Economy
FG Inaugurates National MSMEs Policy Implementation Team
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has inaugurated the Focal Persons Group for the Implementation of the Revised National Policy on Nano, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (NMSMEs) 2021-2025.
The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Ms Mariam Katagum, inaugurated the group at the Ministry’s head office on Tuesday.
She said the revised national MSMEs policy is very ambitious and requires multi-stakeholder partnership in implementing some of the recommendations.
The Minister said the entire focus of the policy is to create a platform or framework to collaboratively attend to some of the basic challenges of the sector, adding that this is why the scheme is focused on finance, skills development, marketing, technology, research and development.
“Other areas of priority focus include Infrastructure and Cost of Doing Business, Institutional/Legal/Regulatory issues and awareness creation on NMSMEs. These were areas that the Public-Private Dialogue (PPD) focused on both at the National and Zonal engagements.”
The Acting Director General Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Mr Olawale Fasanya, whose agency coordinated the initiative, stated that the idea to have focal persons was muted during the Public-Private-Dialogue (PPD) sessions facilitated by the Investment Climate Reforms (ICR) Facility.
He said the major problem that most policies usually face is in the implementation stage, adding that the current national policy is obviously an improvement on previous editions with clear recommendations of what the various actors and enablers should be doing to ensure that Nigeria’s MSME sub-sector is not just active but equally globally competitive.
“Essentially, the revised National Policy on MSMEs largely seeks to ensure MSMEs in Nigeria are active, innovative and globally competitive. With over 39 million MSMEs (according to the 2021 SMEDAN/NBS Survey report), the minimum target to be realized before the expiration of the policy in 2025 is to ensure an enabling environment is created for each of the MSMEs to grow and create a minimum of one extra employment which currently stands at over 61 million and also push the sub-sector’s contributions to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from the current 49 per cent to 70 per cent.”
On her part, the Director General, Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Mrs Victoria Akai, whose organisation was part of the inaugurated group, in her remarks, stated that the inauguration is one of the key outcomes of the joint support received by SMEDAN and ACCI from the ICR Facility for the development of a coordination mechanism for the implementation of the national policy on MSMEs.
She lauded the commitment of ACCI to the implementation of the policy, adding that it is particularly a great one for the chamber as it demonstrates the realisation of its commitment toward the growth and development of MSMEs in Nigeria.
“It is worthy to note that over 80 per cent of our membership database are MSMEs, therefore we are committed to promoting and supporting every initiative towards the advancement of MSMEs in Nigeria,” Mrs Akai said.
She acknowledged the effort of SMEDAN for the great work and expertise that was put into the development of the national MSME policy, and the revised version which was launched in March 2021, for taking the lead in the development of the coordination mechanism for the implementation policy and for stepping this up by inauguration of the focal points from the various MDAs.
“The chamber appreciates the leadership role being played by SMEDAN as the umbrella body of MSMEs in Nigeria, and will continue to support SMEDAN’s effort as a state chamber and at the national level through the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA),” she said.
Mrs Akai also added that the Chamber Business Entrepreneurship Skills and Technology (BEST) Centre, being the training and capacity development arm of the body, has also been working closely with SMEDAN in line with our existing memorandum of understanding to support MSMEs in training, access to finance, exhibitions, business support and mentorship.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Food Concepts Plc neutralized the gains recorded by three securities, returning the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange into the negative territory with a 0.27 per cent loss on Thursday, December 4.
Yesterday, the share price of the parent company of Chicken Republic and PieXpress declined by 34 Kobo to sell at N3.15 per unit compared with the previous day’s N3.49 per unit.
This shrank the market capitalisation of the OTC bourse by N5.72 billion to N2.136 billion from N2.142 trillion and weakened the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 9.57 points to 3,571.53 points from 3,581.10 points.
Business Post reports that Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by 50 Kobo to N38.50 per share from N38.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained 29 Kobo to sell at N55.79 per unit versus N55.50 per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc added 5 Kobo to close at N4.60 per share compared with Wednesday’s closing price of N4.55 per share.
