European Shares Rises as Data from UK, Germany Ease Concerns

By Adedapo Adesanya The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Olayemi Cardoso, has admitted that the country recorded a revenue drop of $1.4 billion between 2015 and 2019 after imposing foreign exchange (FX) restrictions for import of 43 items over eight years. The apex bank governor made this known on Friday while delivering his keynote address at the 58th Annual Dinner of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Lagos. The apex bank head, during the preparation of his monetary policy thrust, cited available data saying, “Studies have shown that during the period when the

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded yet another positive week-on-week performance after stretching its gains by 1.44 per cent in Week 47. This expanded the portfolios of NASD investors by N17 billion in the week to N1.162 trillion from the N1.145 trillion recorded in Week 46, as the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased by 12.16 points to 857.29 points from 845.13 points in the previous week. The trading week was with three price gainers and three losers, with Aradel Holdings Plc on top of the advancers’ chart after it grew by 10 per cent to finish

By Dipo Olowookere The positive momentum witnessed at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited continued on Monday with a 0.17 per cent leap at the close of business. Buying pressure, particularly in a few blue-chip equities, kept the bulls at Customs Street during the trading session, though the consumer goods space succumbed to profit-taking by 0.99 per cent. But hope was kept alive by the gains reported by the other key sectors of the market, with the banking counter growing by 1.71 per cent, and the industrial goods index appreciating by 0.01 per cent, while the insurance and energy sectors remained

By Adedapo Adesanya  President Bola Tinubu has written to the House of Representatives seeking the approval for an $8.6 billion and €100 million external borrowing plan for critical infrastructure in areas such as power, roads, water, railway, and health. The President also forwarded the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Supplementary Budget to the lower chamber for consideration. Meanwhile, the President will present the 2024 budget to the National Assembly on Wednesday. This was after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a 2024 budget of N27.5 trillion. The approval followed the review of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) earlier passed by the

By Adedapo Adesanya Acting Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Mary Uduk, has assured investors that they would still be able to get their unclaimed dividends of defunct companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The SEC chief gave this assurance in a statement issued yesterday in Abuja, where she made it clear that shareholders must be paid what belongs to them no matter what so as to boost confidence in the capital market. “They invested in a company and since the company has gone under, there is no reason why they should not have

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State on Tuesday summoned security chiefs in the state over the invasion of gunmen at the palace of the Olubadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji. The Governor said the meeting was necessary to forestall further security breach across Oyo State. The Governor has also summoned a separate meeting of the traditional councils of the 11 local governments of Ibadanland, which are being headed by the members of the Obas-in-Council, who were formerly addressed as Olubadan-in-Council until their recent promotion. They are also expected to meet with the governor at his office, on Wednesday (today).

By Adedapo Adesanya FBN Insurance has yet again emerged as the Best Life Insurance Company in Nigeria for the year 2020 as announced by World Finance. In a statement on its website, the magazine noted that, “The winners of this year’s World Finance Insurance Awards are the organisations most able to adapt to the new environment and help forge the future of the industry in their respective countries. “This year, the World Finance Insurance Awards showcases the businesses that are best equipped to handle the environment and expectations that are accompanying our new COVID-normal world,” the statement added. “This means

By Adedapo Adesanya The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has seized properties belonging to Senator Abdulfatai Buhari over unwillingness to fulfil the terms of a N600 million loan. The corporation said it took the action after securing a court order to sell the assets to recover the loan. Mr Buhari, elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), represents Oyo North. The unpaid loan was taken by a Buhari-linked company, Abadat Ventures Limited, from a major bank. It was classified as a Non-Performing Loan (NPL) and purchased by AMCON from the bank during the second phase of

By Dipo Olowookere A leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials, Merck, has announced the 2016 ‘Merck Hypertension Award’ winners to mark the World Hypertension Day. Also, it has called for applications for the 2017 Hypertension Award, which is part of the Merck Capacity Advancement Program launched in April 2016 in partnership with African and Asian universities with the aim of building a platform of hypertension experts across the globe. In Kampala, Uganda, Rasha Kelej, Senior Vice President and Chief Social Officer, Merck Healthcare emphasized: “Merck plays an important role in building diabetes and hypertension

By Dipo Olowookere Cyber bullying is one issue that has given internet users, especially those on social media platforms, sleepless nights. Some have committed suicide just because of being bullied on the internet, which has forced some governments to look into the issue. Just two months after Facebook CEO, Mr Mark Zuckerberg, travelled to Nigeria and Kenya to meet with developers, partners, and entrepreneurs, Chief Security Officer at Facebook, Mr Alex Stamos, gave a keynote address at the CyberXchange security conference in Lagos, Nigeria about the company’s approach to keeping people safe and making the internet more secure for everyone.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Chairman of the Oyo State Waste Management Task Force, Mrs Aderonke Adedayo, has stressed that the use of waste bins in the state remains mandatory, warning that residential and commercial properties without one would be severely sanctioned according to the law. Mrs Adedayo gave this warning while speaking ahead of the commencement of the placement of abatement notices on the premises of companies and homes without waste bins across the state. In a statement on Monday, she emphasised the importance of waste bins in companies and homes for promoting a clean and healthy environment, adding that

By Adedapo Adesanya Commercial operations at the Lekki Deep Seaport at the Lagos Free Zone (LFZ) will commence in the first quarter of 2023, says Mr Dinesh Rathi, the company’s CEO. It was also projected that more than 170,000 direct and indirect job opportunities would be created for residents of Lagos when the deep seaport is completed. Mr Rathi, while speaking with the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Friday, disclosed that Tolaram Group, a Singaporean company, initiated a $2 billion investment in the Lagos Free Zone, with $950 million committed to developing a manufacturing hub in the