Economy

CBN Insists Naira Not Devalued, Says Interbank Remains at N379/$1

Published

4 years ago

24/03/2021

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has clarified that Nigeria has not changed its foreign exchange policy from a managed float to a flexible regime.

This was disclosed by the Governor of the apex bank, Mr Godwin Emefiele, while addressing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday after a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

On Monday, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, had said that the country will now start to use the Investors and Exporters (I&E) rate for the interbank segment, which is used for government transactions.

But Mr Emefiele, in his clarification, explained that the widespread reports concluding that the country had adopted a flexible foreign-exchange rate based on comments by Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed were wrong.

This means that the interbank rate would not be pegged at N410 to a Dollar, which is the I&E rate, but would remain at N379/$1 as indicated on the CBN website.

“The country is deemed not to be practising a multiple currency regime as long as rates vary or range around a band that is not more than 2 per cent below the nominal market rate,” Mr Emefiele said.

“In our case, the nominal market rate is NAFEX. If the Minister says that the rate for monetisation is anchored or benchmarked on NAFEX, the Minister has not talked about a flexible exchange rate,” he added.

Mr Emefiele also disclosed that it has stopped interventions at the I&E window since January [2021], adding that it has continued to monitor the market to determine whether or not to intervene.

The CBN also said it was working with the government and the finance ministry to achieve a stable foreign-exchange regime for the nation.

Transactions at FX market on Tuesday

Meanwhile, the Naira appreciated by 33 kobo or 0.08 per cent against the Dollar on Tuesday at the investors’ segment of the market to trade at N409.80/$1 in contrast to the previous N410.13/$1.

During the session, the market witnessed a spike in the value of transactions by 27.9 per cent or $7.23 million to $33.11 million from $25.88 million achieved on Monday.

However, at the parallel market, the Naira remained flat against the three major foreign currencies monitored by Business Post.

At the close of business, the domestic currency traded at flat against the Dollar at N486/$1, the Pound Sterling at N680/£1 and the Euro at N582/€1.

Bloodshed at the cryptocurrency market

At the digital currency market yesterday, transactions were bearish as prices plunged after heavy selloff by profit takers.

The Ripple (XRP) witnessed the highest drop as it lost 20.9 per cent of its value to trade at N267.01, wearing off from the gains made at the recent session after a judicial decision over whether it is a cryptocurrency or security swing its way.

Ethereum (ETH) made a 15.2 per cent loss to sell at N848,426.22; Bitcoin (BTC) slumped by 14.4 per cent to trade at 27,340,440.50; while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) declined by 16.3 per cent to sell at N502.

Also, the Tron (TRX) lost 15.5 per cent to sell at N31.05; the Dash (DASH) depreciated by 10.0 per cent to trade at N108,000; while the Litecoin (LTC) declined by 6.4 per cent to trade at N101, 998.

Economy

Aradel Holdings Acquires Equity Stake in Chappal Energies

Published

3 hours ago

11/12/2024

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

A minority equity stake in Chappal Energies Mauritius Limited has been acquired by a Nigerian energy firm, Aradel Holdings Plc.

This deal came a few days after Chappal Energies purchased a 53.85 per cent equity stake in Equinor Nigeria Energy Company Limited (ENEC).

Chappal Energies went into the deal with Equinor to take part in the oil and gas lease OML 128, including the unitised 20.21 per cent stake in the Agbami oil field, operated by Chevron.

Since production started in 2008, the Agbami field has produced more than one billion barrels of oil, creating value for Nigerian society and various stakeholders.

As part of the deal, Chappal will assume the operatorship of OML 129, which includes several significant prospects and undeveloped discoveries (Nnwa, Bilah and Sehki).

The Nnwa discovery is part of the giant Nnwa-Doro field, a major gas resource with significant potential to deliver value for Nigeria.

In a separate transaction, on July 17, 2024, Chappal and Total Energies sealed an SPA for the acquisition by Chappal of 10 per cent of the SPDC JV.

