Economy
Belarus Offers to Support Nigeria’s Agricultural Mechanization Drive
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The government of Belarus has offered to support the agricultural mechanization drive of Nigeria, promising to produce tractors that will fit the nation’s specifications.
This request was made by the Ambassador of Belarus to Nigeria, Mr Vyacheslav Bril, during a visit to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha.
The envoy said his country has a track record in agricultural mechanization, producing 60,000 tractors annually with different modifications, assuring that the federal government of the desire of the landlocked country in Eastern Europe to partner with Nigeria in the area of agriculture, manufacturing, solid minerals, oil and gas, defence and security.
According to him, Belarus is ready to partner with Nigeria to provide the required expertise for sustainable development, noting that through its military-technical cooperation, Nigeria will receive the support of his government in securing modernized ammunitions.
He also assured the federal government that with their gains in the oil and gas industry, they would provide the necessary maintenance and upgrading of refineries to operate optimally.
Responding, Mr Mustapha thanked the diplomat for the visit, affirming Nigeria’s commitment to strengthening its bilateral ties with the Republic of Belarus in order to diversify its economy.
The SGF noted that Nigeria’s long-existing ties with Belarus in the area of trading have not improved and requested the Ambassador to explore means of improving trade relations so as to boost its volume of trade.
“To assure you that slowly but steadily, we will continue to build on this very strong relationship that we believe will be mutually beneficial to Nigeria as a trading partner with Belarus.
“We hope to see improvements in the same as the volume of trade between the two countries have not really increased in the dimension that we want to see over the last couple of years, but we believe that the way you’ve set to engage.
“I can see that since you presented your letters of credence, I think I can see that you’ve begun to engage ministers in cabinet, and you’ve been able to get some visits to Belarus from those ministers. that is the way to go,” Mr Mustapha said.
He commended the government of Belarus on the quality of their products which have received acceptability among Nigerians and promised to seek their support in turning the fortunes of the country’s agricultural drive.
The SGF informed the Ambassador of the federal government’s diversification drive and seeks partnership with the Belarusian government on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a way forward.
“I believe there are certain areas from which we can begin to partner. in the last two quarters, our digital economy and ICT have contributed immensely to our GDP, which is a clear indication that in as much as we are an oil-dependent country, but we can strongly drive the diversification drive in our economy particularly in the service sector.
“ICT stands out as an area we can partner as a nation. I hope you We have an opportunity with the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy (Mr Isa Pantami) so that you can discuss at length on how we can work together in a particular industry to see how, how you can help institutionalize our developmental efforts in that particular area,” he said.
Mr Mustapha also affirmed that the federal government would like the Belarusian government to partner with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development among others to build institutions that would impact and transfer knowledge on entrepreneurship to our teeming youths.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three securities lifted the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.38 per cent on Friday, July 3, with the NASD Security Index (NSI) up by 58.80 points to 4,307.26 points from 4,248.46 points, and the market capitalisation closing higher by N35.30 billion to N2.585 trillion from N2.549 trillion.
The price gainers were led by 11 Plc, which expanded by N20.05 to close at N220.55 per share compared with the previous day’s N200.50 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc increased by N5.36 to N151.82 per unit from N146.46 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc appreciated by N3.52 to N90.74 per share from N87.22 per share.
Yesterday, the value of transactions surged by 1,431.2 per cent to N160.1 million from the preceding session’s N10.5 million, and the volume of trades rose by 303.7 per cent to 1.8 million units from 440,653 units, while the number of deals decreased by 34.4 per cent to 21 deals from 32 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, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 70.7 million units transacted for N4.9 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The losing streak on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was halted on Friday after the bourse closed higher by 2.19 per cent at the close of trading activities.
The gains reported by Nigerian stocks were buoyed by renewed bargain-hunting by investors, which resulted in all the key sectors of Customs Street ended in the green territory.
The banking space rose by 2.78 per cent, the insurance counter appreciated by 1.26 per cent, the energy segment expanded by 0.36 per cent, the consumer goods index chalked up 0.06 per cent, and the industrial goods sector grew by 0.05 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 4,918.37 points to 229,240.34 points from 224,321.97 points, and the market capitalisation increased by N3.156 trillion to N147.103 trillion from N143.947 trillion.
Investor sentiment was bullish after 34 stocks ended on the price gainers’ chart and 18 stocks finished on the losers’ log, representing a positive market breadth index.
The quintet of The Initiates, Universal Insurance, DAAR Communications, Omatek, and Airtel Africa surged by 10.00 per cent to sell for N25.85, 88 Kobo, N1.65, N1.76, and N5,274.00, respectively.
On the flip side, International Energy Insurance lost 9.96 per cent to trade at N4.70, Meyer shed 9.95 per cent to close at N18.55, Veritas Kapital dropped 5.07 per cent to finish at N1.31, Fidelity Bank slipped by 2.17 per cent to N18.00, and Jaiz Bank crashed by 1.84 per cent to N28.12.
During the session, a total of 414.7 million equities worth N25.1 billion exchanged hands in 47,106 deals compared with the 855.4 million equities valued at N28.4 billion transacted in the preceding day in 51,609 deals, implying a contraction in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 51.52 per cent, 11.62 per cent, and 8.73 per cent, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira closed flat against the United States Dollar at N1,370.19/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, July 3.
However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment by N2.29 to settle at N1,829.88/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,832.17/£1, and marginally depreciated against the Euro by 4 Kobo to close at N1,568.32/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,568.28/€1.
At the parallel market, the Naira also traded flat against the US Dollar at N1,390/$1, and at the GTBank forex desk, it also maintained stability at N1,832/$1.
Market conditions improved shortly after the following minimal intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through modest Dollar sales, which boosted liquidity and supported stronger trading activity.
Easing pressure came after half-year profit-taking tapered down, while continued stronger policy signals from the central bank add to near-term support.
Deals executed at the official market on Friday came in at $70.430 million across 82 interbank deals, from $85.517 million the previous day.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market continued its recovery after June non-farm payrolls printed at 57,000, less than half the 113,000 consensus, sending the implied probability of a September Federal Reserve rate hike from 64 per cent to 54 per cent and dragging AI stocks sharply lower.
Weak labour data reduces inflationary pressure and, by extension, the Federal Reserve’s justification for holding rates elevated. That transmission mechanism is direct: lower rate-hike odds compress the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like crypto.
Bitcoin regained the $62,000 mark after it rose by 1.3 per cent to $62,475.29.
Cardano (ADA) gained 6.6 per cent to trade at $0.1759, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.5 per cent to $1.14, Ethereum (ETH) expanded by 2.4 per cent to $1,756.82, Dogecoin (DOGE) improved by 2.1 per cent to $0.0768, Solana (SOL) chalked up 1.8 per cent to $82.65, TRON (TRX) increased by 1.5 per cent to $0.3235, and Binance Coin (BNB) soared by 1.4 per cent to $569.12, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
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