CBN to Sell N140.9b Treasury Bills Thursday

By Dipo Olowookere In one week, investors bought and sold 2.543 billion shares worth N38.644 billion in 36,138 deals on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited. In the preceding trading week, a total of 2.425 billion shares valued at N22.665 billion were transacted by investors in 33,230 deals. It was observed that financial stocks led the activity chart as usual with 1.721 billion units worth N18.281 billion in 17,151 deals, contributing 67.68 per cent and 47.30 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively. Conglomerates equities trailed with 200.584 million units valued at N1.546 billion in

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 Aduragbemi Omiyale An application and proprietary solution for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria, known as Aleph Express, has been launched by Aleph Group. A statement from the firm explained that Aleph Express provides a platform for MSMEs to create and maintain a free e-commerce website, create a product catalogue, set local delivery options, manage, record and process orders while gaining meaningful insights to drive growth. The platform also provides one unified inbox that integrates WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, to enable businesses to efficiently engage and sell – all in one place. In addition, Aleph Express provides

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said it would ensure that the next national minimum wage to be negotiated in 2024 reflects the prevailing cost of living. The union also lamented that following the removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government, life has become extremely unbearable for workers. Addressing participants at the opening of the 19th edition of the NLC’s Harmattan School in Abuja, President of the NLC, Mr Joe Ajaero, said it had become necessary for governments at all levels to recognise that life and living conditions were exceedingly difficult, especially for working people in

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The organisers of the prestigious All African Music Awards (AFRIMA) have stressed that they will not bow to any pressure to extend the deadline for entry submission slated for Friday, August 5, 2022. In a statement issued this week, the international committee of AFRIMA, urged all artists, music professionals and other relevant stakeholders within Africa and across the diaspora to submit their entries before the portal closes. “It is important that all relevant parties submit their entries on time this year. We are a very thorough and transparent organisation, and we have a clear process for the

By Dipo Olowookere Transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) further finished bearish on Thursday as the confidence of investors continue to wane due to lack of policy direction from the government. The All-Share Index (ASI) fell into a level last seen 26 months ago, precisely on May 17, 2017. At the close of business yesterday, the ASI depreciated by 178.31 points or 0.64 percent to finish at 27,864.49 points against 28,042.80 points of the previous session. Similarly, the market capitalisation reduced by N87 billion to close at N13.590 trillion against the previous N13.667 trillion. The volume

By Reuben Abati People tend to be alarmed when the Nigerian Presidency takes certain decisions. They don’t think the decision makes sense. Sometimes, they wonder if something has not gone wrong with the thinking process at that highest level of the country. I have heard people insist that there is some form of witchcraft at work in the country’s seat of government. I am ordinarily not a superstitious person, but working in the Villa, I eventually became convinced that there must be something supernatural about power and closeness to it. I’ll start with a personal testimony. I was given an

By Dipo Olowookere As part of its expansion plans, Jumia, one of the biggest e-commerce platforms in Nigeria, has introduced the country’s first e-commerce Bot called the Jumia Bot. The innovation was introduced on Monday, October 2, 2017 and the Jumia Bot will allow shoppers order food, find fashion or electronic items and book hotels and flights by simply having an online conversation with the bot. This innovation, powered and hosted by Facebook Messenger, will offer Nigeria’s 18 million Facebook users the ability to get their own personal Jumia shopping assistant directly on Facebook Messenger. The Jumia Bot works by

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The immediate past Minister of State for Labour, Mr Festus Keyamo, has finally been nominated for a ministerial position by President Bola Tinubu. He was nominated by the President for screening by the Senate in a letter transmitted to the upper chamber of the National Assembly. Mr Tinubu also included Mairiga Mahmud in the fresh list. Mahmud will replace Maryam Shetty, whose name has been withdrawn from the list sent to the Senate. Mr Keyamo had been taunted online for missing out on Mr Tinubu’s cabinet after working tirelessly for his victory at the polls, which is

By Dipo Olowookere The recent decline in the value of Naira at the foreign exchange (FX) market, especially at the unregulated segment, is becoming worrisome to the lower chamber of the National Assembly. On Tuesday, the matter was tabled before the green arm of the parliament by a member of the House representing Jere Federal Constituency, Borno State, Mr Satomi Ahmed, under a matter of urgent national importance. In his motion, which was seconded by Mr Idem Unyimen, he argued that if nothing was done to bring the situation under control, the nation may suffer for it. According to him,

By Modupe Gbadeyanka From 2022, bank account holders in Nigeria will likely have to obtain a tax identification number (TIN) to operate as the Finance Bill sent to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari is planning to make it mandatory. This move, according to observers, is to expand the tax net of the country in the midst of shrinking revenue and make the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) pay tax to the government. In his lead debate on Wednesday, the Senate Leader, Mr Yahaya Abdullahi, said the bill, when passed and signed, will make financial institutions request for TIN

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A media monitoring and evaluation tool aimed to provide vital information to stakeholders in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria has been introduced by P+ Measurement Services. The leading and foremost media intelligence agency partnered with a foremost player in the small business industry in Africa, MSME Africa, to launch this service, which is the first of its kind in the Nigerian media monitoring and evaluation sector. This initiative will enable small and medium-sized businesses to monitor and measure their media performance, keep track of their media exposures as well as the performance of