Economy
Airtel Seeks NCC Support for SMEs to Drive Economic Recovery
By Adedapo Adesanya
Airtel has advocated support from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to stimulate economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 era.
This came as the commission reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring accelerated licensing of new spectrum that would usher in new technologies which include 5G, broadband satellite services, high altitude platform services, and others.
This assertion came at a virtual webinar organised by the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) tagged Nigeria’s Telecommunication Industry-Post COVID.
Speaking at the event, Mr Segun Ogunsanya, the Managing Director of Airtel, in his presentation, said that the SMEs were most hit by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and Airtel had created incentives and discounts for them to support their businesses.
This, he said, was the company’s ultimate objective to reduce the digital divide between those who have access to the internet and those who do not.
According to him, access to the internet is key and imperative because it acts as a leveller that provides information opportunities to small and big businesses alike.
Mr Ogunsanya said that contrary to conventional thinking, the telecommunications industry recorded a decline in its revenue in the first month after the lockdown.
President Muhammadu Buhari announced a total lockdown in Lagos State, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory in March 2020 to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
The said that the pandemic had transformed the conventional ways of carrying out businesses, with online engagements becoming more popular.
“The impact has been huge on social and economic activities but we thank the authorities for creating a good environment for the virus to be contained very quickly.
“The telecoms industry is not isolated from the main economy and you can see the impact on the five key areas of the GDP.
“There was an initial reduction in consumer spending on telecoms services and products and a rise in the demands for data services at the initial stage of the lockdown.
“We got a decline in the second quarter and a lot of pressure is being put on us to increase capital expenditure as a result of increased backhaul requirements,” he said.
Mr Ogunsanya urged telecommunications industries to live up to their key responsibility of creating the right access either through mobile broadband, fibre or wireless connectivity to improve the future trend of businesses in the country.
“We need both fibre and wireless because it’s slightly more difficult to leave fibre but easier to spread the wireless access.
“We have seen a shift from coverage and capacity to customer experience, but data requires a lot of bandwidth.
“We’re focusing more on the kind of experience we’re giving our customers,” he said.
Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the commission, Mr Umar Danbatta, noted that “We will create additional areas of investments with the opening of new spectrum, especially for broadband deployment in both urban and rural areas, and facilitate fibre deployment through initiatives such as the information communication.
“NCC is committed to the provision of infrastructure, transparency and ease of doing business in Nigeria,” he said.
Mr Danbatta, represented by Mr Babagana Digima, Head, Digital Economy Department, NCC, added that some operators had reported an increase in data usage and volume of calls.
This had, in turn, raised the demands for better network connectivity and improved internet coverage, especially in the rural areas, he said.
He said that the telecommunications industry was committed to the delivery of better service and internet infrastructure that would provide quality service and experience as well as address customers’ complaints.
“Some of the complaints raised by the customers during the pandemic were attributed to poor mobile network signals’ absorption and low internet speed.
“The immense contribution of the telecommunications industry during this pandemic is undoubted because it has managed to keep people connected, informed, entertained and enlightened about the disease which has helped in curtailing its spread.
“Governments worldwide, especially in developing countries like ours, have since recognised the need for telecommunications’ infrastructure.
“The pandemic has laid bare the urgency of such interventions,” he said.
Also, Mrs Bisi Adeyemi, the Deputy President of NBCC, stressed the importance of the telecommunications industry on small businesses due to the evidence of more reliance on data and voice connectivity.
“People across the world have had to rely on technology to deal with the new realities of working from home.
“It has, therefore, become necessary to evaluate the impact of the industry on creating an enabling business environment and economic growth,” she said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of fast food brands like Chicken Republic and PieXpress, has disclosed plans to pay 10 Kobo in interim dividend to new and existing shareholders for the 2026 financial year.
This was disclosed by the company in a notice to the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange, where it trades its securities.
The notice indicated that the proposed interim dividend, which comes with no bonus, will be paid to those who hold the stocks of the company as of the qualification date for the dividend, which was Tuesday, March 24.
This means only those who hold the company’s shares as of the closing session will be eligible to receive the stipulated dividend payment.
