Economy
Elumelu Tasks Policy Makers On Poverty Reduction
Policy makers in the country have been urged to do more in coming up with a veritable solution to achieving poverty reduction in Nigeria.
Chairman of Heirs Holdings and UBA Plc, Mr Tony Elumelu, gave this advice while delivering a paper themed “Entrepreneurship, Corporate Social Responsibility and Africapitalism: The Role of The Private Sector In Fighting Poverty in Nigeria”, at the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies in Kuru, Plateau State.
Mr Elumelu, at the occasion, addressed a distinguished guest list of 67 participants from top government constituencies including the police, the military, national planning, works, and the presidency, debating ways to move the country forward in light of the present economic challenges.
According to founder of The Tony Elumelu Foundation, “Governments alone do not have the capacity to provide the basic daily needs or employment for the millions of young Nigerians entering the job market every year.”
He noted that, “The private sector must be an integral part of our national poverty eradication and development strategy.”
In his lecture, the chairman of Heirs Holdings acknowledged the efforts of the Institute in constituting the gathering of think tanks, hailing it as a timely event in paving the way for engineering the country’s socio-economic development. He expressed optimism that with the right policy reforms, Nigeria could be well on its way to rising above its present challenges.
The former UBA GMD reiterated his long-term conviction on entrepreneurship as a solution to arresting the economic challenges facing the country. He stated that past governments had not been successful in eradicating poverty in Nigeria in spite of the various entrepreneurship schemes that have been introduced over the past 30 years.
An advocate of Africapitalism, Mr Elumelu expressed that entrepreneurship and not philanthropy, is key to achieving poverty reduction and empowering Nigerians as we strive to solve our challenges without dependence on aid from outside the country.
“No one but us will save ourselves,” he said. “The development of Africa is up to Africans. Donors and partners can help, but the work of developing our nations is ours. Nigeria’s poverty and development challenges are great. But they do not exceed the capacity of our people to solve them. We welcome every initiative that helps in reducing poverty. More effort is required’ said Mr Elumelu.
Expounding on the benefits of Africapitalism, he cited the achievements of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme as a case study of how Africans, and by extension Nigerians, can solve their own problems via entrepreneurship.
The goal of the yearly programme is to invest $100 million over the next 10 years to identify, train, mentor and seed 10,000 African businesses with a view of creating 1 million new jobs and $10 billion in additional revenue for the continent by democratizing and institutionalizing the ‘luck.
The second set of 1,000 entrepreneurs was announced a few months ago and boasted of representation from all thirty-six states of Nigeria and other African countries.
“The programme and the forum will serve to empower, inspire and, most importantly, teach these young African Men and Women how to become fishermen. I am proud to tell you that in the Class of 2015, Nigerian entrepreneurs numbered 480, and all 36 states were represented.
“This year, Nigerians make up 601 (or 60%) of the top 1,000, bringing the total number of Nigerian entrepreneurs in our programme to 1,081,” he said as he tasked the participants to act in their various capacities to reduce poverty in Nigeria.
The Acting Director General of the Institute, Ibrahim Lamorde, in full support of this in his vote of thanks, urged the participants in their respective workplaces to commit to creating a conducive environment for entrepreneurs to thrive.
“All 67 participants and those of us who are also in other areas of responsibility will go out and ensure that between now and the end of the year, we promote just one policy that will drive change. I think this will go a long way in addressing the issue of poverty in this country.”
He concluded by urging Mr Elumelu to encourage and advise other wealthy entrepreneurs to emulate and support the good work he is doing in Nigeria and across the African continent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed higher by 1.41 per cent on Friday, May 15, supported by four securities on the platform.
During the session, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc added N14.24 to its share price to sell for N159.00 per unit, in contrast to the previous day’s N144.76 per unit.
Further, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc appreciated by N1.34 to N72.34 per share from N71.00 per share, Geo-Fluids Plc improved its price by 4 Kobo to N2.94 per unit from N2.90 per unit, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc gained 1 Kobo to trade at 61 Kobo per share compared with Thursday’s closing price of 60 Kobo per share.
As a result, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rose by 58.20 points to 4,188.41 points from 4,130.21 points, and the market capitalisation soared by N34.82 billion to N2.506 trillion from N2.471 trillion on Thursday.
