Naira Appreciates 0.04% to N386.94/$1 at I&E

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira started the first trading session in the last month of 2023 on a negative note after it depreciated against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), which is the official FX window, by 11.4 per cent or N94.87 on Friday, December 1, closing at N927.19/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s exchange rate of N832.32/$1. The December rush for forex contributed to the weakening of the domestic currency in the spot market yesterday, as the supply of foreign currency could not meet what customers needed. Data showed that the value of FX transactions recorded

By Bliss Okperan Nigeria recorded an improvement in its trade surplus in the third quarter of 2023, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which was analysed by Business Post. The agency disclosed that in the period under review, the total value of exports stood at N10.347 trillion, while imports stood at N8.458 trillion, leaving the total value of trades at N18.802 trillion, 60.78 per cent higher than the N6.435 trillion achieved in the second quarter of 2023. Analysis showed that between July and September 2023, the country, which prides itself as the biggest economy in

By Dipo Olowookere Profit-taking activities brought back the bears to the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Monday as investors rebalanced their portfolios. It was observed that traders at Customs Street booked profits in shares mostly in the industrial goods sectors like BUA Cement and Lafarge Africa. This resultantly brought down the local stock market by 0.66 per cent at the close of transactions, with the industrial goods space losing 4.21 per cent, the insurance counter declining by 0.28 per cent, and the energy sector falling by 0.01 per cent. However, the consumer goods index improved yesterday by

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has revealed that a $1 billion facility would be used to provide insurance to more than 40 million farmers across the continent against severe impacts of climate change. Initially unveiled at the Africa Climate Summit held in Nairobi in September, the Africa Climate Risk Insurance Facility for Adaptation (ACRIFA) brings together governments, development agencies, the insurance sector and the private sector, said the president of the bank, Mr Akinwumi Adesina, while speaking during a side event at COP28 in Dubai. He said ACRIFA aims to mobilise $1 billion of concessionary financing,

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A fast-rising artiste in Nigeria, Mr Omah Didia, fondly called Omah Lay, has been remanded by a court in Uganda for allegedly violating COVID-19 protocols in the East African nation. Omah Lay was in the country last week to perform and he was arrested by the police alongside his manager, Mr Muyiwa Awomiyi, and another person, Temilade Openyi, otherwise known as Tems. The trio and four Ugandans, including the show promoters, were charged to court Makindye on charges of negligently doing acts likely to spread infectious diseases C/S 171 of the Penal Code Act. Giving an update

By Dipo Olowookere The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 released Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers for the fourth quarter of 2018. In the figures released on its website this morning, the stats office said the GDP appreciated by 0.27 percent to settle at 2.38 percent, compared with 2.11 percent posted in the corresponding period of 2017. The stats office disclosed that Q4 2018 growth indicated a rise of 0.55 percent when compared with the growth rate recorded in Q3 2018, while on a quarter on quarter basis, real GDP growth was 5.31 percent. The

By Dipo Olowookere There are strong indications that the management of Nigerian Breweries may soon force its consumers to pay more for a bottle of beer produced by the company. In recent times, the brewery giant has been struggling to cope with the harsh operating environment as a result of an increase in the excise duty on alcoholic products by the federal government last year. Last month, the company released its financial statements for the first quarter of 2019, though the revenue increased to N91.4 billion from N88.5 billion in the same period of last year, the profit before tax

By Dipo Olowookere As the nation continues to turn out more unemployed graduates annually, the National Employment Transformation Initiative has rekindled the hope of Nigerian youth as it has pledged massive decline in unemployment in its forth coming Summit through training, skill acquisition, and partnerships. According to the Convener, Engr. Seun Shogbamu, the NETSummit, formerly known as National Career Fair, which is scheduled to hold on December 13, 2018 at the University of Lagos, Akoka Yaba, Lagos has in the last 6 years has created nothing less than 9,000 jobs and paid internship nationwide; adding it will keep striving harder

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Chief executive officer of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Mr Emeka Emuwa, has expressed the willingness of the lender to continue to work hard to recover some of its bad loans. Mr Emuwa made this disclosure while commenting on the financial statements of the bank released last week for the period ended June 30, 2018. In the company’s earnings analysed by Business Post, the financial institution trimmed its non-performing loans (NPL) down to 10.8 percent from 14.9 percent as at March 31, 2018 and 19.8 percent as at December 31, 2017. According to the results, the lender

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed for the week on Friday on a positive note after the market appreciated by 0.04 percent. At the close of trading activities at the stock market, the All-Share Index (ASI) slightly moved up by  11.75 points to end at 28,113.38 points, while the market capitalisation progressed by N4.1 billion to finish at N9.719 trillion. The year-to-date return also slightly increased by 4.61 percent, while the market breadth closed flat today with 21 stocks appreciating in price, same as decliners. Business Post reports that Seplat topped the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed for the week on Friday on a positive note, posting 0.03 percent growth to take the year-to-date return to 31.87 percent. Today’s gain was the third in a row. Business Post reports that the market breadth closed flat on Friday with 18 losers and 18 gainers, though the volume and value of shares transacted depreciated. Investors staked N3.8 billion on 235.8 million shares today compared with N4 billion staked on 346.2 million shares yesterday. It was observed that banking stocks attracted investors’ interest today with UBA emerging the most traded stock.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka About 1,119 private schools in Kwara State have been offered an interest-free loan worth N135 million to help them get back on their feet following the devastating impact the global COVID-19 pandemic had on the education sector. The credit facility is being offered by the Kwara State government through the Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP). A statement issued on Tuesday by Mr Rafiu Ajakaye, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq stressed that the gesture was in fulfilment of the pledge he made during a virtual meeting with private school owners in the state. It