China, Hong Kong Shares Slip as Japan, Australia Stocks Rally

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E), the Peer-to-Peer (P2P), and the black market arms of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Friday, September 29, as a turbulent third quarter ended. In the official segment, the local currency improved its value against the greenback by 2.6 per cent or N20.04 to close at N755.27/$1, in contrast to the preceding day’s N775.31/$1 amid a drop in the supply of FX into the system by 11.6 per cent or $16.73 million to $127.82 million from the $144.55 million published on Thursday. In the

By Dipo Olowookere Profit-taking persisted at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Thursday, with Customs Street going down by 0.31 per cent on its return from a midweek break. The market closed its doors to traders on Wednesday due to the public holiday declared by the federal government to mark Eid-el Maulud, the birthday of Prophet Mohammed. Business Post reports that market participants did not take their minds off the pressing issues affecting the Nigerian economy, especially rising inflation, energy costs and the foreign exchange (FX) crisis. As a result, they liquidated their shares, leading to a negative market breadth

By Dipo Olowookere No fewer than 15 Nigerian Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs) will share the N75 million set aside by a tech giant, Google, in the 2023 edition of Hustle Academy Fund. The initiative was introduced in 2022 to provide equity-free funds to small business owners to scale up their operations and support entrepreneurial growth in Nigeria. Entries for the exercise opened on Thursday, September 28 and will close on Thursday, October 12, 2023, and to be eligible, businesses must be Nigerian-founded, operating within Nigeria for 1-5 years, and have a clear and scalable business plan. They should have

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Reports reaching us from Abuja, the seat of power, indicate that President Muhammadu Buhari for the umpteenth time is absent at the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting. The meeting reportedly kicked off at about 11am on Wednesday and the President was not sighted, leaving the Vice President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo, to preside over it. This is the third consecutive time Mr Buhari has not presided over the meeting, further fuelling speculations that his health might have deteriorated, making him unable to carry out some of his constitutional duties. Though the Presidency has claimed the President is

By Dipo Olowookere A GE company, Baker Hughes, has signed an agreement for the provision of Asset Performance Management (APM) software and services for LNG trains and related Balance of Plant (BoP) by Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG). NLNG shareholders are Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (49%), Shell Gas B.V. (25.6%), Total Gaz Electricite Holdings France (15%), and Eni International (N.A). NVSL (10.4%). This deal marks the first APM solution sold and executed both in the LNG market and in Sub-Saharan Africa by BHGE. BHGE was asked by NLNG to develop a solution to enhance the performance of LNG trains at its

By Amine Djouahra As we are nearing the end of the first half of 2023, we have all become more comfortable with change and disruption. Whether it is the pandemic, environmental factors, unstable global economic conditions, or tech evolution, we have learned to bounce back quickly. One industry that has had to be particularly agile during the past few years is the filmmaking industry. Canon’s new report (written in conjunction with The Future Laboratory) – The Future of Filmmaking, reveals the industry’s efforts to be a catalyst of change that inspires the creative industry to transform its narrative and to

By Modupe Gbadeyanka On Saturday, November 9 and Sunday, November 10, 2019, fashion enthusiasts will gather at the GTCentre, Plot 1, Water Corporation Drive, Oniru, Lagos for the 4th edition of the GTBank Fashion Weekend. The event will have industry leaders, style connoisseurs and fashion enthusiasts from across the globe for the two-day event, which puts spotlight on Africa’s emerging fashion industry whilst showcasing the talent and creativity of indigenous small businesses in the fashion space. Since 2016, the GTBank Fashion Weekend has been at the forefront of promoting enterprise in Africa’s rapidly growing fashion industry. Over the years, the

By Adedapo Adesanya The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has disclosed that it has started discussions with some big wigs in the oil and gas sector which includes the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Nigeria Liquified National Gas (NLNG) to list their shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). This disclosure was made by the acting Director-General of SEC, Ms Mary Uduk, at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings in Washington DC., the United States. She noted that the interest of foreign issuers in the Nigerian capital market had increased following the dual listing of

By Dipo Olowookere One of the major issues bedevilling the capital market in Nigeria is unclaimed dividends and despite efforts of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to reduce it, it has been rising lately. Before now, companies were required to send dividend warrants to shareholders via post to their residences, but SEC changed this style to electronic. Under the new system, shareholders are required to fill a form with bio-data as well as the bank accounts and the bank verification number (BVN) to aid the payment of the cash reward directly into their accounts. But since this policy came

By Dipo Olowookere MGX Minerals has announced closing the second and final tranche of a non-brokered, private placement for 4,079,000 units at a price of $1 per unit for gross proceeds of $4.1 million. The aggregate gross proceeds raised under the offering was $7.1 million through the issuance of an aggregate of 7,137,000 units. The offering was made concurrently with a private placement of flow through units, of which a second and final tranche is also expected to close this week. Each unit consists of one common share of the company and one transferable common share purchase warrant (each whole

By Ebireri Henry Ovie Former National Chairman of Mega Progressive People’s Party (MPPP), Mr Aderemi Banjo, has lamented what he called leadership failure in Surulere Constituency 1. Mr Banjo expressed his mind at the special meeting of Surulere community leaders on Thursday. He told the leaders and elders in Surulere that he was against the 5th term ambition of Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, for what he termed as “poor representation” of the people at the lower chamber of the National Assembly. “The position should not be monopolized by a non-performing person,” he said. In his presentation titled, ‘Surulere: The Way Forward,’