Intensifying Russia-Ukraine Conflict Pushes Oil Prices Higher

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil slumped by more than 2 per cent on Friday as traders showed scepticism about the depth of supply cuts by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) as well as concerns about sluggish global manufacturing activity. Brent crude went down by $1.98 or 2.45 per cent to close at $78.88 a barrel as the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped $1.89 or 2.49 per cent to sell for $74.07 a barrel. For the week, Brent posted a decline of about 2.1 per cent, while WTI lost more than 1.9 per cent.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Taxpayers, including organisations and individuals, who are yet to pay their outstanding taxes, will not pay penalties and interests if they make the payments on or before December 31, 2023. This tax default forgiveness was given by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), which explained that it created this window in “recognition of the challenges that many taxpayers have faced in settling their outstanding tax liabilities.” However, it stressed that if the full principal payment is not done before the deadline, defaulters would be forced to pay the outstanding tax liabilities. The Chairman of the FIRS, Mr

By Adedapo Adesanya Bitmama Incorporated, a crypto exchange company, has confirmed the acquisition of Payday, a virtual card service provider. According to reports, the chief executive of Bitmama, Mrs Ruth Iselema, has offered PayDay investors $1 million worth of equity in the crypto company at a $30 million valuation. The news comes barely nine months after Payday announced its $3 million seed round and three months after its exploration of sale options was confirmed. Facilitated through Bitmama’s cross-border payments product, Changera, the acquisition marks a pivotal shift from earlier speculations, including a potential acquisition by lead investor, Moniepoint. Changera is

By Dipo Olowookere In one week, investors bought and sold 2.543 billion shares worth N38.644 billion in 36,138 deals on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited. In the preceding trading week, a total of 2.425 billion shares valued at N22.665 billion were transacted by investors in 33,230 deals. It was observed that financial stocks led the activity chart as usual with 1.721 billion units worth N18.281 billion in 17,151 deals, contributing 67.68 per cent and 47.30 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively. Conglomerates equities trailed with 200.584 million units valued at N1.546 billion in

By Otori Emmanuel Change is constant. Private individuals and businesses experience this phenomenon. A disrupted environment is an atmosphere where unexpected events occur in a way that influences processes and procedures. Disruption could be positive or negative. For instance, an influence in marketing that led to tremendous sales is a disruption with a positive impact. Disruption can occur at any phase of a business. By the idea of disruption, a company will not be able to compete with rivals during the transition if sound plans and strategies are not in place. The global pandemic of 2020 increased the need for

**Orders Banks to Create App to Track Customers’ Request Status By Sodeinde Temidayo David The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed all Depositors Money Bank (DMBs) operating in the country to create an electronic application and alert system aimed to inform customers on the status of their foreign exchange (FX) requests as it also warned them against diversion of forex. This directive was given by the apex bank in a circular dated Wednesday, July 28, 2021, and signed by the Director of Banking Supervision Department, Mr Haruna Mustafa. This followed the decision of the CBN to stop the sales

By Dipo Olowookere Latest data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has shown that the country’s foreign reserves have depreciated to $46.86 billion. This was the amount left in the nation’s external purse as at Monday, August 6, 2018. Business Post gathered that the reserves depreciated to this level from $47 million as at Friday, August 3, 2018. There had been a free-fall in the external reserves in recent times with price of crude oil, Nigeria’s major source of forex earnings, relatively stable around $74 per barrel at the global market. Business Post reports further that as at August

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited recorded a 1.61 per cent growth last week, triggered by gains posted by 42 equities, higher than the 33 equities that closed on the gainers’ chart a week earlier. In the five-day trading week, University Press was the best-performing stock, rising by 28.46 per cent to settle at N1.58. FBN Holdings appreciated by 21.74 per cent to N9.80, Courtville rose by 17.14 per cent to 41 kobo, Ecobank gained 16.67 per cent to sell for N6.30, while Pharma Deko grew by 10.64 per cent to N2.60. During the week, a total of

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Acting President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo, has called on Nigerians, both leaders and followers, to be ready to make sacrifice for the country’s greatness. According to the Acting President, Nigeria needs those who can make the risk everything to make it great and not those who want its downfall. Mr Osinbajo, speaking on Sunday at the 2017 Democracy Day interdenominational church service held at the National Christian Centre, explained that these sacrifices could come in different forms. After narrating the story of the Good Samaritan in the Bible, the Acting President asked, “Who truly loves the nation, is

By Adedapo Adesanya The promise by President Bola Tinubu that Nigeria was expecting inflows of $10 billion in the coming weeks to ease tensions in the foreign exchange (FX) market could not save the Naira from further decline in the parallel market on Monday. The local currency lost N77 against the United States Dollar in the black market yesterday to sell at N1,230/$1 compared with last Friday’s exchange rate of N1,153/$1. At intraday, the Nigerian currency was exchanging against the Dollar on the streets at N1,220/$1 but things later got worse after the news of the expected $10 billion inflows.

By Adedapo Adesanya Milwaukee Bucks secured their first NBA championship in 50 years on Wednesday morning against the Phoenix Suns following a 105 – 98 win. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 50 points as the Bucks claimed their first NBA title since 1971, landing a 4-2 series win in front of a 20,000 crowd. They become only the fifth team to win the best-of-seven finals series after losing their first two matches. The Suns were seeking their first NBA crown in their 53-year history, having also lost the NBA Finals series in 1976 and 1993. Antetokounmpo, born in Greece with Nigerian ancestry,

By Dipo Olowookere Owners of Small and Medium-Scaled Enterprises (SMEs) in the export industry have been advised to take advantage of the N550 billion export facilities under the care of the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) to grow their businesses. Managing Director of NEXIM Bank, Mr Abba Bello, explained that the amount was set aside to redress the declining export credit to SMEs and reposition the non-oil sector to increase its contribution to the country’s revenue generation and economic development. According to him, the improved export financing for non-oil exporters will enable them to upscale and expand their businesses and improve