Economy
Lord’s London Dry Gin Honours Nigerian Innovators
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
On Saturday, March 26, 2022, one of the leading premium spirit brands, Lord’s London Dry Gin, rolled out the drums to celebrate Nigerian innovators.
The impact makers were honoured amid pomp and pageantry at the Landmark Event Centre, Lagos at the fourth edition of the Lord’s Achievers Awards.
“Since the establishment of the Lord’s Achievers Awards in 2018, we have worked towards the vision with doggedness, birthing a platform that helps us to fulfil our desire to celebrate the journey towards success and every achievement along the way.
“Today, we recognise young, exceptional, and outstanding people who have recorded notable success and kindled within us a desire to contribute to national socio-economic development,” the General Manager, Marketing at Grand Oak Limited, Mr Stanley Obi, stated.
It was gathered that this year’s event themed The Bold and Audacious was to recognise and celebrate young and exceptional Nigerians between the ages of 25 and 40, who have recorded notable success in their chosen endeavours.
Mr Obi, while explaining the criteria for being nominated and chosen as a Lord’s Achiever, said, “A Lord’s Achiever is young and vibrant, bold and audacious with their ideas, confident and unflinching in their resolve to develop innovative solutions.
“They are deliberate about impact, outstanding and exemplary in leadership. In choosing each honouree, we consider the following: reach and scope of their work; duration since they commenced the work or initiative; and the potential for scale and future impact on wider socio-economic outcomes.
“With the increasing brain-drain in Africa, we are especially proud of the strength and resilience of these individuals we honour today.”
On his part, the Category Manager, Schnapps, Gin & Bitters at Grand Oak Limited (GOL), Mr Tony Ogbonna, expressed the brand’s gratitude to the honourees, resource partners, fans and their entire team.
“This evening could not have been a success without our special guests, tonight’s honourees, lovers of Lord’s London Dry Gin and our partners.
“This fourth edition of the Lord’s Achievers Award is a milestone that has strengthened our resolve to keep the momentum and commitment to celebrating the successes of our people. More importantly, we recognise the importance for the younger generation who look up to these achievers and need to understand that there is no limit if we can only believe,” he said.
The beneficiaries for this year cut across all segments of the Nigerian ecosystem, including Finance: Tosin Olasiende, the founder/CEO of Ladda and Money Africa, a platform that enhances financial literacy and investments leveraging technology; Tech: Akintola Adensami, co-founder and CEO at Spleet Africa, a property tech solutions company whose work realises a basic amenity needed by all, Shelter; Science: Bukola Bolarinwa, founder of Haima Health, Nigeria’s first online and mobile blood bank revolutionising the country’s blood supply system; and Arts: Dapo Adedeji (DapoKing), a visual storyteller whose visual works help bring awareness to vulnerable groups.
Others were Agriculture: Jennifer Onyebuagu, the co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Voriancorelli, which aims to solve food insecurity by bridging the gap between actors in the agricultural value chain; Fashion and Lifestyle: Ore Runsewe, founder of Arami Essentials, a beauty brand centred on beauty with integrity and encouraging people to make better decisions for their body, being mindful of it as a sacred place; Literature: Sarah Aluko, a Nigerian-British author and poet whose poetry speaks about womanhood, being black, love and loss; Social Development: Wilson Atumeyi, the founder and CEO of Water With Development (WaterWide), a non-profit organisation that solves water sanitation and hygiene-related issues for vulnerable communities; Start up: Maya Horgan Famodu, MD at Ingressive Capital, a $10 million VC fund targeting early-stage startups across Sub-Saharan Africa’s key tech markets; and Entertainment: Tomike Adeoye, an award-winning TV and radio presenter, brand influencer, actress, and on-air-personality.
By Adedapo Adesanya
A 0.91 per cent growth was recorded by the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Friday, May 22, after the share prices of four securities ended in green.
According to data, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc went up by N15.61 to N179.67 per share from N164.06 per share, Newrest Asl Plc grew by N6.11 to N67.26 per unit from N61.15 per unit, Food Concepts Plc appreciated by 17 Kobo to N2.75 per share from N2.58 per share, and Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc added 6 Kobo to sell at N25.50 per unit compared with the previous day’s N25.44 per unit.
At the close of business, the market capitalisation chalked up N23.22 billion to settle at N2.561 trillion versus Thursday’s N2.538 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased by 38.81 points to 4,281.28 points from 4,242.47 points.
During the session, the price of Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc was down by N3.13 to N71.07 per share from N74.20 per share.
