Economy
FG to Accelerate Nigeria’s Emergence as Top 20 Global Economy by 2025
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The federal government has promised to continue to support and implement policies aimed at accelerating the emergence of Nigeria as a top 20 global economy by 2025.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, made this known in Abuja on Monday when she received the Revised Nigerian Capital Market Master Plan (2021-2025) from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
She explained that the review of the plan underscores the fact that capital market growth resonates with the current administration’s unwavering commitment to deepening and re-positioning the country’s financial markets as a key anchor to achieving a private sector-led development of the economy as encapsulated in the National Development Plan objectives.
According to her, under her watch, the Ministry has supported the Capital Market Master Plan implementation efforts since inception, adding that the scheme represents the collective aspirations of the capital market community which is focused on driving initiatives geared towards growing and deepening the market, noting that that the initiatives are being implemented with the ultimate goal of accelerating the emergence of Nigeria as a top 20 global economy by the year 2025.
Mrs Ahmed commended the agency and other stakeholders for the laudable accomplishments so far recorded in the implementation journey, especially in the areas of dematerialization of share certificates, e- dividend mandate, facilitation of access to alternative investments like Sukuk and specialized funds, review of CAMA and ongoing review of the ISA, demutualization of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, enhancing the commodities eco-system, design of a National Savings Strategy among others.
“Our capital market is growing and evolving. To sustain this growth and eventually transform it into a world-class capital market, transparency and investor confidence are key.
“Investor confidence will accelerate the growth of our market and increase both domestic and foreign investor participation. To this end, we will continue to support and strengthen the regulator to effectively do its job of regulating and developing the capital market.
“I see the capital market as an important driver of our economic growth objectives and we will continue to support efforts to position our market where it deserves to be – a capital market that will broaden access to economic prosperity by enabling the emergence of financially responsible citizens, accelerate wealth creation and wealth distribution, provide capital to small and medium scale enterprises, and catalyse housing finance.
“As you chart the course for the next phase of the Capital Market Master Plan’s implementation, I assure you of this Administration’s support and look forward to working with you and other stakeholders in the financial market to realize the plan’s outcomes,” she said.
The Director-General of SEC, Mr Lamido Yuguda, said through the implementation of the 10-year Nigeria Capital Market Master Plan (2015 – 2025), the commission and other stakeholders have recorded significant milestones over the years.
He listed some of them to include full dematerialization of certificates, direct cash settlement, recapitalization of CMOs, E-Dividend Mandate Management System, National Savings Strategy to grow domestic risk capital formation, the Roadmap on Enhancing Commodities Trading Ecosystem, Establishment of the West African Securities Regulators Association (WASRA) to encourage the integration of capital markets in West Africa, among others.
The DG stated that the Master Plan document recommends a periodic review of the assumptions, goals and objectives of the Plan to better align it with current realities and innovations in the global financial system.
As part of the review, he said the agency embarked on a comprehensive review of the Plan, driven by PriceWaterHouseCoopers with funding support from Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSDA).
The main objective of reviewing the Master Plan, he noted, is to produce an updated version of the document primarily to engage stakeholders on the current level of market development and opportunities for further capital growth; review and update the assumptions and vision of the CMMP and develop targets for the various thematic areas of the CMMP.
Other objectives of the review are to introduce a Strategy Map and Key Performance Indicators for the CMMP and use the Balanced Scorecard Approach for performance measurement; align existing and derive new initiatives based on targets and strategic objectives; develop an implementation plan for initiatives with clear milestones, deliverables, timelines, resource requirements, dependencies, and identify challenges, opportunities and risks associated with the CMMP implementation and recommend ways of effective and more efficient implementation.
He said, “The comprehensive review of the Master Plan is now complete and a Revised Capital Market Master Plan has been produced.
“The revised Plan has incorporated the views and aspirations of stakeholders in our market as well as best practices globally to produce a well-articulated strategic plan for the next four years.
“The revised Capital Market Master Plan is designed to chart the strategic position and future direction of the capital markets while providing both the SEC and market participants clarity on the vision of the capital market and the road map required to facilitate a conducive business environment to encourage innovation, investment, growth and expansion of economic and employment opportunities in our country.
“Our vision is to be Africa’s most modern, efficient, and internationally competitive market that catalyses Nigeria’s economic growth and development. We believe the Plan provides a solid roadmap for achieving this vision as we collaborate with all our stakeholders under your continued support and proven leadership.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
On Tuesday, December 17, 2024, President Bola Tinubu will present the 2025 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly.
