CBN Backs Forex Market with Fresh $195m

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 boards of insurance companies operating in the country have been charged by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to embrace the measures put in place to tackle the challenges of unpaid claims. The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Sunday Thomas, expressed worry over the number of outstanding claims in the sector despite efforts by the regulator to address the issue. Mr Thomas, who is also the chief executive of NAICOM, said the organisation, in collaboration with members of the Insurers’ Committee, has taken decisions and incepted measures designed to tame the menace of unpaid claims. Speaking at the

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira started the first trading session in the last month of 2023 on a negative note after it depreciated against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), which is the official FX window, by 11.4 per cent or N94.87 on Friday, December 1, closing at N927.19/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s exchange rate of N832.32/$1. The December rush for forex contributed to the weakening of the domestic currency in the spot market yesterday, as the supply of foreign currency could not meet what customers needed. Data showed that the value of FX transactions recorded

By Adedapo Adesanya Equinor and Chappal Energies have entered into an agreement for the sale of Equinor Nigeria Energy Company (ENEC), which holds a 53.85 per cent ownership in oil and gas lease OML 128, including the unitized 20.21 per cent stake in the Agbami oil field, operated by Chevron. Speaking on the deal, Equinor’s senior vice president for Africa Operations, Ms Nina Koch, said Nigeria has been an important part of Equinor’s international portfolio over the past 30 years, noting that, “This transaction realizes value and is in line with Equinor’s strategy to optimize its international oil and gas

By Dipo Olowookere Organisers of the 2017 edition of the Private Equity Africa Awards have announced winners of the annual event. In its sixth edition, over 120 self-entries, complemented by recommendations from the PEA editorial team and supported by industry data were received. The awards saw 22 firms collect much coveted accolades at the 6th Annual PEA Awards Gala Dinner hosted at London’s prestigious Savoy hotel on June 1, which attracted about 250 industry professionals. The recipient of this year’s Outstanding Leadership Award was Ziad Oueslati, co-founding Partner at AfricInvest, for his contributions to the growth of the industry. This

**Shifts Focus on Nigeria’s Economy Future By Modupe Gbadeyanka Riding on last year’s successful summit, The Economist Events’ Nigeria Summit has disclosed that the 2017 edition of the event will explore strategic opportunities available for Nigeria’s economic growth as she seeks solutions to her current financial downturn. Already, Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, is expected to deliver the opening address. Delegates at the 2016 Summit concluded that “Nigeria needs to move quickly—the rest of the world is not waiting for Nigeria to catch up. But at the same time it should not risk having the policy reversals of the

By Adedapo Adesanya The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has disclosed that despite the limitations brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, it has continued to record significant increases in collectable tax revenue from the non-oil sector of the economy. This came from the Executive Chairman of the tax body, Mr Muhammad Nami, during a courtesy call on the Minister of Finance and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, by the members of the FIRS Board. In a press statement signed by the Director, Communications and Liaison Department, Mr Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmad, the tax chief attributed the increase in the non-oil sector

By Dipo Olowookere Leading technology company in the global payments industry, MasterCard, recently welcomed 10 start-ups to its Start Path programme at the MasterCard Connecting Tomorrow Forum. The event, which held in Barcelona, Spain, is part of its efforts to drive the startup ecosystem. MasterCard Start Path is the company’s global initiative to provide start-ups with the operational support and commercial access needed to scale. The programme brings together a global network of innovators, ranging from start-ups to banks and merchants, to shape the future of commerce in an agile and accelerated manner. Start Path evaluates roughly 1,600 applications per

By Investors Hub European stocks have turned mixed on Wednesday as rallying oil prices have helped lift energy stocks and investors remained hopeful that the Iran nuclear deal will remain partially intact, even without the United States. While the U.K.?s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index is just below the unchanged line and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.1 percent. Dialog Semiconductor has soared after its underlying net income for the first quarter rose 19 percent from last year. Siemens has also jumped after lifting its full-year profit guidance. Vodafone Group

By Modupe Gbadeyanka An Executive Director of Lafarge Africa Plc, Mrs Adepeju Adebajo, has resigned from her position to pick a job in the Governor Ibikunle Amosun administration. Mrs Adebajo was appointed by Mr Amosun as Commissioner for Agriculture in Ogun State and she is expected to use her experience to revamp the agricultural sector in the state. Announcing her resignation, Lafarge Africa Plc said it would miss the services of Mrs Adebajo, but wished her well in her new position. “The Board and Management congratulate Mrs Adebajo on her new appointment and call to service and are grateful to

By Adedapo Adesanya The central American nation of El Salvador on Tuesday set a world-first record as it became the first country to adopt the popular cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, to pay for goods and services – even taxes. However, profit-takers ran to cash out from earlier gains from expectations with Bitcoin (BTC) as at 4:45 p.m. (Nigerian time) falling more than 7 per cent to N24,999,985.86. Ethereum (ETH) was not spared from this as it dropped 4.4 per cent to N1,949,999.00 while Ripple (XRP) took a 13.9 per cent hammering to sell at N613.07. Dash (DASH) crashed heavily as it lost

By Aduragbemi Omiyale In order to attract investors, especially at the beginning of the year when some look for money to address pressing obligations, the Debt Management Office (DMO) is offering a higher coupon rate for the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) savings bond. The debt office, in a circular, has called for subscriptions for the January FGN savings bond and it is selling the investment tool in two maturities as it normally does. According to the notice, the 2-year FGN savings bond maturing on January 19, 2024, will go for 7.54 per cent per annum, while the 3-year FGN