Economy
FG Seeks Foreign Investments to Boost Minerals Sector
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government is seeking foreign investments for the development of the minerals sector in the country.
This is part of its determined effort to improve the economy of the country, create jobs for teeming Nigerian youths, provide infrastructural development and deliver on its mandate to diversify the economy from crude oil.
The Minister of State Mines and Steel Development, Mr Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah, made this known when he delivered the Special Address at the Dubai World Expo 2021, with the theme Investment in the Nigerian Gold Sector: Opportunities in the Gold Value Chain in Abu Dhabi recently.
Mr Ogah, who was honoured with the Excellence In Public Service Award by FIN-Africa-UAE Trade and Investment Forum Dubai, expressed gratitude to His Royal Highness, Sheikh Hamdan bin Khalifa, for the $2 billion pledged to Nigeria for the country’s sustainable development drive.
He assured of federal government’s commitment to ensure appropriate deployment of the funds, when the agreement is signed.
Speaking further, the Minister noted that the the Expo, with participants from over 200 countries, provided the opportunity to showcase the potentials of Nigerian minerals sector on Dubai soil with special emphasis on gold and other precious minerals abundant in Nigeria.
His words, “I must confess that there cannot be a better platform to showcase the Nigerian gold sub-sector than on this platform with notable global organisations and investors, minerals beneficiation companies, global financial institutions, commodity trading companies etc all in one event.”
The Minister disclosed that the need for the diversification of the economy has become more compelling now in the post COVID-19 era.
He added that the federal government has established policies that will support sustainable development of Nigeria’s gold resources and development, as well as consideration of general matters on gold mining administration and incentives.
He disclosed that the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration is determined to consolidate on the gains of diversification as it forms the critical backbone of industrialisation.
In his remarks, Mr Zulfiquar Ghadiyali, Executive Director, Royal Office of Sheikh Hamdan bin Khalifa and Global Peace Ambassador, United Nations, disclosed that the pledge of $2 billion from its Sustainability Fund is to further cement the very close trade and bilateral relationship that exist between the two countries.
He noted that peace in Africa can only be attained through sustainability development.
Adding that, “if there is substantial development, you will automatically have peace”.
In a related development, Mr Ogah, at the Intra-African Trade Fair 2021 held at the Durban International Convention Centre, South Africa, recently, with the theme Building Bridges for a Successful AfCFTA, noted that the promotion of Intra-African Trade Fair is a unique platform for facilitating trade and investment as well as information exchange in support of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a great medium for accelerating Africa’s integrated development as a pivotal continent.
Mr Ogah revealed that Nigeria has unlimited trade opportunities that the African economy can leverage on, expressing appreciation to the organizers, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Union Commission (AUC), the Republic of South African and the AfCFTA Secretariat for the laudable event.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc pulled down the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.89 per cent on Monday, August 17.
The price of FrieslandCampina went down by N9.85 to N160.00 per unit from N169.85 per unit, and CSCS Plc depreciated by 96 Kobo to N98.50 per share versus N99.46 per share.
As a result, the market capitalisation further lost N23.90 billion to end at N2.656 trillion, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.68 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) dropped 39.81 points to close at 4,426.02 points from 4,465.83 points.
During the trading session, the share price of Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc was up by 1 Kobo to 55 Kobo per unit from 54 Kobo per unit.
Yesterday, the volume of securities transacted by market participants decreased by 79.3 per cent to 652,081 units from 3.2 million units, the value of securities slid by 78.2 per cent to N10.7 million from N375.7 million, and the number of deals went south by 54.4 per cent to 21 deals from 46 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 79.6 million units transacted for N5.8 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged 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 sold for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The bears have refused to vacate the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, further inflicting a 0.07 per cent loss on the bourse on Monday due to sustained profit-taking.
Data from Customs Street indicated that sell-offs were more pronounced in the financial services sector during the session, with the insurance index down by 1.48 per cent, and the banking counter shedding 0.46 per cent.
