Economy

IMF Re-Affirms 0.8% Growth Forecast Nigeria in 2017

Published

7 years ago

10/10/2017

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has re-affirmed its 0.8 percent growth forecast for Nigeria’s economy in 2017.

In its World Economic Outlook, October 2017 titled ‘Seeking Sustainable Growth: Short-Term Recovery, Long-Term Challenges’ released on Tuesday, the IMF said the major threats to the country’s economy remain policy implementation, forex market segmentation, and banking system fragilities.

In the report, the IMF said the global upswing in economic activity was strengthening, noting that global growth, which in 2016 was the weakest since the global financial crisis at 3.2 percent, is projected to rise to 3.6 percent in 2017 and to 3.7 percent in 2018.

It said the growth forecasts for both 2017 and 2018 are 0.1 percentage point stronger compared with the April 2017 World Economic Outlook (WEO) forecast.

Broad-based upward revisions in the euro area, Japan, emerging Asia, emerging Europe, and Russia—where growth outcomes in the first half of 2017 were better than expected—more than offset downward revisions for the United States and the United Kingdom.

But the recovery is not complete: while the baseline outlook is strengthening, growth remains weak in many countries, and inflation is below target in most advanced economies, the IMF said.

It pointed out that commodity exporters, especially of fuel, are particularly hard hit as their adjustment to a sharp step down in foreign earnings continues. And while short term risks are broadly balanced, medium-term risks are still tilted to the downside.

The welcome cyclical pickup in global activity thus provides an ideal window of opportunity to tackle the key policy challenges—namely to boost potential output while ensuring its benefits are broadly shared, and to build resilience against downside risks.

A renewed multilateral effort is also needed to tackle the common challenges of an integrated global economy.

It further said growth prospects for emerging and developing economies are marked up by 0.1 percentage point for both 2017 and 2018 relative to April, primarily owing to a stronger growth projection for China.

The country’s 2017 forecast (6.8 percent, against 6.6 percent in April) reflects stronger growth outturns in the first half of 2017 as well as more buoyant external demand. For 2018, the revision mainly reflects an expectation that the authorities will maintain a sufficiently expansionary policy mix to meet their target of doubling real GDP between 2010 and 2020.

Growth forecasts have also been marked up for emerging Europe for 2017, reflecting stronger growth in Turkey and other countries in the region, for Russia for 2017 and 2018, and Brazil in 2017.

Economy

NGX All-Share Index Tumbles 0.05% as Investors Recalibrate Portfolios

Published

26 minutes ago

24/01/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The recalibration of portfolios by investors further depressed the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Thursday by 0.05 per cent in the absence of a positive trigger.

Amid the profit-taking, the banking space continued to witness bargain-hunting during the session, rising at the close of business by 1.04 per cent.

However, sell-offs crushed the insurance sector by 1.23 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.81 per cent, and the energy sector lost 0.36 per cent, while the industrial goods counter closed flat.

As result, the All-Share Index (ASI) depreciated by 47.93 points to 102,788.20 points from 102,836.13 points and the market capitalisation gained N1 billion to close at N63.148 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N63.147 trillion.

Like the previous session, the market breadth index was flat after the bourse ended with 28 price gainers and 28 price losers.

Morison Industries depleted by 9.98 per cent to N3.61, C&I Leasing slumped by 9.91 per cent to N3.91, Ikeja Hotel crashed by 8.89 per cent to N12.30, Neimeth went down by 8.51 per cent to N3.44, and Sunu Assurance shed 8.03 per cent to settle at N5.50.

But SCOA Nigeria gained 9.76 per cent to sell for N3.60, DAAR Communications increased by 9.09 per cent to 84 Kobo, May and Baker jumped by 8.43 per cent to N9.00, Prestige Assurance appreciated by 6.82 per cent to N1.41, and Red Star Express chalked up 4.99 per cent to finish at N5.05.

The activity chart was mixed yesterday after the trading volume shrank by 0.10 per cent, the trading grew by 50.00 per cent, and the number of deals leapt by 12.95 per cent.

A total of 394.4 million stocks valued at N22.8 billion were traded in 12,160 deals during the session versus the 394.8 million stocks worth N15.2 billion transacted in 10,766 deals in the preceding day.

GTCO ended as the busiest equity after the sale of 42.2 million units for N2.6 billion, UBA traded 37.5 million units worth N1.3 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 25.2 million units valued at N1.2 billion, Access Holdings exchanged 24.3 million units for N601.6 million, and Jaiz Bank traded 13.8 million units worth N41.4 million.

