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
Nigerian billionaire investor, Mr Femi Otedola, has announced plans to invest $100 million in the Dangote Refinery, which plans to list later this year.
Mr Otedola disclosed this on Wednesday after leading a delegation of top executives from First HoldCo on a visit to the Dangote refinery.
“On a personal note, I’ve appealed to him (Aliko Dangote). I’ve been here with him 25 times, so my compensation is he’s going to allocate to me shares worth $100 million in the private placement,” the billionaire said.
Mr Otedola had previously denied that he had any stake or funded the construction of a 650,000 barrels per day facility.
The announcement marks his next big move after increasing his stake in First Holdco as well as buying a $10 million property in London.
Mr Dangote last year said the refinery could sell up to 10 per cent stake in the listing, which is valued at about $5 billion. It is aiming for a valuation of up to $50 billion for Dangote refinery.
The billionaire is planning to make the IPO a cross-border listing to enable the refinery to draw investments from domestic and international investors.
Mr Dangote, this week, said the IPO is designed to democratise wealth creation and give Africans direct access to participate in the continent’s industrial transformation.
On his part, Mr Dangote, president of the Dangote Group, says the company is targeting a private placement of about $2 billion for the refinery.
While the actual date for the IPO is yet to be announced, Mr Otedola’s early investment indicates value and could spur other high-net-worth individuals to show interest.
Mr Otedola, an ally of Mr Dangote, led top executives of First HoldCo on a tour of the refinery and the fertiliser plants in the Lekki free trade zone area.
The team also visited key project sites such as the jetty, a facility built by Dangote industries to receive large vessels.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange further chalked up 0.32 per cent on Wednesday, May 20, spurred by price appreciation in 11 Plc, and Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc.
11 Plc, which used to be known as Mobil, added N22.11 to sell at N243.21 per unit compared with the previous day’s N221.10 per unit, and CSCS Plc gained N1.19 to trade at N71.81 per share versus Tuesday’s N70.62 per share.
The growth posted by the duo raised the market capitalisation by N8.04 billion to N2.495 trillion from N2.487 trillion, and lifted the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 13.44 points to 4,171.19 points from 4,157.75 points.
Yesterday, there were two price losers, led by Nipco Plc, which shed N22.60 to close at N287.00 per unit compared with the preceding day’s N309.60 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco, which lost 84 Kobo to sell for N150.95 per share, in contrast to the N151.79 per share it was traded a day earlier.
The volume of trades recorded at midweek dipped by 99.9 per cent to 2.3 million units from 1.9 billion units, the value of transactions fell by 93.7 per cent to N334.2 million from the preceding session’s N5.3 billion, and the number of deals went down by 43.3 per cent to 34 deals from 60 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 60.9 million units exchanged for N4.1 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira broke its weakening streak in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, May 20, after it appreciated against the US Dollar by 53 Kobo or 0.04 per cent to trade at N1,373.34/$1, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,373.87/$1.
The domestic currency also improved its value against the Euro in the official FX market during the midweek session by N1.99 to close at N1,592.53/€1 compared with Tuesday’s closing value of N1,594.52/€1, but depreciated against the Pound Sterling at the official FX market during the midweek session by 39 Kobo to trade at N1,840.00/£1 versus the previous day’s value of N1,839.61/£1.
Data from GTBank FX bench showed that the Naira appreciated against the Dollar yesterday by N2 to sell at N1,379/$1 versus N1,381/$1, but closed flat in the parallel market at N1,390/$1.
The performance of the local currency in the different segments of the forex market comes as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) insisted that it is no longer aggressively intervening in the foreign exchange market to defend the Naira, as it held interest rate steady despite happenings in the global economy.
Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, disclosed after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja on Wednesday that the structure of Nigeria’s foreign exchange market has changed significantly under the ongoing reforms, adding that increased market liquidity has reduced the need for heavy intervention by the CBN.
Currency traders and investors are expected to continue monitoring CBN policy direction, foreign portfolio inflows, crude oil earnings, and external reserve performance as key indicators influencing the naira’s trajectory in the coming months.
According to Mr Cardoso, the CBN will continue with its current policy direction to sustain the fight against inflation and stabilise the exchange rate.
He described exchange rate stability as the centrepiece of the apex bank’s policy toolkit and stressed the need for stronger collaboration between monetary and fiscal authorities to reduce inflationary pressures in the economy.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it was in green on Wednesday as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is delaying the launch of a recent wave of “novel ETFs,” including those that offer prediction-market style event contracts, to consider the implications of introducing the new products.
Prediction markets have become one of crypto’s hottest use cases over the past 18 months and now consistently record more than $15 billion in monthly trading volume across markets spanning from sports and elections to financial results and cultural events.
Dogecoin (DOGE) appreciated by 2.2 per cent to $0.1058, Solana (SOL) grew by 1.99 per cent to $86.42, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped 1.6 per cent to $652.01, TRON (TRX) rose by 1.4 per cent to $0.3604, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 0.8 per cent to $77,769.62, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.5 per cent to $2,135.25, and Ripple (XRP) gained 0.5 per cent to quote at $1.37.
However, Cardano (ADA) dropped 0.4 per cent to trade at $0.2490, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
-
Feature/OPED6 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism10 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz3 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking8 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy3 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking3 years agoSort Codes of UBA Branches in Nigeria
-
Banking3 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports3 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn