in my days, registering for JAMB/UTME was as hard as trying to squeeze yourself into a dress five times smaller than your size. Which do I talk about – the long queues I had

By Dipo Olowookere Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has lost his bid to stop an action on his nomination at the Supreme Court. On Friday, the apex court dismissed his suit challenging the propriety of his nomination for the 2015 governorship election by the All Progressive Congress (APC) and ordered a Federal High Court in Abuja should retry the case on its merit and make decision as demanded by law. The Supreme Court held that the nomination of Tambuwal by his party should be challenged by another governorship aspirant, Senator Umaru Dahiru on the ground that he has sufficient justifiable cause.

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed flat on Tuesday despite the busy nature of the market during the second trading session of the week. Business Post reports that the activity level improved yesterday as investors bought Access Bank for its interim dividend as well as others, while the others offloaded a few equities like FBN Holdings. This pushed the trading volume higher by 68.73 per cent to 355.9 million units to 211.0 million units, raised the trading value by 107.55 per cent to N2.9 billion from N1.4 billion and lifted the number of deals by 6.32 per

By Dipo Olowookere The recent publication of the BUA Group cement concerning ownership of a mining pit has been described by the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development as “unwarranted campaign of calumny against it and the office of the Minister.” A statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja quoted Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mr Mohammed Abass, as saying that BUA Group was aiming to blackmail the ministry into granting a free pass for illegal operations. He alleged that a top official of the Group signed a publication that was published in several newspapers as an open letter to the

By Dipo Olowookere One of the leading cement manufacturers in Nigeria, Lafarge Africa Plc, has received the regulatory approval to open its N89.2 billion rights issue. A statement issued by the company disclosed that the apex regulator in the nation’s capital market, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the exercise. Lafarge Africa is raise planning to raise a total of N89.2 billion from the exercise by way of a Rights Issue of 7,434,367,256 shares at N12.00 per share, by issuing 6 new shares for every 7 shares held by shareholders as at December 4, 2018, which is the

By Aduragbemi Omiyale To support a Nigerian chef, Ms Hilda Baci, who is cooking in Lagos to break the Guinness World Record for the Longest Cooking Time, the country’s biggest Health Management Organisation (HMO), AXA Mansard Health, has offered a one-year free Gold Health Insurance for her. In a message, the HMO noted that this is to boost the morale of the 27-year-old chef and give her the confidence to progress to the end, despite the exhaustion that might have come with 70 hours of cooking she has already put in. “Dear Hilda, you’re doing amazing! We see your determination,

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Zenith Bank Plc has continued to show why it is one of the financial institutions to beat in Africa with its strong Q1 2018 earnings released on Thursday. The lender, which was among the three debutants on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) Premium Board in 2015, grew its gross earnings in the first three months of this year to N169.2 billion from N147.7 billion in the same period of last year. The net interest income also increased to N95.9 billion in Q1 2018 from N70.6 billion in Q1 2017. The financial statements further revealed that during the