Economy
Lagos GDP Now N41trn—Commissioner
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment in Lagos State, Mrs Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, has said the state’s gross domestic product (GDP) has grown from N27 trillion to N41 trillion within five years under the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Mrs Ambrose-Medebem made this claim while speaking at the third edition of the Africa Social Impact Summit (ASIS 3.0) organised by Sterling One Foundation in collaboration with her ministry.
At the event themed Invest Lagos–Investment Opportunities, she said the metropolis, as the nation’s commercial nerve centre, had been a beacon of economic activities, driven by a commitment to fostering a conducive environment for business and investment.
She stressed that the state had made progress in creating a business-friendly environment, noting that reforms aimed at streamlining processes, improving regulatory procedures, reducing bureaucratic bottlenecks and promoting entrepreneurship have been implemented.
“Lagos had made significant strides in diversifying its economy with strategic investments in various sectors, including allocating N550.7 billion to expand sustainable physical infrastructure in 2024 alone.
“We have consistently focused on boosting agriculture as a cornerstone of our economic diversification strategy, committing N44.33 billion to food security initiatives in cattle feedlot projects, fish processing, and wholesale produce hubs in communities.
“Lagos continues to lead in promoting Ease of Doing Business, which has positioned the state as a global city and an emerging African Financial Centre. Under the World Bank’s Subnational Doing Business Report and the State Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER) programme, Lagos has met all parameters and qualified for the first phase of the initiative.
“The state is committed to further reforms that increase the transparency of official fees, improve investment promotion environments, and enhance land administration processes,” the Commissioner said.
The Governor, who was also at the programme with his cabinet, reeled out new investment focus and areas of opportunities to potential investors.
He projected a positive economic outlook, given its expanding population and development of sustainable infrastructure to drive growth despite the current harsh macroeconomic environment in the country.
Mr Sanwo-Olu said his government had been proactive in implementing business-friendly regulations and constantly reviewing Ease of Doing Business policies to lessen challenges associated with new business registration and obtaining permits.
“For us in Lagos, we have sustained a consistent growth in our investment profile. The minimum we can do is to take the growth to another level and ensure that the gains of the past years are not reversed.
“In the last five years, Lagos’s GDP has grown by 50 per cent despite the difficult economic conditions Lagos has faced. Our economy has demonstrated remarkable resilience.
“This new conversation with the investment community is necessary to de-risk issues while providing an enabling environment and assurance to address what could be investors’ major concern in committing their investments here. Whatever the size of the investment injected into Lagos, we will play our role as a state government to ensure that these efforts are guaranteed returns and security,” he said.
Mr Sanwo-Olu highlighted areas of opportunities to invest, including transportation, tourism, health insurance and waterways, noting that the state government remained committed to pushing forward its ambitious development plans for the listed sectors.
Business Post reports that the forum was held with business leaders, multilateral chambers of commerce, financial services executives and captains of industry in attendance.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude oil went down on Tuesday after a projection showed steady demand in the world’s largest oil producer, the United States, for 2025, Brent futures declining by $1.09 or 1.35 per cent to settle at $79.92 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude losing $1.32 or 1.67 per cent to finish at $77.50 a barrel.
On Tuesday, the US Energy Information Administration said the country’s oil demand would remain steady at 20.5 million barrels per day in 2025 and 2026, with domestic oil output rising to 13.55 million barrels per day, an increase from the agency’s previous forecast of 13.52 million barrels per day for this year.
Also, the oil market shrank a few days after prices gained following new US sanctions on Russian oil exports to India and China.
On Monday, prices jumped 2 per cent after the US Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions on Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas as well as 183 vessels that transport oil as part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of tankers.
Analysts say this move could have a significant price impact on Russian oil supplies from the fresh sanctions, however, their effect on the physical market could be less pronounced than what the affected volumes might suggest.
ING analysts estimated the new sanctions had the potential to erase the entire 700,000 barrels per day surplus they had forecast for this year, but said the real impact could be lower.
