Economy
LCCI Predicts 4% GDP Growth For 2024 Amid Economic Challenges
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) foresees Nigeria’s economy closing the current year in positive growth up to 4 per cent.
This was disclosed by the president of the chamber, Mr Gabriel Idahosa, at the organisation’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday in Lagos.
The LCCI forecast builds up on recent gross domestic product (GDP) released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which points out that Nigeria’s economy grew 3.46 per cent in the third quarter of 2024.
The body said achieving faster recovery requires the fiscal and monetary sides of the economy to promote policies that would encourage private capital flows to the economy.
According to him, fiscal and monetary authorities need to develop a medium-term growth plan anchored on boosting local production, supporting ease of doing business and attracting private investment.
Mr Idahosa said the plan should also focus on developing infrastructure, business-friendly regulatory policies, economic diversification, and employment generation.
“Nigeria is presently confronted with a myriad of challenges including sustained double-digit inflation, a steadily rising debt profile, revenue mobilisation challenges and others.
“We have advocated for a well-coordinated synergy between the fiscal and monetary authorities in engagement with the private sector to navigate the uncertain economic terrain.
“We will continue to engage with government in creating an enabling business environment where the private sector is empowered to grow, create jobs and generate revenue for the government,” he said.
Addressing some economic indices, the LCCI president noted that the private sector was currently plagued with increased borrowing costs and a pressured foreign exchange market.
He said recent hikes in the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) had directly translated to higher interest rates, making it more expensive for businesses to access credit for working capital, expansion, and sustainability.
He said that rate hikes alone would not curb inflation without resolving the challenges of the real sector of the economy.
Mr Idahosa added that the country needed to diversify its exports by boosting local crude refining capacity production of petrochemical products and accelerating reforms in the and gas sector.
“The chamber looks forward to the sustained implementation of naira payments for crude oil sales to the Dangote refinery and other local refineries, which started on October 1, 2024.
“We urge the government to summon the courage to be consistent with the oil and gas sector reforms and implement the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) fully.
“We see the long-term gains of these reforms if they are implemented under a conducive regulatory environment,” he said.
Speaking on the projected N47.9 trillion 2025 budget presented recently by President Bola Tinubu, Mr Idahosa said the key parameters and assumptions on which the budget was proposed were too optimistic in the face of some economic and social indicators.
On her part, Mrs Chinyere Almona, Director General, LCCI, urged government to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive to enhance their productivity and contribute more meaningfully to the economy.
She noted that while the year was filled with very difficult reforms, businesses should stay the course on these reforms and things would improve.
Mrs Almona urged businesses to think of alternatives to improve efficiency, attract finance and be more productive, while hoping for the next year to be better.
She also called on authorities to focus on non-oil exports to attract more foreign exchange.
“When we talk of exports, we are not just talking of exporting raw materials but processing materials to command top dollar in the export market.
“At the chamber, we are looking for ways to improve our export and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) groups to improve their capacity and productivity to export more, ” she said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Mr Adeola Olamilekan, has confirmed January 31, 2025, as a provisional date for the passage of Nigeria’s 2025 budget as the committee prepares to begin budget defence today (Tuesday).
He made this disclosure on Monday during a meeting with the chairmen of relevant committees on the template for the 2025 Budget Defence Session to guide the budget process towards its eventual signing into law.
Mr Olamilekan further revealed that upon the resumption of plenary by January 14, 2025, the Senate would immediately commence a two-week break for the seamless continuation of the budget defence process.
He equally revealed a planned retreat on Thursday on the budget consideration which will involve ministries, departments and agencies, civil society organisations, and other stakeholders in the polity for further consultation and insight into the content of the budget proposal.
According to the timetable, from January 15 to 18, the committees are expected to submit reports of their documents, after which collation and tiding of documents by the Appropriation Committee.
Acknowledging the limited timeframe, Mr Olamilekan emphasised the need for lawmakers to intensify their efforts, urging his colleagues to forgo their holidays and begin immediate work on the proposed budget estimate, underscoring the importance of timely and efficient handling of the budget process within the stipulated timeframe.
