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
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed flat on Wednesday, August 5, as the market witnessed weaker trading activity with only two deals executed.
In the midweek session, the volume of securities exchanged by investors dropped 99.9 per cent to 802 units from the 1.6 million units recorded on Tuesday. The value of securities further decreased by 99.6 per cent to N208,240 from the preceding session’s N47.6 million, and the number of deals significantly went down by 93.9 per cent to two deals from the 33 deals recorded a day earlier.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 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 Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 76.9 million units transacted for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
There were no price gainers or losers yesterday.
As a result, the market capitalisation stood unmoving at N2.739 trillion, while the NASD Security Index (NSI) remained unchanged at 4,563.96 points.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira slid against the US Dollar by N2.28 or 0.17 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, August 5, to N1,363.85/$1 from N1,362.55/$1.
The local currency also declined against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N5.97 to close at N1,837.38/£1 compared with Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,831.41/£1, and against the Euro, it crashed by N6.54 to quote at N1,575.25/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,568.71/€1.
But at the black market, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the greenback yesterday at N1,400/$1, and also remained unchanged at the GTBank FX desk at N1,373/$1.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says rates have narrowed to below two per cent, while the country’s external reserves have risen above $52.5 billion, reflecting the impact of its ongoing monetary and foreign exchange reforms.
CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso, represented by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed this on Tuesday during the CBN Fair in Gombe. He noted that reforms introduced since 2023 had significantly reduced the disparity between the official FX market and the parallel market.
“The Naira continues to strengthen, with the spread between official and Bureau de Change rates now below two per cent,” he said, adding that reserves at $52.5 billion were supported by sustained inflows and renewed investor confidence in the economy.
Interbank FX transactions slid as weaker market activities dropped total Dollar volume exchanged to $75.35 million, a 51.8 per cent decline from $156.23 million in turnover quoted at the previous close.
The deals at the NFEM window also fell as data from the central bank put Wednesday’s quote at 82 from 139.
In the cryptocurrency market, major were down as global risk sentiment softened as a key world equity index slipped and chipmakers fell.
The MSCI All Country World Index snapped a five-day run to fall 0.2 per cent as chipmakers retreated on both sides of the Pacific. South Korea’s Kospi, a bellwether for the AI trade, dropped 4.4 per cent.
Ripple (XRP) depleted by 1.7 per cent to $1.05, Binance Coin (BNB) decreased by 1.0 per cent to $594.87, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $0.1884, TRON (TRX) shrank by 0.2 per cent to $0.3261, Solana (SOL) crumbled by 0.1 per cent to $74.00, and Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.1 per cent to $0.0697.
On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH) gained 2.3 per cent to trade at $1,911.41, and Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 0.8 per cent to $64,759.28, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The domestic stock exchange rebounded by 0.05 per cent on Wednesday on the back of renewed bargain-hunting by investors, though the level of activity waned.
After bleeding for a few days, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited heaved a sigh of relief yesterday, as the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 109.41 points to close at 244,912.24 points compared with the previous day’s 244,802.83 points, and the market capitalisation garnered N71 billion to settle at N158.087 trillion versus Tuesday’s N158.016 trillion.
Business Post reports that despite the rebound recorded by Customs Street at midweek, the market breadth index remained negative, as there were 20 price advancers and 29 price decliners, implying bearish investor sentiment.
Linkage Assurance appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N1.77, AVA Capital rose by 9.55 per cent to N10.90, Fortis Global Insurance advanced by 7.69 per cent to N2.80, McNichols gained 7.34 per cent to finish at N5.85, and Coronation Insurance surged by 5.51 per cent to N2.49.
Conversely, Honeywell Flour depreciated by 9.94 per cent to N16.30, PZ Cussons gave up 9.94 per cent to trade at N74.75, Zichis crashed by 9.74 per cent to N20.76, Learn Africa slipped by 9.62 per cent to N9.40, and Neimeth tumbled by 8.33 per cent to N8.25.
The busiest equity was FCMB, with a turnover of 369.2 million units valued at N4.1 billion. Chams transacted 46.7 million units worth N201.8 million, First Holdco transacted 43.5 million units for N5.7 billion, Access Holdings sold 29.8 million units worth N778.0 million, and Linkage Assurance exchanged 19.6 million units valued at N33.5 million.
At the close of transactions, market participants bought and sold 824.1 million units worth N25.5 billion in 48,114 deals, in contrast to the 1.6 billion units sold for N28.7 billion in 54,160 deals a day earlier, showing a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 48.49 per cent, 11.15 per cent, and 11.16 per cent, respectively.
