Economy
ASEA Secures Funds from AfDB to Roll Out AELP Phase II by Q3 2023
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved the release of funds to the African Stock Exchange Association (ASEA) for the launch of phase two of the African Exchanges Linkage Project (AELP).
The organisation is looking at the third quarter of 2023 for the launch of the second phase of the scheme, which is designed to enable cross-border trading of securities in Africa.
AELP was created to ensure investors take advantage of the wide array of investment prospects across African capital markets.
Speaking at a meeting with market stakeholders, the president of ASEA and chief executive of the Botswana Stock Exchange, Mr Thapelo Tsheole, provided insights into the benefits and objectives of the AELP, Pan African Payment and Settlement (PAPSS) and other cross-border transaction requirements.
The event, themed Exchange Linkage Project- Facilitating trades across borders, was hosted by Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited and supported by Chapel Hill Denham Securities Limited, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS), Cordros Securities Limited and Stanbic IBTC Limited.
Applauding the NGX for promoting the AELP initiative, Mr Tsheole noted that although African economies have encountered numerous challenges, the continent’s resilience in the face of adversities underscores its potential for sustained economic resilience and initiatives such as the AELP are very vital for Africa to rely on itself as it presents a momentum of opportunities for investors across Africa and the world by fostering deeper integration and connectivity among Africa’s capital markets.
“Having successfully launched phase one of the project in December 2022, connecting 7 exchanges across Africa, we urge Nigerian brokers in the process now to reach out to their counterparts in other countries and strive for expanded cross-border trading across the continent.
“We are looking at the rolling out Phase 2 of the AELP in Q3 2023 as funding has already been approved by the African Development Bank (AfDB)
“We will expand the number of participating exchanges to about 15 exchanges, and we think this will enable investors in the continent to maximize and take advantage of the wide array of investment prospects across Africa,” he said.
Corroborating Mr Tsheole, the Project Manager, AELP, Lina Tonui, in her presentation, said through the support of the AfDB, it received $980,000 from KOAFEC for the AELP implementation, phase one of the project while adding that the opportunities in the project is huge.
Tonui added that phases 1 and 2 would see linked exchanges with a market capitalization of $1.5 billion, increase visibility to domestic and global investors, give access to diverse investment products, support innovation and facilitate Pan-African capital raising through IPOs.
Also speaking, the Head, Technology and Operations at PAPSS, Ositadimma Ugwu, said the key benefits for every participating exchange are that local currency payment will reduce the pressure on any country’s reserves and the elimination of third-party dependencies will make intra-African trade significantly easier.
Earlier in his opening remark, the chief executive of NGX, Temi Popoola, stated that African stock markets still face challenges despite offering high potential for growth and investment returns. He noted that the AELP would encourage increased participation in investments and further enhance financial inclusion in the country and added that the NGX would continue its collaboration with all market stakeholders for the collective growth and development of the capital market in Africa.
In a goodwill message, the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Lamido Yuguda, said the SEC is committed to providing regulatory support that will further deepen and enhance the transparency of the market and added that the commission is also equally supportive of all initiatives that will impact positively on the development of the capital market.
For his part, the Managing Director, Chapel Hill Denham Securities Limited, Mr Akeem Shadare, said the AELP has the potential to bring significant benefits to participating African countries and their capital markets, helping to promote economic growth and development.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude production under the collective Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC ) fell in May to its lowest level in at least 37 years as the blockade of Iran by the United States and disruptions in the Persian Gulf, continued to limit output.
According to a Bloomberg survey released on Friday, output from the organisation’s 11 current members, including Nigeria, dropped by 1.22 million barrels per day to 16.33 million barrels per day last month.
Iran accounted for more than half of the decline. The data excludes the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which departed the cartel last month after six decades of membership.
War between a US-Israeli alliance and Iran has reduced oil supplies from the Middle East, largely closing the Strait of Hormuz waterway. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE and Kuwait have been forced to cut crude production. Iranian shipments face additional pressure following a US blockade of its ports imposed in mid-April.