During the session, the volume of trades went up by 180.8 per cent to 1.2 million units from 417,349 units, and the value of transactions increased by 29.8 per cent to N29.8 million from N23.2 million, while the number of deals fell by 22.6 per cent to 24 deals from 31 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 60.8 million units exchanged for N4.1 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.9 million units valued at N1.9 billion.
GNI Plc also closed 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 Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
By Dipo Olowookere
The bears overpowered the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday, sinking it further by 0.76 per cent when the closing gong was struck by 4 pm.
The nation’s flagship equity market was under selling pressure during the session, as investors booked profits after the shares witnessed price appreciation in the past trading sessions.
The energy sector was the most impacted, as it shed 4.43 per cent. The consumer goods index declined by 0.90 per cent, the banking counter decreased by 0.15 per cent, and the industrial goods sector lost 0.08 per cent, while the insurance counter gained 2.42 per cent, which was not enough to salvage the situation.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 1,912.19 points to 250,330.92 points from 252,243.11 points, and the market capitalisation moderated by 1.225 trillion to N160.444 trillion from N161.669 trillion.
Zichis was the worst-performing stock for the session after it gave up 9.97 per cent to close at N29.43, FTN Cocoa slipped by 9.95 per cent to N8.96, The Initiates slumped by 9.90 per cent to N32.30, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank tumbled by 9.88 per cent to N3.83, and International Energy Insurance dropped 9.71 per cent to trade at N2.79.
The best-performing stock was ABC Transport, which grew by 10.00 per cent to N6.27. May and Baker also appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N47.30, SCOA Nigeria surged by 9.98 per cent to N33.05, Trans-Nationwide Express expanded by 9.97 per cent to N7.06, and DAAR Communications jumped 9.76 per cent to N2.25.
Yesterday, investors traded 1.1 billion shares worth N44.3 billion in 65,744 deals compared with the 1.0 billion shares valued at N41.6 billion transacted in 74,822 deals a day earlier. This indicated a dip in the number of deals by 12.13 per cent, and a rise in the trading volume and value by 10.00 per cent and 6.49 per cent, respectively.
Chams was the busiest equity for the day, with 328.5 million units sold for N1.1 billion. UBA traded 61.6 million units worth N2.7 billion, First Holdco transacted 58.7 million units valued at N4.2 billion, Secure Electronic Technology exchanged 51.9 million units worth N45.0 million, and Access Holdings traded 51.8 million units valued at N1.3 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The last trading session of the week at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) ended on a negative note for the Naira on Friday, May 15, as it lost N15 Kobo or 0.1 per cent against the Dollar to trade at N1,371.04/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,370.89/$1.
However, it further appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment yesterday by N20.77 to close at N1,830.61/£1 versus Thursday’s value of N1,851.38/£1, and gained N7.91 against the Euro to settle at N1,595.07/€1 versus N1,602.98/€1.
At the GTBank FX desk, the Naira lost N2 against the US Dollar during the session to sell at N1,383/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,381/$1, and at the black market, it remained unchanged at N1,385/$1.
The Naira is forecast to be broadly stable, supported by Dollar sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) amid steady, higher oil receipts, with the market settling into a balance.
Policy direction is also expected to give the market some boost as the CBN said the new edition of the FX market guidelines will deepen liquidity, improve transparency and strengthen confidence in the country’s foreign exchange market.
According to the Governor of the CBN, Mr Yemi Cardoso, the update is due to changing global economic realities, domestic reforms and the need for a more coherent and forward-looking regulatory framework. According to him, the last edition of the FX manual was issued in 2018, making the latest review both timely and necessary.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market plunged into the red zone as rising bond yields hit risk assets across markets, while traders are increasingly betting the Federal Reserve may need to raise rates again. Rising energy prices and resurging inflation could force central banks back into tightening mode.
Cardano (ADA) shrank by 4.4 per cent to $0.2557, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 3.7 per cent to $0.1104, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 3.5 per cent to $1.41, Solana (SOL) crashed by 3.5 per cent to $87.81, and Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 3.4 per cent to $659.64.
Further, Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 2.6 per cent to $78,547.49, Ethereum (ETH) lost 2.1 per cent to quote at $2,209.19, and TRON (TRX) tumbled by 0.7 per cent to $0.3509, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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