The activity chart showed that the volume of securities transacted by the market participants decreased yesterday by 81.6 per cent to 590,339 units from the 3.2 million units recorded on Thursday, as the number of deals shrank by 28.6 per cent to 30 deals from the 42 deals recorded a day earlier, while the value of securities increased by 0.5 per cent to N95.3 million from the preceding session’s N94.8 million.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc closed the day as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 61.2 million units traded for N4.1 billion.
The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was GNI Plc, with the sale of 3.4 billion units for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange witnessed a decline in transactions on Friday despite closing higher by 0.22 per cent on the back of sustained bargain-hunting.
During the last trading session of the week, investors transacted 711.9 million equities valued at N29.1 billion in 62,386 deals compared with the 1.1 billion equities worth N31.0 billion traded in 62,448 deals in the previous day, indicating a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 35.28 per cent, 6.13 per cent, and 0.10 per cent, respectively.
Fidelity Bank closed the day as the most active stock with the sale of 198.1 million units for N4.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 69.7 million units worth N1.8 billion, Mutual Benefits exchanged 42.7 million units valued at N197.4 million, Japaul transacted 33.9 million units worth N134.4 million, and Zenith Bank sold 24.4 million units valued at N3.2 billion.
Yesterday, the industrial goods index rose by 0.53 per cent, the consumer goods sector jumped 0.28 per cent, the banking industry improved by 0.25 per cent, and the energy counter soared by 0.18 per cent, while the insurance space shed 0.18 per cent.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 536.98 points to finish at 249,712.37 points compared with the previous day’s 249,175.39 points, and the market capitalisation grew by N344 billion to N160.077 trillion from N159.733 trillion.
Aluminium Extrusion and DAAR Communications expanded by 10.00 per cent each to sell for N9.90 and N2.09, respectively, RT Briscoe surged by 9.93 per cent to N14.06, Learn Africa increased by 9.79 per cent to N12.90, and Red Star Express advanced by 9.56 per cent to N34.95.
On the flip side, Trans-Nationwide Express depreciated by 9.92 per cent to N5.72, Livestock Feeds dipped by 9.64 per cent to N8.90, The Initiates crashed by 8.65 per cent to N33.80, Ellah Lakes drowned by 8.64 per cent to N10.05, and Neimeth lost 6.36 per cent to trade at N10.30.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira weakened against the United States Dollar by N3.15 or 0.23 per cent to N1,375.46/$1 from N1,372.31/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, May 22.
It was also a similar situation for the domestic currency against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday, as it lost N9.46 to sell for N1,849.72/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,840.26/£1, and against the Euro, it depreciated by N6.26 to close at N1,597.04/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s exchange rate of N1,590.78/€1.
At the GTBank FX desk, the Nigerian Naira tumbled against the Dollar during the session by N2 to trade at N1,381/$1 versus the previous day’s N1,379/$1, and at the parallel market, it remained unchanged at N1,390/$1.
Analysts at Cowry Asset Management Limited, in their weekly financial outlook, have projected the Naira will remain under soft pressure in near term due to continuous FX demand.
“Looking ahead, the Naira may remain under mild pressure in the near term due to persistent FX demand, though rising external reserves could help cushion volatility,” they noted.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) this week reiterated that it would continue with its current policy direction to sustain the fight against inflation and stabilise the exchange rate.
This comes as the FX market has changed significantly under the ongoing reforms introduced by the apex bank, with increased market liquidity reducing the need for heavy intervention by the CBN. Its intervention currently accounts for only about 1.2 to 1.3 per cent of total market turnover in 2025, a development he said reflects the growing strength of the market.
Turnover has risen sharply from about $100 million in 2023 to roughly $550 million presently, with transactions occasionally climbing to as high as $1 billion in a single day.
A look at the cryptocurrency market showed that it was down on Friday as Mr Kevin Warsh was sworn in by President Donald Trump as the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, replacing Mr Jerome Powell, who will continue as a governor in the US central bank.
The appointment was made in the hope that he would lead the central bank to cut interest rates, but the Iran war has sent oil prices soaring and re-ignited what had been cooling inflation.
Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 5.5 per cent to $2,010.90, Dogecoin (DOGE) lost 5.2 per cent to trade at $0.1001, Cardano (ADA) fell by 5.0 per cent to $0.2389, Solana (SOL) slipped by 4.9 per cent to $82.69, and Bitcoin (BTC) slid by 3.3 per cent to $74,950.02.
Further, Ripple (XRP) went down by 2.9 per cent to $1.32, Binance Coin (BNB) declined by 2.6 per cent to $641.61, and TRON (TRX) shrank by 1.2 per cent to $0.3606, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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