Economy
MIPAD Educates Entrepreneurs Ways to Attract Investors
By Adedapo Adesanya
Capital is an integral part of business and its importance cannot be overlooked in Africa; this is why the Most Influential People of African Descent (MIPAD) has called on entrepreneurs to build their profiles so as to ensure easy access to investors and get opportunities and capital for their businesses.
This call was made by a panel of honourees comprised of Abayomi Awobokun, CEO, ENYO Retail and Supply; Dr. Ola Brown, Managing Director, Flying Doctors Nigeria; Obi Ozor, Managing Director, Kobo 360 (represented by Samuel Riou); Bunmi Akinyemiju, CEO, Venture Garden Group and Ukinebo Dare, Head, Edo State Skills Development Agency (EdoJobs), during the Class of 2019 100 Under 40 event organised by MIPAD, held at the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Friday, 30 August 2019.
Amongst the honourees who made this call was Abayomi Awobokun, during his opening remark at the event informed the audience that MIPAD was focused on changing the narrative about Africa and he encouraged honourees worldwide to leverage this global network to make major changes in the way Africa and Africans are seen by the world.
Supporting this during the panel discussion moderated by Ukinebo Dare, was Bunmi Akinyemiju, CEO, Venture Garden Group, who, speaking on this year’s theme Raising Capital in Africa, said there was a need to drive and encourage a better outlook for business looking for prospective investors in Africa.
He said “Entrepreneurs looking for prospective investors must have a good story, a consistent story that show their promises kept, and not just turning up at the investor’s door with a request for investment.”
Another member of the panel, Dr. Ola Brown, a medical doctor cum venture capitalist and Managing Director of Flying Doctors Nigeria, corrected the preconceived notion held by entrepreneurs about ideas, stating that ideas are not enough to attract investors but also the viability of these ideas in the market.
According to her, “it is true that investors look for those companies that can fill the gaps in the market but they also ensure that there is enough market in the gap to ensure good and timely returns on investment.”
Dr Brown then used the opportunity to call on entrepreneurs to increase the scope of their businesses and social circles to include people with clout and social stature in order to ease their search for investors.
On his own part during the panel discussion, Abayomi Awobokun, another noted that investors are always looking at the market realities and would go for businesses that are poised to maximally exploit these realities.
“You must show the problems they are solving as well as show passion and energy to solve those problems in order to attract investments.” He said.
Awobokun, using his capacity as Chief Executive Officer of ENYO Retail and Supply, listed other factors that brought about desirability to include a dedicated team to scout for investors, entrepreneurial resilience, a long-term investment horizon, the integrity of entrepreneur and in-house of corporate governance structure.
Kamil Olufowobi, Founder & CEO, MIPAD, during his goodwill messages to the 2019 honourees of the group disclosed that these leaders will be representing Nigeria, the largest country in the world of People of African descent, at MIPAD Recognition Week on the side-lines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, slated for September 27th – October 3rd 2019.
“Honourees are decision-makers from over 60 countries worldwide, selected based on their political clout, business acumen, social media following and humanitarian endeavours in support of UN International Decade for People of African Descent (IDPAD) and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” he explained.
Olufowobi also noted at the event which served as the luncheon for the organisation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) platform where its honourees and the global community can discover their primary SDGs numbers.
“We are excited to align all MIPAD honorees with creating social impact because influence can only be understood when it is manifested in making real change and impact in society,”
Olufowobi went on to disclose his primary SDG number is 17 and encouraged others to discover their primary social impact number within the frameworks of UN SDG at sdgs.mipad.org
Another highlight of the occasion was the presentation of a free Ethiopian Airlines ticket to the UNGA in New York City to a lucky winner.
Economy
Tinubu to Present 2025 Budget of N47.9trn to NASS December 17
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
On Tuesday, December 17, 2024, President Bola Tinubu will present the 2025 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly.
The size of the 2025 Appropriation Bill is about N47.9 trillion and would be presented to the parliament for approval.
Speaking at the plenary on Thursday, December 12, 2024, the President of the Senate, Mr Godswill Akpabio, said the presentation by Mr Tinubu would be at the chamber of the House of Representatives.
However, it is not certain if the lawmakers will pass the budget before December 31 to allow for a recent budget cycle of January to December.
Recall that on December 3, the senate approved the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) for 2025 to 2027.
