Economy
Don’t Lose Ibadan Inland Dry Port to Ogun—Lawmaker Begs Makinde
By Dipo Olowookere
The Oyo State Governor, Mr Seyi Makinde, has been urged not to lose the Ibadan Inland Dry Port to the neighbouring Ogun State.
This appeal was made by a federal lawmaker from the state, Mrs Tolulope Akande-Sadipe, via a statement issued by her media aide, Mr Olamilekan Olusada.
The lawmaker, representing Oluyole Federal Constituency at the National Assembly, said she worked hard to bring the project to the state.
Mrs Akande-Sadipe, who is Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, recalled that when she served as the Special Adviser on Projects and Public-Private Partnership to late Governor of Oyo State, Mr Abiola Ajimobi, she conceived the idea of the dry port during “a visit to Lagos to see my mother.”
According to her, “the traffic from trucks queuing to get into the Apapa ports led to the brainwave that this could be another economic opportunity for Oyo State, which had an advantage based on its geographical position and the new train line from Lagos and knowing that this would further stir up the economic revival in our beloved Oyo State. I approached the Governor with the idea and he gave his consent to commence the leg work.”
“I contacted Mr Hassan Bello led Shippers Council through Mr Anifowoshe who was based in the Ibadan office in 2018 and extensive talks about decongesting Lagos by setting up an Inland Dry Port in Oyo began,” she further recalled.
The lawmaker stated further that the rationale for Olorisha Oko was based on its location as the point where the first phase of the new train line from Lagos to the north passing through Ibadan would terminate.
“That way, containers could be shipped by train from Lagos ports to Ibadan and further on with the completion of other stages of the project, as is the case in developed nations.
“I and my Bureau of Investment Promotions and Project Office team most especially Mr Kunle Olusina with the support of our principal, late Senator Abiola Ajimobi, worked tirelessly to make it a reality,” she said.
Mrs Akande-Sadipe added that, “I put so much effort into making the inland dry port a reality, my sweat and support from Ajimobi secured the federal government approval of the project during the administration of Koseleri. I, therefore, appeal to the current PDP led state government not to play politics with the socio-economic development of Oyo State.”
The lawmaker noted that the Inland Dry Port would bring about 24,000 direct new jobs and also attract new investors and big corporations to take advantage of the free trade zone. We all know what that will mean to the youths of Oyo State – job creation, both blue and white-collar
She further emphasised her worry about losing the project to Ogun State over the delays since the change of administration, urging the current administration to do more about road infrastructure to alleviate the worries of the increased traffic expected from the port operation as it has not done enough in terms of road infrastructure, unlike the neighbouring state where Governor Dapo Abiodun, has embarked on and completed many road projects.
The project had gone far with the bidding closed with a successful selection of a concessionaire developer in line with federal government laws and regulations governing Public-Private Partnership Procurement. Sequel to which the project was adjudged viable thus bankable and had been issued an OBC compliance certificate by the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission in line with the 2005 ICRC Act.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed flat on Wednesday, August 5, as the market witnessed weaker trading activity with only two deals executed.
In the midweek session, the volume of securities exchanged by investors dropped 99.9 per cent to 802 units from the 1.6 million units recorded on Tuesday. The value of securities further decreased by 99.6 per cent to N208,240 from the preceding session’s N47.6 million, and the number of deals significantly went down by 93.9 per cent to two deals from the 33 deals recorded a day earlier.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 76.9 million units transacted for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
There were no price gainers or losers yesterday.
As a result, the market capitalisation stood unmoving at N2.739 trillion, while the NASD Security Index (NSI) remained unchanged at 4,563.96 points.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira slid against the US Dollar by N2.28 or 0.17 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, August 5, to N1,363.85/$1 from N1,362.55/$1.
The local currency also declined against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N5.97 to close at N1,837.38/£1 compared with Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,831.41/£1, and against the Euro, it crashed by N6.54 to quote at N1,575.25/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,568.71/€1.
But at the black market, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the greenback yesterday at N1,400/$1, and also remained unchanged at the GTBank FX desk at N1,373/$1.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says rates have narrowed to below two per cent, while the country’s external reserves have risen above $52.5 billion, reflecting the impact of its ongoing monetary and foreign exchange reforms.
CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso, represented by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed this on Tuesday during the CBN Fair in Gombe. He noted that reforms introduced since 2023 had significantly reduced the disparity between the official FX market and the parallel market.
“The Naira continues to strengthen, with the spread between official and Bureau de Change rates now below two per cent,” he said, adding that reserves at $52.5 billion were supported by sustained inflows and renewed investor confidence in the economy.
Interbank FX transactions slid as weaker market activities dropped total Dollar volume exchanged to $75.35 million, a 51.8 per cent decline from $156.23 million in turnover quoted at the previous close.
The deals at the NFEM window also fell as data from the central bank put Wednesday’s quote at 82 from 139.
In the cryptocurrency market, major were down as global risk sentiment softened as a key world equity index slipped and chipmakers fell.
The MSCI All Country World Index snapped a five-day run to fall 0.2 per cent as chipmakers retreated on both sides of the Pacific. South Korea’s Kospi, a bellwether for the AI trade, dropped 4.4 per cent.
Ripple (XRP) depleted by 1.7 per cent to $1.05, Binance Coin (BNB) decreased by 1.0 per cent to $594.87, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $0.1884, TRON (TRX) shrank by 0.2 per cent to $0.3261, Solana (SOL) crumbled by 0.1 per cent to $74.00, and Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.1 per cent to $0.0697.
On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH) gained 2.3 per cent to trade at $1,911.41, and Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 0.8 per cent to $64,759.28, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The domestic stock exchange rebounded by 0.05 per cent on Wednesday on the back of renewed bargain-hunting by investors, though the level of activity waned.
After bleeding for a few days, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited heaved a sigh of relief yesterday, as the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 109.41 points to close at 244,912.24 points compared with the previous day’s 244,802.83 points, and the market capitalisation garnered N71 billion to settle at N158.087 trillion versus Tuesday’s N158.016 trillion.
Business Post reports that despite the rebound recorded by Customs Street at midweek, the market breadth index remained negative, as there were 20 price advancers and 29 price decliners, implying bearish investor sentiment.
Linkage Assurance appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N1.77, AVA Capital rose by 9.55 per cent to N10.90, Fortis Global Insurance advanced by 7.69 per cent to N2.80, McNichols gained 7.34 per cent to finish at N5.85, and Coronation Insurance surged by 5.51 per cent to N2.49.
Conversely, Honeywell Flour depreciated by 9.94 per cent to N16.30, PZ Cussons gave up 9.94 per cent to trade at N74.75, Zichis crashed by 9.74 per cent to N20.76, Learn Africa slipped by 9.62 per cent to N9.40, and Neimeth tumbled by 8.33 per cent to N8.25.
The busiest equity was FCMB, with a turnover of 369.2 million units valued at N4.1 billion. Chams transacted 46.7 million units worth N201.8 million, First Holdco transacted 43.5 million units for N5.7 billion, Access Holdings sold 29.8 million units worth N778.0 million, and Linkage Assurance exchanged 19.6 million units valued at N33.5 million.
At the close of transactions, market participants bought and sold 824.1 million units worth N25.5 billion in 48,114 deals, in contrast to the 1.6 billion units sold for N28.7 billion in 54,160 deals a day earlier, showing a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 48.49 per cent, 11.15 per cent, and 11.16 per cent, respectively.