The relevant parties to this transaction are working towards closing out this transaction and Ministerial Approval and NNPC consent to accede to the Joint Operating Agreement have been obtained.

“This acquisition is in line with diversifying our asset base, deepening our gas competencies and gaining access to offshore basins using low-risk approaches.

“We recognise the strategic role of gas in Nigeria’s energy future and are happy to expand our equity holding in this critical resource.

“We are committed to the cause of developing the significant value inherent in the assets, which will be extremely beneficial to the country.

“Aradel hopes to bring its proven execution competencies to bear in supporting Chappal’s development of these opportunities,” the chief executive of Aradel Holdings, Mr Adegbite Falade, stated.

Economy

Afriland Properties Lifts NASD OTC Securities Exchange by 0.04%

Published

7 hours ago

11/12/2024

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Afriland Properties Plc helped the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange record a 0.04 per cent gain on Tuesday, December 10 as the share price of the property investment rose by 34 Kobo to N16.94 per unit from the preceding day’s N16.60 per unit.

As a result of this, the market capitalisation of the bourse went up by N380 million to remain relatively unchanged at N1.056 trillion like the previous trading day.

But the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) closed higher at 3,014.36 points after it recorded an addition of 1.09 points to Monday’s closing value of 3,013.27 points.

The NASD OTC securities exchange recorded a price loser and it was Geo-Fluids Plc, which went down by 2 Kobo to close at N3.93 per share, in contrast to the preceding day’s N3.95 per share.

During the trading session, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors increased by 95.8 per cent to 2.4 million units from the 1.2 million securities traded in the preceding session.

However, the value of shares traded yesterday slumped by 3.7 per cent to N4.9 million from the N5.07 million recorded a day earlier, as the number of deals surged by 27.3 per cent to 14 deals from 11 deals.

Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units sold for N3.9 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.5 million units worth N5.3 million.

Also, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units worth N89.2 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.5 million units sold for N5.3 billion.

Economy

Naira Trades N1,542/$1 as FX Speculators Dump Dollars in Panic

Published

7 hours ago

11/12/2024

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira continued to appreciate on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), gaining 0.7 per cent or N10.23 on Tuesday, December 10 to trade at N1,542.27/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,552.50/$1.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-backed Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) platform introduced to tackle speculation and improve transparency in Nigeria’s FX market has been attributed as the source of the Naira’s appreciation.

Speculators holding foreign currencies, particularly the US Dollar, have seen the value of their money drastically drop due to the appreciation of the local currency. This is forcing them to dump greenback into the system and take the domestic currency alternative- a move that has seen available FX increase.

Equally, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the trading day by N6.81 to sell for N1,955.12/£1 compared with Monday’s closing price of N1,961.93/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N10.84 to close at N1,613.00/€1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,623.84/€1.

Data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange showed that the value of forex transactions significantly increased yesterday by $228.85 million or 257.2 per cent to $401.17 million from the preceding session’s $112.32 million.

However, in the parallel market, the Nigerian currency weakened against the US Dollar on Tuesday by N5 to settle at N1,625/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,620/$1.

In the cryptocurrency market, Dogecoin (DOGE) lost 4.8 per cent to sell at $0.39116, Litecoin (LTC) depreciated by 3.3 per cent to trade at $110.25, Binance Coin (BNB) went south by 2.3 per cent to $681.44, Ethereum (ETH) dropped 1.6 per cent to finish at $3,671.08, and Cardano (ADA) slid by 0.5 per cent to $0.8837

Conversely, Ripple (XRP) jumped by 5.4 per cent to $2.23 amid a continued shift for the coin with its parent company seeing the benefits of a crypto-friendly regulatory environment for US-based companies.

XRP is closely related to Ripple Labs, a high-profile payments company targeted by the SEC in 2020 on allegations of selling the token as a security to U.S. investors. Ripple fully cleared a long-drawn court case in 2024.

Further, Solana (SOL) expanded by 0.8 per cent to $219.75, Bitcoin (BTC) grew by 0.4 per cent to $97,446.95, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.