Currency Markets in Focus Amid Escalating Trade War

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited commenced the first trading session in December 2023 on a bullish note, with a marginal growth of 0.08 per cent. Sustained buying pressure kept Nigerian stocks in the positive territory, extending the dominance of the bulls on Customs Street, though the turnover waned. Business Post observed that investors cherry-picked equities in the banking and the energy sectors during the session, leaving them rising by 1.14 per cent and 0.05 per cent, respectively. However, the insurance counter lost 1.10 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.08 per cent, and the industrial

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 House of Representatives has pledged to stop international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the Niger Delta from divestment of their offshore assets without being accountable to the environment. The Chairman of the House of Reps Committee on Host Communities, Mr Dumnamene Dekor, said this during a technical session on the implementation of the Host Communities Development Trusts (HCDT), organised by Spaces for Change (S4C) with support from Ford Foundation. Mr Dekor raised the alarm that since the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act in 2021, host communities have not experienced any positive change, rather have remained

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Zacch Adedeji, has asked his counterpart in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ola Olukoyede, to support his agency to achieve the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, who appointed both of them. Speaking during a courtesy visit to the headquarters of the anti-money laundering firm, Mr Adedeji said the EFCC has a role in ensuring that taxpayers’ funds are “judiciously utilised in line with the social contract with the people.” He assured that the FIRS would continue to strive to raise the revenue

By Nneka Okumazie For lots of individuals disinterested in Christianity, one word keeps coming up – indoctrination. They say Christianity indoctrinates people – making them unable to think critically, feel free, or reject things that don’t seem to make sense. Indoctrination generally refers ‘to the process of teaching a person or group to accept a set of beliefs uncritically.’ But, thinking contemporaneously, there are diametrical indoctrinations, faraway from Christianity. Those that social media platforms dictate how regularly they seek, share and shape information are indoctrinated by social media. Many of the people pointing fingers at Christianity, but cannot detach from

By Modupe Gbadeyanka In two years about 400 money lenders were registered by the Lagos State government, the Commissioner for Home Affairs, Mr Anofiu Elegushi, has disclosed. The Commissioner stated that this was done to coordinate activities of players in the money lending sector, saying it is also to protect residents of the metropolis. “The ministry registers, profiles and monitors the viability of such companies in ensuring that while the money lenders are in business, the general public is also protected from scammers and people of questionable character, while also regulating activities of the companies,” he said. He also said

By Ahmed Rahma For the ‘SBI Card Pay’ service, the global leader in digital solutions, Comviva and the leading credit card issuer in India, SBI Card, have won more than two prestigious awards. The organisations, honoured with Payments & Cards Award 2020, PayTech Award 2020 and InnTech Award 2020 for the ‘SBI Card Pay’ service, were recognized as the winners in the ‘Best Payments Technology Initiative of the Year’ category at the Payments & Cards Awards 2020. They were also accorded, ‘Best Cards Initiative’ category at the PayTech Awards 2020 and ‘Best Implementation of Technology by a Financial Sector Enterprise’,

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Department of State Services (DSS) has been asked to immediately release the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele. This request was made by the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) and a coalition of civil society groups under the aegis of the Coalition of National Civil Society Organisations (CNCSOs). Mr Emefiele was arrested last month by the secret police, and despite court orders for his release, he has been kept in the agency’s custody. He was arraigned on Tuesday at a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on a two-count

By Adedapo Adesanya Following a spate of backlash faced by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited over the appointment of a French-Swiss national, Mr Jean-Marc Cordier, as the head of the company’s oil trading subsidiary, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has shown solidarity with the state oil company. NNPC recently announced Mr Cordier to head NNPC Trading Limited, making him the second after another expatriate, Mr Hubb Stockman, who heads NNPCL Retail Limited. The announcement of the employment of foreigners to head NNPC Ltd subsidiaries has triggered mixed reactions among Nigerians, especially since the Nigerian Content

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A Nigerian payments solutions company, SimplePay, has announced a partnership with the Lekki Concession Company Limited (LCC), to provide an innovative solution for LCC e-Tag customers to top-up their account through PayReminder. The PayReminder will alert e-Tag users/customers to make payment into their toll account when their balance is low, through an SMS on their registered GSM line. The SMS comes with a payment link, which when clicked, allows the user to conveniently top-up their account by following the instructions to complete the payment. The customer’s account will be credited instantly. The service is a safe and

By Dipo Olowookere Meristem Securities Limited has been directed by the Investments and Securities Tribunal (IST) in Abuja to pay the sum of N3 million as damages to an investor, Mr Steven Guar. The fine was the stockbroker’s misconduct, which forced the capital market investor to incur some losses and hardship. In his ruling, Mr Jude Ike Udunni, who presided over the tribunal, held that evidence showed that Meristem Securities Limited failed to discharge the duty of care required of it to the investor who is its client. He further ordered the company to take immediate steps to ensure that

Guideline for the disbursement of the N50 billion special intervention fund by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been released. The fund is meant to serve as a stimulus package for households and small businesses to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. Governor of the CBN, Mr Godwin Emefiele, had announced the introduction of the N50 billion Targeted Credit Facility (TCF) and according to the guideline, NISRAL Microfinance Bank (NMFB) will serve as the disbursing financial institution with SMEs, households and enterprises that have verifiable evidence of livelihood and evidence of business activities adversely impacted by COVID-19 well