Economy
Lagos Now Foreign Investment Hub—Ambode
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State has disclosed that the reforms initiated by his administration in critical sectors are already yielding positive results, adding that the state has so far received more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the last 16 months than what was achieved in the last 10 years.
Speaking on Thursday at the maiden edition of Lagos Global on TV, a programme designed to inform Nigerians on the giant strides of the state government at driving investment and facilitating ease of doing business in Lagos, the Governor said his administration had remained committed to creating an enabling environment for investment to thrive, saying that the resolve informed the various reforms introduced.
Mr Ambode, who reiterated the vision of his administration to make Lagos safer, cleaner and more prosperous for the people, said over the past 16 months, the administration has operated on a tripod which is security, job creation and infrastructure renewal.
According to him, “When I won the election, one of my priorities was to see how to improve on the ease of doing business in Lagos and I also believe that we needed to carry out some kind of public sector reforms to drive the vision which we had actually set for ourselves and we needed to also have a kind of structure and institutional framework that would drive the vision.
“The vision is very simple: we want a safer, cleaner and a more prosperous Lagos and one of the structures would be if we want to tackle the issue of bureaucracy in the civil service, we needed to have a 24/7 one-stop shop office where we can drive investment especially where our businessmen can actually walk into and get everything that they need. In going about that, we decided to come up with the office of Oversees Affairs and Investment, otherwise known as Lagos Global.”
Giving further insight to the essence of the office, the Governor said Lagos Global was specifically designed to serve as one-stop shop to facilitate investment both from within and outside the country, adding that the state is willing and ready to partner with any investor once such investor is ready to add value to the State and the people.
Speaking on some of the reforms, he said his government invested massively to improve the security structure, thus facilitating more investment which according to him, has created more job opportunities for the people, while revenues generated has been judiciously utilised to embark on infrastructure renewal across the state.
Giving an instance, he said the reforms in the transport sector have brought about reduction in travel time, which has made Lagosians to be more productive and improve service delivery to the people.
“Take for example the issue of our judicial and security sector reform. We have been having the rule of law properly upheld in the state in the last 16 months and when you put all the reforms together, that is the main thrust of what you can now say confidently that we have created an enabling environment for investors and they are now coming into Lagos in droves. The FDI that we have put into Lagos in the last 16 months is greater than what we have been having in the last 10 years,” Mr Ambode said.
The Governor said that his administration has also deployed technology to bring about seamless service delivery and that the government is working on scaling up the identity card scheme for data, economic and financial planning, aside the N25 billion Employment Trust Fund (ETF) aimed at empowering entrepreneurs.
Earlier, Special Adviser to the Governor on Overseas Affairs and Investments, Professor Ademola Abass, said part of the mandate of his office is to bring in FDI into Lagos and also investment generated within the country.
He said Lagos which has emerged as the fifth largest economy in Africa has a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that is bigger than those of Kenya and Ghana combined.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc and Food Concepts Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.57 per cent on Thursday, November 13.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc dropped N5.95 to N54.00 per share from N59.95 per share and Food Concepts lost 3 Kobo to end at N3.50 per unit compared with the previous day’s N3.53 per unit.
In the ensuing melee, the market capitalisation lost N12.42 billion in value to close at N2.180 trillion compared with the N2.193 trillion it finished a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went down by 20.75 points to 3,644.61 points from 3,665.36 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors plunged by 99.5 per cent to 119,329 units from the previous day’s 22.1 million units, the value of securities slumped by 99.9 per cent to N1.9 million from N1.3 billion, and the number of deals depreciated by 26.3 per cent to 14 deals from 19 deals.
At the close of transactions, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc remained the most traded stock by value with a year-to-date sale of 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.3 million units transacted for N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.4 million units worth N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units traded for N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N419.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with the sale of 536.9 million units for N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Recent foreign exchange (FX) pressure on the Naira eased on Thursday as its against the US Dollar closed stronger in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N1.64 or 0.11 per cent to N1,441.44/$1 from the N1,443.08/$1 it was exchanged a day earlier.
