Fewer Stocks Outperforming as Market Moves Higher

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has disclosed that Nigeria saw a 65.7 per cent or N76.77 billion increase in earnings from the solid minerals sector in 2021 to N193.59 billion from the N116.82 billion achieved in 2020. This upward trajectory has been on for the past five years, according to a report from the agency. The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, however, lamented that this is still abysmal considering the potential of the sector to the Nigerian economy. He said this while presenting the solid minerals sector report in Abuja, noting that

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The federal government has expressed its readiness to work closely with the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited to attract startups to the stock exchange. The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani, said the government would use the newly created NGX Technology Board to achieve this goal. Speaking at a tech event themed Invest in Africa’s Future- Let’s Talk About Exits on Thursday in the United States, he noted that Nigeria had been grappling with its over-dependence on oil in the last few years, adding that diversifying from heavy reliance on a single sector like

By Adedapo Adesanya Crude oil prices went in different directions on Friday amid profit-taking as markets weighed supply concerns from Russia’s fuel export ban against demand woes from future rate hikes. While the Brent futures lost 3 cents to close at $93.27 a barrel, the US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) futures rose by 40 cents to sell for $90.03 a barrel. However, both benchmarks closed downwards on a week-on-week basis, with Brent shedding 0.3 per cent, breaking a three-week streak of gains, and WTI sliding by 0.03 per cent for the week, the first decline in four weeks. Russia

By Ahmed Rahma For delivery innovative services to clients comprising big organisations, Comviva, a global leader in providing digital solutions, has won some awards. The company was recently announced as the winner at the 2020 Glotel Awards, 2020 Telecoms World Awards, 2020 CX Asia Excellence Award and The RemTECH Awards 2020 for its mobiquity COVID-19 response. During the COVID-19 crisis, digital financial services emerged as important tools in the fight against the pandemic. From allowing consumers to conduct hygienic contactless payments at merchants and make essential money transfers and utility payments remotely from home during the lockdown, enabling governments to

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Recently, there were reports that the management of Ecobank Nigeria had sacked its tellers across the nation. It was said that the disengagement was sudden and that most of the affected persons were not given time to prepare for the unexpected. However, the financial institution, in a statement, it did not disengage its staff, but decided not to renew the contract of its third-party recruitment agencies which expired recently and as such returned this category of personnel back to these agencies who are their employers. In the statement, it said, “As a demonstration of the bank’s concern

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Former Acting Vice Chancellor of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, Osun State, Prof Anthony Ekujoba, has been granted bail. The don was granted bail on Friday by an Osun State High Court in Ede. Prof Ekujoba is standing trial on a seven-count charge of alleged corruption and abuse of office involving N1.4 billion. He was earlier arraigned in court on Tuesday, where his bail application was dismissed Justice Akin Oladimeji and ordered to be remanded till July 19 when the case was to be brought for hearing. At the court earlier this week, some members

By Dipo Olowookere The first gain of the year 2019 has been recorded by the Nigerian stock market after six consecutive losses. The equities market closed 0.62 percent higher on Thursday, thanks to the huge gains posted by bank and industrial goods indices. Apart from the Consumer Goods industry, which suffered a 1.75 percent decline, and the insurance sector, which fell by 2.05 percent, every other sector appreciated at the close of business. The banking index grew by 2.74 percent, the industrial goods index rose by 2.24 percent, while the oil/gas index by 0.13 percent. At the end of the

By Ndem Nkem Money makes the world go round! You are made to realize how authentic the cliché phrase actually is after you have graduated from college or university, forced to join the labour markets and stroll the boulevards of Nigeria’s challenging economy. On the bright side, you are finally entering the early stages of your career and you are getting paid for your time rather than paying for classes, but then, there is also the false sense of mega wealth that comes with the new income, making it super difficult to manage spending. At Jumia Travel, we love young

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in a circular dated Wednesday, April 5, 2017, released guidelines for the regulation of Non-Interest (Islamic) Microfinance Bank (NIMFBs) in the country. The circular, signed by the apex bank’s Director in charge of Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Mr Kelvin Amugo, categorised the NIMFB into unit, state and national licence with minimum paid-up capital of N20 million, N100 million and N2 billion respectively. He further stated that the minimum standard operating procedures, prudential ratios and other regulatory requirements that operators of NIMFBs are expected to comply with were specified in the

By Kevwe Onokerhoraye Imagine this: Mr Okeke runs a small grocery store in the bustling city of Lagos, Nigeria. He has been in business for several years, and his shop is an integral part of the local community. Yet, like many small business owners in the informal sector, Mr Okeke faces a significant hurdle: accessing credit to grow his business. For many, credit can seem like a double-edged sword, promising growth on one hand but harbouring the risk of debt on the other. However, with the right approach, credit can be a powerful tool that propels a business forward without

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has lifted the suspension on Spectrum Trading Guidelines (STG) 2018, pending the conclusion of ongoing review. This was disclosed in a statement from Mr Ikechukwu Adinde, the commission’s Director, Public Affairs, on Thursday in Abuja, noting that the decision followed deliberations by the NCC board at its special meeting. Mr Adinde said that the board resolved that the suspension be lifted and that relevant stakeholders should continue to operate the STG while the revised STG was being finalised in consultation with the industry. NCC had on May 27, 2020, announced the suspension