Crude Oil Rallies on Weak Dollar, US Hurricane

By Dipo Olowookere Profit-taking persisted on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, as investors refused to tone down their profit-taking activities. It was observed that the market is gradually entering panic mode due to macroeconomic instability in the country, especially with the exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar going above N1,000 in the parallel market. A stockbroker with one of the leading brokerage firms in the country, who asked not to be named, said the local bourse was witnessing panic selling due to investors liquidating their shares for Dollars. “This trend will continue for a while

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 Adedapo Adesanya The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared a total of N1.1 trillion from the revenue generated by the nation in August 2023 for September to enable the three tiers of government; the federal government, states, and local government councils, to have funds to pay salaries and others. The allocation of the funds was confirmed by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation on Friday following FAAC’s September 2023 meeting. According to a statement by the OAGF’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Mr Bawa Mokwa, there was “N1100.101 billion (N1.1 trillion) total distributable revenue.”

By Adedapo Adesanya Brent crude futures surged by 2.8 per cent or $2.59 on Wednesday to the highest settlement in 2023 at $96.55 per barrel after a steep drop in crude stocks in the United States compounded worries of tighter global supplies. The price of the US West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) climbed by 3.6 per cent or $3.29 to $93.68 as the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a crude oil inventory draw of 2.2 million barrels for the week to September 22 in the country. In the preceding week, the agency posted an inventory draw of 2.1 million

By Dipo Olowookere The immediate past Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoCSF), Mrs Winnifred Oyo-Ita, on Monday, March 23, 2020, pleaded not guilty to the 18-count charge levelled against her by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Mrs Oyo-Ita and eight other accused persons were brought before Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja today by the EFCC on charges bordering on fraud and money laundering to the tune of N570 million. They were accused of obtaining estacodes and Duty Travel Allowance (DTA) for journeys either not undertaken or not in existence.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Federal Government has announced Mr Joseph Nnanna as the new Chairman, Board of the Nigeria Export Import Bank (NEXIM). Also appointed are members of the board; Dr Mudashiru Olaitan, Mrs Olubunmi Siyanbola, Mr Ochapa Ogenyi, Mr Adesina Adegbenro and Hajiya Ramatu Ahmed. They will join the executive management team of the bank headed by Mr Abba Bello as the Managing Director/Chief Executive, assisted by Bala Bello, Executive Director, Corporate services and Stella Okotete, Executive Director, Business Development. The new board chairman is a former Deputy Governor (Economic Policies) at Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). A statement issued

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Subscription for the Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) of Meristem Securities Limited has been extended by the management. Deadline for the exercise was shifted forward obtaining approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Business Post learned. The reason for the extension, we further gathered, was because of the disruption caused by the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the country and the globe. Meristem is offering for sale two EFTs; the Meristem Value Exchange Traded Fund and the Meristem Growth Exchange Traded Fund. From a notice obtained by Business Post, the management said it has secured SEC’s authorisation

By Adedapo Adesanya President Muhammadu Buhari will on Tuesday flag off the construction of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) pipeline, which is set to become the nation’s biggest domestic gas transmission infrastructure. The 614 kilometre gas pipeline conceived to provide the highly desired stimulus to domestic industrial growth will be delivered by a consortium of indigenous and international engineering firms. This project will also signal the finest hour so far for the Nigerian Content Policy goals. The President, by the flag-off of this project at Ajaokuta, Kogi State, would be turning to reality some of the nation’s long-term economic aspirations of boosting domestic

By Tony Ogunlowo Right now more and more people, hostages, are being rescued from the clutches of the Boko Haram sect. Many of them who were abducted as girls are returning as mothers having had children with their abductors. Unfortunately many of the returning women are being ostracized by their own families and communities for having kids with their kidnappers. People can’t understand why they had relationships with their captors. Rejected by their own many of these women have expressed their desires to return to their ‘Boko Haram ‘husbands’ and people can’t understand why they would want to go back

By Dipo Olowookere President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on the inauguration of its new executive led by Mr Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud (SAN) at the 2016 Annual General Conference held in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State. In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President commended the outgoing executive led by Augustine Alegeh for the resourceful exchange of ideas, commitment and support for national development. He urged the new NBA President to use his vast experience in private practice, and public service, garnered over the years to build on the legacies

By Dipo Olowookere Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State says his administration is determined to provide funding to ensure that reliable, acceptable and right statistics were provided in good quality and timely. Speaking on Wednesday in Lagos at the opening session of the 1st International Conference of the Nigerian Statistical Association (NSA) themed ‘Positioning National Statistical System for Data Revolution and Inclusive Development,’ the Governor said the importance of accurate data gathering to national development can never be pushed aside, urging the national body of all statisticians in the country to improve the process of data gathering and collation for

By Adedapo Adesanya The exchange rate of the Naira to the United States Dollar further depreciated at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) segment of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Tuesday, February 8, 2022. The scarcity of forex at the market could be responsible for the poor performance of the local currency yesterday as it depreciated by 17 kobo or 0.04 per cent to settle at N416.67/$1 as against N416.50/$1 it ended on Monday. According to data obtained from FMDQ Securities Exchange, the value of FX transactions on Tuesday stood at $74.56 million compared with the $125.1 million achieved a