Friesland Milks NASD OTC Exchange by 0.10%

By Adedapo Adesanya  President Bola Tinubu has written to the House of Representatives seeking the approval for an $8.6 billion and €100 million external borrowing plan for critical infrastructure in areas such as power, roads, water, railway, and health. The President also forwarded the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Supplementary Budget to the lower chamber for consideration. Meanwhile, the President will present the 2024 budget to the National Assembly on Wednesday. This was after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a 2024 budget of N27.5 trillion. The approval followed the review of the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) earlier passed by the

By Adedapo Adesanya The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Dele Alake, has assured foreign investors of low production costs as they consider investing in the country’s mining sector. Speaking at the Mines and Money Conference in London, Mr Alake said President Bola Tinubu has embarked on reforms to boost investment by streamlining procedures and reducing hurdles to attract foreign investors. “The country’s geological bounty encompasses over 44 distinct mineral types, found in exploitable quantities across more than 500 locations,” the Minister said, according to a statement by his aide, Mr Kehinde Bamigbetan. “Recently, recognizing the evolving global landscape and

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited retreated by 0.44 per cent on Tuesday due to selling pressure on some bellwether equities during the session. Shares of Dangote Cement, GTCO, Zenith Bank, Access Holdings, Oando, Lafarge Africa and others experienced a pullback yesterday as a result of profit-taking activities by traders. As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) receded by 312.76 points to 71,041.05 points from 71,353.81 points and the market capitalisation moderated by N165 billion to N38.875 trillion from N39.040 trillion. The level of activity at the market waned on the second trading session of the week, as

By Aduragbemi Omiyale A workshop designed to educate investors, especially those in the retail end of the curve, on how they can improve corporate governance has been organised by the Nigerian Exchange Regulation (NGX RegCo) Limited. The two-day event, which took place on Thursday, November 23, and Friday, November 24, 2023, was themed Rights and Responsibilities of Shareholders in Driving Corporate Governance. According to the NGX RegCo, the seminar was designed to promote a transparent and fair market, with participants agreeing that all hands must be on deck to sanitize the market and bring the boards and management of listed

By Adedapo Adesanya  The Shippers Association of Lagos State (SALS) has bitterly complained that shippers in Nigeria lost close to N15 trillion in revenue in three months due to restrictions and complications placed on trade due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The SALS President, Mr Jonathan Nicole, lamented that after the virus hit major trade partners, it proved difficult for shippers to transact business during the global COVID-19 lockdown. According to the SALS President, “What shippers could have probably done in two days; it took them about one or two weeks because shippers are now dealing with individuals

World’s most popular audio streaming subscription service, Spotify Technology, has confirmed the acquisition of SoundBetter, a leading global audio production and collaboration marketplace helping creators worldwide connect and hire top audio professionals. “As we build out our tools for creators, we want to give them the resources they need to thrive. SoundBetter has the same vision,” said Beckwith Kloss, VP Product, Creator at Spotify. “We’re excited that creators can generate income through SoundBetter, as well as benefit from its network of top professionals – from instrumentalists to songwriters to producers – as they perfect their tracks.” SoundBetter taps into the

By Investors Hub Asian stocks rose on Thursday as Samsung Electronics and Nintendo reported strong earnings results, oil prices held near eight-week highs and the Fed’s dovish statement prompted investors to reduce their rate hike bets. While keeping interest rates unchanged, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday said it would begin to unwind its bloated balance sheet “relatively soon”. Chinese shares ended little changed even as data showed China’s major industrial firms posted increased profit growth in June. The benchmark Shanghai Composite inched up 1.62 points or 0.1 percent to 3,249.29, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 190.15 points or

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria will experience the first domestic use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in football matches at the 20th National Sports Festival to be hosted by Edo State from March 22 till April 1, 2020. The technology was installed in the refurbished Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City, the Edo State capital where the event will take place. The contractor handling the installations at the facility, Peculiar Ultimate Concern, said the technology had been installed, tested and ready to be used during the football tournament at the competition. According to Mr Chinedu Agbo, a representative of the

By Adedapo Adesanya A northern-based civil society organisation, the Mega National Movement for Good Governance, has called on President Bola Tinubu to sack the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mr Mele Kyari. The group made this demand over the sudden scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, in the Federal Capital Territory, Kaduna State and other major cities across the country. At a press conference in Kaduna on Friday, the organisation accused the independent petroleum marketers of creating the scarcity with the intention of hiking fuel prices in the coming

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has reiterated its commitment to abide by the output cut agreement of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies called OPEC+ to stabilise the global oil market. The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr Mele Kyari, gave the assurance at the ongoing virtual Gulf Intelligence UAE Global Energy Forum 2021. He said despite the negative effects of the production cuts on government revenues, it was the best step towards redeeming the value of oil on the global market, in the interest of all. Speaking on the topic,

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria generated N814.59 billion between 2007 and 2021 from the solid minerals sector, with the 2021 earnings of N193.59 billion being the highest in the period under review. This was disclosed by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) in its 2021 Solid Minerals Industry Report, tagged Impact Built on Blocking Leakages to Grow Revenue’ unveiled by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr George Akume, represented by Mr Maurice Mbaeri, Permanent Secretary, General Services Office. The report, the 12th in the series, covers actual payments by 1,214 companies operating in the sector and

By Dipo Olowookere The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday announced that the latest outbreak of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) has now been largely contained. Ebola is endemic in DRC and has been identified there nine times, since 1976. It resurfaced again about two months ago, giving nations in Africa, including Nigeria, something to worry about. A statement released by the United Nations health experts revealed that a total of 55 cases of Ebola were recorded during the current outbreak of the often-deadly viral infection and 28 people died from the disease. Before the current outbreak in Equateur