Economy

Ambode Begs Ladipo Traders for Support

Published

9 years ago

13/01/2017

Modupe Gbadeyanka

**To Turn Yaba to Main Tech Hub

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, on Wednesday sought the support of traders at the popular auto spare parts market in Ladipo, Mushin.

Speaking at the market where he was received by hundreds of traders amidst pump and pageantry, Governor Ambode said from next month, his administration will commence construction of Alhaji Akinwunmi Street and Ladipo Street, as well as Obagun Avenue, off Fatai Atere Road.

He also said that a multi-layer car park will be constructed to address the chaos in the area in terms of parking of vehicles, but solicited the cooperation of the traders and residents of the area, saying that government would organize a stakeholders’ meeting to discuss modalities for the construction.

Also on Wednesday, Mr Ambode said plans were going on to transform the Sabo Industrial Estate in Yaba area of the state to a technology hub and another Silicon Valley where new set of entrepreneurs and innovators would be raised to address the challenges confronting the nation in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector.

Silicon Valley, which is in San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States, is home to many of the world’s largest high-tech corporations and thousands of startup companies.

Governor Ambode, who spoke during an extensive inspection tour across the state, said government will actualize the plan of transforming Sabo to the new hub for technology in 2017 and assist the already established technology incubators in the area to achieve their full potentials.

Some of the technology outfits visited in the area by the Governor included Ardela, IDEA and CC Hub, among others.

Mr Ambode, who was joined on the inspection by top government functionaries and former Minister of Communications and Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson, said government was desirous of assisting entrepreneurs in the ICT sector to become good startups, adding that his administration would explore all the available initiatives in that regard.

He said to start with, entrepreneurs in the sector would be allowed to access the N25 billion Employment Trust Fund (ETF), which is an initiative of his administration, to grow their businesses, as well as other interventions from the State’s Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment.

He said: “I decided to come here just for me to feel the state of things and to learn about your challenges. Our government is seriously committed to assisting entrepreneurs like the ones here to be able to be good startups.

“I want to also say that we will use our Employment Trust Fund to support this concept here.”

The Governor said one of the factors considered when government was setting up the ETF was the need to set up incubators, but with the progress made in that regard by the private sector, government would now only build on the existing technology incubators.

“All we need to do is to now send people here and also support by way of infrastructure to scale up this place and others like this that can help in churning out more people.

“Our aim is to create enabling environment for our youth to thrive, to be more creative and enterprising. We so much believe in innovation and creativity. We strongly believe that youths are the ones that can take us out of this economic recession and the truth is that we must create enabling environment for our youths to optimally utilize their talents.

“You can recall that throughout my campaign, I promised to use tourism, hospitality and entertainment to create employment and jobs for our youths. This is the fundamental basis our government is built upon.

“The whole idea is that these young ones here should not just leave this place and go back to where they started from. I think that value chain is what we as government must tap into and then we would be able to move this nation forward. I believe strongly that the youths are the future of this country and we need to pay greater attention to everything that they are doing and I also believe strongly that technology is the key that we are going to use to grow this economy,” he said.

The Governor said government would explore the possibility of addressing the power challenges confronting the area, especially by linking the estate to the Mainland Independent Power Project.

In her remarks, the former Minister commended the initiative of Governor Ambode on the plan to scale up the industrial park in Sabo, saying that the development signalled a new beginning for the technology sector.

Economy

UAE to Leave OPEC May 1

Published

48 minutes ago

28/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The United ‌Arab Emirates has announced its decision to quit the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to focus on national interests.

This dealt ⁠a heavy ⁠blow to the oil-exporting group at a time when the US-Israel war on Iran had caused ⁠a historic energy shock and rattled the global economy.

The move, which will take effect on May 1, 2026, reflects “the UAE’s long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile”, a statement carried by state media said on Tuesday.

“During our time in the organisation, we made significant contributions and even greater sacrifices for the benefit of all,” it added. “However, the time has come to focus our efforts on what our national interest dictates.”

The loss of the UAE, a longstanding OPEC member, could create disarray and weaken the oil cartel, which has usually sought to show a united ⁠front despite internal disagreements over a range of issues from geopolitics to production quotas.

UAE Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei said the decision was taken after a careful look at the regional power’s energy strategies.

“This is a policy decision. It has been done after a careful look at current and future policies related to the level of production,” the minister said.

