Forte Oil Suspends Plans to Raise N20b Via Book Building

Forex trading in Malaysia has been legal and regulated by the central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), since 2012. While Malaysia’s growing economy attracts financial companies, traders need to beware of scammers who target beginners seeking quick profits. Traders Union (TU) experts provide a Forex scammer list for Malaysia and discuss types of Forex scams. Blacklist of Forex scam brokers in Malaysia BNM, the country’s financial regulator, maintains a list of nearly 400 companies involved in Forex trading scams in Malaysia. These companies are regularly updated as they engage in fraudulent activities, such as using manipulated software, blocking withdrawals, and

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira closed mixed at the foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday, depreciating against the US Dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) segments and appreciating in the parallel market amid a new leadership at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). On Friday, the CBN announced the resumption of Mr Olayemi Cardoso as the next head of the apex bank, in an acting capacity pending his confirmation by the Nigerian Senate. He is taking over the role amid a worrying FX market, high inflation, and increased call to halt interest rate hikes which currently

By Adedapo Adesanya The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has postponed the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting scheduled to hold next week. In a statement, the apex bank noted that the MPC meeting, which was supposed to take place on Monday, September 25 and Tuesday, September 26, 2023, has been postponed until further notice. This is coming less than a week after President Bola Tinubu nominated Mr Olayemi Michael Cardoso to take over the role from Mr Folashodun Shonubi, who is filling the role following the ousting of Mr Godwin Emefiele, who is currently held in the custody of the

By Dipo Olowookere Stock investors were swayed by the news of the indefinite postponement of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The quarterly rate decision meeting was supposed to occur next week, but it has been moved forward. There are speculations that the meeting was postponed to allow the new CBN Governor nominee, Mr Yemi Cardoso, to preside over the gathering. He is yet to be confirmed by the Senate, which resumes from a recess next Tuesday, the same day the rate decision is supposed to be announced. The confusion as to who

By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel Provider of premium banking services for African Small/Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Brass, has raised the sum of $1.7 million in a funding round to strengthen its financial services rendered to local entrepreneurs, traders, and fast-growing businesses across the continent. Investors who participated in the round included the co-founder of Flutterwave, Mr Olugbenga Agboola, co-founder of Paystack, acquired by Stripe, Mr Ezra Olubi, Hustle Fund, Acuity Ventures, Uncovered Fund, and Ventures Platform. Brass’ past investors have included Olumide Soyombo of Voltron Capital, Leonard Stiegler, Fola Olatunji-David, Yemi Lawani, and two senior executives from major Nigerian banks. With the fresh

By Adedapo Adesanya Cybersecurity giant, Kaspersky, has warned that scammers have started selling unverified COVID-19 vaccines on the dark market. It noted that the entire globe is currently undergoing one of the largest and most complex vaccination campaigns in history and, not surprisingly, scammers and sellers have been eager to make a profit off the process. Kaspersky researchers examined 15 different marketplaces on the Darknet and found advertisements for three major COVID-19 vaccines: Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca, and Moderna. According to the report, the majority of sellers came from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America (USA) and

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) on Saturday night reported 13 new cases of COVID19, bringing total cases in the country to 318, and death toll to double digits of 10. The agency confirmed that from the fresh cases, 11 were discovered in Lagos State as the state continues to increase by the day. Other cases were discovered in both Delta and Kano States. With the addition of the two states, the virus has now spread to 19 of the 36 states of the federation. “As at 9:30pm 11th April there are 318 confirmed

By Dipo Olowookere Members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) working at ExxonMobil Nigeria have commenced an industrial action. Officials of the oil and gas union said it plans a total shutdown of the firm’s operations by Friday midnight. “Final shutdown will be with the withdrawal of our members in Qua Iboe Terminal with about 14 locations and many well ends by Friday midnight,” PENGASSAN threatened in a statement. Already, the union has begun a gradual withdrawal from all oil and gas installations across the country belonging to Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, a subsidiary

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government has reducing the country’s 2020 budget by N1.5 trillion from the N10.59 trillion initially signed by President Muhammadu Buhari last December due to recent economic developments. Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, who made the announcement yesterday, stated that government will also reduce capital budget allocation by 20 percent across the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) while there will be a 25 percent cut in both the recurrent and capital budgets of government enterprises. She added that the budget reduction guidelines have been sent to every ministry. “The ones that

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Yakubu Mahmood, has urged journalists to always cross check their facts from several channels available to them at the Commission before going to press. He said because accuracy is one of the hallmarks of professional journalism, it was necessary for the media to ensure its reports are unbiased. Prof Mahmood also said, “The Commission welcomes and appreciates constructive criticism, which will help us grow since no Election Management Body is perfect.” Speaking at the 12th all Nigerian Editors’ conference (ANEC) held in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, last Friday, the INEC Chairman, represented

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has disclosed that Nigeria lost $1 billion in revenue during the first quarter of this year due to crude oil theft. According to Mr Gbenga Komolafe, the head of the commission, out of the 141 million barrels of oil produced in the first quarter of 2022, only about 132 million barrels of oil were received at export terminals. “This indicates that over nine million barrels of oil were lost to crude oil theft… this amounts to a loss in government revenue of about $1 billion… in just one quarter,” Mr

By Dipo Olowookere Two firms shut down last month in Zurak, Wase Local Government Area of Plateau State have been accused by the Federal Government of being involved in illegal mining activities to the tune of N100 billion. Minister of Mines and steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, during a meeting with staff of the ministry in Abuja recently, said the two illegal mining companies, Solid Unit Limited and Geotess Nigeria Limited, had illegally taken out minerals worth over N100 billion, in the past few years they have been involved in illegal activities in the area. During a raid on August