Economy

Oando Wins Bid to Operate Angola’s KON 13 Oil Block

Published

18 hours ago

23/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigerian energy company, Oando Plc, has won the bid for the operatorship of oil block KON 13 in Angola.

The company, which recently acquired Eni of Italy’s oil assets in Nigeria, disclosed on Wednesday that the award of the oil block located in Angola’s onshore Kwanza Basin followed a competitive bidding process by the country’s oil and gas sector regulator.

Oando disclosed that the asset, in which it owns 45 per cent participating interest, has an estimated prospective resources of 770 to 1,100 million barrels of oil. Oando is handling its operations relating to the asset through its upstream subsidiary, Oando Energy Resources (OER).

“Oando Plc (the company), Africa’s leading indigenous energy solutions provider listed on both the Nigerian Exchange Limited and Johannesburg Stock Exchange is pleased to announce that its upstream subsidiary, Oando Energy Resources (OER), has been awarded operatorship of Block KON 13 in Angola’s Onshore Kwanza Basin, following a competitive bidding process organised by the Angolan National Agency for Petroleum, Gas, and Biofuels (ANPG).

“Block KON 13 is strategically located in the prolific Kwanza Onshore Basin which represents significant exploration potential in both pre-salt and post-salt plays, with estimated prospective resources of 770 to 1,100 million barrels of oil.

“The block has two exploration wells previously drilled to a target depth of 3,000m, with oil and gas observed across various depths. With a 45 per cent participating interest, OER will lead the development of the block as an operator, alongside Effimax (30 per cent) and Sonangol (15 per cent) as co-venturers,” it stated.

Commenting on the award, the chief executive of Oando Plc, Mr Wale Tinubu, expressed confidence in the capacity of the company, in collaboration with its co-venturers, to unlock the full potential of the asset for the country.

“We look forward to collaborating with our co-venturers and other key stakeholders to harness this opportunity and unlock its full potential for Angola and Africa as a whole,” Mr Tinubu said.

This milestone, the company said, marks its strategic entry into the Angolan oil and gas market and represents a significant step in its long-term vision to grow its upstream operations across Africa.

According to Oando Plc, it also solidifies the company’s position as a prominent player in the continent’s energy landscape, evolving from a local indigenous operator to a regional powerhouse.

Following the company’s recent successful acquisition of NAOC Ltd in Nigeria, the addition of Block KON 13, the energy firm stressed, further bolsters the company’s upstream portfolio and reflects its commitment to driving regional growth and energy security.

Economy

NASD Index Gains 0.74%

Published

19 hours ago

23/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange appreciated by 0.74 per cent on Wednesday, January 22 as a result of buying pressure on the market.

Yesterday, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) garnered 22.86 points to wrap the session at 3,123.19 points compared with 3,100.33 points recorded in the previous session, as the value of the unlisted securities market went up at midweek by N5 billion to close at N1.076 trillion, in contrast to the preceding day’s N1.071 trillion.

The alternative bourse ended with three price gainers and two price losers at the Wednesday session.

Mixta Real Estate Plc improved its value by 25 Kobo to end at N2.83 per unit compared with the previous day’s N2.58 per unit, Okitipupa Plc jumped by N3.56 to close at N43.55 per share versus N39.99 per share, and First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc added 2 Kobo to settle at 39 Kobo per unit compared with Tuesday’s trading price of 37 Kobo per unit.

On the flip side, UBN Property Plc lost 16 Kobo to end at N1.86 per share, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.00 per share, and Mass Telecomm Innovation Plc went down by 1 Kobo to 41 Kobo per unit from 40 Kobo per unit.

During the session, there was a 216.2 per cent rise in the volume of securities traded to 581,160 units from 183,780 units, the value of securities traded by investors decreased by 48.9 per cent to N2.3 million from N4.5 million, while the number of deals increased by 84.6 per cent to 24 deals from 13 deals.

When the bourse closed for the day, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc was the stock with the highest trading volume (year-to-date) with 25.3 million units valued at N5.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.1 million units sold for N44.0 million, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 4.1 million units worth N162.9 million.

By value, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc topped the activity chart after selling 4.1 million units worth N162.9 million, trailed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.1 million units sold for N44.0 million, and 11 Plc with 55,358 valued at N14.5 million.