Equally, the Nigerian Naira improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N2.44 to sell for N1,898.96/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,901.40/£1. However, it depreciated against the Euro by 99 Kobo to close at N1,674.96/€1, in contrast to Wednesday’s closing price of N1,673.97/€1.
At the GTBank forex counter, the domestic depreciated against the Dollar yesterday by N3 to settle at N1,450/$1 versus the preceding session’s rate of N1,447/$1, and in the black market, the exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar remained unchanged at N1,455/$1.
The local currency is trying to claw back some losses recorded this week as unmet demand from thin US dollar supply has invited pressure across key segments.
However, positive signals like Nigeria’s gross external reserves rising by more than $30 million day on day to close at $43.427 billion as of November 11, 2025, gives the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) enough power to make significant intervention.
In recent weeks, the apex bank FX injection has been minimal and erratic due to increasing FX inflows from foreign portfolio investors and exporters. FX inflow into currency market has fallen from peaked of $1.37 billion to $899 million.
In the cryptocurrency market, there were significant declines on Thursday as short and long-term investors liquidated their positions. More than $1 billion in leveraged crypto positions were wiped out over 24 hours, with roughly $887 million coming from longs.
Ethereum (ETH) slumped by 10.9 per cent to $3,160.25, Solana (SOL) went south by 10.3 per cent to $140.65, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 9.6 per cent to $0.5146, Ripple (XRP) fell by 9.2 per cent to $2.27, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 8.2 per cent to $0.1620, Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 6.9 per cent to $96,351.91, Binance Coin (BNB) shrank by 6.1 per cent to $909.83, and Litecoin (LTC) went down by 5.4 per cent to $95.57, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil gained on Thursday as investors weighed concerns about global oversupply with looming sanctions against Russia’s Lukoil.
The price of the Brent crude grade chalked up 30 cents or 0.5 per cent to $63.01 a barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude increased by 20 cents or 0.3 per cent to $58.69 a barrel.
The US has imposed sanctions on Lukoil as part of its efforts to bring the Russian government to peace talks with Ukraine. The sanctions prohibit transactions with the Russian company after November 21.
According to JPMorgan, nearly a third of Russia’s current seaborne oil export potential is now stuck in tankers as the US sanctions upend crude flows and Russia’s top buyers, China and India, are still struggling to assess the implications of the sanctions.
“Russia’s oil exports are entering a new phase of disruption as sanctions targeting Rosneft and Lukoil are set to take effect, prompting its two largest customers — India and China — to sharply reduce their December purchases,” the Wall Street bank said in a note.
JPMorgan estimates that as many as 1.4 million barrels per day of Russian crude oil or nearly a third of its exporting potential are on tankers at present, amid re-routing and slowed unloading as buyers are hesitant following the US sanctions on Russia’s top oil producers and exporters, Rosneft and Lukoil.
Also, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed a larger-than-expected rise in US crude stocks, while gasoline and distillate inventories fell less than expected last week. Crude inventories rose by 6.4 million barrels to 427.6 million barrels in the week ended November 7, the EIA said.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said global oil supplies would slightly exceed demand in 2026, a further shift from the group’s earlier projections of a deficit.
It also said it expected the supply surplus next year because of wider production increases by OPEC+, a group of producers that includes OPEC members and allies like Russia.
The International Energy Agency (EIA) raised its global oil supply growth forecasts for this year and next in its monthly oil market report on Thursday, signaling a bigger surplus in 2026.
The US EIA also said in its Short-Term Energy Outlook on Wednesday that U.S. oil production is expected to set a larger record this year than previously forecast.
Global oil inventories will grow through 2026 as production increases faster than demand for petroleum fuels, adding to pressure on oil prices, the EIA added.
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