Naira Appreciates After CBN Rules Out Devaluation

By Aduragbemi Omiyale President Bola Tinubu has said the 2024 budget presented to the joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday was designed to achieve macroeconomic stability, a better investment environment, greater access to social security, poverty reduction and enhanced human capital development. According to him, if these goals are achieved, the standard of living of Nigerians will improve and the citizens will enjoy the dividends of democracy. While presenting the 2024 Appropriation Bills to the parliament yesterday, the President said this was why he christened the budget proposal as the Budget of Renewed Hope. Mr Tinubu told the

By Adedapo Adesanya President Bola Tinubu is targeting to grow Nigeria’s economy by 3.76 per cent next year and moderate the country’s inflation to 21.4 per cent. Speaking at his first budget speech to lawmakers on Wednesday, President Tinubu also projected higher oil production and tax collection, noting that this will boost government revenues and cut down on reliance on borrowing to finance budget deficits. Nigeria plans on spending N27.5 billion in the 2024 fiscal year, with priorities on security, infrastructure and easing the high cost-of-living crisis. The country will borrow around N9 trillion and N18.5 billion generated from internally

By Adedapo Adesanya The House of Representatives has pledged to stop international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the Niger Delta from divestment of their offshore assets without being accountable to the environment. The Chairman of the House of Reps Committee on Host Communities, Mr Dumnamene Dekor, said this during a technical session on the implementation of the Host Communities Development Trusts (HCDT), organised by Spaces for Change (S4C) with support from Ford Foundation. Mr Dekor raised the alarm that since the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act in 2021, host communities have not experienced any positive change, rather have remained

By Adedapo Adesanya A milk-producing company, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria, helped the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange return to the green territory by 0.54 per cent on Wednesday, November 29. The firm improved its value by N3.50 in the midweek session to settle at N73.50 per share compared with the previous day’s closing price of N70.00 per share. It suppressed the 10 Kobo decline posted by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which ended lower at N17.00 per unit versus Tuesday’s value of N17.10 per unit. Consequently, the market capitalisation of the alternative stock exchange went up by N6.28 billion to

By Ahmed Rahma The first batch of the COVID-19 vaccines produced by AstraZeneca in conjunction with the Oxford University, the United Kingdom, has arrived in Nigeria, one of the presidential aides, Mr Bashir Ahmad, has announced. Nigeria had been expecting to receive almost 4 million doses of the vaccine on Tuesday for free, according to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, from the World Health Organisation (WHO). In a tweet this morning via his official Twitter handle, Mr Ahmad disclosed that the drugs came into the country through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja

By Dipo Olowookere The management of eTranzact has filed an application to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) for the approval and listing of its rights issue worth N7 billion. The electronic payment solutions provider submitted the application to the exchange through its stockbroker, Cordros Securities Limited. In a notice issued yesterday by the Head of Listings Regulation at the NSE, Mr Godstime Iwenekhai, it was stated that the firm plans to sell 4,666,666,667 units of its stocks at a unit cost of N1.50 on the basis of 10 new shares for every nine shares already held by shareholders as at

By Adedapo Adesanya For the first time in a while, transactions on the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended in the positive territory on Wednesday, December 11, 2019. Business Post reports that in the past session, the market had been closing flat, but that upturned yesterday as a result of the positive performance of FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc. The company, which has been making efforts to expand its operations in Nigeria by signing deals with state governments to grow its dairy products, was the lone price mover in the day. At the close of business share price of the food processing

By Adedapo Adesanya Arsenal are set to open their London Colney training ground to their players next week for individual training. The club added that it will do this as it continues to observe social distancing rules amid the coronavirus outbreak. This was disclosed in a statement on Saturday, making the first time since football activities in England were suspended indefinitely last month due to the virus. “Players will be permitted access to the Colney grounds next week. “Access will be limited, carefully managed and social distancing will be maintained at all times. All Colney buildings remain closed. “Players will

By Dipo Olowookere The controversies surrounding the senior secondary school certificate of President Muhammadu Buhari may have finally been brought to an end. This is because the West African Examination Council (WAEC) finally presented its certificate to the President on Friday. Registrar of WAEC, Dr Iyi Uwadiae, led top management staff of the examination council to the Presidential Villa in Aso Rock, Abuja, today to present the certificate to Mr Buhari, confirming that he sat for the exam many years ago. Spokesman of President, Mr Femi Adesina, took to his Twitter handle today to confirm this. “WAEC presents attestation certificate

By Dipo Olowookere The 28th African Union Summit opened in Ethiopia Monday with United Nations Secretary General, Mr Antonio Guterres, commending the ‘extraordinary’ unity and leadership showed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in defending democracy in The Gambia by peacefully ousting former President Yahya Jammeh after weeks of political stalemate. In his maiden address to the AU Summit as UN Secretary General, Mr Guterres said the unity in ECOWAS and the restraint of the people of The Gambia in the face of possible conflict was commendable. “The extraordinary union showed by ECOWAS is even a lesson

By Adedapo Adesanya The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has vowed to go after the founder of AbokiFX, Mr Oniwinde Adedotun, over claims that the platform is publishing rates that are not approved by the bank. This was made known by the Governor of the bank, Mr Godwin Emefiele, on Friday while answering questions from journalists in Abuja after reading the outcome of the two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Mr Emefiele claimed that Mr Adedotun, who is based in the United Kingdom, was engaging in speculative activities, making profits from the disparity in quoted rates and official exchange rates.