MOMAN Blames Russian-Ukraine War, Forex Scarcity for Rising Diesel, Jet Fuel Prices

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira recovered from the previous day’s loss after closing stronger against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, December 7, by 11.4 per cent or N108.15 to trade at N843.07/$1 compared with the previous day’s rate of N951.22/$1. This occurred as the value of foreign exchange (FX) transactions slightly increased during the session by $1.67 million or 39.5 per cent to $137.25 million from the $135.58 million achieved in the preceding trading session. Similarly, in the official market, the Nigerian Naira strengthened against the British Pound Sterling on Thursday by

By Adedapo Adesanya  The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that the total value of the country’s merchandise trade experienced an increase of 1 per cent to $7.8 billion in August 2023 from the $7.72 billion that was quoted in July. This was disclosed by the apex bank in its latest monthly economic publication, where it disclosed that despite the rise month-on-month, Nigeria’s merchandise trade value in the period was almost 20 per cent lower compared to the value in August 2022 due to a significant decrease in import trade value. The total merchandise trade comprised an export trade

By Adedapo Adesanya The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to disclose Nigeria’s daily oil production and exports as well as the total amounts of revenue generated from oil since the removal of subsidy on petrol in mid-2023. In a letter dated December 9, 2023, the group asked the chief executive of the NNPC, Mr Mele Kyari, “to disclose how much of the revenues generated from oil have been remitted to the public treasury since the removal of subsidy on petrol.” He was also requested “to disclose details of payment of

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Moody’s outlook on Nigeria has been upgraded from stable to positive after the federal government implemented a few economic reforms. In a statement on Friday, the rating agency said the decisions to remove the costly petrol subsidies, devaluation of the Naira and the unification of the foreign exchange (FX) market were good for the economy. When Mr Bola Tinubu assumed office in May 2023, he announced an end to the payment of subsidies on premium motor spirit (PMS). A month later, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced the unification of the forex market, while the Naira

By Adedapo Adesanya The Chief Executive Officer and founder of Kenyon International West Africa Ltd, Mr Victor Ekpenyong, says the indigenous oil servicing firm has developed a homegrown solution to oil theft and vandalism that is affecting the nation. This is as the oil firm has urged the federal government and oil operators to leverage the expertise of Nigerian firms to check oil theft and increase oil production. Mr Ekpenyong announced that the solution, which the company refers to as Idle Well Management Solution, was currently being deployed in some oil fields and has proved to be cost effective and

By Investors Hub The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Thursday following the mixed performance seen in the previous session. Early buying interest may be generated amid optimism about the outlook for tax reform after Senate Republicans cleared a key procedural hurdle. The Senate voted 52 to 48 along party lines to begin formal debate on the GOP tax reform bill after negotiations convinced Republican holdouts to vote for the legislation. The approval of the procedural motion sets the stage for a final Senate vote on the tax reform bill later this week, although some

By Jerome-Mario Chijioke Utomi In every society where the media is free, the marketplace of ideas is allowed to sort the unaccountable from the responsible and reward the latter. Likewise, the Ahmed Lawan-led 9th National Assembly’s four years reign, which is coming to a close a few days from now, has come under intense public scrutiny. Briefly, Nigerians are particularly not happy that the 9th NASS has, in the past four years, demonstrated no curiosity to find any new legislation that might produce a deeper understanding of the problems and policies that the federal government is supposed to wrestle with

No fewer than 50 entrepreneurs from neighbouring Benin Republic have been empowered by Nigerian business mogul, Mr Tony Elumelu. The empowerment was done through his Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) in partnership with Sèmè City, which boasts as the international knowledge and innovation city. Sèmè City will join a growing list of governments, development agencies and private sector organisations partnering with the Tony Elumelu Foundation to explore the Foundation’s sustainable model of philanthropy geared at addressing the root cause of poverty in Africa while creating jobs and economic wealth for all. As part of the partnership with the Foundation, Sèmè City

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria’s inflation showed no signs of slowing in February amid a cash crunch, as it rose by 21.91 per cent compared to January 2023 headline inflation rate of 21.82 per cent. Looking at the trend, the February 2023 inflation rate showed an increase of 0.09 per cent points when compared to January 2023 headline inflation rate. Similarly, on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.21 per cent higher than the 15.70 per cent achieved in February 2022. This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in February 2023 when compared to the same

By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel Three new categories have been added to the existing 37 award categories of the All African Music Awards (AFRIMA) for the 2021 edition as the submission of entries is set to close on Friday, August 20, 2021. Approved by the International Committee of AFRIMA and The AFRIMA International Jury, the three new categories include Best Soundtrack in a movie/series/documentary film, Best Global Sound, and Breakout Artiste of the Year. The added award titles were selected to recognize, reward and celebrate music works in all aspects, including their application in the movie industry. Announcing the development, Mrs Hadja

By Investors Hub Asian stocks ended on a muted note on Wednesday as worries about global economic growth and uncertainty over U.S.-China trade talks kept investors on the sidelines. Underlying sentiment remained cautious after media reports suggested that the U.S. has rejected China?s offer to hold a preparatory meeting in Washington ahead of next week?s high-level trade talks. However, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told CNBC the two sides were on track to have “very, very important” high-level talks at the end of the month that will be “determinative.” China’s Shanghai Composite Index closed just above the unchanged line amid hopes