Naira Crashes To 485 Per Dollar

By Adedapo Adesanya  Nigeria’s economy, measured through its gross domestic product (GDP), witnessed a 2.54 per cent growth in the third quarter (Q3) of the year 2023. In a report published on Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the 2.54 per cent year-on-year growth in real terms in the third quarter of 2023 is higher than the 2.25 per cent recorded in the third quarter of 2022 and higher than the second quarter 2023 growth of 2.51 per cent. The bureau further said that the performance of the GDP in the third quarter of 2023 was driven mainly by

By Adedapo Adesanya Brent crude benchmark dipped below $80 a barrel on Monday, precisely losing 60 cents of 0.7 per cent to trade at $79.98 a barrel as investors await this week’s meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies (OPEC+). The group is anticipated to maintain its ceiling on crude oil production by member countries into 2024. This affected the oil market, with the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures declining yesterday by 68 cents or 0.9 per cent to trade at $74.86 per barrel. Last week, the 23-man OPEC+ postponed its Sunday ministerial meeting

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The sum of N75 million has been disbursed to 15 small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Nigeria to support their expansion drive. The funding package was given by Google’s Hustle Academy, with beneficiaries drawn from various industries, including agriculture, and fashion, among others. The 15 Nigerian small business owners were among the 5,300 entrepreneurs who graduated from the academy, designed by the tech giant to provide an avenue for participants to enhance their business skills and knowledge, and contribute to the growth of the continent’s economy. The recipients of the funding support are Ifeoma Augusta Anselem of

By Adedapo Adesanya The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Olayemi Cardoso, has admitted that the country recorded a revenue drop of $1.4 billion between 2015 and 2019 after imposing foreign exchange (FX) restrictions for import of 43 items over eight years. The apex bank governor made this known on Friday while delivering his keynote address at the 58th Annual Dinner of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Lagos. The apex bank head, during the preparation of his monetary policy thrust, cited available data saying, “Studies have shown that during the period when the

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has disclosed that its average daily natural gas supply to power plants increased by 19.1 percent to 788 million Standard Cubic Feet of gas per day (mmscfd) in the month of April. This translates to about 2,873 megawatts of power generation during the entire month. The national oil company’s in a release by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr Kennie Obateru, explained that the figure was contained in the NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR) for April 2020. According to the report, a total of 226.5 billion

By Dipo Olowookere Profit-taking persisted on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday, leading to another loss by 0.75 per cent at the close of trading activities. Investors mainly booked profit in stocks in the banking, consumer goods, energy and the insurance sectors, resulting in their respective indices to depreciate by 4.43 per cent, 3.75 per cent, 3.09 per cent and 0.03 per cent. Only the industrial goods sector appreciated yesterday and it went up by 2.09 per cent. A total of 688.5 million shares worth 7.9 billion were traded in 10,319 deals yesterday compared with the

By Bliss Okperan The Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr Douye Diri, has been announced as the winner of the November 11, 2023, governorship election in the state. Mr Diri participated in the exercise, seeking re-election for a second term in office under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which conducted the exercise, could not conclude it last Saturday, causing a delay in announcing the results on Sunday as it did in Imo and Kogi States. Only results from six of the eight local government areas of the state were earlier announced. On

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Last week, the money market rates closed lower, responding to financial system liquidity dynamics which recently has remained high at above N500 billion following the strategic intermittent mop-ups by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The Open Buy Back (OBB) and Overnight (OVN) rates pointed south reflecting improvement in system liquidity which opened at N501.4 billion on Monday as OBB and OVN rates fell to 3.3 percent and 3.5 percent, down 0.4ppt and 0.5ppt from the previous week’s close. This momentum was sustained till midweek as rates fell to 2.7 percent and 3 percent respectively following a

By Adedapo Adesanya After years of discussions, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on Thursday in Lagos assured that the one-billion-dollar Ondo State Multipurpose Deep Seaport project had gotten all necessary approval for its implementation. NPA’s Managing Director, Mr Mohammed Bello-Koko, gave the assurance when he received visiting Ondo State Coordinator for Special Projects, Mr Boye Oyewumi, who submitted the Full Business Case for the port. Located on the coast of Ondo State, the Ondo Deep Seaport project would be funded through a Public Private Partnership. Receiving the case report, Mr Bello-Koko assured that the NPA would work with the Federal

Most times, the hardest thing about saving money is starting out; settling on a plan, or plans, that encourages discipline and is financially rewarding often proves difficult. It can be difficult to figure out simple ways to save money and how to use your savings to pursue your financial goals. A recent survey on saving carried out by ALAT, the first fully digital bank in Nigeria, showed that the greatest drawback to effective saving isn’t insufficient income but that many don’t know how to save while others lacked discipline. There are several ways to learn how to save but one

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) finished on a positive note on Tuesday amid bargain-hunting activities by investors. The benchmark index was 0.63 percent up at the close of business after appreciating by 255.31 points to settle at 40,788.68 points, while the market capitalisation increased by N92.2 billion to end at N14.734 trillion. There were huge buying activities observed in the banking space yesterday with FCMB emerging the most active after selling 952.6 million units valued at N2.4 billion. UBA sold 382.5 million shares worth N4.2 billion, while Zenith Bank traded 65.2 million equities for N1.8 billion. Furthermore,

The Coca-Cola System, comprising Nigerian Bottling Company Limited (NBC) and Coca-Cola Nigeria Ltd, has restated its commitment to support the fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria with material donations to the federal and state governments. NBC and Coca-Cola Nigeria, in fulfilment of the commitment, have already donated over 13 million centilitres of its beverages, including Eva premium table water and other soft drinks to provide hydration and nourishment for patients and healthcare workers at isolation and treatment centres across different states in the country. Both companies also promised to continue to donate these products through the duration of this crisis. In