Trading data indicated that the volume of securities recorded at the session surged by 6,885.3 per cent to 4.3 million units from the 61,570 units posted a day earlier, the value of securities increased by 10,301.7 per cent to N947.2 million from N3.3 million, and the number of deals went up by 146.7 per cent to 37 deals from the 15 deals achieved in the previous trading session.
At the close of business, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 5.8 billion units for N16.4 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units worth N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units valued at N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc also finished the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.2 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The upward trend witnessed at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited in recent sessions continued on Thursday as it further improved by 0.10 per cent.
This was despite investor sentiment turning bearish after the local equity market ended with 23 price gainers and 28 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
UAC Nigeria gained 10.00 per cent to finish at N88.00, Morison Industries appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N3.54, Ecobank rose by 8.53 per cent to N36.90, and Coronation Insurance grew by 8.47 per cent to N2.56.
On the flip side, Ellah Lakes depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N13.14, Eunisell Nigeria also shed 10.00 per cent to finish at N72.90, Transcorp Hotels slipped by 9.95 per cent to N157.50, Omatek shrank by 9.23 per cent to N1.18, and Guinea Insurance dipped by 8.46 per cent to N1.19.
Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 152.28 points to 145,476.15 points from 145,323.87 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N97 billion to finish at N92.726 trillion compared with the previous day’s N92.629 trillion.
Customs Street was bubbling with activities on Thursday, though the trading volume and value slightly went down, according to data.
A total of 1.9 billion stocks worth N19.2 billion exchanged hands in 23,369 deals during the session versus the N2.3 billion valued at N21.0 billion traded in 21,513 deals a day earlier.
This showed that the number of deals increased by 8.63 per cent, the volume of transactions depleted by 17.39 per cent, and the value of trades decreased by 8.57 per cent.
For another trading day, eTranzact led the activity chart with 1.6 billion units sold for N6.4 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 31.0 million units worth N589.3 million, GTCO exchanged 28.3 million units valued at N2.5 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 27.1 million units for N1.6 billion, and Ecobank traded 21.9 million units worth N744.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira marginally depreciated against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, December 4 amid renewed forex pressure associated with December.
At the official market yesterday, the Nigerian currency lost 0.01 per cent or 18 Kobo against the Dollar to close at N1,447.83/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,447.65/$1.
It was not a different scenario with the local currency in the same market segment against the Pound Sterling as it further shed N15.43 to sell for N1,930.97/£1 versus Wednesday’s closing price of N1,925.08/£1 and declined against the Euro by 20 Kobo to finish at N1,688.74/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,688.54/€1.
Similarly, the Nigerian Naira lost N5 against the greenback in the black market to quote at N1,465/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,460/$1 but closed flat against the Dollar at the GTBank FX counter at N1,453/$1.
Fluctuations in trading range is expected to continue during the festive season as traders expect the Nigerian currency to be stable, supported by intervention s by to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)in the face of steady dollar demand.
Support is also expected in coming weeks as seasonal activities, particularly the stylised “Detty December” festivities, will see inflows that will give the Naira a boost after it depreciated mildly last month, according to a new report.
“As the festive Detty December season intensifies, inbound travel, tourism spending, and diaspora inflows are expected to provide moderate support for FX liquidity,” analysts at the research unit of FMDA said in its latest monthly report for November.
Traders cited by Reuters expect that the Naira will trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450 next week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.
Meanwhile, the crypto market was down as the US Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, core PCE, likely rose in September—moving in the wrong direction. However, volatility indices show no signs of major turbulence.
If the actual figure matches estimates, it would mark 55 straight months of inflation above the US central bank’s 2 per cent target. The sticky inflation would strengthen the hawkish policymakers, who are in favour of slower rate cuts.
Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 4.5 per cent to $2.08, Solana (SOL) went down by 3.8 per cent to $138.11, Litecoin (LTC) shrank by 3.1 per cent to $83.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 2.5 per cent to $0.1463, Cardano (ADA) declined by 2.1 per cent to $0.4368, Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 0.9 per cent to $91,975.45, Binance Coin (BNB) crumbled by 0.9 per cent to $899.41, and Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 0.7 per cent to $3,156.44, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 apiece.
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