The size of the 2025 Appropriation Bill is about N47.9 trillion and would be presented to the parliament for approval.
Speaking at the plenary on Thursday, December 12, 2024, the President of the Senate, Mr Godswill Akpabio, said the presentation by Mr Tinubu would be at the chamber of the House of Representatives.
However, it is not certain if the lawmakers will pass the budget before December 31 to allow for a recent budget cycle of January to December.
Recall that on December 3, the senate approved the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) for 2025 to 2027.
This was after the President presented this the National Assembly on November 19 ahead of the consideration of the 2025 budget proposal.
In the MTEF/FSP, the government said it planned to borrow about N9.22 trillion from local and foreign sources to finance the budget deficit.
It pegged the crude oil benchmark at $75 per barrel and a daily oil production of 2.06 million barrels at an exchange rate of N1,400 to $1, and a targeted gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6.4 percent.
At the plenary today, Mr Akpabio informed his colleagues that, “The President has made his intention known to the National Assembly to present the 2025 budget to the joint session of the National Assembly on December 17, 2024.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria added 150,000 barrels per day to its crude production in November 2024 as it continues to pursue an ambitious 2 million barrels per day target.
According to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Nigeria’s oil production rose to 1.48 million barrels per day in November, up from 1.33 million barrels per day the previous month.
In its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR), OPEC revealed that at 1.48 million barrels per day, it is the continent’s leading oil producer, surpassing Algeria’s 908,000 barrels per day and Congo’s 268,000 barrels per day.
Business Post reports that OPEC doesn’t account for condensates, which Nigeria’s accounts for in its broader 2 million barrels per day target.
Despite the surge in production levels, Nigeria is still under producing its 1.5 million barrels per day output quota under a deal involving OPEC and 10 other producers known as OPEC+.
OPEC said it relied on primary data gotten through direct communication, noting that secondary sources reported 1.417 million barrels per day as Nigeria’s crude production in November — up from 1.4 million barrels per day in October.
The data also shows that OPEC’s total oil production among its 12 members rose by 104,000 barrels per day in the month under review.
According to secondary sources, the total of the 12 OPEC countries’ crude oil production averaged 26.66 million barrels per day in November 2024.
“Crude oil output increased mainly in Libya, Iran, and Nigeria, while production in Iraq, Venezuela, and Kuwait decreased”, OPEC said.
“At the same time, total non-OPEC DoC crude oil production averaged 14.01 mb/d in November 2024, which is 219 tb/d higher, m-o-m. Crude oil output increased mainly in Kazakhstan and Malaysia,” the organisation added.
In a related development, OPEC trimmed its 2024 and 2025 oil demand growth forecasts for the fifth time this year.
Now, the cartel expects the world’s oil demand growth at 1.61 million barrels per day from the previously 1.82 million barrels per day.
For 2025, OPEC says the world oil demand growth forecast is now at 1.45 million barrels per day, a 900,000 barrels per day cut from the previously expected 1.54 million barrels per day.
On the changes, OPEC says that the downgrade for this year owes to more bearish data received in the third quarter of 2024 while the projections for next year relate to the potential impact that will arise from US tariffs.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Afriland Properties Plc and Geo-Fluids Plc crashed the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by a marginal 0.06 per cent on Wednesday, December 11 due to profit-taking activities.
The OTC securities exchange experienced a downfall at midweek despite UBN Property Plc posting a price appreciation of 17 Kobo to close at N1.96 per share, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing price of N1.79.
Business Post reports that Afriland Properties Plc slid by N1.14 to finish at N15.80 per unit versus the preceding day’s N16.94 per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc declined by 1 Kobo to trade at N3.92 per share compared with the N3.93 it ended a day earlier.
At the close of transactions, the market capitalisation of the bourse, which measures the total value of securities on the platform, shrank by N650 million to finish at N1.055 trillion compared with the previous day’s N1.056 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went down by 1.86 points to wrap the session at 3,012.50 points compared with 3,014.36 points recorded in the previous session.
The alternative stock market was busy yesterday as the volume of securities traded by investors soared by 146.9 per cent to 5.9 million units from 2.4 million units, as the value of shares transacted by the market participants jumped by 360.9 per cent to N22.5 million from N4.9 million, and the number of deals increased by 50 per cent to 21 deals from 14 deals.
When the bourse closed for the day, Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units valued at N3.9 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units worth N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc 297.5 million units sold for N5.3 million.
Also, Aradel Holdings Plc, which is now listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited after its exit from NASD, remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units sold for N89.2 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.5 million units worth N5.3 billion.
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