Economy

Expert Suggests Outright Sale of Public Assets to Reduce Govt Burden

Published

8 years ago

26/05/2018

By Dipo Olowookere

An economic expert has backed the outright privatisation and concessioning of national assets so as to reduce the burden on government and also block leakages.

According to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), Mr Laoye Jaiyeola, government was getting too overwhelmed managing public assets spread across the country.

This, he was said, was making it impossible for government to adequately monitor how these assets are positively impacting on the lives of citizens.

Speaking at the public presentation of the Spring 2018 Issue of the Sub-Saharan African Regional Economic Outlook (REO) in Lagos on Monday themed ‘Domestic Revenue Mobilisation and Private Investment.’ Mr Jaiyeola also advised government to leverage on technology to block leakages in the system.

He said government still needed to boost the framework around Public Private Partnership (PPP) to scale up the operation of the private sector.

However, he commended the Nigerian authorities for making several efforts to improve the ease of doing business in the country.

On the economy, the NESG chief said there was an increase in the micro-economic stability as the inflation rate continued to decline.

This, according to him, has resulted in a drop in interest rate which in turn would have a positive impact on private sector activities.

Also speaking at the presentation, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Senior Resident Representative in Nigeria, Mr Amine Mati, said the economies of Sub-Saharan countries would grow at an average of 3.4 percent in 2018 from 2.8 percent in 2017.

According to him, two-third of the countries in the region could experience the growth riding on the back of stronger global growth, higher commodity prices and improved capital market access.

But he said on current policies, average growth in the region was expected to decline below 4 percent over the medium term.

Mr Mati noted that, “Across countries, economic outcomes are far from uniform. Oil exporters are still dealing with the legacy of the largest real oil price decline since 1970 with growth well below past trends and rising debts.”

He said there was need for prudent fiscal policy to rein in public debt, while monetary policy must be geared toward ensuring low inflation, advising the countries to also continue to pursue structural reforms to reduce market distortions to increase private investment.

This, he said, would strengthen revenue mobilisation to give governments the means to invest in physical and human capital as well as social infrastructure.

He, however, said domestic revenue mobilisation was one of the most pressing policy challenges facing sub-Saharan African countries.

According to him, nearly all African countries are seeking to raise revenue to make progress toward their sustainable development goals while preserving fiscal sustainability.

“Despite substantial progress in revenue mobilisation, sub-Saharan Africa was still one of the regions with the lowest revenue-to-GDP ratio,” he said.

Economy

OTC Securities Exchange Falls 1.31% as Key Stocks Decline

Published

1 hour ago

19/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Three bellwether stocks weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.31 per cent on Monday, May 18.

This brought the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 54.71 points to 4,133.70 points from 4,188.41 points, and shrank the market capitalisation by N32.73 billion to N2.473 trillion from N2.506 trillion.

Yesterday, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc contracted by N12.45 to sell at N146.55 per share compared with last Friday’s closing price of N159.00 per share, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc declined by N2.34 to N70.00 per unit from N72.34 per unit, and NASD Plc lost 50 Kobo to trade at N34.50 per share versus N35.00 per share.

The trio overpowered the N5.56 gained Newrest Asl Plc. This stock ended the trading session at N61.15 per unit, in contrast to the previous session’s N55.59 per unit.

During the trading day, the volume of securities traded by investors slid by 56.1 per cent to 514,142 units from 1.2 million units, and the value of securities dropped 29.8 per cent to close at N17.4 million versus N29.8 million, while the number of deals jumped 12.5 per cent to 27 deals from 24 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained 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 traded for N1.9 billion.

GNI Plc also ended the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units transacted for N1.2 billion.

Economy

FX Pressure Pushes Naira Lower to N1,373/$1 at Official Market

Published

1 hour ago

19/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

It was a horrible day for the Nigerian Naira in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Monday, May 15, as its value further weakened against the United States Dollar.