In a related development, the House of Representatives is to commence the defence for the 2025 appropriation bill by Ministries Departments and Agencies on Tuesday.
The chairman House Committee on Appropriation, Mr Abubakar Bichi, revealed this on Monday after a meeting with chairmen of statutory committees at the House of Representatives.
President Bola Tinubu on December 18, 2024 presented the N49.7 trillion Budget Proposal for 2025 before a joint session of the National Assembly, with security and defence, infrastructure, health and education topping the allocations.
The President listed some of the highlights of the budget as defence and security – N4.91 trillion, infrastructure – N4.06 trillion, health – N2.4 trillion, education – N3.5 trillion, among others.
The budget will likely cross N50 trillion upon review by the National Assembly, making it the largest yet the country has ever had since self rule began in 1960.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended with a 0.92 per cent growth on Monday, January 6 as investors rebalance their portfolios.
Five stocks trading at Nigeria’s OTC securities exchange influenced the positive outcome yesterday, with the value of the bourse growing by N9.58 billion to N1.056 trillion from the N1.046 trillion it ended last Friday.
In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased at the close of business by 27.95 points to 3,080.29 points from the 3,052.34 points recorded at the previous session.
11 Plc jumped during the day by N23.21 to N255.31 per share from N232.10 per share, Acorn Petroleum Plc expanded by 14 Kobo to sell at N1.54 per unit versus N1.40 per unit, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc went up by 2 Kobo to settle at 22 Kobo per share compared with the preceding day’s 20 Kobo per share, Afriland Properties Plc added 13 Kobo to close at N16.12 per unit versus N15.99 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc chalked up 24 Kobo to quote at N40.00 per share, in contrast to last Friday’s N39.76 per share.
On Monday, the volume of securities traded by investors went down by 83.7 per cent to 1.8 million units from 11.3 million units, and the value of shares traded yesterday depreciated by 63.5 per cent to N20.7 million from the N56.8 million recorded in the preceding session, but the number of deals increased by 7.4 per cent to 29 deals from 27 deals.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc was the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 1.8 million units worth N72.4 million, followed by 11 Plc with 12,963 units valued at N3.2 million, and IGI Plc with 10.7 million units sold for N2.1 million.
IGI Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 10.6 million units sold for N2.1 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 1.8 million units valued at N72.4 million, and Acorn Petroleum Plc followed with 1.2 million units worth N1.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira recorded a 0.16 per cent or N2.53 depreciation on the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, January 6 to close at N1,536.58/$1 compared with last Friday’s price of N1,534.05/$1.
However, in the same market segment, which is the official market, the domestic currency traded flat against the British Pound Sterling and the Euro during the trading session at N1,902.55/£1 and N1,579.52/€1, respectively.
It was a similar scenario in the parallel market yesterday, where the Naira value remained unchanged against the greenback at N1,655/$1 as the market was able to soak forex demand pressure for now.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was positive on Monday as most of the tokens tracked by this newspaper turned green as anticipation of Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president is building bullish sentiment for Bitcoin (BTC) and the broader crypto market.
Mr Trump’s expected crypto policies and broader economic plans have brought back positive sentiment among traders — bumping up crypto prices.
Market analysts added that market volatility is expected to stay low until the US Nonfarm payrolls (NFP) report is released on Friday, which some believe will kick-start the new trading year with decision-makers fully back at work.
BTC gained 2.5 per cent during the session to sell at $101,864.32, Binance Coin (BNB) also appreciated by 2.5 per cent to close at $730.65, Ripple (XRP) increased its value by 1.4 per cent to $2.43, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 1.2 per cent to settle at $0.3907, Solana (SOL) recorded a 0.9 per cent growth to trade at $216.30, Cardano jumped by 0.7 per cent to end at $1.09, and Ethereum (ETH) expanded by 0.2 per cent to $3,673.05.
But the price of Litecoin (LTC) went down on Monday by 1.5 per cent to close at $112.92, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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