They rubbed out the gains recorded by the other sectors, as the consumer goods segment rose by 0.43 per cent and the energy index gained 0.01 per cent, while the industrial goods space closed flat.
When the closing gong was struck to signify the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) shrank by 164.55 points to 242,454.65 points from 242,619.20 points, and the market capitalisation decreased by N106 billion to N156.518 trillion from the preceding session’s N156.624 trillion.
Investor sentiment remained bearish yesterday, as the stock market ended with 19 price gainers and 36 price losers, implying a negative market breadth index.
RT Briscoe lost 9.91 per cent to finish at N10.45, Fortis Global Insurance slumped by 9.89 per cent to N2.37, McNichols depreciated by 9.62 per cent to N4.70, University Press dropped 9.35 per cent to close at N4.85, and NEM Insurance dipped by 8.83 per cent to N30.45.
Conversely, Trans-Nationwide Express gained 9.86 per cent to trade at N3.12, AVA Capital expanded by 9.72 per cent to N7.90, Thomas Wyatt went up by 9.09 per cent to N3.00, Legend Internet improved by 8.75 per cent to N4.35, and Dangote Sugar soared by 8.60 per cent to N70.10.
On the activity chart, the trading volume retreated by 7.14 per cent to 1.3 billion units from 1.4 billion units last Friday. The trading value went down by 49.45 per cent to N22.9 billion from N45.3 billion, while the number of deals surged by 16.25 per cent to 45,494 deals from 39,134 deals.
At the close of trades, Lasaco Assurance transacted 730.7 million shares worth N1.3 billion, Consolidated Hallmark traded 154.3 million equities for N1.1 billion, Cornerstone Insurance exchanged 106.1 million stocks valued at N535.4 million, Chams sold 25.3 million shares worth N108.4 million, and First Holdco transacted 25.0 million equities for N3.4 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated against the United States Dollar by N8.07 or 0.59 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, August 17, to N1,349.54/$1 from last Friday’s N1,357.61/$1.
Similarly, the Nigerian Naira gained N9.99 against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market during the session to settle at N1,830.11/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,840.10/£1, and improved its value against the Euro by N6.91 to close at N1,564.79/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,571.70/€1.
However, the Nigerian currency traded flat against the US Dollar yesterday at the parallel market at N1,395/$1, and at the GTBank forex counter, it remained unchanged at N1,364/$1.
Interbank FX turnover, according to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), accelerated by 265 per cent to $437.529 million from last Friday’s $119.594 million, with the number of deals rising to 178 from 137.
Total FX inflows into the NAFEM window increased significantly to $1.77 billion from $0.83 billion in the previous week, according to the research subsidiary of Coronation Group.
Domestic sources accounted for 63.44 per cent of total inflows, driven primarily by Exporters (31.2 per cent) and Non-Bank Corporates (17.7 per cent), underscoring the growing contribution of autonomous market participants to FX supply.
Notably, the central bank injected $252.1 million, representing 14.3 per cent of total inflows, to enhance market liquidity. On the external side, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) remained the largest single source of FX, contributing 33.71 per cent of aggregate inflows.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was mixed on Monday, with Bitcoin (BTC) up by 0.9 per cent to $64,153.93, and Solana (SOL) gaining 0.3 per cent to sell at $75.602.
This occurred amid broader markets continuing their climb following President Donald Trump saying he was not interested in extending the expiring agreement with Iran, and as fighting flared again in Lebanon.
But Cardano (ADA) lost 2.2 per cent to finish at $0.1729, Ripple (XRP) declined by 0.8 per cent to $0.9939, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 0.7 per cent to $0.0698, Binance Coin (BNB) crumbled by 0.4 per cent to $602.80, Ethereum (ETH) slid by 0.3 per cent to $1,892.96, and TRON (TRX) also depreciated by 0.3 per cent to $0.3314, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00, respectively.