In the black market window, the Naira lost N5 against the Dollar yesterday to sell for N1,390/$1 compared with the previous value of N1,385/$1, but at the GTBank forex counter, it remained unchanged at N1,383/$1.

In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), the Nigerian currency depreciated against the greenback by N2.66 or 0.19 per cent to sell for N1,373.70/$1 compared to last Friday’s rate of N1,371.04/$1.

Equally, it fell against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment by N9.05 to trade at N1,839.66/£1 versus N1,830.61/£1, and lost N5.42 on the Euro to close at N1,600.49/€1 versus N1,595.07/€1.

The performance of the local currency during the session indicates early worries despite all signals pointing to stability, amid improved Dollar sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with steady, higher oil receipts to bolster the nation’s reserves.

Activity at the market showed that turnover rose 57.3 per cent to $76.29 million on Monday from $48.49 million posted on Friday.

Over the weekend, S&P raised Nigeria’s credit ratings for the first time since 2012 and highlighted improved FX market liquidity and $10 billion turnover recorded in April 2026 as one of the major gains of the CBN-led FX reforms.

The agency said the liberalisation of the exchange rate has bolstered access to foreign currency and enabled a market-driven exchange-rate environment while supporting investor and consumer confidence.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish on Monday as investors monitored developments in the Iran conflict and weighed the impact of surging oil prices on inflation and US interest-rate expectations.

Ethereum (ETH) gained 0.7 per cent to trade at $2,134.10, Cardano (ADA) rose by 0.6 per cent to $0.2515, Solana (SOL) expanded by 0.3 per cent to $85.11, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped 0.2 per cent to $643.29, TRON (TRX) increased by 0.03 per cent to $0.3565, and Bitcoin (BTC) advanced by 0.02 per cent to $76,912.12.

On the flip side, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 1.5 per cent to $0.1044, and Ripple (XRP) decreased by 0.5 per cent to $1.38, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.

Economy

Customs Street Opens Week Bearish With 0.05% Loss

Published

1 hour ago

19/05/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

A marginal 0.05 per cent loss was recorded by Customs Street on Monday, as sell-offs by market participants remained.

This was driven by the desire of investors to book profits, having witnessed a significant price appreciation on the stocks in their portfolios.

Yesterday, bargain-hunting in the banking space, which resulted in the sector closing 0.17 per cent higher, could not prevent the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited from going down.

Data showed that the consumer goods segment lost 0.26 per cent, the insurance counter depreciated by 0.20 per cent, the industrial goods index shed 0.09 per cent, and the energy industry retreated by 0.03 per cent.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) eased by 126.09 points to 250,204.83 points from 250,330.92 points, and the market capitalisation contracted by N81 billion to N160.363 trillion from N160.444 trillion.

NCR Nigeria and Zichis declined by 9.99 per cent each to sell for N161.20 and N26.49, respectively, Industrial and Medical Gases shrank by 9.93 per cent to N38.10, Sovereign Trust Insurance depreciated by 9.86 per cent to N2.65, and DAAR Communications slipped by 9.78 per cent to N2.03.

On the flip side, Oando gained 10.00 per cent to finish at N51.70, University Press also rose by 10.00 per cent to N5.50, Deap Capital soared by 9.96 per cent to N5.96, May and Baker expanded by 9.94 per cent to N52.00, and Trans-Nationwide Express grew by 9.92 per cent to N7.76.

Yesterday, 800.5 million equities worth N37.1 billion exchanged hands in 87,096 deals compared with the 1.1 billion equities valued at N44.3 billion traded in 65,744 deals last Friday. This showed that the number of deals went up by 32.48 per cent, while the trading volume and value went down by 27.23 per cent and 16.25 per cent, respectively.

The most active stock on the first trading session of this week was UBA with a turnover of 65.0 million units worth N2.8 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 57.3 million units for N1.3 billion, Access Holdings sold 42.3 million units valued at N1.1 billion, DAAR Communications exchanged 36.7 million units for N81.8 million, and Secure Electronic Technology transacted 36.6 million units worth N33.0 million.