Asian Stocks Close Mixed Amid Renewed Trade Worries

By Adedapo Adesanya The President of the Dangote Group, the owners of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals plant, Mr Aliko Dangote, has said that following the purchase of 1 million barrels of Agbami crude grade from Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited (STASCO), it will be looking to ramp up its production in coming months. The 650,000 barrels per day capacity refinery is not expected to hit full capacity until 2025, but with a gradual ramping, it is expected that it will begin with begin producing up to 370,000 barrels per day of diesel and jet fuel. “We

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Some retiring Nigerian military personnel have been educated on how they can unlock opportunities in the capital market after active service to the nation. At a seminar held on Thursday, December 7, 2023, at the Nigeria Armed Forces Resettlement Centre in Lagos, the participants were informed of the benefits of diversifying their investments for more earnings. They were also exposed to ways to invest and assess the market with technology, including via the recently launched NGX USSD Code. The Divisional Head of Business Support Services and General Counsel of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, Ms Irene Robinson-Ayanwale,

By Adedapo Adesanya African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced that the third Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2023) held in Cairo from November 9-15 witnessed the conclusion of business deals and transactions valued at $43.8 billion. The lender said in the final tallies released in Cairo, the organisers of the continental event said that the amount represented the value of 426 deals concluded in 21 sectors covering 52 countries. At a press conference to announce the results, Mrs Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President (Intra-African Trade Bank) at Afreximbank, also announced that 130 countries participated in the trade fair, which attracted 1,939 exhibitors

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a further rise of 0.55 per cent, extending its stay in the green territory to a fourth straight session on Thursday, November 7. This increased the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 4.81 points to wrap the session at 872.54 points compared with 867.73 points in the previous session, as the market capitalisation of the OTC exchange jumped by N6.52 billion to settle at N1.182 trillion, in contrast to the preceding trading day’s N1.176 trillion. The unlisted securities market ended the trading session with two price gainers, 11 Plc and

By Aduragbemi Omiyale A prolific Nigerian filmmaker, Mr Alex Eyengho, has been selected as one of the 52 beneficiaries of the Netflix Creative Equity Scholarship Fund (CESF) for movie producers in the West and Central African regions. The fund will provide financial support to its beneficiaries, including access to quality tertiary education in film and TV-focused disciplines. The scholarship fund for Sub-Saharan students is part of Netflix’s global Creative Equity Fund, launched in 2021, which is a dedicated effort to help build new opportunities for underrepresented communities within entertainment. Through the initiative, Netflix supports external organisations committed to creating equitable

By Jerome-Mario Chijioke Utomi On Monday, May 22, 2023, policymakers and captains of industries from across the world converged on the Lekki axis of Lagos State for the commissioning of the world’s largest single-train 650,000 barrels-per-day petroleum refinery built by Dangote Group. Going by commentaries, the refinery, when it becomes fully operational, will give a boost to efforts by the federal government to make Nigeria self-sufficient in local refining of crude oil and save the scarce foreign exchange used in the importation of petroleum products. Again, aside from the expert reports that the refinery can meet 100 per cent of

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A tech company in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State known as Classified Market Limited has launched a safe and secure platform for Nigerians to buy and sell their products and services with ease online. A statement issued by the firm disclosed that its platform offers new users the opportunity buy and sell in over 100+ categories ranging from cars and vehicles to real estate and job vacancy listing. According to Classified Market Limited, with its integrated advanced search system, users can easily search for any products or service they want in any specific location and category within a

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Consumers, business owners and financial services providers are in a joyous mood and the reason is because of the launch of an innovative payment platform on Monday. The initiative called the New Quick Response (NQR) code payment solution was designed by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) on behalf of all financial service providers. The NQR code was launched by the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank Of Nigeria (CBN) in charge of Financial Systems Stability, Mrs Aishah Ahmad. CBN commends initiative The central banker, who doubles as the Chairman of NIBSS, commended the agency for

By Modupe Gbadeyanka About 250 commercial and power bikes have been seized by the Lagos State Taskforce for various violations and would be crushed this weekend at the taskforce crushing site in Alausa, Ikeja. This was disclosed by the chairman of the taskforce, Mr Shola Jejeloye, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), during a visit to the headquarters of the agency in Bolade Oshodi. Mr Jejeloye said despite the focus on commercial motorcycles, popularly known as ‘Okada’, the State Transport Sector reform laws prohibit motorbikes of any capacity from plying one-way. According to him, power bikes and motorcycles with capacity

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The presidency has reacted to the 6.10 per cent decline in the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the second quarter of 2020 as released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday. In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, the presidency said the shrinking of Nigeria’s economy in the period under review was expected. However, Mr Adesina said when compared with GDPs of advanced countries around the globe, Nigeria did not do badly. “It also appears muted compared to the outcomes in

By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel The Federal Government of Nigeria has said that a lot of progress has been made in the ongoing dialogue with the microblogging giant, Twitter, assuring that the ban would be lifted in the coming days. The Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, gave this assurance when he spoke with journalists on Wednesday after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja. The Minister raised hopes of Nigerians, who have not been able to use the bird app without a proxy of a Virtual Private Network (VPN) since June 2021 because of the ban on