Economy
Cement Manufacturers Subjecting Nigerians to Untold Hardship—Reps
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The House of Representatives has accused cement manufacturers in the country of subjecting Nigerians to untold hardship over their arbitrary increase in the price of the product.
The lower legislative chamber has, therefore, resolved to look into their pricing mechanism, summoning the major cement makers in the country for an explanation.
The cement firms in Nigeria were summoned on Wednesday by the green chamber of the National Assembly after the adoption of a motion moved by Gaza Gbefwi and Ademorin Kuye on “arbitrary increase in the price of cement by manufacturers of cement in Nigeria.”
They are to appear before the Committees on Solid Minerals Development, Commerce, Industry and Special Duties, which is to report back to the House after four weeks for further legislative actions.
While addressing his colleagues yesterday, Mr Gbefwi lamented that the rise in the price of cement in the country has led to an increase in rents due to a rise in the cost of building, giving many citizens sleepless nights.
He warned that if urgent action is not taken, things may get out of hand, as the price of cement has skyrocketed by over 100 per cent within three months.
Business Post reports that the price of a 50kg bag of cement, which used to sell between N4,800 and N5,200 in December 2023 and January 2024 jumped to N12,000 in February 2024, but currently sells between N9,500 and N10,500.
Mr Gbefwi said it was worrisome that while raw materials for the manufacturing of cement, including lime, silica, alumina, iron oxide, and gypsum, are all sourced locally and could not have been affected by the exchange rate crisis, the price of the product has been on the rise weekly.
The lawmaker accused cement producers of inflicting hardship on Nigerians by “capitalising on exchange rate volatility to arbitrarily increase the price of the product, whose cost of production has not changed significantly since last year.”
However, the Chairman of the House Committee on Defence, Mr Babajimi Benson, in defence of cement companies, blamed the rising cost of production for the increase in prices, noting that the price of a product is determined by some factors.
“It is either the frequent increment is caused by production cost or something else. Let us invite the manufacturers to meet with the relevant committee,” he submitted.
This argument was backed by the Chairman of the House Committee on Water Resources, Mr Sada Soli, who told his colleagues to be cautious.
“Let us understand the place of cost of production. These people bought these companies and turned them around. In most cases, they provide their power.
“Let us be complacent when we are talking about issues concerning the national economy. Let us support these people because they can withdraw their investments,” he said.
But the Chairman of the House Committee on Navy, Mr Yusuf Gagdi, disagreed, saying Nigerians should not be paying more for the product than their neighbours.
“Nigeria cements are a big market for Niger Republic, Cameroon and other neighbouring countries. Why should Nigerians continue to suffer from incessant increases in the price of cement?
“We have to rise and defend the common man. I think we must invite the manufacturers to tell this house what is going on because we can’t continue like this,” he said.
In his contribution, the Deputy Minority Whip, Mr George Ozodinobi, suggested the importation of cement to crash the price of the product.
“Let us open the floodgate of importation of cement into the country. This will bring down the price of the product.
“When the man from Nnewi and Chairman of the Ibeto Group, Cletus Ibeto, was allowed to bring in cement into the country, the price came down drastically but he was frustrated out of the system,” he said.
Recall that a few weeks ago, after a meeting with the Minister of Works, Mr Dave Umahi, cement producers agreed to bring down the price of the product to about N7,000.
The major cement manufacturers in the country include Dangote Cement, BUA Cement, Lafarge Africa, and Purechem, among others.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Food Concepts Plc neutralized the gains recorded by three securities, returning the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange into the negative territory with a 0.27 per cent loss on Thursday, December 4.
Yesterday, the share price of the parent company of Chicken Republic and PieXpress declined by 34 Kobo to sell at N3.15 per unit compared with the previous day’s N3.49 per unit.
This shrank the market capitalisation of the OTC bourse by N5.72 billion to N2.136 billion from N2.142 trillion and weakened the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 9.57 points to 3,571.53 points from 3,581.10 points.
Business Post reports that Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by 50 Kobo to N38.50 per share from N38.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained 29 Kobo to sell at N55.79 per unit versus N55.50 per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc added 5 Kobo to close at N4.60 per share compared with Wednesday’s closing price of N4.55 per share.
