Economy
FG Engages Experts On GMOs
As part of efforts to protect Nigerians, especially in terms of food they consume, the Federal Government has organised a one-day programme to get informed views on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs).
The interactive session is being put together by the Federal Ministry of Environment in collaboration with the Ministries of Agriculture & Rural Development and Science & Technology.
Business Post correspondent gathered that authorities in the field would be present at the occasion in Abuja on Monday, August 15, 2016, to advise the government on the burning issue.
The event, tagged Experts Meeting on Biosafety Organisms (GMOs), is aimed at addressing public concerns on the safety of genetically modified foods and feeds, genetically modified organisms on biodiversity and socio-economic issues.
Also, the FG would be advised on policy direction and clarification of Nigeria’s position on Biotechnology and GMOs, taking into account the existence of various national instruments on biotechnology.
At the end of the day, the government should be able to find a direction on GMOs.
According to Wikipedia, a GMO is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques.
GMOs are used to produce many medications and genetically modified foods and are widely used in scientific research and the production of other goods.
The first genetically modified mouse was in 1973, and the first plant was produced in 1983.
In June 2016, Nigeria’s Minister of Environment, Mrs Amina Mohammed, said no genetically modified organisms are officially grown in Nigeria.
“What we have approved are for field trials,” she said, explaining that, “All the GMOs in Nigeria officially approved are under experimental fields.”
She disclosed this in a statement issued by Alhaji Isiaka Yusuf, Director Press, Federal Ministry of Environment, in Abuja to clarify fears about the issue.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange returned to positive territory after back-to-back losses, following a 0.07 per cent appreciation on Wednesday, March 22.
This was influenced by the 96 Kobo gain reported by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc during the session to settle at N75.41 per share compared with N75.01 per share of the preceding session.
The improvement in the share price of the milk maker pushed the value of the unlisted securities market by N710 million to N961.17 billion from N960.46 billion, while the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) grew by 0.54 points to wrap the session at 731.48 points compared with the 730.94 points of the previous session.
The level of activity witnessed a significant increase yesterday as the volume of securities closed higher by 274,515.6 per cent to 23.1 million units from the 8,408 units transacted in the previous trading day.
Equally, the value of shares traded at the session jumped to N10.1 million, which by evaluation is 814.0 per cent higher than the N1.1 million posted on Tuesday.
These transactions were carried out in 13 deals compared with the three deals executed in the previous trading day, indicating a 333.3 per cent appreciation.
At the close of business, Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 455.3 million units valued at N493.6 million, UBN Property Plc stood in second place with a turnover of 365.8 units worth N309.5 million, while IGI Plc was in third place with a turnover of 71.1 million units valued at N5.1 million.
On the flip side, VFD Group Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 7.3 million units worth N1.7 billion, Geo-Fluids Plc followed with the sale of 455.3 million units worth N493.6 million, while UBN Property Plc was in third place with a turnover of 365.8 million units valued at N309.5 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices rose more than $1 on Wednesday as the US Dollar slid to a six-week low after the Federal Reserve delivered an expected small rate hike.
Brent crude futures rose by $1.37 or 1.8 per cent to settle at $76.69 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) ended $1.23 or 1.8 per cent higher at $70.90 per barrel.
The US central bank policy-setting committee raised interest rates by another quarter of a percentage point in a unanimous decision on Wednesday, lifting its benchmark overnight interest rate to the 4.75 per cent-5.00 per cent range.
The Fed indicated it was on the verge of pausing further increases in borrowing costs amid recent turmoil in financial markets spurred by the collapse of two US banks.
As a result of this, the US Dollar fell to its lowest level since February 2 against a basket of other currencies, supporting oil demand by making crude cheaper for buyers using other currencies.
The Dollar index last fell 0.63 per cent to 102.500, with the Euro up 0.87 per cent to $1.0861 as it dropped 0.82 per cent against the Japanese Yen, while the Pound Sterling was last trading at $1.2268, up 0.41 per cent on the day.
The markets— including the oil market—had projected a quarter-point rise in US rates, but investors were also paying close attention to US Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s comments about the crisis that has rattled global banks this month.
The oil markets shrugged off the US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) weekly data that showed crude stockpiles rose 1.1 million barrels last week to a 22-month high.
This is compared with a build of 1.6 million barrels for the previous week.
The authority also reported major draws in fuel inventories for the week of March 17, with both gasoline and distillate fuel stocks down.
US crude oil stocks stood at 481.2 million barrels at the end of last week, which was about 8 per cent above the five-year average for this time of the year.
The official EIA data showed a smaller build than the 3.3 million barrels increase reported on Tuesday by the American Petroleum Institute (API).
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies like Russia, a group known as OPEC+, is likely to stick to its deal on output cuts of 2 million barrels per day until the end of the year, despite the plunge in crude prices.
By Adedapo Adesanya
On Wednesday, the value of the Naira strengthened against the US Dollar at the different segments of the foreign exchange (forex).
Data showed that the Nigerian currency closed stronger in the parallel market, the Peer-2-Peer (P2P), and the Investors and Exporters (I&E) categories of the FX market.
In the black market, the Naira gained N2 against its American counterpart yesterday to quote at N741/$1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N743/$1.
Similarly, in the P2P window, the local currency appreciated against the greenback by N2 to close at N753/$1 compared with Tuesday’s closing price of N755/$1.
Further, the domestic currency gained 50 Kobo or 0.11 per cent against the US Dollar in the official market to settle at N461.50/$1 versus the previous day’s N462.00/$1.
It was observed that the Nigerian Naira came under pressure yesterday as the daily turnover surged by 588.9 per cent or $369.10 million to $431.77 million from $62.67 million.
However, in the interbank segment, the Naira suffered a N1 loss against the Pound Sterling to sell at N564.66/£1 versus Tuesday’s N563.66/£1, and against the Euro, it lost N3.40 to close at N496.99/€1 versus N493.59/€1.
The cryptocurrency market was bearish in the midweek session as the US Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by 0.25 per cent despite inflation falling last month to 6 per cent.
Bitcoin (BTC) lost 3.1 per cent as it traded $27,397.72, Ethereum (ETH) shrank by 3.6 per cent to $1,742.00, Ripple (XRP) recorded an 8.4 per cent depreciation to trade at $0.4236, Binance Coin (BNB) dropped 4.4 per cent to sell at $321.21, Solana (SOL) also fell by 4.4 per cent to quote at $21.43, Cardano (ADA) made a 3.5 per cent slump to trade at $0.3581, and Dogecoin (DOGE) made a 3.1 per cent depreciation to sell at $0.0742.
But Litecoin (LTC) went northwards by 7.4 per cent to trade at $88.01, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and Binance USD (BUSD) traded at flat $1.00 each.