This was after the President presented this the National Assembly on November 19 ahead of the consideration of the 2025 budget proposal.
In the MTEF/FSP, the government said it planned to borrow about N9.22 trillion from local and foreign sources to finance the budget deficit.
It pegged the crude oil benchmark at $75 per barrel and a daily oil production of 2.06 million barrels at an exchange rate of N1,400 to $1, and a targeted gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6.4 percent.
At the plenary today, Mr Akpabio informed his colleagues that, “The President has made his intention known to the National Assembly to present the 2025 budget to the joint session of the National Assembly on December 17, 2024.”
Economy
Nigeria Adds 150,000 b/d Crude Production in November 2024
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria added 150,000 barrels per day to its crude production in November 2024 as it continues to pursue an ambitious 2 million barrels per day target.
According to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Nigeria’s oil production rose to 1.48 million barrels per day in November, up from 1.33 million barrels per day the previous month.
In its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR), OPEC revealed that at 1.48 million barrels per day, it is the continent’s leading oil producer, surpassing Algeria’s 908,000 barrels per day and Congo’s 268,000 barrels per day.
Business Post reports that OPEC doesn’t account for condensates, which Nigeria’s accounts for in its broader 2 million barrels per day target.
Despite the surge in production levels, Nigeria is still under producing its 1.5 million barrels per day output quota under a deal involving OPEC and 10 other producers known as OPEC+.
OPEC said it relied on primary data gotten through direct communication, noting that secondary sources reported 1.417 million barrels per day as Nigeria’s crude production in November — up from 1.4 million barrels per day in October.
The data also shows that OPEC’s total oil production among its 12 members rose by 104,000 barrels per day in the month under review.
According to secondary sources, the total of the 12 OPEC countries’ crude oil production averaged 26.66 million barrels per day in November 2024.
“Crude oil output increased mainly in Libya, Iran, and Nigeria, while production in Iraq, Venezuela, and Kuwait decreased”, OPEC said.
“At the same time, total non-OPEC DoC crude oil production averaged 14.01 mb/d in November 2024, which is 219 tb/d higher, m-o-m. Crude oil output increased mainly in Kazakhstan and Malaysia,” the organisation added.
In a related development, OPEC trimmed its 2024 and 2025 oil demand growth forecasts for the fifth time this year.
Now, the cartel expects the world’s oil demand growth at 1.61 million barrels per day from the previously 1.82 million barrels per day.
For 2025, OPEC says the world oil demand growth forecast is now at 1.45 million barrels per day, a 900,000 barrels per day cut from the previously expected 1.54 million barrels per day.
On the changes, OPEC says that the downgrade for this year owes to more bearish data received in the third quarter of 2024 while the projections for next year relate to the potential impact that will arise from US tariffs.
Economy
Afriland Properties, Geo-Fluids Shrink OTC Securities Exchange by 0.06%
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Afriland Properties Plc and Geo-Fluids Plc crashed the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by a marginal 0.06 per cent on Wednesday, December 11 due to profit-taking activities.
The OTC securities exchange experienced a downfall at midweek despite UBN Property Plc posting a price appreciation of 17 Kobo to close at N1.96 per share, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing price of N1.79.
Business Post reports that Afriland Properties Plc slid by N1.14 to finish at N15.80 per unit versus the preceding day’s N16.94 per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc declined by 1 Kobo to trade at N3.92 per share compared with the N3.93 it ended a day earlier.
At the close of transactions, the market capitalisation of the bourse, which measures the total value of securities on the platform, shrank by N650 million to finish at N1.055 trillion compared with the previous day’s N1.056 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went down by 1.86 points to wrap the session at 3,012.50 points compared with 3,014.36 points recorded in the previous session.
The alternative stock market was busy yesterday as the volume of securities traded by investors soared by 146.9 per cent to 5.9 million units from 2.4 million units, as the value of shares transacted by the market participants jumped by 360.9 per cent to N22.5 million from N4.9 million, and the number of deals increased by 50 per cent to 21 deals from 14 deals.
When the bourse closed for the day, Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units valued at N3.9 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units worth N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc 297.5 million units sold for N5.3 million.
Also, Aradel Holdings Plc, which is now listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited after its exit from NASD, remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units sold for N89.2 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.5 million units worth N5.3 billion.
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