Economy
Airtel Targets $700m Investment in Nigeria With New FX Policy
By Adedapo Adesanya
Telecommunications giant, Airtel, has said his company intends to increase its investment in Nigeria by $700 million following the unification of the foreign exchange (FX) rates by President Bola Tinubu.
The Chairman of Bharti Airtel Worldwide, Mr Sunil Mittal, said this when he had a meeting with President Tinubu on Monday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said that President Tinubu’s new foreign exchange policy would attract more foreign direct investments into the country.
Mr Mittal stated that with the floating of the Naira, one obstruction to foreign investments had been tackled in the country by the government.
Business Post reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently liberalised the exchange rate system in the country by giving traders at the investors and exporters (I&E) window the freedom to determine the exchange rate.
With the development, buyers and sellers of foreign currencies in the official FX market are now allowed to quote rates they find comfortable.
Multilateral lenders like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and investment banks, including Goldman Sachs, declared support for the move.
Mr Mittal said that the FX policy would give foreign and local investors more confidence that an enabling environment had been opened, adding that the economy had also moved into global reckoning.
“I came to Nigeria in 2010 when some others were leaving because of the confidence I have that Nigeria is an emerging market in the continent.
“With this new policy, Airtel’s investment will be increased from the annual $400 million to more than $700 million in the next two to three years,” he said.
On the issues discussed with the President, Mr Mittal said it centred on economic empowerment, job creation and poverty alleviation, adding that Nigeria shared some similarities with India in these regards.
“With technology, digitisation and connectivity, India was able to bring a large percentage of its citizens out of poverty. It created jobs for the youth in the digital space.
“Our investments in Nigeria are not only for profit making, but we thrive in giving back to the community through our corporate social responsibility. We invest in businesses, health and other sectors of the economy,” he said.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The suspension earlier placed on Thomas Wyatt Nigeria Plc by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited has been lifted.
This action was taken on Wednesday, allowing investors to resume trading in the shares of the company, a pioneer paper conversion and printing firm in Nigeria.
Recall that on February 11, 2025, the stock market regulator suspended trading in the equities of Thomas Wyatt because of its inability to publish its financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2024.
The embargo on the organisation, according to the NGX, was in line with the provisions of Rule 3.1: Rules for Filing of Accounts and Treatment of Default Filing (Default Filing Rules).
Business Post reports that the rule requires the regulator to prohibit the buying and selling of the company’s securities on its platform “If an issuer fails to file the relevant accounts by the expiration of the cure period.”
However, before the suspension if effected, the NGX must have sent the defaulting firm “a second filing deficiency notification” within two business days after the end of the cure period.
After the suspension of trading in the issuer’s securities, the NGX must “notify the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the market within 24 hours.”
In a statement last Wednesday, the stock exchange informed the market that “Thomas Wyatt Nigeria has now filed its audited financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2024, and other outstanding unaudited financial statements for 2024.”
“In view of the company’s submission of its 2024 AFS, and pursuant to Rule 3.3 of the default filing rules, which states that the suspension of trading in the issuer’s securities shall be lifted upon submission of the relevant accounts provided the exchange is satisfied that the accounts comply with all applicable rules of the exchange. the exchange shall thereafter also announce through the medium by which the public and the sec was initially notified of the suspension, that the suspension has been lifted, trading license holders and the investing public are hereby notified that the suspension placed on trading on the shares of Thomas Wyatt Nigeria Plc was lifted on Wednesday, June 18, 2025,” the notice stated.
By Dipo Olowookere
There was an improvement in the level of activity at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last week, with 3.566 billion stocks worth N115.403 billion exchanging hands in 99,960 deals compared with the 2.057 billion stocks valued at N51.015 billion traded a week earlier in 65,016 deals.
It was observed that the financial services sector was the most active with 2.166 billion shares sold for N62.046 billion in 45,851 deals, contributing 60.73 per cent and 53.76 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
The consumer goods industry traded 580.893 million equities valued at N10.896 billion in 10,909 deals, and the services counter exchanged 193.300 million shares worth N2.449 billion in 6,306 deals.
The trio of Zenith Bank, Champion Breweries, and Access Holdings accounted for 1.003 billion stocks valued at N26.076 billion in 14,232 deals, contributing 28.14 per cent and 22.60 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
In the five-day trading week, 55 equities appreciated like the preceding week, 42 shares depreciated versus 39 shares of the previous week, and 51 stocks closed flat, in contrast to 54 stocks of the previous week.
Ellah Lakes gained 23.09 per cent to sell for N5.33, Beta Glass appreciated by 19.43 per cent to N276.00, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank improved by 18.88 per cent to N6.80, GTCO advanced by 18.81 per cent to N84.95, and Meyer rose by 13.61 per cent to N9.60.
Conversely, Northern Nigeria Flour Mills lost 17.19 per cent to trade at N93.20, Sunu Assurances depleted by 12.81 per cent to N4.56, Oando tumbled by 11.59 per cent to N61.00, International Energy Insurance crashed by 9.55 per cent to N1.61, and Omatek deflated by 7.59 per cent to 73 Kobo.
Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) and the market capitalisation appreciated by 2.35 per cent and 2.40 per cent to close the week at 118,138.22 points and N74.534 trillion, respectively.
Similarly, all other indices finished higher except the industrial goods and sovereign bond indices, which fell by 0.36 per cent and 0.78 per cent apiece, while the AseM index closed flat.
By Dipo Olowookere
The last trading session of the week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a positive note on Friday with a 0.24 per cent rise.
During the trading day, the market capitalisation of Customs Street was up by N175 billion to N74.534 trillion from the N74.359 trillion recorded on Thursday.
In the same vein, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the local bourse increased by 277.09 points to 118,138.22 points from 117,861.13 points due to sustained bargain-hunting by investors in the banking and commodity sectors.
Data showed that the banking index went up by 1.65 per cent and the commodity sector appreciated by 0.75 per cent.
However, the insurance industry weakened by 1.07 per cent, the industrial goods space lost 0.76 per cent, and the consumer goods and energy counters fell by 0.16 per cent each.
Legend Internet grew by 10.00 per cent to sell for N7.92, Ellah Lakes appreciated by 9.90 per cent to N5.33, Champion Breweries expanded by 9.63 per cent to N8.20, Guinea Insurance rose by 8.70 per cent to 75 Kobo, and eTranzact gained 7.52 per cent to settle at N7.15.
On the flip side, Sunu Assurances declined by 8.62 per cent to N4.56, Northern Nigeria Flour Mills lost 8.00 per cent to trade at N93.20, Thomas Wyatt moderated by 7.83 per cent to N2.00, Livestock Feeds retreated by 6.90 per cent to N8.10, and NEM Insurance contracted by 5.03 per cent to N17.00.
A total of 487.1 million units of shares worth N18.7 billion exchanged hands in 17,421 deals yesterday compared with the 894.0 million units of shares valued at N22.0 billion transacted in 17,257 deals in the previous day, indicating an improvement in the number of deals by 0.95 per cent, and a contraction in the trading volume and value by 45.52 per cent and 15.00 per cent, respectively.
The busiest stock for the session was Fidelity Bank, which traded 38.3 million units valued at N741.5 million, CWG exchanged 25.0 million units for N230.8 million, Zenith Bank transacted 24.9 million units worth N1.2 billion, Coronation Insurance sold 24.4 million units valued at N48.7 million, and Access Holdings traded 23.6 million units worth N517.9 million.
-
Feature/OPED5 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism9 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz2 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking7 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy2 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking2 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports2 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn
-
Technology5 years agoHow To Link Your MTN, Airtel, Glo, 9mobile Lines to NIN