Uncertainty about demand from China, the world’s largest oil importer, could impact tighter supply this year.
China’s crude oil imports fell in 2024 for the first time in two decades outside of the COVID-19 pandemic, official data showed on Monday.
Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the US fell by 2.6 million barrels for the week ending January 10.
For the week prior, the API reported a draw of 4.022 million barrels in US crude oil inventories amid build season, while product inventories saw a hefty build.
In 2024, crude oil inventories dropped by more than 12 million barrels, according to the API’s inventory data. In the first few weeks of 2025, crude inventories have shed more than 6.6 million barrels.
Official data from the US EIA will be due later on Wednesday, confirming the actual level of stockpiles.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited came under heavy selling pressure on Tuesday, going down by 1.66 per cent as investors embarked on profit-taking after most stocks on the trading platform gained in the past few trading sessions.
It was observed that the industrial goods sector was the most affected yesterday as it went down by 4.99 per cent due to the decline suffered by Dangote Cement and others.
The insurance continued its downward trend during the day as it lost 2.80 per cent, the consumer goods counter fell by 0.27 per cent, and the banking index shed 0.10 per cent, while the energy sector appreciated by 0.29 per cent.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) deflated by 1,745.16 points to settle at 103,622.09 points compared with the previous trading day’s 105,367.25 points and the market capitalisation moderated by N1.1 trillion to finish at N63.188 trillion versus Monday’s N64.252 trillion.
Business Post reports that investor sentiment remained weak on Tuesday after the bourse ended with 41 depreciating equities and 23 appreciating equities, representing a negative market breadth index.
Honeywell Flour lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N9.54, Dangote Cement declined by 9.98 per cent to N431.00, Julius Berger crashed by 9.98 per cent to N139.80, Sovereign Trust Insurance decreased by 9.68 per cent to N1.12, and Prestige Assurance tumbled by 9.30 per cent to N1.17.
On the flip side, Northern Nigerian Flour Mills appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N45.10, Livestock Feeds grew by 9.91 per cent to N6.10, Academy Press expanded by 9.90 per cent to N3.22, University Press increased by 9.82 per cent to N4.81, and Neimeth gained 9.76 per cent to quote at N3.15.
During the session, market participants bought and sold 503.3 million shares valued at N12.6 billion in 12,900 deals compared with the 505.8 million shares worth N8.1 billion traded in 14,259 deals a day earlier, indicating a rise in the trading value by 55.56 per cent and a drop in the trading volume and number of deals by 0.49 per cent and 9.53 per cent, respectively.
The most active stock for the session was GTCO with 54.4 million units worth N3.2 billion, Nigerian Breweries transacted 32.2 million units for N1.0 billion, Universal Insurance traded 30.8 million units valued at N22.6 million, AIICO Insurance exchanged 26.6 million units worth N47.2 million, and Chams transacted 20.0 million units valued at N40.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government is offering two new savings bonds with interest rates between 17 and 18 per cent through the Debt Management Office (DMO).
In a statement by the agency, the country said retail investors can purchase the two-year bond maturing in January 2027 at 17.23 per cent interest, while the three-year paper maturing in January 2028 at a coupon rate of 18.23 per cent.
Bonds are very safe financial instrument that serve as investments because they are backed by the federal government, which promises to pay back the money.
According to the DMO, people can buy these bonds starting January 13, 2025, until January 17, 2025, with allotment expected on January 22, 2025, and the interest to be paid to investors every three months – in April, July, October, and January.
These bonds have some special features. They are tax-free under both company and personal tax laws.
Big investors like pension funds and trustees are allowed to buy them and each bond costs N1,000 each.
However, interested investor can only buy at least N5,000 worth, and can’t buy more than N50 million.
This comes after the Ms Patience Oniha-led debt office said the Nigerian government was offering three bonds worth N150 billion in September 2024.
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