Trading data indicated that the volume of securities recorded at the session surged by 6,885.3 per cent to 4.3 million units from the 61,570 units posted a day earlier, the value of securities increased by 10,301.7 per cent to N947.2 million from N3.3 million, and the number of deals went up by 146.7 per cent to 37 deals from the 15 deals achieved in the previous trading session.
At the close of business, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 5.8 billion units for N16.4 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units worth N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units valued at N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc also finished the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.2 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The upward trend witnessed at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited in recent sessions continued on Thursday as it further improved by 0.10 per cent.
This was despite investor sentiment turning bearish after the local equity market ended with 23 price gainers and 28 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
UAC Nigeria gained 10.00 per cent to finish at N88.00, Morison Industries appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N3.54, Ecobank rose by 8.53 per cent to N36.90, and Coronation Insurance grew by 8.47 per cent to N2.56.
On the flip side, Ellah Lakes depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N13.14, Eunisell Nigeria also shed 10.00 per cent to finish at N72.90, Transcorp Hotels slipped by 9.95 per cent to N157.50, Omatek shrank by 9.23 per cent to N1.18, and Guinea Insurance dipped by 8.46 per cent to N1.19.
Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 152.28 points to 145,476.15 points from 145,323.87 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N97 billion to finish at N92.726 trillion compared with the previous day’s N92.629 trillion.
Customs Street was bubbling with activities on Thursday, though the trading volume and value slightly went down, according to data.
A total of 1.9 billion stocks worth N19.2 billion exchanged hands in 23,369 deals during the session versus the N2.3 billion valued at N21.0 billion traded in 21,513 deals a day earlier.
This showed that the number of deals increased by 8.63 per cent, the volume of transactions depleted by 17.39 per cent, and the value of trades decreased by 8.57 per cent.
For another trading day, eTranzact led the activity chart with 1.6 billion units sold for N6.4 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 31.0 million units worth N589.3 million, GTCO exchanged 28.3 million units valued at N2.5 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 27.1 million units for N1.6 billion, and Ecobank traded 21.9 million units worth N744.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira marginally depreciated against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, December 4 amid renewed forex pressure associated with December.
At the official market yesterday, the Nigerian currency lost 0.01 per cent or 18 Kobo against the Dollar to close at N1,447.83/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,447.65/$1.
It was not a different scenario with the local currency in the same market segment against the Pound Sterling as it further shed N15.43 to sell for N1,930.97/£1 versus Wednesday’s closing price of N1,925.08/£1 and declined against the Euro by 20 Kobo to finish at N1,688.74/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,688.54/€1.
Similarly, the Nigerian Naira lost N5 against the greenback in the black market to quote at N1,465/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,460/$1 but closed flat against the Dollar at the GTBank FX counter at N1,453/$1.
Fluctuations in trading range is expected to continue during the festive season as traders expect the Nigerian currency to be stable, supported by intervention s by to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)in the face of steady dollar demand.
Support is also expected in coming weeks as seasonal activities, particularly the stylised “Detty December” festivities, will see inflows that will give the Naira a boost after it depreciated mildly last month, according to a new report.
“As the festive Detty December season intensifies, inbound travel, tourism spending, and diaspora inflows are expected to provide moderate support for FX liquidity,” analysts at the research unit of FMDA said in its latest monthly report for November.
Traders cited by Reuters expect that the Naira will trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450 next week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.
Meanwhile, the crypto market was down as the US Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, core PCE, likely rose in September—moving in the wrong direction. However, volatility indices show no signs of major turbulence.
If the actual figure matches estimates, it would mark 55 straight months of inflation above the US central bank’s 2 per cent target. The sticky inflation would strengthen the hawkish policymakers, who are in favour of slower rate cuts.
Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 4.5 per cent to $2.08, Solana (SOL) went down by 3.8 per cent to $138.11, Litecoin (LTC) shrank by 3.1 per cent to $83.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 2.5 per cent to $0.1463, Cardano (ADA) declined by 2.1 per cent to $0.4368, Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 0.9 per cent to $91,975.45, Binance Coin (BNB) crumbled by 0.9 per cent to $899.41, and Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 0.7 per cent to $3,156.44, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 apiece.
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