Farmers Oversubscribe Kwara Estate Farms

By Adedapo Adesanya Equinor and Chappal Energies have entered into an agreement for the sale of Equinor Nigeria Energy Company (ENEC), which holds a 53.85 per cent ownership in oil and gas lease OML 128, including the unitized 20.21 per cent stake in the Agbami oil field, operated by Chevron. Speaking on the deal, Equinor’s senior vice president for Africa Operations, Ms Nina Koch, said Nigeria has been an important part of Equinor’s international portfolio over the past 30 years, noting that, “This transaction realizes value and is in line with Equinor’s strategy to optimize its international oil and gas

By Adedapo Adesanya The boards of insurance companies operating in the country have been charged by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to embrace the measures put in place to tackle the challenges of unpaid claims. The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Sunday Thomas, expressed worry over the number of outstanding claims in the sector despite efforts by the regulator to address the issue. Mr Thomas, who is also the chief executive of NAICOM, said the organisation, in collaboration with members of the Insurers’ Committee, has taken decisions and incepted measures designed to tame the menace of unpaid claims. Speaking at the

By Adedapo Adesanya President Bola Tinubu is targeting to grow Nigeria’s economy by 3.76 per cent next year and moderate the country’s inflation to 21.4 per cent. Speaking at his first budget speech to lawmakers on Wednesday, President Tinubu also projected higher oil production and tax collection, noting that this will boost government revenues and cut down on reliance on borrowing to finance budget deficits. Nigeria plans on spending N27.5 billion in the 2024 fiscal year, with priorities on security, infrastructure and easing the high cost-of-living crisis. The country will borrow around N9 trillion and N18.5 billion generated from internally

By Dipo Olowookere The bilingual Francoreal Property Investment Summit taking place on October 16 & 17, 2018 in Dakar, Senegal is expected to provide a platform for the region and continent’s premier real estate investors and developers to gauge opportunities in one of the world’s fastest growing zones – known colloquially as Francophone West and Central Africa, organisers have said. Providing macroeconomic and currency stability; through the West African Monetary Union (UEMOA) regional block, this integrated and increasingly developed region has multiple competitive economic advantages according to the Chairman of BHCI, JD Diabira, the region’s first specialist commercial real estate

By Investors Hub The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat opening on Thursday, with stocks likely to continue to experience choppy trading. Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves as they weigh better than expected U.S. economic data against disappointing news out of the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The futures recovered from earlier weakness following the release of a report from the Commerce Department showing U.S. economic growth slowed by less than expected in the fourth quarter of 2018. Meanwhile, traders are also digesting news that

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The mass deployment of pre-paid metres to consumers of electricity in Kaduna and its environs has commenced. Announcing this on Wednesday, the management of Kaduna Electric, the operator of Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, noted that the metres are given to customers free of charge, warning customers not to “entertain any request for payment of whatever fees from anybody.” It further said mass meters deployment programme is for those in the Kaduna metropolis. Kaduna Electric explained that its meters’ deployment programme entails supply and installation of smart meters to the customers and recovery of all old meters. The

By Adedapo Adesanya It has been projected that the Train 7 expansion project would increase Nigeria’s Liquefied Natural Gas production (LNG) by 35 percent, from 22 million tonnes per annum to 30 million. Nigeria accounts for over 50 percent of current LNG production capacity on the continent and final investment decision is billed for October. Earlier in August, the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Malam Mele Kyari expressed ‘what else can we do beyond Train7 to expand NLNG oprations. This follows the estimate that Africa is an exciting frontier in the global natural gas sector as the

A research from Baker McKenzie and Oxford Economics has expressed optimism that once fully implemented, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will unlock significant but uneven growth opportunities on the continent. The survey titled AfCFTA’s $3 trillion Opportunity: Weighing Existing Barriers against Potential Economic Gains said countries with good trade integration and open economies are most likely to benefit first from lower trade tariffs. However, it pointed out that numerous obstacles across the continent mean that the tangible benefits of the agreement will likely only be realized from 2030. “Nigeria’s first obstacle is that although the AfCFTA agreement has

By Dipo Olowookere Global Credit Ratings has affirmed the national scale ratings assigned to Wema Bank Plc of BBB-(NG) and A3(NG) in the long-term and short-term respectively; with the outlook accorded as Stable. A statement issued by the local rating agency explained that it affirmed the rating because the mid-sized bank has recorded some improvements lately. It said Wema Bank was presently focusing on deepening its market share particularly within the retail banking segment through increased presence and digitisation. The lender’s risk-weighted capital adequacy ratio (CAR) improved to 14.3 percent at FY17 (FY16:11.1 percent), supported by a reduction in risk

By Investors Hub The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a roughly flat opening on Thursday following the afternoon weakness seen in the previous session. Uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets may lead to choppy trading on Wall Street after the volatility seen in recent weeks. Lingering concerns about future interest rates hikes by the Federal Reserve may also keep some traders on the sidelines on the day. Stocks came under pressure in afternoon trading on Wednesday following the release of the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting. The major averages ended the day firmly in

By Dipo Olowookere A total of N99.26 billion was raised by the Debt Management Office (DMO) on behalf of the Federal Government from the bond auction exercise carried out on Wednesday. The debt office said on Thursday that it sold the five, 10 and 20-year bond at a flat rate of 16.19 percent. Nigeria had wanted to raise N140 billion from the market, but could not get such amount from investors during the exercise, which was conducted using the Dutch system. Data released by the DMO revealed that N4.22 billion was realised from the 2021 notes at 16.19 percent in