Business Conditions in Nigeria Show Improvement

By Aduragbemi Omiyale One of the leading brokerage companies in Nigeria, Meristem Securities Limited, has introduced a new fixed-income investment package known as Meristem Dollar Fund. Business Post gathered that this open-ended mutual fund was designed to help investors hedge against the local currency, especially at a period when the Naira is witnessing high volatility amid rising inflation in the country. Meristem disclosed that funds taken from investors would be invested in investment-grade sovereign and corporate Eurobonds, and other qualifying USD instruments issued by Nigerian entities as may be determined by the investment committee. The company put the offer size

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira recovered from the previous day’s loss after closing stronger against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, December 7, by 11.4 per cent or N108.15 to trade at N843.07/$1 compared with the previous day’s rate of N951.22/$1. This occurred as the value of foreign exchange (FX) transactions slightly increased during the session by $1.67 million or 39.5 per cent to $137.25 million from the $135.58 million achieved in the preceding trading session. Similarly, in the official market, the Nigerian Naira strengthened against the British Pound Sterling on Thursday by

By Precious Olisa The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) have expressed their disappointment over the increasing exit of multinationals from the Nigerian market. The two organisations reacted to the planned exit of Procter & Gamble (P&G) from the country over economic headwinds. P&G announced its intention to close down its manufacturing operations in Nigeria and adopt an import-only business model due to the foreign exchange (FX) crisis in the country. This is coming some weeks after GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Sanofi, Unilever Nigeria, Equinor and others have also indicated their interest in quitting

By Adedapo Adesanya The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has cautioned Nigerians to be wary of fake Naira notes currently in circulation, vowing to prosecute those engaged in the illicit acts. The apex bank in a release signed by Mrs Hakama Sidi Ali, the acting Director of Corporate Communications, said the counterfeit notes have been spread by some individuals for transactions in food markets and other places where commerce takes place across the country, noting that this is a punishable offence. “The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to the circulation of counterfeit banknotes, especially

By Ahmed Rahma, Adedapo Adesanya The Naira opened the month of March stronger, recording a N1.05 or 0.26 per cent gain against the Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window on Monday to close at N409.20/$1 in contrast to N410.25/$1 it traded at the previous session. Going by the data obtained by Business Post from the FMDQ Securities Exchange, the strengthening of the local currency was boosted by a low turnover at the segment of the foreign exchange market yesterday. During the session, transactions worth $24.38 million were carried out, $13.11 million or 34.9 per cent lower than the

As schools break for mid-term holidays and a peak travel period kicks off from October 14 onwards, Emirates announces a myriad of ways to ensure a smooth and swift travel experience for families, including new updates to the Emirates app and digital check-in options. All passengers are advised to arrive at the airport up to 3 hours before their flight and take advantage of Emirates’ multiple smart technologies to ensure seamless travel during the busy period. Plan everything on the Emirates App Passengers are encouraged to download the Emirates app on their mobile phones to get all the flight details at

By Adedapo Adesanya English Football League (EFL) needs to wrap the current season before July 31 because the coronavirus pandemic will make clubs face a £200 million financial hole by September. The chairman of the league, Mr Rick Parry, made this known when he gave evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMS) of the English government on Tuesday, May 5 in a bid to convince government to allow club complete the present league season, which was suspended in March. “We would like to emerge stronger and leaner, with a proper reset post-COVID. “We are heading for a

By Ahmed Rahma The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Mr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has warned that COVID-19 won’t be the world’s last pandemic. The WHO boss said this on the first International Day of Epidemic Preparedness held on Sunday, encouraging countries to prepare better by working to prevent, detect and mitigate emergencies of all kinds. According to him, “History tells us this will not be the last pandemic and epidemics are a fact of life.” He further said “investments in public health and an all-of-government, all-of-society, one health approach could help countries successfully react to global health crises

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited has reaffirmed its desire to support sustainable products that promote gender equality. The Divisional Head of Capital Markets at the NGX, Mr Jude Chiemeka, gave this assurance last Thursday at the closing gong ceremony to commemorate the 20th anniversary of 100 Women in Finance and the launch of the group’s Nigeria chapter. Mr Chiemeka informed the company’s guests that the bourse, in light of its gender leadership in the Nigerian private sector, was committed to closing the gender gap for women. “We are currently in partnership with International Finance Corporation (IFC) under

By Dipo Olowookere The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday released guidelines for the sale of the $2.5 billion currency swap deal signed between Nigeria and China recently. The deal, which has a 3-year tenor, was sealed to allow purchase of goods using currencies of both nations instead of the Dollar, the globally recognised currency for transactions. With this, a Chinese who wants to purchase goods from Nigeria can pay in Naira, while a Nigerian interested in acquiring products from China has the opportunity to pay with the Yuan. On the mode of payment, the central bank said importers

By Adedapo Adesanya FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc and Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc both allowed the bears to rip NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange apart by 1.85 per cent on Tuesday, December 7. The performance of the two stocks depleted the market capitalisation of the NASD OTC market by N11.41 billion to N604.45 billion from N615.86 billion it quoted at the previous session. Consequently, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) plunged at the close of business by 13.82 basis points to end the day at 731.62 points as against 745.44 points it recorded on Monday. Friesland lost N9.20 or

By Quantitative Financial Analytics Ltd Fixed income investors must be feeling unease as yields continue to plunge and may be thinking of where else to run to for improved investment income. One area to look at is the equity market and one variable that could help in that search is dividend yield. However, in looking for good investment outlets in the equity market, investors often times look not only dividend yields but also payout ratio as well as dividend growth. Of the three variables (dividend yield, payout ratio and dividend growth), the most important is dividend growth. Dividend growth does