OPEC’s Gulf producers have already been struggling to ship exports through the Strait of Hormuz, a ‌narrow chokepoint between Iran and Oman through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies normally pass, because of threats and attacks against vessels during the war.

The UAE had been a member of OPEC first through its emirate of Abu Dhabi in 1967 and later when it became its own country in 1971.

The oil cartel, based in Vienna, has seen some of its market power wane as the US has increased its production of crude oil in recent years.

Additionally, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have increasingly competed over economic issues and regional politics, particularly in the Red Sea area.

The two countries had joined a coalition to fight against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis in 2015. However, that coalition broke down into recriminations in late December when Saudi Arabia bombed what it described as a weapons shipment bound for Yemeni separatists backed by the UAE.

Economy

NASD OTC Exchange Inches Up 0.03% as CSCS Outshines Four Price Decliners

Published

13 hours ago

28/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc bested four price decliners on the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Monday, April 27. The alternative stock market opened the week bullish during the session with a 0.03 per cent uptick.

According to data, the security depository company added N2.61 to its share price to close at N76.26 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N78.87 per unit.

As a result, the market capitalisation of the platform increased by N820 million to N2.425 trillion from N2.424 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gained 1.38 points to finish at 4,053.97 points compared with the 4,052.58 points it ended last Friday.

The four price losers were led by NASD Plc, which slumped by N3.80 to sell at N34.70 per share versus N38.50 per share. FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc fell by N1.45 to N98.10 per unit from N99.55 per unit, Food Concepts Plc slid by 27 Kobo to N2.43 per share from N2.70 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc dipped by 9 Kobo to N2.91 per unit from N3.00 per unit.

The value of securities transacted by market participants went down by 82.0 per cent to N7.4 million from N41.3 million units, the volume of securities declined by 28.5 per cent to 319,831 units from 447,403 units, and the number of deals dropped by 34.1 per cent to 29 deals from 44 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units sold for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.

Also, GNI Plc was the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with a turnover of 400 million units worth N1.2 billion.

Economy

Naira Opens Week Weaker at N1,364/$ at NAFEX After N5.80 Loss

Published

13 hours ago

28/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The first trading day of the week in the currency market was bearish for the Naira in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, April 27.

Yesterday, it lost N5.80 or 0.43 per cent against the United States Dollar to trade at N1,364.24/$1, in contrast to the N1,358.44/$1 it was traded last Friday.

In the same vein, the Nigerian currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N13.70 to close at N1,847.72/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,834.02/£1, and slumped against the Euro by N11.56 to sell at N1,602.29/€1 versus N1,590.73/€1.

Also, the Nigerian Naira tumbled against the greenback during the trading day by N5 to quote at N1,385/$1 compared with the previous rate of N1,380/$1, and at the GTBank FX desk, it traded flat at N1,370/$1.

The poor performance of the domestic currency could be attributed to liquidity shortage at the official currency market on Monday, which came amid surging demand for international payments. At $76.50 million, interbank liquidity printed higher across 79 deals, up from the $43.572 million reported on Friday.

Nigeria’s gross external reserves declined to $48.45 billion amid a month-long decline in inflows, amid uncertainties in the global commodity market. The depletion of foreign reserves could be partly attributed to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s intervention in the FX market.

The market remains perturbed by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market, while boosters, including oil prices, continue to look rocky due to stalled discussions and unclear ceasefire negotiations between the US and Iran.

A look at the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) has been rejected near $79,000 three times in eight sessions, leaving the level as the de facto ceiling of its current trading range even as major cryptocurrencies trade lower over the past day. It lost 0.9 per cent to sell at $77,003.61.

Analysts say that upcoming US Federal Reserve policy decisions and top tech firms’ earnings this week could provide the catalyst to push bitcoin decisively above $80,000.

The market also continued to weigh Iran’s interim deal proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which failed to advance over the weekend. The White House said US officials were discussing the latest Iranian proposal but maintained “red lines” on any deal to end the eight-week war.

Solana (SOL) dropped 1.8 per cent to $84.25, Ripple (XRP) went down by 1.6 per cent to $1.39, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $2,290.00, Binance Coin (BNB) declined by 0.5 per cent to $625.18, and Cardano (ADA) fell by 0.2 per cent to $0.2480.

However, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 2.0 per cent to $0.1002, and TRON (TRX) appreciated by 0.2 per cent to $0.3242, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.