Economy
Heritage Bank Sponsors Bukas & Joints Season-3
By Dipo Olowookere
In a bid to promote local foods and strengthen the domestic market, Heritage Bank Plc, one of Nigeria’s most innovative banking services providers, has sponsored Season-3 of Bukas & Joints, hosted by Olisa Adibua, a respected media personality in the country.
The launching of the screening of the Season-3 television food show in Lagos on Wednesday was a well-attended media event organised by Biola Alabi Media, the producers of the programme in collaboration with Heritage Bank.
The featuring of the event will start screening on African Independent Television (AIT) on Sunday, February 5, 2017 from 7pm to 7.30pm.
The Season-3 was screened in Enugu in the South East and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
In the South East, the local bukas that the production team visited included Ntachi-Osa Canteen, in the New Haven of Enugu, Emily Restaurant and New Berries Park while those visited in Abuja were the Bean Bag located at Ramaya Royal Park on Ahmadu Bello Way, Iya Oyo Kitchen based in Wuye and a Kilishi joint located in Area 1 Garden in Garki, Abuja.
Group Head of Corporate Communications of Heritage Bank, Mr Fela Ibidapo, said the bank was proud to be associated with the programme in order to promote local foods and strengthen the domestic market.
He hinted that since indigenous food is part of our heritage, the bank will continue to chart a path forward to increasing local food production and processing, while supporting job growth and healthy communities.
He assured that the bank would continue to support the programme and also others that relate to the Nigerian heritage.
Speaking on his experience on the new season, Mr Adibua said the whole essence of the show was that through that the travels and discoveries exposed them to the lifestyles of the people they meet in different cities.
“I love this season because I love the idea of meeting different people and going to different locations,” Mr Adibua said, adding that they intend to go to more places in Nigeria and even outside Nigeria to showcase the African cuisines to the outside world just like what the Chinese and others had done.
Also speaking Mrs Biola Alabi, the Chief Executive Officer of Biola Alabi Media commended Heritage Bank for supporting the programme right from the inception.
The Lunch with Olisa show is a new food-related show in which MrOlisa Adibua travels the breadth of the continent in search of authentic African cuisines.
Mr Adibua takes his audience on a journey of culinary delight, as he explores a variety of foods such as Ofada rice, Amala, Tuwo, Masa, Moin-Moin and more.
The show features not only food, but also real people who work behind the scenes and ensure that the food is always ready to feed Nigerians, those famished as well as those looking for that unique gastronomical experience.
These entrepreneurs are found everywhere throughout Nigeria – under trees, at food stalls and roadside kiosks.
The show was put together by Biola Alabi Media (BAM), an African media company that develops and monetizes content for Pay TV, Free to Air (FTA) television channels, OTT (Over-The-Top) TV and VOD (Video-On-Demand).
Heritage Bank, through its MSME account aims to help MSMEs grow their businesses. The proposition is categorized into three different groups: Heritage MSME Business classic with a maximum annual debit transaction of N50 million, Heritage MSME Business pro with a maximum annual debit transaction of N100 million and the Heritage MSME Business premium with a maximum annual debit transaction of N250 million.
The bank is one of the participating financial institutions in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF) Fund which was launched on August 19, 2014 in recognition of the significant contributions of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sub-sector to the economy.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The listing of Dangote Industries Limited’s N300 billion series 1 and 2 bonds on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited has been described as an indicator of the depth of the Nigerian capital market.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the conglomerates, Mr Olakunle Alake, said this on Wednesday when a closing gong ceremony was held to celebrate the completion of the listing of the corporate debt instrument on the local stock exchange.
Mr Alake, represented by the Group Chief Finance Officer, Mr Mustapha Ibrahim, said, “We are pleased to have showcased the depth and liquidity of the domestic capital market whilst we reflect the strong quality of the issuer, despite the current global market realities.”
According to him, the depth of the market was reflected in the successful issuance of the bond, which was the largest aggregate local currency bond issued in the capital market so far within the year.
