Bank, Industrial Goods Stocks Lift NSE Index by 0.62%

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil fell on Monday as traders approached the market with caution over plans by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) to cut production in the first quarter of 2024. Brent crude futures lost 85 cents or 1.08 per cent to finish at $78.03 a barrel while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures depreciated by $1.03 or 1.39 per cent to sell at $73.04 per barrel. OPEC+ announced voluntary production cuts at its meeting last week and this has raised doubts about whether or not producers would fully implement them. Investors

By Aduragbemi Omiyale A Nigerian startup, Pivo, which raised about $2 million in November 2022, is shutting down its operations, TechCabal is reporting. The platform quoted the co-founder and chief executive of the firm, Ms Nkiru Amadi-Emina, as confirming the intention of the company to fold up. However, no specific reason was given for the decision, though some organisations have been closing shops in Nigeria lately due to the harsh operating environment. One of the biggest pharmaceutical firms in the country, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), announced a few months ago that it would no longer operate its business from Nigeria, opting to

By Dipo Olowookere Profit-taking activities brought back the bears to the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Monday as investors rebalanced their portfolios. It was observed that traders at Customs Street booked profits in shares mostly in the industrial goods sectors like BUA Cement and Lafarge Africa. This resultantly brought down the local stock market by 0.66 per cent at the close of transactions, with the industrial goods space losing 4.21 per cent, the insurance counter declining by 0.28 per cent, and the energy sector falling by 0.01 per cent. However, the consumer goods index improved yesterday by

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has revealed that a $1 billion facility would be used to provide insurance to more than 40 million farmers across the continent against severe impacts of climate change. Initially unveiled at the Africa Climate Summit held in Nairobi in September, the Africa Climate Risk Insurance Facility for Adaptation (ACRIFA) brings together governments, development agencies, the insurance sector and the private sector, said the president of the bank, Mr Akinwumi Adesina, while speaking during a side event at COP28 in Dubai. He said ACRIFA aims to mobilise $1 billion of concessionary financing,

By Dipo Olowookere Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, has signed into law a bill establishing the Edo State College of Agriculture. At the signing ceremony on Monday at the Government House in Benin City, the state capital, the Governor assured that the agricultural sector in the state would get a new lease of life with the new institution. Mr Obaseki explained that the essence of the Edo College of Agriculture Law was to have three schools of agriculture that would train the needed manpower to drive and sustain the ongoing reforms in the state’s agricultural sector. “When this government

By Ahmed Rahma The federal government has approved the implementation of new measures to tackle the second wave of coronavirus disease in Nigeria. These measures were approved by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Mr Boss Mustapha, disclosed at a press briefing held in Abuja on Monday. Mr Mustapha stated that parts of these measures include the reduction of guests at weddings, conferences and sporting facilities to 50. “The PTF has surveyed developments and actions taken by governments around the world, assessed our domestic environment and has accordingly submitted its recommendations to Mr President on

By Adedapo Adesanya Amid claims from industry stakeholders, the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) has denied collecting jetty charges in dollars, explaining that the services rendered by operators are entirely billed in the local currency. The clarification followed claims by oil marketers that the NPA and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) were yet to comply with the federal government’s directive on naira transactions at the ports. The accusers said they had been constrained to import products due to the alleged dollarisation of operations and critical activities by the two government agencies. The Guardian, citing a source in NPA,

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Stock Exchange hosted its first-ever Digital Closing Gong ceremony on Thursday, April 16, 2020, in honour of the contributions of Sterling Bank Plc to the fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria. The closing gong, which is traditionally done on the floor of the exchange, was carried out via Instagram Live due to the temporary closure of the trading floor as a result of the current global situation. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NSE, Mr Oscar Onyema, speaking on the innovativeness of recreating the famed closing ceremony, stated that, “It has been our pleasure to

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Fitch Ratings has affirmed Zenith Bank Plc’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘B+’ with the Outlook Negative. Also, the lender’s Viability Rating (VR) was affirmed at ‘b+’ and its Support Rating at ‘5’. Fitch said Zenith Bank’s IDRs are driven by its standalone creditworthiness, defined by the VR. The VR is constrained by Nigeria’s sovereign rating and the Negative Outlook on the Long-Term IDR mirrors the Outlook on Nigeria’s sovereign rating (B+/Negative). Zenith’s VR is the highest assigned by Fitch to a Nigerian bank. This reflects the bank’s established franchise in Nigeria where it controls an

By Dipo Olowookere The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Wednesday conducted a primary market auction (PMA) for the sale of treasury bills to investors, with the rates tampered with. At the exercise, the central bank offered for sale N90.94 billion worth of the debt instruments across three different maturities. Business Post reports that N1.80 billion worth of 91-day bill, N4.50 billion worth of 182-day bill and N84.64 billion worth of the 364-day bill were auctioned at the PMA. However, the bills were oversubscribed by about 195 percent, reflecting the confidence market participants have in the government’s debt instrument and

By Dipo Olowookere The treasury bills market will be anticipating the government’s instruments worth N404.32 billion maturing this Thursday. These T-bills will be maturing via the secondary market amid expectations of Open Market Operations (OMO) sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to mop up excess liquidity. “Howbeit, we expect relative ease in the financial system liquidity with resultant moderation in interbank rates,” analysts at Cowry Asset said in their weekly market report. Last week, the apex auctioned treasury bills worth N107.05 billion via the Primary Market Auction (PMA). The stop rates for the auctioned T-bills were mostly flattish

By Adedapo Adesanya The president of the Cinema Exhibitors Association of Nigeria (CEAN), Mr Ope Ajayi, has said it realised N495 million from ticket sales across cinemas in the country in September 2022. According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Ajayi said this in an interview in Lagos. He added that when compared with the revenue generated in the same period of 2021, it was a 48 per cent increase and a 31 per cent growth on a month-on-month basis. The CEAN president explained that N334,071,950.00 was realised from ticket sales across cinemas in September 2021, while N495,324,900.00