Economy
FBNQuest Sees Tinubu Implementing Reforms to Stimulate Economic Growth, Investment
By Dipo Olowookere
With the presidential election concluded and Mr Bola Tinubu declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner, FBNQuest believes that the president-elect will likely implement some reforms that will trigger economic growth and investment in the second half of the year.
President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to hand over power to his successor on May 29, 2023, after serving for eight years in two terms of four years each.
At the presidential poll held on Saturday, February 25, 2023, Mr Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) won by over 8 million votes and was trailed by Mr Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP).
The two runners-up have challenged the outcome of the exercise, both laying claims to the top position.
In its outlook for 2023, FBNQuest, the unified brand identity for the merchant banking and asset management businesses of FBN Holdings Plc, through one of its top shots, Mr Tunde Abidoye, fears that, “Nigeria’s new president faces several challenges, including the fiscal pressures related to fuel subsidies, a huge budget deficit, difficulties with forex liquidity and low productivity in the oil sector.”
“Nevertheless, we expect a new manager’s bounce for the economy that will support the moderate rise in equities while interest rates are expected to remain elevated,” Mr Abidoye, the Head of Research, Macroeconomics and Fixed Income at FBNQuest, added.
The firm stated that based on its research, Nigeria’s economy would grow by 3.2 per cent this year, marginally higher than 3.1 per cent in 2022.
Concerning non-oil sector growth, the report pointed out that non-oil GDP growth had averaged 4.7 per cent y/y over the past eight quarters up to the fourth quarter of 2022 compared with 0.4 per cent in the previous eight quarters.
More recently, the services sectors, which accounted for around 56 per cent of the economy in Q4 ‘22, expanded by 5.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022.
FBNQuest forecasts another positive year for equities in 2023, projecting gains of 15 per cent amid a slow first half and relatively strong performance in the second half of the year. In the fixed-income market, FBNQuest expects market yields to remain elevated through Q1 2023 and most of the rest of the year.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
