CBN Raises Benchmark Interest Rate to 17.50%, Keeps Others Intact

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria will accept and work with a production quota of 1.5 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2024 as the country aims to grow on the back of its oil resources, following a revision done by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+. According to a statement issued by the Press and Public Relations unit of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Thursday’s meeting of the 23-man group addressed crucial aspects, including the completion of assessments by independent sources (IHS, Wood Mackenzie, and Rystad Energy) on the projected production levels for Angola,

By Adedapo Adesanya  Angola, one of Africa’s top crude oil producers and a key member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has officially rejected the proposed production quota for the year 2024 and may even exit the group. This was signalled by Mr Diamantino Pedro Azevedo, Angola’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, confirming the nation’s decision and indicating a divergence from OPEC’s suggested allocations for both member and non-member countries. The announcement was made during the 26th OPEC+ Meeting on Thursday, where the organisation proposed 1.11 million barrels of crude oil per day production quota for

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 Modupe Gbadeyanka The chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Zacch Adedeji, has asked his counterpart in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ola Olukoyede, to support his agency to achieve the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, who appointed both of them. Speaking during a courtesy visit to the headquarters of the anti-money laundering firm, Mr Adedeji said the EFCC has a role in ensuring that taxpayers’ funds are “judiciously utilised in line with the social contract with the people.” He assured that the FIRS would continue to strive to raise the revenue

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Tuesday, with stocks likely to see further upside after closing in positive territory for three straight sessions. The upward momentum on Wall Street comes as stocks continue to recover from the sell-off that was seen last Wednesday, which dragged the major averages down to their lowest levels in nearly a month. Many traders felt the pullback was overdone amid lingering optimism about President Donald Trump’s ability to implement his pro-business policy agenda. Extending the rebound seen late last week, stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Monday. With

By Adedapo Adesanya Twitter is bringing #AfricaToTheWorld with the introduction of a new hashmoji ahead of Burna Boy’s historical moment as the first Nigerian artist to headline Madison Square Garden on April 28, 2022. This forms part of the broader #TwitterVoices initiative aimed at elevating African leaders’ and influencer voices on the platform and encouraging people on the continent to share their impact with the world. Over the years, #AfricaToTheWorld has been a mainstay on Twitter and has been widely used to recognise the continued progression of Africans’ global influence. It has been effective in amplifying the many voices sharing

By Dipo Olowookere Millions of jobs have been created by the administration President Muhammadu Buhari since he assumed office in 2015, Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, has revealed. Mr Mohammed said the jobs were created through the various programmes of this administration cutting across many sectors. According to him, “In agriculture, for example, this administration has created over 7 million jobs. When the administration assumed office in May 2015, about 5 million farmers were engaged in rice production. Thanks to the administration’s Anchor Borrowers Programme, the number of farmers engaged in rice production today stands at 12.2

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), the regulatory agency of the insurance sector in Nigeria, has been directed to put a hold on its proposed minimum solvency capital policy for insurers in the country. This directive was given on Thursday by Justice Muslim Hassan of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos. On August 27, 2018, NAICOM, through a circular with number NAICOM/DAPCIR/14/2018, informed insurance firms that their operations would now be reclassified into tiers, noting this would be based on minimum solvency capital on the basis of their respective risks profiles and their risks management systems. The

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Nigeria, Mr Lee In-tae, has said his country will work together with the federal government to make the economy stronger and support the country to develop its derivatives market. Speaking on Wednesday in Abuja at the official opening of a seminar on the operations and regulations on derivatives market in Nigeria under the Knowledge Sharing Programme (KSP), the Korean envoy said Nigeria has a lot to gain from his country’s economic growth. He expressed confidence that the launching of the first KSP project will serve as a cornerstone for the

By Aduragbemi Omiyale An end-to-end financial services provider, Stanbic IBTC Bank, has reassured that it would not relent in its efforts to provide accessible funding for individuals and small, medium, and large-scale enterprises to grow their businesses in the new year. The lender said its commitment is to support business growth in 2023 through its array of tailor-made financial solutions aimed at addressing inadequate access to capital faced by business owners. Targeted at businesses that need adequate funding to meet the demands of their customers, the innovative solutions provide short, medium, and long-term benefits to players across different sectors of

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Five years after premiering in cinemas across Nigeria, the award-winning movie, ‘76, will be available to audiences worldwide on the global streaming service, Netflix, from August 4, 2021. The flick is being taken to the global platform by a leading film company in West Africa, FilmOne Entertainment. ‘76, produced by Adonis Production and Princewills Trust, was released in cinemas in 2016. The movie was set six years after the Nigerian civil war and tells the story of Joseph Dewa, a young military officer from the Middle Belt, who gets into a romantic relationship with an O-level student,

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A popular Lagos-based trado-medical expert, Mr Fatai Yusuf, otherwise known as Oko Oloyun, has been assassinated by some unknown gunmen. The herbal guru, who has his office along the LASU/Iba Road around Igando area of Lagos State, was reportedly shot dead by some hoodlums at Igboora. It was further gathered that the popular herbal medicine practitioner, was reportedly shot dead along Abeokuta-Iseyin road in Oyo State. The reason for the assassination is yet to be known just as details surrounding his death are also still sketchy. However, Oko Oloyun, who before his gruesome murder was the President