He further noted that the listing of the bond recorded participation from a wide range of investors, including domestic pension funds, asset managers and insurance companies and further demonstrated investors’ confidence in Nigeria’s credit reality.
On his part, the Divisional Head of Capital Markets at NGX, Mr Jude Chiemeka, speaking at the event, applauded the listing of the bond, which provides corporates with the opportunity to raise capital.
“The listing of this transaction on our platform not only allows for a more liquid capital market, but it also shows our capacity to facilitate large transactions towards enabling a more robust ecosystem,” Mr Chiemeka said.
He further noted that NGX remains committed to fostering similar transactions through its digital gateways such as this and a confident market where corporates and investors can achieve their respective objectives.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Trading activities ended in a stalemate on the floor of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Wednesday, with no single price gainer or a price loser at the close of business.
As a result of this development, the market capitalisation of the bourse remained intact at N1.03 trillion, as the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) also remained unchanged at 743.15 points.
The unlisted securities market closed flat in the midweek session amid low investor appetite for the market, as attention shifted to the fixed-income market, where the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold treasury bills at the primary market, with the stop rate over 14 per cent.
Data from the bourse showed that the volume of securities traded yesterday was abysmally low as it went down by 99.9 per cent to 8,299 units from the 20.1 million units transacted a day earlier.
Likewise, the value of shares traded during the session dropped to N1.2 million, 97.3 per cent lower than the N44.5 million posted in the preceding trading day.
These transactions were carried out yesterday in nine deals, 75 per cent lower than the 36 deals executed on Tuesday.
Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 482.1 million units valued at N544.1 million, UBN Property Plc occupied second place with the sale of 365.8 units worth N309.5 million, while Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc was in third place with the sale of 71.1 million units valued at N5.1 million.
Also, VFD Group Plc ended the session as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 7.3 million units worth N1.7 billion, Geo-Fluids Plc was in second place with a turnover of 482.1 million units worth N544.1 million, while UBN Property Plc was in third place with the sale of 365.8 million units valued at N309.5 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Peer-2-Peer (P2P) and the Investors and Exporters (I&E) windows of the foreign exchange market on Wednesday, March 30, but depreciated in the black market.
In the P2P segment, it gained N3 against its American counterpart to quote at N764/$1, in contrast to the N767/$1 it was traded on Tuesday as the demand for cryptos, which most traders in this category use the funds to buy, was relatively mild.
In the I&E window or the spot market, the Naira appreciated against the greenback yesterday by 51 Kobo or 0.11 per cent to settle at N461.24/$1 compared with the previous day’s N461.75/$1, according to data obtained from FMDQ Securities Exchange, with the forex turnover put at $74.31 million.
But in the parallel market, the domestic currency depreciated against the US Dollar in the midweek session by N4 to trade at N747/$1 versus Tuesday’s exchange rate of N743/$1.
Also, in the interbank window, the Naira lost N1.93 against the Pound Sterling to sell at N567.68/£1 versus Tuesday’s N565.52/£1, and against the Euro, it slid by N2.25 to at N499.21/€1 compared with the preceding day’s N496.66/€1.
Meanwhile, the digital currency market swayed to the bulls yesterday as most of the tokens tracked by Business Post ended in the green territory amid better-than-expected consumer confidence figures from the United States.
Data from the US Conference Board showed that its monthly survey rose to a reading of 104.2 basis points, better than the 101 mark expected, lifting Bitcoin (BTC) by 4.2 per cent to $28,519.76, as Ethereum (ETH) rose by 0.5 per cent to $1,788.52.
Solana (SOL) grew by 2.1 per cent to $21.08, Dogecoin (DOGE) gained 1.4 per cent to sell at $0.0751, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 0.6 per cent to $90.14, while Cardano (ADA) chalked up 0.5 per cent to quote at $0.3797.
However, Ripple (XRP) dropped 0.4 per cent to trade at $0.5336, Binance Coin (BNB) lost 0.2 per cent to settle at $313.02, and Binance USD (BUSD) and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