The shareholders of the company will be credited with the 10 Kobo dividend on Tuesday, March 31.
The notice noted that the closure of the company’s register will be on Wednesday, March 25, through Friday, March 27, 2026, both days inclusive.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange dropped for the third consecutive session on Wednesday, March 18, by 0.39 per cent due to continued sell-offs.
In what would be the final trading session of the week due to public holidays on Thursday and Friday for Eid-el-Fitr, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) further dipped by 16.14 points to 4,114.75 points from 4,130.89 points, and the market capitalisation lost N9.66 billion to close at N2.461 trillion versus the previous day’s N2.471 trillion.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N10.32 to sell at N112.00 per share versus N122.32 per share, NASD Plc dropped N4.50 to finish at N41.50 per unit compared with the previous session’s N46.00 per unit, and Geo-Fluids decreased by 9 Kobo to N3.02 per share from N3.11 per share.
On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc improved by N2.23 to N24.57 per unit from N22.34 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc advanced by 90 Kobo to N76.33 per share from N75.43 per share, Food Concepts Plc rose by 24 Kobo to N3.30 per unit from N3.06 per unit, UBN Property Plc surged by 20 Kobo to N2.18 per share from N1.98 per share, Impresit Bakalori Plc jumped 16 Kobo to N1.83 per unit from N1.67 per unit, and First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc added 14 Kobo to trade at N1.89 per share versus N1.75 per share.
During the trading day, the volume of securities went up by 43,404.4 per cent to 400.8 million units from 921,265 units, the value of securities grew by 2,108.7 per cent to N1.2 billion from N54.7 million, and the number of deals soared by 23.7 per cent to 47 deals from 38 deals.
CSCS Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 38.7 million units valued at N2.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units exchanged for N1.2 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 6.4 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
Resourcery Plc finished the session as the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.1 billion units worth N415.7 million, trailed by Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units sold for N1.2 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 131.1 million units valued at N505.6 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) experienced a pullback of 0.69 per cent as a result of profit-taking by investors, with shares in the banking and energy sectors mostly affected.
Data harvested by Business Post showed that the energy index was down by 4.58 per cent during the session, and the banking space lost 2.14 per cent.
They brought down the All-Share Index (ASI) by 1,402.56 points to 201,156.85 points from 202,559.41 points and shrank the market capitalisation by N900 billion to N129.126 trillion from N130.026 trillion.
Customs Street ended in red at midweek despite three of the five key sectors finishing in green. The consumer goods counter expanded by 1.19 per cent, the industrial goods index improved by 0.46 per cent, and the insurance sector grew by 0.43 per cent.
Red Star Express declined by 9.98 per cent to N25.70, Aradel Holdings went down by 9.68 per cent to N1,210.30, Presco lost 9.30 per cent to trade at N1,701.10, Living Trust Mortgage Bank crashed by 8.40 per cent to N4.80, and DAAR Communications dropped 7.50 per cent to end at N1.85.
On the flip side, Secure Electronic Technology gained 10.00 per cent to settle at N1.32, Guinness Nigeria rose by 9.92 per cent to N423.20, John Holt increased by 9.72 per cent to N11.85, Sovereign Trust Insurance surged by 9.57 per cent to N2.06, and Linkage Assurance chalked up 9.33 per cent to trade at N1.64.
Investor sentiment was weak yesterday after the bourse registered 33 price gainers and 38 price losers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
Market participants bought and sold 6.1 billion stocks valued at N130.1 billion in 58,562 deals compared with the 1.8 billion stocks worth N88.1 billion traded in 62,654 deals on Tuesday, representing a shortfall in the number of deals by 6.53 per cent, and a spike in the trading volume and value by 238.89 per cent and 47.67 per cent apiece.
The most active equity on Wednesday was eTranzact with 5.2 billion units sold for N24.3 billion, Wema Bank exchanged 111.4 million units worth N3.1 billion, Coronation Insurance transacted 96.4 million units valued at N303.9 million, Dangote Cement traded 75.2 million units for N56.5 billion, and Access Holdings exchanged 61.5 million units valued at N1.6 billion.
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