Naira Appreciates to N773/$1 Amid Devaluation Fears, FX Scarcity

By Adedapo Adesanya Trading activities resumed at the official segment of the foreign exchange (FX), with the Nigerian Naira returning to familiar territory after the Eid-el-Maulud break due to forex demand pressure. The nation’s currency depreciated against the US Dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) arm of the market on Thursday, September 28, by 2.68 per cent or N20.23 to finish at N775.31/$1 compared with the preceding day’s value of N755.08/$1. It was observed that the domestic currency crumbled during the session due to FX demand caused by the break, with the spot market recording trades valued at $144.55

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E), the Peer-to-Peer (P2P), and the black market arms of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Friday, September 29, as a turbulent third quarter ended. In the official segment, the local currency improved its value against the greenback by 2.6 per cent or N20.04 to close at N755.27/$1, in contrast to the preceding day’s N775.31/$1 amid a drop in the supply of FX into the system by 11.6 per cent or $16.73 million to $127.82 million from the $144.55 million published on Thursday. In the

By Adedapo Adesanya  The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has vowed to down tools and shut down all oil field locations if demands following the acquisition of Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) are not met. Business Post had reported in September that Oando Plc had acquired a 100 per cent stake in the Nigerian subsidiary of Italian giant, Eni. However, the deal allegedly happened without management addressing the welfare and benefits of the workers and without due process. The development has led to several protests by members of PENGASSAN since the beginning of September 2023.

By Dipo Olowookere Profit-taking persisted at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Thursday, with Customs Street going down by 0.31 per cent on its return from a midweek break. The market closed its doors to traders on Wednesday due to the public holiday declared by the federal government to mark Eid-el Maulud, the birthday of Prophet Mohammed. Business Post reports that market participants did not take their minds off the pressing issues affecting the Nigerian economy, especially rising inflation, energy costs and the foreign exchange (FX) crisis. As a result, they liquidated their shares, leading to a negative market breadth

By Dipo Olowookere A deal has been signed between Marriott International and Landmark Africa Group for the construction 25-floor hotel in Lagos. Both parties sealed the deal last week and by 2020, they would have completed the Renaissance Lagos Hotel and Marriott Executive Apartments. The hotels will be located within the Landmark Village precinct, a premier mixed-use, business, leisure and lifestyle development along the Atlantic Ocean waterfront in Victoria Island, the central business district of Lagos. President and Managing Director, Middle East and Africa at Marriott International, Mr Alex Kyriakidis, stated that, “We are excited to partner with the Landmark

By Adedapo Adesanya Four freight agents and a wine shop owner have been apprehended by officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) over the importation of smuggled bottled Cannabis juice into the country. In a statement issued on Sunday, the spokesman of the agency, Mr Femi Babafemi, stated that the suspects were arrested at the SAHCO import shed of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos. He disclosed that Cannabis juice, with a gross weight of 16.50kgs on Wednesday, December 23, was discovered during a search of consolidated cargo from South Africa. Investigations by anti-narcotics officers subsequently

By Dipo Olowookere Federal Government has expressed its determination to meet the June 2017 deadline for the switch over to digital broadcasting from analogue. Nigeria had in the past failed to beat the deadlines set for the transition due to some constraints. But the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, has promised that the country would do all the best possible to meet up this time around. He said at a programme on Tuesday in Abuja that the FG’s renewed efforts were borne out of the resultant benefits of such migration. “The digitization of broadcasting offers Nigeria a

By Dipo Olowookere Yields of treasury bills at the secondary market in Nigeria moved in different directions for most of the maturities monitored during Friday’s trading session. Business Post reports traders yesterday were cautious at the market as they chew outcome of the previous day’s OMO sale by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), while they kept an eye on the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the apex bank, where the benchmark interest rate was kept unchanged at 13.5 percent despite the inflation rate easing to 11.02 percent in August 2019, according to data released by the National Bureau

By Adedapo Adesanya The second biggest cinema operator in the world, Cineworld, is set to close all outlets in the United Kingdom and Ireland from next week over the impact of the coronavirus. The Regal cinema owner wrote to British Prime Minister, Mr Boris Johnson, and culture minister, Mr Oliver Dowden, over the weekend to say the industry has become “unviable” because of film studios’ decision to postpone big-budget films. The new James Bond movie, No Time To Die, became the latest blockbuster to be pushed into next year (April 2, 2021) as the movie industry struggles to get back

By Dipo Olowookere The Lagos State government has returned to the capital market to raise fresh funds to execute some critical projects aimed to stimulate the economy and achieve the current’s administration’s THEME Agenda. Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, when he was sworn in on May 29, 2019, promised to make the state better than he met it and make it one of the best in Africa. To achieve this, the government in 2020 approached the capital market to source N100 billion through bond sales at 12.25 per cent and more than a year after, it is seeking N125 billion. Business Post

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A state-of-the-art Modular Healthcare Facility (MHF) will on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, be launched at the Gbagada General Hospital, Gbagada, Lagos. The facility was put in place by Alpha Mead Healthcare Management Services, a subsidiary of the Alpha Mead Group, to accelerate access to quality healthcare for all Nigerians. Explaining further, the Group Managing Director of Alpha Mead Group, Mr Femi Akintunde, “The MHF is a customised, mobility-enhanced, prefabricated portacabin with detachable modules equipped with state-of-the-art clinical and diagnostic equipment that is designed to take quality healthcare services to the doorstep of all Nigerians.” He further disclosed

By Modupe Gbadeyanka More feathers would be added to the already highly decorated caps of VFD Group, a financial and investment bouquet services company incorporated in Nigeria 11 years ago. The firm has been nominated for two awards categories in the forthcoming BusinessDay Banks’ and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) awards. Now in its 8th year, BAFI Awards, organised by BusinessDay Media Limited, is adjudged the most rigorous, prestigious, and transparent award programme in the industry by experts and stakeholders. This year’s hybrid award ceremony is themed Customer First, Communities Always and would hold on Saturday, November 28, 2020, in Lagos