European Equities Inch Higher in Cautious Trade

By Dipo Olowookere Profit-taking persisted on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, as investors refused to tone down their profit-taking activities. It was observed that the market is gradually entering panic mode due to macroeconomic instability in the country, especially with the exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar going above N1,000 in the parallel market. A stockbroker with one of the leading brokerage firms in the country, who asked not to be named, said the local bourse was witnessing panic selling due to investors liquidating their shares for Dollars. “This trend will continue for a while

By Dipo Olowookere Profit-taking persisted at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Thursday, with Customs Street going down by 0.31 per cent on its return from a midweek break. The market closed its doors to traders on Wednesday due to the public holiday declared by the federal government to mark Eid-el Maulud, the birthday of Prophet Mohammed. Business Post reports that market participants did not take their minds off the pressing issues affecting the Nigerian economy, especially rising inflation, energy costs and the foreign exchange (FX) crisis. As a result, they liquidated their shares, leading to a negative market breadth

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.38 per cent on Friday, September 30, with N4.16 billion added to the value of the bourse, closing at N1.105 trillion compared with Thursday’s value of N1.101 trillion. The market witnessed the improvement a day after the shares of VFD Group were yanked off the trading platform, with the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) closing higher by 3.06 points to settle at 815.65 basis points versus the previous day’s 812.59 basis points. There were three gainers led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which improved by N1.31 to close at

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has signed a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with a consultant, 3R Company Nigeria Limited, for the execution of the Revenue Assurance Solutions (RAS) to boost the revenue generation process in the telecommunications industry. According to a statement, the agreement-signing ceremony happened at the commission’s head office in Abuja on Friday, June 17, 2022, and was witnessed by representatives of the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC). The ICRC has been guiding the partnership implementation process to give expression to the decision to procure the solution within a PPP framework due to the

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its stay in the negative zone in Week 29 after losing 0.2 per cent in five days of trading. This shortened the market capitalisation of the Nigerian alternative stock exchange by N10 billion to N1.064 trillion from N1.074 trillion of the preceding week, as the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) went down by 1.56 points to wrap the week at 769.33 points from the 770.89 points recorded at the previous week. The loss printed by the bourse was caused by the poor outing of four companies trading their securities on

By Adedapo Adesanya The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that contributions made by the Private Sector Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) to tackle the coronavirus has crossed the N19 billion mark. Total contribution has now reached 19.5 billion as N3.4 billion pledged by  individuals and organisations were yet to be redeemed Business Post had reported that the Fund, set up by the apex bank, was up to N15.3 billion, but over the weekend, Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr Isaac Okorafor, disclosed in a statement released over the weekend that the amount has risen to the present level. He further

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government has launched an enhanced e-passport in the United Kingdom to improve the passport application process for Nigerians at home and in the diaspora. This was disclosed in a statement by Mr Sola Fasure, Media Adviser to the Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, following the official rollout at the Nigerian High Commission in London, United Kingdom. The Minister said the Nigerian passport is the highest affirmation of Nigerian citizenship, and therefore it is the responsibility of the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to provide the passport without any stress, within a reasonable

By Obiaruko Christie Ndukwe The battle lines were drawn, the drums of war drowning the initial applause that greeted the order for the financial probe of the corruption-riddled interventionist agency, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), whose headquarters is in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The first Salvo was fired by the Vice President sometime in May 2019, while on a visit to Delta State. Professor Yemi Osinbajo had publicly declared the commission a non-performer having failed to fulfil its first mandate of developing the oil-rich Niger Delta, in 9 out of 36 states. This shot by President Muhammadu Buhari’s deputy

By Nneka Okumazie What makes friendship with a politician bad for a genuine pastor? When does a pastor draw the line, for a politician that popular wisdom describes as despicable? What does a pastor gain or lose, with friendliness or hostility to a politician? There are lots of people around the world who want successful pastors to become activists, or to speak up on political issues of the day. There are also people who think friendship with any politician means a pastor isn’t genuine. But any true servant of God has to be extremely cautious of political activism, as it

By Adedapo Adesanya The governing council of the country’s local content agency, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), has approved $50 million to boost research in the oil and gas sector. It was stated that the money would be used for the establishment of research and development of Nigerian Content Research and Development Fund (NCR&DF). According to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva, the NCDMB Governing Council at a meeting held in June approved the deployment of $50 million Research Fund for sustainable funding of NCDMB’s mandate on Research & Development as enshrined in

By Dipo Olowookere The first trading session on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) after the Christmas holiday ended on a negative note on Thursday. This was because profit-taking by investors left the market down by 0.86 percent with the year-to-date loss closing at -17.13 percent at the close of business. It was discovered that lukewarm performance of Dangote Cement contributed to the downfall of the equities market today as the counter declined by N6.30k to close at N187.70k per share. Total Nigeria depreciated by N4 to end at N196 per share, while UAC of Nigeria crashed by