Economy
Elumelu Backs Entrepreneurship As Career Choice
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Foremost Nigerian business mogul, Mr Tony Elumelu, has charged African youths to think towards leadership, stressing the time for it “is now.”
While addressing students of the Lagos State University (LASU), faculty members and officials of the Lagos State government, Mr Elumelu noted that leadership is demonstrated at all levels of an institution.
The UBA Chairman, while delivering the institution’s 1st Distinguished Lecture Series in Ojo, Lagos on Wednesday, gave short thrift to the idea that not only Presidents, Governors and CEOs are leaders.
“A leader is simply someone who gets results” he said, challenging the students to embrace leadership, even at this early stage in their lives, “whether you are leading a team of people, or just yourself, your responsibility is to generate, secure or deliver results. I believe you can be a leader at any stage in your life and career, and in any career path you choose,” the philanthropist said while addressing the audience on the topics of leadership and entrepreneurship.
Mr Elumelu stated that leadership can be learned and that it was important to keep learning and honing one’s leadership skills.
“Just as I seek to democratise luck, with the work of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, so equally I believe every soldier carries a general’s baton in his pack. The key is self-belief – and an environment that enables,” he said.
Unveiling what it means to him to assist budding entrepreneurs across Africa, Mr Elumelu expressed his profound thoughts saying: “What value is wealth or money in an individual’s bank account if we cannot use it to positively impact society?”
“The seeds we plant today will help us move the needle as it relates to the development of Nigeria and Africa. Embrace entrepreneurship, develop yourselves as leaders. For your dreams to come true you need to be courageous, optimistic and bold. There are no shortcuts,” Elumelu advised the over 1500 students in the auditorium.
Mr Tony Elumelu is the proponent of Africapitalism, and he had the opportunity to share this economic philosophy that encourages the private sector to invest for the long term, in sectors that advance the economic and social development of our societies.
Africapitalism underpins Mr Elumelu’s investments and his belief that entrepreneurship is capable of helping to grow and develop the African continent. It drives his decision to commit $100 million dollars to identify and grow 10,000 entrepreneurs on the continent over a 10-year period.
“Through the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s Entrepreneurship Programme which is in its second year, we will identify, train, mentor and seed 10,000 African businesses over the next 10 years, creating 1 million jobs and $10 billion in additional revenues across the continent.
“Your idea CAN transform Africa” he stated.
He called on the students to embrace entrepreneurship as a career.
According to him, “If you pursue entrepreneurship, your options for advancement will not be limited to just finding a job, you can create your own employment opportunities and create jobs for others. You can help to transform your communities, and the country.”
Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, who was represented at the event by Ms Toyin Ademuiya, the Director of Creativity of the Lagos State government, noted that the choice of the guest speaker in Mr Tony Elumelu and the topic he discussed, underscores the thinking of his own administration in strengthening the capacity of the University and supporting its mission to mould leaders out of students.
As he thanked Mr Elumelu for sharing his knowledge on entrepreneurship to the students, the Governor promised to continue supporting the university.
“Education is the bedrock of Nigeria’s future,” the Governor asserted.
Chairman of the occasion and the Chancellor of the University, Justice Adesola Oguntade (rtd), in his remarks, buttressed this saying: as he said, “Entrepreneurship is an essential topic of great essence given the current wave of youth unemployment. The choice of the guest speaker demonstrates the university’s passion and commitment to excellence. Tony Elumelu is indeed an icon of success”.
Vice Chancellor of LASU, Professor Lanre Fagbohun, urged the students to follow the advice of the Guest Speaker, Mr Tony Elumelu, who he described as a ‘serial investor and quintessential philanthropist who has continuously impacted on the continent through the creation of jobs and building young Africans in entrepreneurship’.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of MRS Oil and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.68 per cent on Friday, June 5.
MRS Plc lost N19.00 during the session to sell at N171.00 per share compared with Thursday’s value of N190.00 per share, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N8.70 to finish at N181.68 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N190.38 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation further lost N22.59 billion to close at N2.607 trillion versus the N2.630 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 37.76 points to settle at 4,358.32 points, in contrast to the previous day’s 4,396.08 points.
