Crude Oil Prices Rise on Small US Inventory Draw

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira put up a weak performance against the United States Dollar across the various segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Thursday. November 30, 2023, the last trading session of the month. In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) window, which is the official market, the Nigerian currency lost 0.1 per cent or 85 Kobo against the greenback during the session to settle at N832.32/$1 compared with the preceding day’s value of N831.47/$1. A slight strain in the supply of forex into the spot market was partly responsible for the weakening of the local

By Adedapo Adesanya The return of the bears was averted at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Thursday by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which helped the alternative bourse close marginally higher by 0.03 per cent. This slight growth increased the value of the OTC exchange by N380 million, closing relatively flat at N1.165 trillion, as the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased by 0.27 points to end the day at 859.58 points compared with the previous day’s 859.31 points. During the trading day, the value of CSCS Plc went up by 8 Kobo to settle at N17.08

By Adedapo Adesanya The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) on Thursday asked Nigeria to produce about 1.5 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2024, lower than the 1.78 million barrels per day benchmark it proposed in the 2024 Appropriation Bill presented to the National Assembly on Wednesday for passage. The output ceiling was around 1.8 million barrels per day before it was cut down to 1.5 million barrels yesterday at the group’s virtual meeting, a huge blow to Nigeria’s revenue target for the fiscal year. OPEC had tasked three consultancies – IHS, Rystad

By Dipo Olowookere The last trading day of November 2023 on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a bullish note by 0.11 per cent on Thursday. Mild bargain-hunting in industrial goods equities like Lafarge Africa, supported by Airtel Africa, GTCO and other financial stocks left the market in the green territory at the close of business. Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 81.91 points to settle at 71,365.25 points compared with the preceding day’s 71,283.34 points, and the market capitalisation grew by N44 billion to N39.052 trillion from N39.008 trillion. Business Post reports that the

By Dipo Olowookere One of the insurance icons in Nigeria, Leadway Assurance Plc, has been recognised as one of the great places to work in the country. The company’s position as one of Nigeria’s most valuable and employee-sensitive organisations was cemented at the 2020 edition of the Best Workplaces award ceremony organised by the Great Place to Work Institute (GPTW). At the event, which had other notable firms rewarded, Leadway Assurance was declared the winner of the Silver category of the awards ceremony instituted in Nigeria in 2012 by GPTW, a global research and consulting firm best known for producing

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, has been retained for the position for another five years. The reappointment of Mrs Adeyeye was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari after she impressed him in her first term in office. This development was confirmed by the organisation via a post on its official Twitter handle, @DGatNAFDAC. “Prof. Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye has been reappointed as the @DGatNAFDAC for the second and final tenure of five years. “She stopped by briefly at the corporate headquarters in Abuja to meet with

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Despite the challenging operating environment characterised by the Naira redesign policy and the foreign exchange (FX) unification policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Zenith Bank Plc showed why it is one of the strongest lenders in the country. Analysis of its financial statements for the first six months of 2023 showed that its gross earnings surged by 139 per cent to N967.3 billion from the N404.8 billion achieved in the same period of last year. It was observed from the results filed to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Monday that this triple-digit growth in

By Dipo Olowookere The Nation is reporting that banks are shutting down Bureau De Change (BDC) accounts over the demand that the operators pay taxes on their transactions turnover. However, the umbrella body of the forex dealers, Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), has described this move as unlawful. It was reported that the financial institutions are writing to BDCs and implementing a ‘Post No Debit’ order on the operators’ accounts even where there is no evidence of tax default. President of ABCON, Mr Aminu Gwadabe, claimed the banks were acting on the directive of the Federal

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian government, recognising the plight of many Nigerians, has initiated plans to eradicate communicable diseases among people exposed to the abuse of drugs as a huge chunk of her population experience an untold effect of drug use among the youths. According to Mr Mashood Lawal, Director Food and Drugs, Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), “Nigeria, with her huge population continues to experience an untold effect of drug use especially among youth.” This aligns with official statistics sourced from the UN World Drug Report, which according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that 271 million people

By Investors Hub European stocks inched higher in cautious trade on Wednesday as investors kept an eye on the U.S.-China trade talks, political developments in the U.S and the latest FOMC minutes from the Fed meeting earlier this month. Brexit talks also remained in focus as the EU and U.K. enter the final stages of talks over foreign policy, security and economic relationship. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was little changed at 384.01 in late opening deals after rising 0.2 percent in the previous session. The German DAX was largely unchanged, while France’s CAC 40 index and the U.K.’s

By Dipo Olowookere Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has Indonesian investors that Nigeria is open for business and more investment. Mr Osinbajo said Nigeria will appreciate more investment in the agriculture and agro-allied sector, and also in palm oil research and production. Speaking on Tuesday at a bilateral meeting with his Indonesian counterpart, Vice President Jusuf Kalla, on the sidelines of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Beneficial Ownership Transparency Conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, Mr Osinbajo said he would love Nigeria and Indonesia to work together to increase the level of economic cooperation between both countries. “We are looking forward to

By Adedapo Adesanya The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has promised to prosecute those promoting fraudulent investments schemes. The agency said it was taking this action because the activities of those involved in investment scams were affecting the nation’s economy. It, therefore, warned members of the general public not to fall into the trap of Ponzi scheme operators as well as those promising them irrational returns for investing in cryptocurrencies, forex trading, among others. In a statement issued on Monday by its spokesman in Abuja, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, the commission said Nigerians must be careful of any investment that