FGN Bond Auction for June Oversubscribed by N6.67b

By Adedapo Adesanya Brent crude benchmark dipped below $80 a barrel on Monday, precisely losing 60 cents of 0.7 per cent to trade at $79.98 a barrel as investors await this week’s meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies (OPEC+). The group is anticipated to maintain its ceiling on crude oil production by member countries into 2024. This affected the oil market, with the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures declining yesterday by 68 cents or 0.9 per cent to trade at $74.86 per barrel. Last week, the 23-man OPEC+ postponed its Sunday ministerial meeting

By Adedapo Adesanya Appreciation in the prices of three stocks saw the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed with a 1.36 per cent rise on Friday, November 24 despite efforts by two equities to bring down the market. Aradel Holdings Plc recorded a N79.20 appreciation to sell at N871.20 per share compared to the previous day’s N792.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc increased by N2.82 to close the day at N74.00 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N71.14 per unit, and UBN Property Plc jumped by 15 Kobo to finish at N1.65 per share, in contrast to the

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The sum of N75 million has been disbursed to 15 small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Nigeria to support their expansion drive. The funding package was given by Google’s Hustle Academy, with beneficiaries drawn from various industries, including agriculture, and fashion, among others. The 15 Nigerian small business owners were among the 5,300 entrepreneurs who graduated from the academy, designed by the tech giant to provide an avenue for participants to enhance their business skills and knowledge, and contribute to the growth of the continent’s economy. The recipients of the funding support are Ifeoma Augusta Anselem of

By Dipo Olowookere The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has postponed the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) billed to take place in Ivory Coast to 2024. The tournament was earlier fixed for June-July 2023 but due to a forecast that the weather condition at that period could mar the competition, the continent’s apex football governing body decided to shift it to the next year. According to information made available on Sunday, the next AFCON will take place between January and February 2024, when the weather is expected to be okay. Most countries in the West African region witness heavy

By Okechukwu Keshi Ukegbu Development partnerships are very essential in every government. This is because of the fact that government cannot do it alone but will always require collaborations with development partners. Sometimes, government provides enabling environment while the partners provide technical and funding supports for a particular project. Perhaps, Abia State Government may have considered the essential roles development partners play in developing a place when it forged a partnership with Google for Google SME Community Launch. This venture is a platform that provides Google ICT backbone to support small businesses. This will manifest through giving SMEs global visibility

By Adedapo Adesanya At the end of transactions on Thursday, April 2, 2020, the Naira pulled a 0.66 percent or N2.55 gain against the US Dollar at the investors and exporters (I&E) segment of the foreign exchange market. At the segment, the domestic currency closed at N383.00/$1 in contrast to N385.55/$1 it traded on Wednesday. This was helped by the continuous drop in the demand for forex at the window. During yesterday’s trading session, the turnover further declined by 59 percent or $14.83 million to $10.45 million from $25.28 million. However, at the other segments, the Naira maintained stability against

By Adedapo Adesanya The House of Representatives Committee on Finance on Tuesday inquired into the unremitted sum of N65.6 billion to the Federation Account from 2014 till date by the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). This followed an investigative hearing in the nation’s capital, Abuja by the committee headed by Mr James Faleke (APC; Ikeja Federal Constituency), where the Managing Director of the agency, Mr Rabiu Yadudu, said there were challenges of actual receipts meeting its invoiced services to customers. The committee directed FAAN to provide it with the list of such invoices issued with their values, its remittance

By Dipo Olowookere The management of FMDQ Holdings Plc has announced its intention to re-open its head office in Lagos called Exchange Place in phases. A notice this week from the organisation disclosed that its head office would be reopened in three different phases. In the first phase, the Exchange Place would remain temporarily closed with services still uninterrupted. During this period, investors would still continue to enjoy the numerous services rendered by the FMDQ like trading of Naira contract futures, bonds and other investment tools being traded on the platform. For the second stage of the reopening, essential staff

By Dipo Olowookere First Bank Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of First Bank Nigeria Limited, has now been recapitalised, following an injection of $72.5 million into the company. Business Post reports that in some months ago, the Bank of Ghana, the banking sector regulator in the West African country, set a new minimum capital requirement for financial institution doing business in Ghana. This required the banks to seek for funds or merge together to meet the new capital base before the December 31, 2018 deadline and First Bank Ghana Limited, a member of the FBN Holdings Plc, met the deadline in

By Stanbic IBTC Bank Stanbic IBTC Holdings, a member of Standard Bank Group, has continued to serve as a connecting link in facilitating trade transactions between Nigerian and Chinese importers, thereby fostering international trade. As part of its efforts to boost trade relations between the two nations, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, through its banking subsidiary, has developed several solutions for boosting favourable business deals and trade relationships between Nigerian business owners and their Chinese counterparts. In August 2022, the organisation held its 2022 Africa-China Trade Expo to promote trade relations and boost economic prosperity in the two regions. The expo themed

By Dipo Olowookere Africa’s CEOs are confident that the outlook for business on the continent remains positive notwithstanding the unpredictable economic and socio-political climate. PwC’s Africa Business Agenda report shows that 85 percent of African CEOs (Global: 85%) are confident in their own company’s prospects for revenue growth over the next 12 months. Despite the fact that only 30% of CEOs in Africa (Global: 29%) believe the global economy will improve in the next year, no less than 97% (Global: 91%) are confident about the prospects for their own company’s growth in the medium term. Hein Boegman, CEO for PwC