The alternative stock market closed the last trading day of this week with a price gainer, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gained 6 Kobo to quote at N78.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N78.34 per share. However, it could not prevent the market from going down at the close of business.
Yesterday, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors went down by 50.0 per cent to 140,345 units from the preceding day’s 280,714 units, the value of stocks decreased by 16.5 per cent to N17.9 million from the previous session’s N21.5 million, and the number of deals carried out by market participants fell by 35.7 per cent to 27 deals from the 42 deals recorded on Thursday.
When trading activities closed for the day, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
Renewed interest in financial stocks and others lifted the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 0.15 per cent on Friday.
Customs Street closed higher yesterday despite the 1.37 per cent loss recorded by the consumer goods sector as a result of profit-taking.
This was offset by gains in the other key sectors of the local bourse, as the insurance counter chalked up 1,14 per cent. The banking space appreciated by 0.90 per cent, the industrial goods segment grew by 0.46 per cent, and the energy sector expanded by 0.01 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 366.00 points to 242,593.31 points from 242,227.31 points, and the market capitalisation gained N235 billion to close at N155.594 trillion compared with the previous day’s N155.359 trillion.
The trio of International Energy Insurance, Abbey Mortgage Bank, and DAAR Communications improved by 10.00 per cent each yesterday to N7.26, N9.35, and N1.98, respectively, while Zichis advanced by 9.39 per cent to N32.38, with Sovereign Trust Insurance up by 8.70 per cent to N2.50.
On the flip side, Academy Press lost 9.84 per cent to quote at N8.25, University Press depreciated by 9.73 per cent to N5.10, Africa Prudential dipped by 2.63 per cent to N12.95, Chams crumbled by 2.44 per cent to N4.00, and International Breweries slipped by 1.59 per cent to N12.35.
Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive during the session after recording 37 appreciating equities and 14 depreciating equities, implying strong investor sentiment.
Abbey Mortgage Bank led the activity chart with a turnover of 164.1 million units worth N1.5 billion, Ellah Lakes sold 76.7 million units for N767.2 million, Access Holdings transacted 44.8 million units valued at N1.1 billion, Linkage Assurance exchanged 23.0 million units worth N41.2 million, and The Initiates traded 20.2 million units for N562.1 million.
At the close of trades, market participants transacted 608.5 million units worth N32.0 billion in 53,826 deals versus the 588.5 million units valued at N27.9 billion executed in 57,352 deals in the previous session. This showed that the number of deals eased by 6.15 per cent, the volume of transactions rose by 3.40 per cent, and the value of transactions soared by 14.70 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira further depreciated against the United States Dollar by N3.46 or 0.25 per cent to N1,362.21/$1 from N1,358.75/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 5.
However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window during the session by N4.47 to trade at N1,823.59/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,828.06/£1, and gained N7.00 against the Euro to sell at N1,574.58/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,581.58/€1.
For another trading session, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the Dollar in the parallel market and the GTBank forex counter on Friday at N1,375/$1 and N1,372/$1, respectively.
The Naira is expected to remain strong in the near term, backed by a rise in external reserves, which are nearing $50 billion, enhancing analysts’ confidence about its outlook in the second half of 2026.
Heightened global uncertainty has reduced the incentive for importers and corporates to demand FX, as cautious trade weighs on import needs. Analysts estimate a $40 billion net FX position for the year, a projection anchored in oil windfall gains.
As for the cryptocurrency market, prices remained depressed following a strong US jobs report that spurred markets to price in higher-for-longer interest rates, sending Treasury yields and the dollar up while hammering stocks, especially AI-related names. Crypto markets saw heavy leverage washouts with about $1.6 billion in positions liquidated over 24 hours.
Ethereum (ETH) gave up 4.9 per cent to trade at $1,584.68, Solana (SOL) fell by 3.3 per cent to $63.22, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 1.9 per cent to $61,333.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 1.8 per cent to $0.0821, and Ripple (XRP) moderated by 1.8 per cent to $1.09.
Further, TRON (TRX) dropped 1.6 per cent to sell at $0.3197, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.0 per cent to $581.18, and Cardano (ADA) declined by 0.4 per cent to $0.1589, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) gained 0.07 to sell at $0.9997, and US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $0.9998.
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