Asian Stocks Close Mixed on Lingering US-China Trade Tensions

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil prices fell by 1 per cent on Wednesday after the US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, as widely expected. Brent futures fell 81 cents or 0.9 per cent to settle at $93.53 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) fell by 92 cents or 1.0 per cent to trade at $90.28 per barrel. Wednesday’s decision means the benchmark short-term interest rate will remain at 5.25 per cent to 5.5 per cent, a 22-year high. This is only the second time since March 2022 that the US central bank meetings have concluded without

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has disclosed that Nigeria saw a 65.7 per cent or N76.77 billion increase in earnings from the solid minerals sector in 2021 to N193.59 billion from the N116.82 billion achieved in 2020. This upward trajectory has been on for the past five years, according to a report from the agency. The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, however, lamented that this is still abysmal considering the potential of the sector to the Nigerian economy. He said this while presenting the solid minerals sector report in Abuja, noting that

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited is looking to drive gender equality and sustainable development in the country through strategic instruments like gender bonds and gender-themed sustainable financing mechanisms. The local bourse said it hopes to achieve this goal by collaborating with a global organisation like the United Nations Women (UN Women). According to the Divisional Head of Business Support Services and General Counsel at NGX, Ms Irene Robinson-Ayanwale, there is a need to galvanize public and private sector stakeholders to the development and adoption of gender-responsive instruments in Nigeria’s capital market and mobilise public and private capital

By Adedapo Adesanya Pressure further mounted on the Nigerian Naira at the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Tuesday as it depreciated against the US Dollar at the close of business. The scarcity of forex was responsible for the poor performance of the Naira in the Investors and Exporters (I&E), black market and peer-to-peer (P2P) segments of the market during the session. Business Post reports that the domestic currency lost N2.62 or 0.34 per cent on the greenback in the spot market yesterday to close at N776.60/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N773.98/$1, amid a 10.6 per

By Dipo Olowookere An opportunity for retail and institutional investors in Nigeria to hedge against currency fluctuations has presented itself. One of the leading investment companies in the country, Afrinvest Asset Management Limited, has introduced an open-ended mutual fund called Afrinvest Dollar Fund. The investment scheme is approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and according to findings by Business Post, the firm is selling 20,000 units of the fund at $100 per unit, with an initial minimum investment amount of $1,000. It was gathered that the firm, a subsidiary of Afrinvest (West Africa) Limited, designed the fund to

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Members of the Association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in Nigeria (ACAEBIN) have been praised for deepening confidence of the banking public. This commendation came from the MD/CEO of Heritage Bank Plc, Mr Ifie Sekibo, during the group’s 47th quarterly meeting held over the weekend via a virtual platform. At the event themed Elevating Internal Audit’s Role in the Face of Emerging Risks and Opportunities, the bank chief said the auditors have specifically made inputs that have helped in shaping policy directions by regulators, including the fight against fraud and other financial crimes. However, he charged

By Dipo Olowookere One of the major players in the financial sector in Africa, Barclays Africa Group Limited, has officially rebranded its identity. The company, which was saddled with the responsibility of finding a new buyer for 9mobile, a telecoms firm in Nigeria, has changed its name to Absa Group Limited. A statement issued by the company on Thursday disclosed that Barclays Africa has already started trading under its new name and new share code (ABG) on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). It was disclosed that the name change marks the start of a new era for the group as

By Adedapo Adesanya Visa has announced the launch of the new Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator program to help enable the continent’s expanding start-up community through expertise, connections, technology, and investment funding. In a statement shared with Business Post, it was disclosed that the initiative was introduced by Visa Executive Chairman, Mr Alfred F. Kelly Jr., at Bloomberg New Economy Gateway Africa in Marrakech, Morocco. The Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator will enable up to 40 start-ups each year to accelerate and grow through a three-month intensive learning program focused on business growth and mentoring. Following the programme completion, Visa intends to

By Dipo Olowookere It was a bad trading day on Wednesday on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as losses recorded by large cap equities dragged the market down by 0.35 percent at the close of transactions. The local bourse, which had recorded gains in the first two trading sessions of this week, fell to profit-taking embarked upon by investors at the market. Though there was a spike in the volume of transactions at the NSE yesterday, the value of shares bought and sold by investors significantly dropped. Business Post reports that the volume of stocks traded on

A new set of graduates have been employed by the management of Ecobank Nigeria. The new employees were absorbed into the firm after completing a training programme. They graduated from the company’s academy, with a virtual ceremony held last week, the second to be conducted in two months. The Ecobank Nigeria Management Trainees Batch 2 (EMDP 2) comprises 53 graduates who were trained at the Ecobank Nigeria Academy for 21 months. Ecobank Nigeria had in May this year organised a virtual graduation ceremony for 57 graduate trainees, the first of its kind by any bank in the country. In his

By Dipo Olowookere Popular Nigerian artiste, Folarin ‘Falz’ Falana, has reacted to the ultimatum given to him to withdraw his recent music video titled ‘This is Nigeria.’ On Tuesday, a Muslim group known as Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) had directed Falz to withdraw the said music within seven days or face a legal action. MURIC, in a statement issued by its leader, Prof Ishaq Akintola, claimed Falz “denigrated Islam, demonized Nigerian Muslims and subjected them to public opprobrium” in the video by portraying women in hijab (Islamic veil) as choreographers dancing the ‘shaku-shaku’, a dance he said was “associated with

By Adedapo Adesanya A 3.97 per cent growth was recorded by the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange last week, extending the weekly improvement as investors showed strong confidence in the alternative bourse. It was the 31st trading week of the year and the market opened for five trading sessions. The outcome pushed the market capitalisation of the exchange higher by N43 billion to N1.120 trillion from the N1.077 trillion achieved in Week 30. Likewise, the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) appreciated by 30.88 points to close at 809.84 points compared with the 778.96 points recorded in the previous week. In