Economy
Energiya Global Plans $1b Solar Investment in Nigeria, 14 Others
By Dipo Olowookere
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been sealed between Israel and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which will see Israel’s leading solar developer, Energiya Global, invest about $1 billion over the next four years to advance green energy power projects across the 15 member states of the bloc, including Nigeria.
Energiya Global and its associated companies developed the first commercial scale solar field in sub-Sahara Africa in Rwanda, which is supplying 6 percent of the country’s power, and the group broke ground on a similar power plant in Burundi, which will supply 15 percent of the country’s power by the end of the year.
The solar group has fields at various stages of development in 10 African countries and expects to announce its full program at the Israel-Africa Summit in Togo at the end of October.
“With 600 million Africans without electricity, the State of Israel can literally help African heads of state bring power to the African people,” says Member of Knesset, Mr Avraham Neguise, chairman of the Israel-Africa Caucus of the Israeli Parliament.
“Our humanitarian and diplomatic goals are supported by the private sector as well, which can work quickly and efficiently to improve the lives of millions of people.
“I want to thank my friend Yosef Abramowitz for his investments in solar in Africa. We look forward to working with ECOWAS to deploy $1 billion over the next four years, starting with this first investment of $20 million in Liberia by Energiya Global,” he added.
According to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Energiya Global, Mr Yosef Abramowitz, “In honour of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s two terms in office, and Liberia’s friendship with the State of Israel, Energiya Global and our international partners will finance and build a commercial-scale solar field at the Roberts International Airport, which will supply 25 percent of the country’s generation capacity.”
He added that, “We are prepared to finance and build the first National Demonstration Solar Projects in all ECOWAS-affiliated countries in order to promote political stability and social and economic development, as well as to advance knowledge transfer.”
Mr Abramowitz explained that the $20 million investment in Liberia comes as Israel and ECOWAS sign today an historic MoU to promote investments, technology and cooperation.
A working session between ECOWAS, representatives of the State of Israel and Abramowitz will take place on Monday morning in Monrovia, to plan for the deployment of the green energy investments in fulfilment of the MOU signed by Prime Minister Netanyahu and the President of ECOWAS.
The US Power Africa Coordinator, Mr Andrew Herscowitz, underlined the importance of Energiya Global’s work by saying, “As a founding Power Africa partner, Energiya Global continues to demonstrate its industry leadership with this important investment in Liberia. Increasing access and power generation is the foundation for economic prosperity and human development. We look forward to Energiya Global’s transformative impact on the lives of the Liberian people.”
“We are proud to be involved in the creation of cutting-edge, clean energy for Liberia,” says Remy Reinstein, Energiya Global’s country director. “We are honoured to have the seal of approval from President Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, whose initiatives have made the sustainable development of Liberia possible.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three stocks further weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.12 per cent on Wednesday, April 8, with the Unlisted Security Index (NSI) down by 44.43 points to 3,930.91 points from the previous day’s 3,975.34 points, and the market capitalisation went down by N26.59 to N2.351 trillion from N2.378 trillion.
MRS Oil lost N11.00 during the session to close at N161.00 per share compared with Tuesday’s closing price of N172.00 per share, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc dipped by N3.74 to N67.95 per unit from N71.69 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc fell by N1.10 to sell at N15.95 per share versus N17.05 per share.
There were two gainers at the midweek trading session, led by IPWA Plc, which appreciated by 55 Kobo to N6.61 per unit from N6.06 per unit, and First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc improved its value by 4 Kobo to N2.32 per share from N2.28 per share.
Yesterday, the volume of securities rose by 620.4 per cent to 5.7 million units from 797,264 units, the value of securities increased by 25.1 per cent to N32.7 million from N26.1 million, and the number of deals climbed by 12.1 per cent to 37 deals from the preceding session’s 33 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, trailed by CSCS Plc with 57.2 million units exchanged for N3.9 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.5 million units traded for N1.8 billion.
