CBN to Establish Financial Hub to Attract Foreign Investors

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  The Nigerian Naira weakened by 17.9 per cent or N144.49 against the American Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Wednesday, December 6 as confidence waned in the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) ability to boost the market with enough foreign exchange (FX). Yesterday, the exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar closed at N951.22/$1 in the official market compared with the preceding session’s rate of N806.73/$1. This happened as the forex turnover slightly went down by 4.9 per cent or $7.05 million to $135.58 million from the $142.63 million reported in the

By Adedapo Adesanya Some Nigerians have expressed anger over the upward review in the foreign exchange (FX) rate, a move that could see imported goods and by extension, domestic products record surge in prices at a time when the country is battling a high cost of living. The federal government, through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has hiked the duties payable on imported goods at Nigerian ports. Business Post gathered that the upward review of prices showed the US Dollar equivalent had been put at N951.941/$1 while for the Euro, the rate was pegged at N1,030.762/€1 and the Pound

By Cordros Research Lafarge released Q3-17 result late on Friday, showing revenue growth of 28.2% y/y, and a loss after tax of N18.8 billion which almost erased the N19.73 billion profit reported as at H1. The revenue of N68.8 billion was well above our N53.3 billion estimate (and consensus N59.7 billion) while the LAT also beat the N2.3 billion loss we estimated (consensus estimate was for N5.2 billion profit). Given the largely stable cement prices across markets, we attribute the higher-than-expected revenue to both higher (than expected) sales volume in Nigeria and the stronger performance of the aggregate and concrete

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has disclosed that its total comprehensive income for 2019 dropped 18.5 percent to N36.2 billion from N44.3 billion recorded in 2018. The Managing Director of the authority, Mr Uche Orji, made the disclosure at a virtual meeting held to announce the performance of the establishment on Friday. According to Mr Orji, despite the drop in income, the real performance on core activities of the agency indicated that it had a better performance compared to the preceding year, increasing by 35 percent when currency revaluation income earned in 2018 is excluded. According

BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe), was named Global Agency of the Year at PRovoke Media’s 2020 Global SABRE Awards ceremony, which was held virtually on October 21. The global communications agency, an affiliate to CMC Connect BCW in Nigeria, was praised for its innovative new client offerings, attracting exceptional new talent and delivering consistently strong performances across all regions. “It is thrilling for BCW to be named Global Agency of the Year just two years after the launch of our brand,” said Donna Imperato, Global CEO, BCW. “Our leaders and teams have worked so hard to exceed all expectations for

By Adedapo Adesanya After returning to positive territory on Wednesday, the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed flat on Thursday, October 31, 2019 as key market parameters remained unchanged. Business Post reports that at the close of transactions yesterday, the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) stood static at 699.25 points, the same level it was the previous day. In the same vein, the second major market gauge, the market capitalization, stayed glued at N502.37 billion. However, the value of transactions recorded at the market for unlisted securities in Nigeria significantly increased on Thursday by 280 percent or N 661,372 to

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Mrs Nana Fatima Mede, has described effective plan-budget link as critical for attaining inclusive growth. Mrs Mede stated this in her remarks during a Specialised Training Programme on Strategic Planning and Effective Linkage to Budgeting Process, organized by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning in Kano. She said it was clear that the role of strategic planning and effective linkage to budgeting process was very critical towards the realisation of the aspirations of any nation. Mrs Mede, represented at the occasion by Alhaji Aminu Yargaya, Assistant

By Modupe Gbadeyanka President Donald Trump on Thursday, June 1, 2017, announced his decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Accord signed in 2015. The agreement was put in place to set out a global action plan to put the world on track to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2°C. During his speech today, Mr Trump said the deal does not favour America, stressing that it punishes the US, while making others happy. “In order to fulfil my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has expressed its desire to implement effective commercial framework that would halt the export of propane and butane which are major components in the production of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas. In a press statement, state-owned oil agency said the move to stop the export of propane and butane which was anchored by its Crude Oil Marketing Division and will enable it boost supply of LPG to the domestic market, thereby leading to a natural downward slide in the price of the product in the country.  In

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed bullish by 0.13 per cent on Tuesday, August 30 buoyed by Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc. This increased the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) by 1.00 points during the session to 763.49 points as against the 762.49 points it recorded in the previous session. In the same vein, the market capitalisation of the exchange rose by N1.32 billion to close at N1.005 trillion in contrast to the N1.003 trillion it finished on Monday. Business Post reports that the share price of NDEP Plc improved yesterday by N7.28 to