Iranian output fell by 710,000 barrels per day to a five-year low of 2.34 million barrels per day in May, the survey showed. Central Command reported that US forces have redirected 127 commercial vessels to enforce the blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports.
Kuwait recorded the second-largest decline last month, with production falling by 310,000 barrels per day to 490,000 barrels per day, less than one-fifth of pre-war levels. Saudi Arabia, the group’s leader, saw output decrease by 240,000 barrels per day to 6.57 million barrels per day.
The production reductions have not prevented OPEC and its allies from raising quotas over recent months, continuing a year-long process of restoring output halted several years ago.
This comes ahead of a meeting scheduled to be held on Sunday, June 7, where a sub-group of seven members is expected to increase targets by 188,000 barrels again in July. The session is one of four online meetings OPEC and its partners plan to hold that day.
Delegates indicated the alliance has plans for two additional monthly quota increases in August and September. UAE output rose by 300,000 barrels per day to 2.44 million barrels per day in May, according to the survey.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The 2025 third quarter Budget Implementation Report from the Budget Office of the Federation has shown that the federal government exceeded the funds allocation for repayment of debts for the first nine months of the fiscal year by about 18 per cent.
In a report by Punch, the sum of N10.74 trillion was budgeted for debt servicing between January and September 2025, but the government used N12.63 trillion for the purpose, N1.90 trillion or 17.65 per cent more than the allocation for the year.
The funds were spent on domestic debts, foreign debts and sinking fund by the central government in nine months.
Business Post reports that for the whole year, the amount approved by the National Assembly and signed by President Bola Tinubu for debt repayments was N14.31 trillion.
Looking at the nine-month figures, domestic debt service gulped N6.23 trillion, exceeding its N5.39 trillion provision, while foreign debt service was N6.30 trillion versus the budget provision of N5.06 trillion.
According to the report, the figures indicated that 67.2 per cent of the federal government’s retained revenue of N18.63 trillion was spent on debt service in the first nine months of 2025. When the sinking fund is included, debt-related payments consumed about 67.8 per cent of revenue.
It was also observed that aggregate federal government revenue underperformed the budget by N12.03 trillion or 39.24 per cent, as actual revenue of N18.63 trillion fell short of the N30.67 trillion projected for the first three quarters.
In the third quarter alone, the government generated N7.70 trillion versus the quarterly target of N10.22 trillion as a result of persistent oil revenue shortfalls, despite stronger non-oil collections.
The debt burden also crowded out capital spending, as total capital expenditure was N3.10 trillion in the first nine months compared with the N17.58 trillion budgeted for the period, indicating that actual debt-related payments were more than four times capital expenditure.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a loss of 1.13 per cent on Thursday, June 4, shrinking the market capitalisation by N30.03 billion to N2.630 trillion from N2.660 trillion on Wednesday.
Similarly, this brought down the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 50.19 points to 4,396.08 points from the 4,446.27 points recorded a day earlier.
The loss was influenced by the overpowering of the bulls by the bears, after the bourse closed with two price gainers and three price losers, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which slumped by N20.03 to sell at N190.38 per unit compared with midweek’s N210.41 per unit. Food Concepts Plc declined by 25 Kobo to trade at N2.50 per share versus the previous day’s N3.00 per share, and Acorn Petroleum Plc crumbled by 2 Kobo to end at N1.32 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1.34 per unit.
For the gainers, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc added N2.93 to close at N78.34 per share compared with the previous price of N75.41 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 80 Kobo to settle at N16.80 per unit versus N16.00 per unit.
There was a slip in the volume of transactions yesterday by 46.8 per cent to 280,714 units from 527,221 units, as the value of trades dropped 66.5 per cent to N21.8 million from the preceding session’s N64.2 million, and the number of deals fell by 8.7 per cent to 42 deals from 46 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the session as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 billion.
GNI Plc also finished the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
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