GNI Plc also finished the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units worth N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units transacted for N1.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Foreign Exchange (FX) demand pressure eased on the Naira on Wednesday, April 8, in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) after gaining N14.84 or 1.07 per cent against the greenback to quote at N1,371.82/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,386.66/$1.
Also, the local currency appreciated against the Euro in the same market window at midweek by N1.54 to close at N1,604.07/€1 versus Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,605.61/€1, but lost N6.26 against the Pound Sterling to trade at N1,844.83/£1 versus N1,838.57/£1.
In the parallel market, the exchange rate of the Naira to the US Dollar remained unchanged yesterday at N1,410/$1, according to data sourced by Business Post.
There were indicators that the official FX market experienced a liquidity surge, which eased worries around the dominant US Dollar on Wednesday, as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed interbank deals rose to 220 from 71 reported the previous day.
The domestic currency has been in strong demand from foreign portfolio investors seeking to purchase OMO bills and other fixed-income instruments.
Forecasts also show that the local currency will remain relatively stable during the second quarter of the year, trading within the N1,340 to N1,430 per Dollar band on improved FX liquidity, stronger oil earnings, and rising external reserves, which have climbed above 50 billion dollars.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it fell after an initial ceasefire-fueled rally, with markets retracing Wednesday’s “ceasefire euphoria” as cracks emerge in the US-Iran truce while the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed.
Global risk assets face renewed pressure as geopolitical uncertainty combines with what analysts call “uncoordinated tightening” by major central banks, reinforcing higher-for-longer interest-rate expectations.
The price of Cardano (ADA) fell by 4.7 per cent to $0.2500, Ripple (XRP) slumped 3.7 per cent to $1.33, Dogecoin (DOGE) shrank by 3.5 per cent to $0.0915, Binance Coin (BNB) slipped 2.6 per cent to $600.02, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 2.5 per cent to $2,183.82, Solana (SOL) dipped 2.5 per cent to $82.24, and Bitcoin (BTC) depreciated by 1.1 per cent to $70,995.20.
However, TRON (TRX) appreciated by 0.4 per cent to $0.3173, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited rallied by 0.28 per cent on Wednesday despite weak investor sentiment, as the bourse ended with 18 price gainers and 38 price losers, implying a negative market breadth index.
The growth recorded yesterday by Customs Street was influenced by the 2.11 per cent rise posted by the energy index, and the 1.79 per cent jump achieved by the banking sector.
The other sectors experienced profit-taking, with the consumer goods losing 1.07 per cent, the insurance counter down by 0.36 per cent, and the industrial goods space down by 0.19 per cent.
Universal Insurance chalked up 10.00 per cent to sell for N1.21, Omatek improved by 9.78 per cent to N2.47, VFD Group expanded by 9.71 per cent to N11.30, CWG appreciated by 9.64 per cent to N21.05, and Livestock Feeds gained 9.56 per cent to close at N7.45.
On the flip side, UPDC REIT lost 10.00 per cent to settle at N6.75, Fortis Global Insurance shed 9.92 per cent to quote at N1.18, Deap Capital depreciated by 9.85 per cent to N5.40, Chams went down by 9.47 per cent to N3.06, and Japaul declined by 8.82 per cent to N3.10.
Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 562.43 points to 202,585.53 points from 202,023.10 points, and the market capitalisation advanced by N389 billion to N130.404 trillion from N130.015 trillion.
During the session, 1.0 billion stocks worth N40.6 billion exchanged hands in 52,723 deals compared with the 1.1 billion stocks valued at N40.3 billion executed in 78,006 deals a day earlier, indicating an uptick in the trading value by 0.74 per cent, and a shortfall in the trading volume and number of deals by 9.09 per cent and 32.41 per cent apiece.
The activity chart was led by Access Holdings, which sold 233.0 million units valued at N6.1 billion, Fidelity Bank exchanged 113.1 million units worth N2.2 billion, Wema Bank recorded a turnover of 103.3 million units valued at N2.7 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 60.6 million units for N6.5 billion, and Chams traded 47.5 million units worth N154.6 million.
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