Economy
EFG Hermes Emerges Most Active Stockbroker for March
By Dipo Olowookere
The role of stockbrokers in the capital market can never be pushed aside because they are a very critical part of the ecosystem.
In fact, investors, both retail and institutional cannot transact securities available at the market without going through them. They are just like the part of the Bible which says no one gets to the Father except through Me.
However, the choice of stockbrokers by investors at the equity market is swayed by different factors. Some traders prefer those who offer lower commission, while others like stockbrokers who are customer friendly.
Every brokerage firm wants to be the most preferred, pulling the highest volume and value of transactions and due to this, many try to position themselves before investors to be able to maintain leadership position in the business.
Data gathered by Business Post showed that in March 2020, EFG Hermes Nigeria Limited emerged the most active stockbroker both by volume and value.
During the period under consideration, the brokerage company traded a total of 2.693 billion units of shares, accounting for 12.33 percent of the market’s turnover for the month.
Rencap Securities, which occupied the second position, managed 1.468 billion units, accounting for 6.72 percent, while Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers, which was the most active for February 2020, dropped to the third place in March after transacting 1.409 billion stocks, accounting for 6.45 percent.
Cardinalstone Securities traded 1.232 billion securities (5.64 percent), CSL Stockbrokers Ltd traded 907.8 million stocks (4.16 percent), Morgan Capital exchanged 767.3 million units (3.51 percent), Quantum Zenith Securities and Investment Ltd traded 729.5 million shares (3.34 percent), ARM Securities transacted 665.3 million equities (3.05 percent), FCSL Asset Management Company exchanged 662.6 million shares (3.03 percent), while Coronation Securities Ltd transacted 644.9 million stocks (2.95 percent).
The above 10 brokerage firms pulled a total of 11.180 billion units of stocks traded at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) last month, resulting in 51.18 percent of the total volume.
By value, as earlier stated, EFG Hermes Nigeria Ltd was the most active stockbroking firm last month, pulling stocks worth N39.651 billion in the month, accounting for 16.30 percent of the total value of transactions for the month.
Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers, which came second, traded shares worth N30.163 billion to account for 12.40 percent of the overall transaction value, while Rencap Securities transacted stocks valued at N20.721 billion to account for 8.52 percent of the trades.
CSL Stockbrokers exchanges equities worth N12.996 billion (5.34 percent), Tellmer Capital Ltd transacted N11.298 billion shares (4.65 percent), ARM exchanged N10.155 billion stocks (4.18 percent), Cardinalstone Securities transacted N9.187 billion equities (3.78 percent), Cordros Securities Ltd traded N7.520 billion shares (3.09 percent), Chapel Hill Denham Securities transacted N6.723 billion stocks (2.76 percent), while Quantum Zenith Securities and Investment Ltd traded N6.463 billion equities (2.66 percent).
In all, these 10 stockbroking firms traded shares worth N154.9 billion in the month under review, contributing 63.68 percent to the total value of transactions recorded in March.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Senate has passed a bill to repeal and re-enact the law establishing the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), paving the way for the regulatory agency to be renamed the Insurance Regulatory Commission (IRC).
The legislation, titled the Insurance Regulatory Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2026, was passed after the Senate considered and adopted the report of its committee on banking, insurance and other financial institutions.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr Adetokunbo Abiru, the senator representing Lagos East, who presented the report, stated that the proposed legislation was necessary because the existing National Insurance Commission Act of 1997 had become outdated and no longer reflected the realities of Nigeria’s evolving insurance industry or global regulatory standards.
According to the Senate, the decision to change the Commission’s name was informed by the need to eliminate confusion associated with the existing designation and to better reflect the institution’s regulatory mandate within Nigeria’s insurance industry.
The bill also provides legal protection for the commission and its officers against adverse claims arising from the lawful execution of their statutory duties.
However, he noted that the commission’s enabling law had become obsolete, exposing significant regulatory gaps that required urgent legislative intervention.
‘The current National Insurance Commission Act 1997 is outdated and does not adequately address the emerging economic growth, needs and development of the insurance business,” the lawmaker said.
