Bankers’ Committee Inaugurates Board to Finance SMEs

By Dipo Olowookere The trio of Universal Insurance, Oando and UBA were the busiest stocks on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last week, trading 2.212 billion units valued at N8.907 billion in 7,593 deals, contributing 56.56 per cent and 29.32 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively. In the week, investors transacted 3.911 billion shares worth N30.379 billion in 38,536 deals versus the 2.933 billion shares worth N47.449 billion exchanged in 44,654 deals in the preceding week. Financial stocks dominated with 2.774 billion units valued at N15.241 billion in 16,379 deals, contributing 70.92 per

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By Adedapo Adesanya The average price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, surged by 230.8 per cent on a year-to-year basis to N626.70 per litre in August 2023 versus N189.46 per litre in the same period of 2022. This is according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) Price Watch (August 2023), which showed that the average retail price increased on a month-on-month basis by 4.39 per cent from N600.3 per litre in July. The skyrocketing cost of petrol came as President Bola Tinubu, during his inauguration speech on May 29,

By Adedapo Adesanya Crude oil prices went in different directions on Friday amid profit-taking as markets weighed supply concerns from Russia’s fuel export ban against demand woes from future rate hikes. While the Brent futures lost 3 cents to close at $93.27 a barrel, the US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) futures rose by 40 cents to sell for $90.03 a barrel. However, both benchmarks closed downwards on a week-on-week basis, with Brent shedding 0.3 per cent, breaking a three-week streak of gains, and WTI sliding by 0.03 per cent for the week, the first decline in four weeks. Russia

By Adedapo Adesanya Fitch Ratings has assigned African Risk Capacity Limited (ARC Ltd), the commercial subsidiary of the African Risk Capacity Group (ARC Group), an ‘Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) Rating of ‘BBB+’ and a ‘Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of ‘BBB’ with a stable outlook. Announcing the rating on its official website, Fitch indicated that “the ratings reflect the commitment and credit quality of ARC’s sponsors, as well as the company’s good business profile, very strong capitalisation and leverage.” Continuing, Fitch stated that, ARC Ltd.’s capital position is very strong, and a key strength for the rating level, adding that

By Dipo Olowookere The management of National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) over-the-counter (OTC) Securities Exchange has announced the introduction of ‘Blue’ securities on its trading platform. NASD described this as a form of classification of admitted securities on its platform by level of disclosure, corporate governance and financial responsibility. It termed the ‘Blue Category’ as shares of companies with a history of sound financial performance, explaining that these companies display a high level of corporate governance by timely disclosure of their financial statements, regular communication with shareholders and meet the minimum requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

By Adedapo Adesanya  Investors in Nigeria might be pulling out more than they are investing as this was evident in the volume of daily market turnover at the Investors window of the foreign exchange market on Wednesday. Business Post gathered that total market turnover was 40 percent more than what was sold in the previous day as a total of $268.37 million was recorded on Wednesday against $191.19 recorded on Tuesday. This may have risen as a result of economic policies been pushed by Federal Government the stringent measures to restrict forex to importers of milk into the country. At

By Dipo Olowookere A partnership aimed to empower parents of children living with developmental challenges has been entered into between Promasidor Nigeria Limited and Children’s Development Centre (CDC). The scheme tagged, ‘We Too Can Grow’ takes off with a grant from Promasidor, manufacturers of Cowbell Milk, Top Tea, Onga seasoning and other quality food products. Five groups in Lagos and Ogun States, where the programme is taking off, have already signed up for the facility being disbursed through cooperatives. Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Social Development, Mrs Joyce Onafowokan, said at the launch that the state government would

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The need for regulators in the digital payments industry in Africa to provide a level playing field for operators has been emphasised by the Group CEO of Pan-African fintech company, Cellulant, Mr Akshay Grover. Speaking when he appraised Africa’s digital payments ecosystem on Arise TV business programme known as Arise Xchange anchored by Mr Boason Omafaye, Mr Grover stressed that regulators of Africa’s financial sector have an important role in ensuring the growth of the digital payment platforms and enabling both big and small players to operate profitably. “Regulators need to create a level playing field for

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has expressed readiness to partner with the Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) company towards solving Nigeria’s energy challenges. One of the areas the agency is looking to partner with the NLNG is to increase gas use in cooking, transportation and power generation. During a visit of the management of the NLNG in Abuja, the  Chief Executive Officer of NMDPRA, Mr Farouk Ahmed, applauded the sister organisation for prioritising domestic supply, which has had a significant impact on deepening gas consumption in the country. The NMDPRA CEO reiterated the

By Dipo Olowookere Shares of Honeywell Flour Mills witnessed a significant rush on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last week, pushing its price higher by 28.13 per cent. Business Post reports that Honeywell Flour stocks, which opened the week at N1.60 each, closed last Friday at N2.05 on the back of a sudden demand for the company’s equities by investors. The company was the best-performing stock of the week and as well as one of the most traded equities at the close of transactions for the week. According to data from the NGX, trading in Honeywell Flour,

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The much-awaited Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) commenced today, Monday, September 26, 2022. It is the last, but one meeting of the monetary team saddled with the responsibility of determining the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) for the country. The meeting is for two days. The first leg of the gathering started at 10 am today at the MPC Meeting Room on the 11th Floor of the headquarters of the CBN in Abuja. Tomorrow, Tuesday, September 27, 2022, the second part of the gathering will take place at the same venue