CBN Retains OMO Rates, Mops up N365b

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Naira weakened to a new low on the American Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, December 8, amid speculations that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has again devalued the local currency. In the previous trading session, there were reports that the exchange rate for clearing cargoes has been raised to N952/$1, sparking rumours that domestic currency would hit N1,000/$1 in the spot market. On the last trading session of the week, the Naira lost N255.98 or 30.4 per cent of its value on the greenback to trade at N1,099.05/$1

By Aduragbemi Omiyale One of the players in the personal healthcare and consumer goods sectors, PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc, has published a list of its shareholders with unclaimed dividends. Unclaimed dividends are cash rewards given to investors, mainly from the profits from the company’s operations, but are yet to be collected by the beneficiaries. This has been a major source of sleepless nights for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is working to bring down the number of unclaimed dividends. It has been reported that the value of unclaimed dividends in the nation’s stock market is over N185 billion.

By Adedapo Adesanya The President of the Dangote Group, the owners of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals plant, Mr Aliko Dangote, has said that following the purchase of 1 million barrels of Agbami crude grade from Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited (STASCO), it will be looking to ramp up its production in coming months. The 650,000 barrels per day capacity refinery is not expected to hit full capacity until 2025, but with a gradual ramping, it is expected that it will begin with begin producing up to 370,000 barrels per day of diesel and jet fuel. “We

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigerian crude output fell by 30,000 barrels per day to 1.43 million barrels per day in November, according to data from an S&P Global Commodity Insight. This was lower than the 1.46 million barrels produced in October by Africa’s largest oil producer and 312,000 barrels per day short of its 1.742 million barrels per day target in 2023. Angola, Africa’s second-largest oil producer, saw output drop 20,000 barrels per day to 1.13 million barrels per day, according to the survey, compared with its quota of 1.46 million barrels per day. The drops impacted the wider output of

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Last week, the Nigeria stock market opened for four trading days as a result of the holiday declared by the federal government on Wednesday, May 29, 2019 to mark the inauguration day celebrations. By the time things wrapped up on Friday, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the market capitalisation appreciated by 0.61 percent to close the week at 31,069.37 points and N13.685 trillion respectively. Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of the MERI Value Index, which depreciated by 0.14 percent while the ASeM Index closed flat. During the

By Dipo Olowookere A former executive chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Ballama Manu, has been appointed to the board of PZ Cussons Plc. A statement from the organisation disclosed that the former tax chief would serve as an independent non-executive director on the board. His appointment became effective on November 21, 2022. In 2004, Mr Manu resigned as the chairman of the tax agency and told reporters that he was not forced to leave by the then Minister of Finance as speculated, saying he left to return to his former place of work. Mr Manu, who

**As APT RSA Pension Fund Leads Peers Again By Dipo Olowookere/Quantitative Financial Analytics A new data analysis from Quantitative Financial Analytics has shown that the Nigerian pension funds earned an annualized 16.37 percent average return for the period ended December 31, 2017. This is against the 11.56 percent average yields the fund made in the previous year. Also during the period, the APT RSA Pension fund was the best-performing among the RSA category of funds, raking 22.24 percent return. It was followed by the 19.85 percent return produced by the Crusader RSA Pension fund. According to the report, eight of

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh Kazakhstan, one of the Russian neighbours and former Soviet republics, opens its doors to a broader external expansion. Given its geographical location and combined with current political reforms aimed at transforming its economy from the Soviet system to a more modernized system infused with a western culture of life, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has chosen multi-vector policies. Reforms began to be implemented after the election of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in June 2019. Tokayev has consistently advocated for more openness and improving necessary conditions for attracting foreign business and investors to participate in the various economic sectors, including the

By Adedapo Adesanya The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has invested $125 million to help address the critical financing needs of Turkey’s micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the agricultural sector. IFC is investing the $125 million as part of a larger $610 million equivalent Diversified Payment Rights (DPR) issuance by DenizBank A.Ş., alongside other investors, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Proparco. The financing is designed to address the funding gap faced by smaller businesses and smallholder farmers, a segment which bears a disproportionately higher burden in accessing credit. It will also help to preserve jobs

By Modupe Gbadeyanka In a bid to reposition the State Government for better performance, Rivers State Governor, Mr Nyesom Ezenwo Wike on Wednesday swore in 14 Commissioners. The Governor also swore in a new permanent secretary, Mrs Ibiware Ogolo. Performing the swearing-in, Mr Wike charged the commissioners to exhibit 100 percent loyalty. “We demand 100 percent loyalty. This work deserves total commitment. When you have the opportunity to serve the state, it is a rare privilege. Therefore, you have to be committed to service. “We are rebuilding the state because a lot went wrong during the immediate past administration of

By Dipo Olowookere An Ethiopian, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has been elected by the Members States of the World Health Organization (WHO) to become the organisation’s new Director-General. He was nominated by the Ethiopian government and will begin his five-year term on 1 July 2017 and will succeed Dr Margaret Chan, who has been WHO’s Director-General since 1 January 2007. Prior to his election as WHO’s next Director-General, Dr Ghebreyesus served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ethiopia from 2012-2016 and as Minister of Health, Ethiopia from 2005-2012. He has also served as chair of the Board of the Global Fund

By Adedapo Adesanya The House of Representatives has summoned the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Mrs Betta Edu, on the status of the Conditional Cash Transfer programme of the federal government to 15 million households. The House, in a motion of urgent public importance on Tuesday, expressed worry over the handling of the programme, questioning the lack of transparency in the scheme. The Minister is to give details on the collation of data and distribution of the funds. Business Post reported a few weeks ago that President Bola Tinubu launched the Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer for 15