CBN Sells $10.3bn to Keep Naira at N379 at FX Market

By Adedapo Adesanya The Dangote Group Executive, Mr Devakumar Edwin, has said that the Dangote Refinery will not rely solely on Nigerian crude for its operations. This was one of the points made by the official as he gave a detailed production timeline that shed light on crude and product flows as well as delays on the 10-year project to S&P Global Commodity Insights. The company had announced that it would begin producing up to 370,000 barrels per day of diesel and jet fuel in October and gradually reach 650,000 barrels per day by November. The $19.5 billion refinery, which

By Adedapo Adesanya The key performance indicators of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange remained unchanged at the close of transactions on Tuesday amid a mixed activity level chart. Business Post reports that the stalemate occurred after the NASD OTC exchange recorded no price gainer or loser, as the prices of stocks on the platform closed flat. Also, the total value of the alternative equity market, measured by the market capitalisation, remained unchanged at N1.138 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) closed flat at 805.29 points. During the trading session, investors traded a total of 501,437 units of

By Adedapo Adesanya Pressure further mounted on the Nigerian Naira at the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Tuesday as it depreciated against the US Dollar at the close of business. The scarcity of forex was responsible for the poor performance of the Naira in the Investors and Exporters (I&E), black market and peer-to-peer (P2P) segments of the market during the session. Business Post reports that the domestic currency lost N2.62 or 0.34 per cent on the greenback in the spot market yesterday to close at N776.60/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N773.98/$1, amid a 10.6 per

By Adedapo Adesanya Ahead of next week’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting scheduled for Monday, September 25 and Tuesday, September 26, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to pause its interest rate hike. In a statement signed by the Director-General, Mrs Chinyere Almona, the group said this was necessary to relieve Nigerians of the pressure on the supply side following a further surge in the inflation rate. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed last Friday that the average cost of goods and services rose by 25.80 per cent

By Adedapo Adesanya The price of the Brent crude oil rose by 30cent or 0.59 per cent on Wednesday to trade at $51.07 per barrel at the global market for the first time since March. This will be good news to Nigeria, which depends largely on crude oil sale to generate revenue to fund its budget. The country set its oil benchmark for the year at $40 and at $51, it is making an extra $11. Yesterday, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a decline in the United States stockpiles by 3.1 million barrels for the week to December 11

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil prices dropped on Monday after weak economic data from China and expectations of another interest rate hike in the United States. Brent crude fell by $1.02 or 1.3 per cent to settle at $78.45 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude slid $1.12 or 1.5 per cent to $75.66 per barrel. China, the world’s largest oil importer, saw its manufacturing activity unexpectedly shrank in April. According to official data from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics, the official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) declined to 49.2 from 51.9 in March. This is below

By Dipo Olowookere The recently review manual for the foreign exchange (forex) market in the country took effect on Wednesday, August 1, 2018. This was confirmed by a circular signed by the acting Director in charge of Trade and Exchange Department of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mrs F O Okonji. Recall that as part of a deliberate programme for the liberalization of the Foreign Exchange Market, the central bank in 2006 undertook a review of the Foreign Exchange Manual to incorporate policy changes that had taken place since its introduction in 1995 pursuant to the powers vested on the

By ThisDay The total number of persons with Retirement Savings Account (RSA) in Nigeria increased by 96,346 to 7,589,936 workers under the contributory pension scheme as at the second quarter of 2017, compared with 7,493,590 registered in the first quarter of the year. They country’s total working population stood at 69,470,901 as at the fourth quarter of 2016. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated this in its Retirement Savings Account (RSA) Membership Distribution for the second quarter 2017 (Q2 2017), posted on its website. The RSA membership distribution as at Q2 of 2017 represented 10.93 per cent of the

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian stock market succumbed to profit-taking on Wednesday, losing 0.01 per cent as a result of selloffs in GTCO, FBN Holdings, Access Bank, Ecobank and 13 others. The delay in the release of the half-year results of tier-one banks at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited is still making some investors trade cautiously. They want to see what the numbers are saying before taking an action. At the close of business at the midweek session, the All-Share Index (ASI) slumped by 4.69 points to 39,545.67 points from 39,550.36 points, while the market capitalisation shrank by N2 billion

By Dipo Olowookere The federal government has described the current debt levels of Nigeria as comparatively good, noting that the major worry, for now, is how to diversify the economy to increase the revenue sources. Last week, the Governor of Edo State, Mr Godwin Emefiele, shocked many Nigerians when he said the nation was currently undergoing a huge fiscal crisis. He said the federal government printed N60 billion to share to the state governments in March 2021 when the revenue generated in February was not enough to meet the demands of the other tiers of government. This sparked reactions from

By Modupe Gbadeyanka On Wednesday, August 31, 2022, some children of employees of Olam Agri Nigeria were hosted at the corporate headquarters of the company in Lagos. The children were invited to the event tagged Kids’ Fun Day by the business Human Resources team of the leading agribusiness in food, feed, and fibre. It was to demonstrate the company’s commitment to creating a work environment that engages, excites, and inspires employees. The guests were taken through a guided facility tour, games, arts and crafts, and lots of healthy foods to eat and drink, affording them the opportunity to know more

By Aduragbemi Omiyale A partnership that will empower Nigerian youths with digital marketing skills has been entered into between Facebook and Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN). The collaboration is in line with the organisation’s vision of raising a generation of digitally-inclined young business leaders. Beneficiaries of the scheme will be incorporated into the digital marketing module of JAN’s flagship company programme. This element teaches secondary school students how to start and run their own business, develop a product or service, form a company, choose a business name and elect company officers to oversee the operation of the company. The initiative aims