Four Stocks Lead NASD Exchange to 1.98% Growth in 50th Trading Week

By Adedapo Adesanya Crude oil prices fell on Thursday members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) agreed to voluntary output cuts for the first quarter of next year, falling short of market expectations. As a result, Brent crude futures lost 27 cents or 0.3 per cent to close at $82.83 per barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures went down by $1.90 or 2.4 per cent to $75.96 a barrel. On a monthly basis, Brent fell by 5.2 per cent while WTI was down by 6.2 per cent. Saudi Arabia, Russia

By Adedapo Adesanya The boards of insurance companies operating in the country have been charged by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to embrace the measures put in place to tackle the challenges of unpaid claims. The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Sunday Thomas, expressed worry over the number of outstanding claims in the sector despite efforts by the regulator to address the issue. Mr Thomas, who is also the chief executive of NAICOM, said the organisation, in collaboration with members of the Insurers’ Committee, has taken decisions and incepted measures designed to tame the menace of unpaid claims. Speaking at the

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) and the unregulated Peer-to-Peer (P2P) and the parallel market segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday, November 29 as President Bola Tinubu reiterated his administration’s promise to meet its obligations. Speaking during the presentation of his administration’s N27.50 trillion 2024 budget proposal to the joint session of the 10th National Assembly on Wednesday, Mr Tinubu said, “Despite the challenges, we continue to meet our obligations.” In the official NAFEM segment of the market, the value of the local currency went

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The four applications filed by BGL Plc and its subsidiaries objecting to their trial before the Wuse Magistrate Court in Abuja have been dismissed by Chief Magistrate Chinyere Nweoachenu. According to a statement from the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), the judge held that ongoing civil matters involving the firm in another court cannot affect the hearing of the criminal case before the Magistrate Court. As a result, the court fixed Wednesday October 2, 2018, for the definite hearing of the case before it. BGL Plc and her subsidiaries had filed four different applications against their trial

By Dipo Olowookere The Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation of Egypt and COMESA Regional Investment Agency have announced holding a high-level forum offering participants an unparalleled platform for promoting trade and investment within Africa. Tagged Africa 2017, the forum, which takes place from December 7-9, 2017, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, would be headlined by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. The three-day conference will convene high-level delegations of leaders in business and policy from across Africa and worldwide, including heads of state and some of the most important CEOs of the continent.  Africa 2017 will kick-off with a Young Entrepreneurs

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Federal Government has assured Nigerians that it has no intention to increase the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) commonly called petrol as being feared. The assurance was given on Monday in Abuja by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Ibe Kachikwu. The Minister, while answering questions from newsmen, said there was no plan by the FG to tamper with the pump price at the moment. Mr Kachikwu specifically disclosed that there was no memo before the FG seeking a review of the fuel price. Also corroborating Mr Kachikwu’s stand was the Group Managing

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Sixteen year old Akachukwu Anumudu of Apostolic Faith Secondary School, Anthony, Lagos, on Saturday, February 9, 2019, emerged winner of the first edition of the InterswitchSPAK National Science Competition held in Lagos. He beat eight other contestants in an intense quiz session to win the grand prize of N7.5 million worth of tertiary education scholarship spread over five years, a laptop and a monthly stipend during the course of the scholarship. The first runner-up was 16-year-old Henry Umunna of the Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja. Umunna won N4 million worth of scholarship spread over three years; while the

By Dipo Olowookere The recently introduced digitally-led retail banking services by Standard Chartered have commenced operations in Ghana and Tanzania. The South Africa-based financial institution launched the services in the two West African nations over the weekend, giving residents of the countries the opportunity to enjoy seamless banking services. In January 2019, Standard Chartered launched similar services in Uganda, while in 2018, the digital banking operations launched in Côte d’Ivoire. The expansion is part of the Bank’s overarching digital transformation strategy for the African continent. The most recent roll-outs provide Tanzania and Ghana with access to the mobile-led digital bank

By Dipo Olowookere Manchester United conformed on Saturday night that their former manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, underwent a surgery today. The 76-year-old former United manager was first taken to Macclesfield district hospital this morning from his Cheshire man before being transferred to the Salford Royal Hospital. In a statement issued on Saturday night, Manchester United said on its website and official Twitter handle that Sir Ferguson had a successful brain haemorrhage surgery at the hospital today and was responding well to treatment. “Sir Alex Ferguson has undergone surgery today for a brain haemorrhage. “The procedure has gone very well but

By Dipo Olowookere On Tuesday, May 29, 2019, MTN Group, the largest telecommunications firm in Africa, launched an initial public offering (IPO) for a 35 percent stake in its business in Ghana. In recent times, MTN group has had talks with both the Ghanaian and Nigerian governments on the possibility of listing its shares on their respective stock exchanges. While the Nigerian listing is expected to happen before the end of this year, the Ghana listing commenced yesterday with MTN Ghana hoping to raise about $743 million (3.47 billion cedis) from the exercise. According to MTN Group Vice President, Mr

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited started off the first trading session of the week on the wrong foot as it slipped by 0.58 per cent at the close of transactions on Monday. Profit-taking in some blue-chip shares like MTN Nigeria, Zenith Bank, GTCO and Lafarge Africa contributed to the downfall of the stock exchange yesterday. This tripped the All Share Index (ASI) back to the 53,000-region after shedding 313.16 points as it closed at 53,772.14 points compared with the 54,085.30 points it ended last Friday. In the same vein, the market capitalisation, which measures the total value