Economy
Australia Pledges Support for West African Mining Sector
By Dipo Olowookere
The government of Australia has promised to support development of the necessary skills in West Africa, especially Ghana, through its various scholarship programs and exchanges.
The Australian government made this pledge at a forum organised by a team of West African alumni and hosted by Australia’s Minerals and Energy for Development Alliance (MEfDA) with support by the Australian Government.
Over 80 West Africans who have previously attended Australian-funded mining courses met on April 27, 2017, in Accra, Ghana, to share knowledge and understanding of current challenges and opportunities in the region on attracting responsible mining investment and sustainable development.
Ghana’s Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr John Peter Amewu, delivered the keynote speech at the ‘Investing in West African mining for sustainable regional development,’ alongside several other notable speakers including Mr Henry Antwi, Head of Mining and Metals at Oman Oil Company, and Dr Kojo Busia Coordinator African Minerals Development Centre.
The West African Alumni Forum focussed on themes of investment promotion, regulatory frameworks and incentives, political risks, social license to operate, local content, and transparency of information.
Alumni representing governments, civil society, academia and industry from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo were able to network and share experiences on mining investment and sustainable development in West Africa.
“Australia is pleased to support development of the necessary skills in Ghana through our various scholarship programs and exchanges. Through their studies and experiences in Australia, Australian alumni bring cutting edge knowledge and skills to their jobs in the mining industry to the huge benefit of their countries.”
The High Commissioner noted that, “Ghana has much untapped natural resource potential. If well-managed, development of these resources could drive employment and growth and set Ghana up for a strong future.
“That is why we are very encouraged by the Akufo-Addo Government’s commitment to implement the economic and social reforms required to produce jobs and growth.” Mr Andrew Barnes, Australian High Commissioner, said in his opening remarks.”
Australia has a long history of providing capacity-building support to countries across Africa. Participants at today’s event have benefitted from courses in mining and mining governance. The Alumni Forum was a significant opportunity to develop and strengthen the partnership between Australia and West Africa in this important sector.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Dangote Petroleum Refinery has formally approached Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to begin the regulatory process for its planned initial public offering (IPO), paving the way for what could become Africa’s largest stock market listing, according to a report by BusinessDay.
The newspaper reported that the refinery’s advisers are already working with company officials and the SEC to process the application, with the regulator expressing confidence that there are no obstacles likely to delay the transaction.
Speaking in an interview with BusinessDay, the Director-General of the SEC, Mr Emomotimi Agama, said the commission stands ready to address any issues that may arise during the approval process.
“If any issue arises, SEC will resolve it. That is why the SEC exists,” Mr Agama was quoted to have said.
Although no official listing date has been approved, the refinery is still targeting a September debut on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited. There are also plans for a multi-African bourse listing.
The planned IPO is expected to rank among the largest equity offerings ever seen in Africa and would mark one of the most significant additions to Nigeria’s capital market in recent years.
The listing also aligns with ongoing efforts by regulators to encourage major privately owned companies to go public and deepen the country’s equity market.
The application comes after several months of preparatory engagements involving Dangote Refinery, its advisers and the SEC.
Mr Agama noted that the company’s early engagement with the regulator has helped streamline the approval process, adding that the commission intends to encourage similar collaboration for future listings.
Meanwhile, the SEC has concluded investigations into the unauthorised promotion of the refinery’s proposed IPO by some market participants before regulatory approval had been obtained.
According to Mr Agama, sanctions are being imposed on those found to have breached the rules, although he declined to identify the affected entities.
This comes after the company raised about $2.5 billion has been raised by from its private equity placement.
The exercise attracted broad participation from international and African institutional investors, sovereign-related investment vehicles, development finance institutions, strategic partners, and individual investors.
Notable participants included the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and India Infra Buildco, an investment vehicle facilitated by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), reflecting deep and diversified confidence in DPRP’s long-term prospects.
The transaction is believed to be Africa’s largest publicly disclosed primary equity private placement, marking a significant milestone in the history of the organisation and demonstrating strong investor confidence in the refinery’s long-term growth strategy, including raising its current capacity from 700,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The trio of MRS Oil Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, and Afriland Properties Plc lifted the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.21 per cent on Wednesday, July 29.
MRS Oil made a N14.80 gain to close at N162.80 per share versus the previous session’s N148.00 per share, CSCS Plc appreciated by N5.09 to N95.00 per unit from N89.91 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc improved by 73 Kobo to end at N20.63 per share, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing price of N19.90 per share.
As a result, the NASD Security Index (NSI) added 51.73 points to settle at 4,324.88 points compared with the preceding day’s 4,273.15 points, and the market capitalisation jumped by N31.03 billion to close at N2.595 trillion versus N2.564 trillion.
At the close of transactions, the volume of securities exchanged by the market participants fell by 96.8 per cent to 213,893 units from 6.7 million units, the value of securities declined by 82.7 per cent to N14.8 million from the preceding session’s N85.8 million, and the number of deals slumped by 13.7 per cent to 44 deals from the previous day’s 51 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 75.9 million units transacted for N5.4 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira further depreciated against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) for the third straight day on Wednesday, July 29, by N1.18 or 0.09 per cent to quote at N1,366.71/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,365.53/$1.
In the same vein, the Nigerian currency weakened against the Euro in the official FX market at midweek by N2.44 to close at N1,555.32/€1, in contrast to Tuesday’s rate of N1,552.88/€1, but against the Pound Sterling, it appreciated by N2.38 to trade at N1,815.82/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,816.43/£1.
At the black market, the Naira traded flat against the greenback yesterday at N1,400/$1, and also remained unchanged at the GTBank forex counter at N1,370/$1.
Interbank FX turnover closed at $61.034 million, according to data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), about a 41 per cent day-on-day decline from $102.954 million the previous day.
The data also revealed that the number of deals at the interbank FX window eased to 86 from 121 previously recorded.
With a slowdown in FX inflows from foreign portfolio investors, exporters and non-bank corporates, the CBN is anticipated to step up its market intervention to keep the local currency stable.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market turned red during the session, as the US Federal Reserve left its benchmark fed funds rate range unchanged at 3.50 per cent -3.75 per cent, extending its pause for a sixth consecutive meeting as policymakers continue to grapple with stubborn inflation.
“Inflation remains elevated relative to the committee’s 2 per cent goal, in part reflecting supply shocks that have driven price increases in certain sectors, including energy,” the policy statement read.
Investors will be watching closely for signs that the US central bank’s communication strategy is changing under the leadership of Mr Kevin Warsh, who had been openly critical of the Federal Reserve’s traditional use of forward guidance and the quarterly dot plot, which the bank uses to show officials’ interest rate projections.
Dogecoin (DOGE) dropped 1.3 per cent to sell at $0.0699, Ripple (XRP) crashed by 1.2 per cent to $1.07, Ethereum (ETH) declined by 0.8 per cent to $1,902.73, Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.6 per cent to finish at $63,977.25, Solana (SOL) went down by 0.4 per cent to $73.57, and Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 1.2 per cent to $0.1625.
On the flip side, Binance Coin (BNB) went up by 0.4 per cent to $572.53, and TRON (TRX) soared by 0.3 per cent to $0.3263, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
