CBN Attributes Increase in Local Cement Production to FX Restriction

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira put up a weak performance against the United States Dollar across the various segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Thursday. November 30, 2023, the last trading session of the month. In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) window, which is the official market, the Nigerian currency lost 0.1 per cent or 85 Kobo against the greenback during the session to settle at N832.32/$1 compared with the preceding day’s value of N831.47/$1. A slight strain in the supply of forex into the spot market was partly responsible for the weakening of the local

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Business owners in Lagos have been assured of more incentives by the state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who added that this is part of his administration’s commitment to reforms aimed at improving the ease of doing business and enhancing investment opportunities. Speaking at the commissioning of the newly-built wet hair production factory of Godrej Nigeria Limited, the Governor said his government would continue to pursue actions that would eliminate red tapes and regulatory impediments hindering the growth of businesses in the state, thereby demonstrating his willingness for continued collaboration with the private sector to improve the livelihood

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) and the unregulated Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and the parallel market segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday, November 29 as President Bola Tinubu reiterated his administration’s promise to meet its obligations. Speaking during the presentation of his administration’s N27.50 trillion 2024 budget proposal to the joint session of the 10th National Assembly on Wednesday, Mr Tinubu said, “Despite the challenges, we continue to meet our obligations.” In the official NAFEM segment of the market, the value of the local currency went

By Adedapo Adesanya The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) on Thursday asked Nigeria to produce about 1.5 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2024, lower than the 1.78 million barrels per day benchmark it proposed in the 2024 Appropriation Bill presented to the National Assembly on Wednesday for passage. The output ceiling was around 1.8 million barrels per day before it was cut down to 1.5 million barrels yesterday at the group’s virtual meeting, a huge blow to Nigeria’s revenue target for the fiscal year. OPEC had tasked three consultancies – IHS, Rystad

By Adedapo Adesanya The presidency has revealed that nine oil-producing states received 13 per cent derivation totalling N625.43 billion, subsidy and SURE-P refunds from the federation account in the last two years. In a statement, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, listed the states to have received the refunds dating from 1999 to 2021 to include Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo, and Rivers. He stated that Abia State received N1.1 billion, Akwa-Ibom – N15 billion; Bayelsa – N1.6 billion; Cross River – N432 million; and Delta – N14.8

By Adedapo Adesanya **Avoids debate on September plans The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) said on Thursday that it would stick to its planned oil output hike for August 2022. However, the alliance avoided discussing policy from September onwards even as prices have risen on tight global supplies and worries that the group has little ability to pump more crude. Thursday’s meeting of the group that includes Saudi Arabia, Russia and other major oil producers was held days before US President, Mr Joe Biden, travels to the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia where he is expected

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), in line with its commitment to building a financially savvy generation, has announced the commencement of the 2018 edition of its NSE Essay Competition for students in Senior Secondary Schools in the country. A statement issued by the NSE disclosed that the topic for this year’s edition is ‘Discuss how technology can promote financial literacy and encourage investment habit among youths.’ The statement explained that theme of this year’s edition aims to bring the subject of technology to the fore and get young people to start thinking early on about how it

By Omaga Elachi Daniel So much has been said about mis-governance in this part of the world, corruption, miscarriage of justice, financial malfeasance, government’s ineptitude, non-accountability in government, looting with impunity, gagging of the press, etc. but not much has been done to change the status quo. This is simply because the conscience of government has gone to sleep a long time ago, and no one has the courage to awaken it. This isn’t peculiar to Nigeria or Africa alone. Even western nations that now practice ideal democracy had issues like this until there was a concerted effort by civil

By Adedapo Adesanya President Bola Tinubu has approved the establishment of a presidential committee headed by the former governor of Kano State, Mr Abdullahi Ganduje, to reform Nigeria’s livestock industry and provide long-term solutions to recurring clashes between herders and farmers in the country. The President announced the establishment of the committee on Thursday in Abuja, following the submission of a report from the National Conference on Livestock Reforms and Mitigation of Associated Conflicts in Nigeria. The President explained that the committee is expected to collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and propose recommendations aimed at

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Nigeria’s House of Representatives has explained the main reason behind the controversial NGO Regulation Bill. In a statement issued on Friday by the Deputy Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Mr Umar Buba Jibril, the lower chamber of the National Assembly noted that religious bodies and organizations are not part of the affected organisations. “Our quasi financial institutions at local levels are NOT NGOs! These organizations have existed for centuries to serve businesses and commerce of our market women and traders. “Now NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) and CSOs (Civil Society Organizations) are voluntary organizations that are registered

By Adedapo Adesanya An oil producer, Guyana, has said it is not interested in joining the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) following an invitation from the cartel. According to Reuters, the Guyanese Vice-President, Mr Bharrat Jagdeo, confirmed this development. The South American country looks to rapidly boost production and attract new operators, with an oil auction coming up in the next couple of months in hopes it can bring in other oil and gas companies. Currently, an Exxon Mobil Corporation-led consortium controls all offshore output in Guyana under a production and sharing agreement in which Exxon decides the