He explained that the new legislation seeks to strengthen the independence of the commission by empowering it to make regulatory decisions without undue influence in the country’s insurance sector.
According to him, the bill also enhances the commission’s authority to exchange information and collaborate with domestic and international regulatory bodies, issue regulations, guidelines, standards and directives on insurance-related matters, and intervene more effectively in financially distressed insurance companies to protect policyholders and preserve financial stability.
This marks yet another move to strengthen the country’s insurance sector following the enactment of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) of 2025 and the industry-wide recapitalisation exercise, which will wrap up by July 31.
By Adedapo Adesanya
About 143 companies that successfully passed the technical and prequalification stages of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) 2025 Licensing Round will, today, compete for 50 oil and gas blocks at the commercial bid conference in Abuja, the final stage in the allocation process for the assets.
The commission said only the prequalified companies have been invited to attend the event, which will hold at the Conference Centre of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, stressing that participation is strictly by invitation.
The commercial bid conference will determine the successful bidders for oil and gas assets located across Nigeria’s producing and frontier basins.
The 50 blocks comprise 16 onshore blocks and 18 shallow water blocks in the Niger Delta, one deep offshore block, three onshore blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin, and four in the Benue Trough.
According to the commission, the winning bids will be determined through a transparent evaluation process based on clearly defined commercial parameters. These include the signature bonus offered by bidders, the proposed work programme commitment and the level of performance security provided. The final selection will be based on a weighted technical and commercial score.
The licensing round is being conducted under the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which requires a transparent and competitive process for the award of petroleum assets.
NUPRC had announced the commencement of the 2025 Licensing Round on November 11, 2025, before opening the online bid portal on December 1, 2025, to enable interested companies to register and participate in the exercise.
To ensure prospective investors fully understood the requirements, the commission organised a pre-bid conference on January 14, 2026, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos. The event provided detailed explanations on the licensing guidelines and bidding procedures to registered participants and other stakeholders.
Registration and submission of prequalification documents closed on February 27, 2026, while the prequalification evaluation was completed on March 16, 2026.
NUPRC disclosed that 286 companies initially submitted applications for prequalification.
Following the evaluation process, 196 companies were cleared to participate in the technical and commercial bid stages.
The prequalified 143 companies eventually submitted a total of 200 bids for the available oil and gas blocks. These companies are now set to compete at the commercial bid conference, where the financial offers will be opened and evaluated to determine the eventual winners.
The licensing round is expected to attract fresh investment into Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector, boost exploration activities across both producing and frontier basins, increase crude oil and gas reserves, and support the country’s drive to grow production and government revenue.
It also underscores the regulator’s commitment to implementing a transparent, competitive and investor-friendly licensing regime under the Petroleum Industry Act.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has retained all key monetary policy parameters following the conclusion of its two-day meeting on July 21, 2026, on Tuesday, maintaining its tight monetary policy stance to curb inflation and support macroeconomic stability.
According to the Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, who chaired the committee, the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which serves as the benchmark interest rate, remains at 26.50 per cent. The MPC also retained the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +50 basis points and -450 basis points.
In addition, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks was left unchanged at 45.00 per cent, while the CRR for merchant banks remains at 16.00 per cent. The committee also retained the CRR on non-Treasury Single Account (Non-TSA) public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent, with the liquidity ratio at 30.00 per cent.
The decision reflects the apex bank’s continued commitment to containing inflationary pressures through a restrictive monetary policy while safeguarding the resilience of Nigeria’s financial system amid ongoing macroeconomic adjustments.
By keeping all policy tools unchanged, the MPC signalled its intention to continue managing excess liquidity in the banking sector and maintain stability in financial markets.
The move is also expected to provide greater policy certainty for investors and businesses monitoring the country’s monetary policy direction.
The latest decision also means borrowing costs are likely to remain elevated in the near term as the central bank continues to prioritise price stability over monetary easing.
Analysts had expected the CBN committee to retain the rate after Nigeria’s headline inflation came in at 15.91 per cent as of June 2026, marking a slight decline from 15.93 per cent in May.
However, even as overall price growth has moderated significantly compared to previous periods, food inflation remains a persistent challenge, accelerating to 17.52 per cent in June.
