Market Cap of NASD Exchange Gains N11.43bn to Reach N541.19bn

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil prices fell by 1 per cent on Wednesday after the US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, as widely expected. Brent futures fell 81 cents or 0.9 per cent to settle at $93.53 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) fell by 92 cents or 1.0 per cent to trade at $90.28 per barrel. Wednesday’s decision means the benchmark short-term interest rate will remain at 5.25 per cent to 5.5 per cent, a 22-year high. This is only the second time since March 2022 that the US central bank meetings have concluded without

By Adedapo Adesanya The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has postponed the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting scheduled to hold next week. In a statement, the apex bank noted that the MPC meeting, which was supposed to take place on Monday, September 25 and Tuesday, September 26, 2023, has been postponed until further notice. This is coming less than a week after President Bola Tinubu nominated Mr Olayemi Michael Cardoso to take over the role from Mr Folashodun Shonubi, who is filling the role following the ousting of Mr Godwin Emefiele, who is currently held in the custody of the

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited witnessed a pullback of 0.03 per cent on Wednesday after investors took a second look at their exposure to local equities, though as some were dumping, a few were mopping up. According to data obtained by Business Post, traders bought and sold 566.6 million shares worth N5.4 billion during the trading session in 8,201 deals compared with the 676.7 million shares valued at N5.9 billion traded in 7,659 deals on Tuesday, implying a rise in the number of deals by 7.08 per cent and a decline in the trading volume and value

By Adedapo Adesanya The Dangote Group Executive, Mr Devakumar Edwin, has said that the Dangote Refinery will not rely solely on Nigerian crude for its operations. This was one of the points made by the official as he gave a detailed production timeline that shed light on crude and product flows as well as delays on the 10-year project to S&P Global Commodity Insights. The company had announced that it would begin producing up to 370,000 barrels per day of diesel and jet fuel in October and gradually reach 650,000 barrels per day by November. The $19.5 billion refinery, which

By Dipo Olowookere The equity market in Nigeria further depreciated on Thursday by 0.79 per cent as investors await a trigger that would spur them to develop an appetite for the volatile investment tool. Yesterday, it was observed that investors’ apathy for stocks dwindled, though the activity chart showed an improvement in the level of transactions, it was still below the normal daily average. For now, traders are taking profit, especially on Oando, which has seen a significant rise in its value in the past few days, and this is weighing on the market. At the close of business on

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A recent survey conducted by WorldWideWorx and commissioned by a global technology company, Zoho, has revealed that 70 per cent of Nigerian businesses are unaware of privacy laws governing their marketing activities. This is despite the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) being in effect since 2019. The survey also revealed that even though businesses are concerned about the privacy of customer’s data in the hands of third-party vendors, they are reliant on them for revenue generation and gathering customer insights. This makes it harder for them to move away. The CEO of WorldWideWorx, Mr Arthur Goldstuck, said

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has disclosed that Federal Government will not in any way increase electricity tariff at the moment. Speaking on Monday at the 6th Presidential Quarterly Business Forum for Private Sector Stakeholders held at the Old Banquet Hall, State House, Abuja, the Vice President said government will only focus for now on how to clean up the entire value chain. However, he noted that paying for higher tariffs was “inevitable,” but government will continue to monitor progress in the power sector. He said Federal Government would work with the World Bank on how to continue

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The federal government has said it would continue to implement the various reforms designed to ensure the prudent management of the nation’s finances. The Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Ahmed Idris, made this promise when he held a meeting with the management of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in Abuja. According to him, the reforms have been yielding results, especially with the Treasury Single Account (TSA), Integrated Payroll and Personnel information system (IPPIS) and the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). He further said, the federal government, in its avowed determination to entrench transparency,

By Adedapo Adesanya Seplat Energy Plc in partnership with Conversations for Change (C4C) has announced the graduation of 15 Fellows from their entrepreneurship programme. The 2021 batch of Fellows have been equipped to begin their businesses, which are expected to grow and flourish as well as provide support to not just them and their families, but also for communities, countries and indeed the world. C4C is a non-profit organisation with the major objective of empowering young people to participate more effectively in all relevant areas of development. Efforts are focused on young people aged 18-40, in the belief that they

By Adedapo Adesanya The Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) has promised to restore electricity to the Agbarho community in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State. This was disclosed by the Head of the Community Relations of BEDC, Mr Simple Ugherakpoteri, at a meeting between the company and leaders of the community. He explained that the prolonged power outage in the community was caused by a heavy downpour that destroyed electric poles. He stated that BEDC’s men were already working and power will be restored immediately they are through. Mr Ugherakpoteri also promised to look into the issue of

By Modupe Gbadeyanka At least 450 graduates have been engaged by the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KGIRS) in a bid to boost the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). Speaking during inauguration of the newly constructed Kogi Revenue House, Executive Chairman of KGIRS, Mr Yakubu Oseni, praised the Governor, Mr Yahaya Bello, for granting the agency full autonomy and also constructing a state-of-the-art revenue house to enhance productivity and efficient service delivery. Mr Oseni pointed out that KGIRS has automated revenue collection processes to block leakages and boost generation. He said further that the agency’s target is to generate enough

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has disclosed that Nigeria lost $1 billion in revenue during the first quarter of this year due to crude oil theft. According to Mr Gbenga Komolafe, the head of the commission, out of the 141 million barrels of oil produced in the first quarter of 2022, only about 132 million barrels of oil were received at export terminals. “This indicates that over nine million barrels of oil were lost to crude oil theft… this amounts to a loss in government revenue of about $1 billion… in just one quarter,” Mr