Economy
Naira Crashes by 4.5% at Official Market as Binance Quits Nigeria
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira depreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Tuesday, March 5 by 4.5 per cent or N68.24 despite a high supply environment coupled with intense regulatory measures to curb speculations.
According to data obtained by Business Post, the local currency weakened to N1,602.43/$1 in the official window yesterday from the preceding day’s rate of N1,534.19/$1.
This extended to the Pound Sterling as its value depleted by N24.08 during the session to trade at N1,980.14/£1 versus Monday’s closing value of N1,956.06/£1 and against the Euro, the Nigerian currency shrank by N19.23 to close at N1,694.48/€1, in contrast to the previous day’s N1,675.25/€1.
The poor performance of the domestic currency in the spot market happened amid the resumption of the sale of foreign exchange (FX) by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The value of forex transactions at NAFEM on Tuesday increased by 63.3 per cent or $113.15 million to $291.78 million from the $178.63 million recorded a day earlier, showing a significant improvement in liquidity.
Yesterday, a popular cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, announced plans to discontinue all services related to the Naira after it was accused of exploiting the Nigerian currency leading to its free fall in value.
The company is, in addition, facing allegations of terrorism financing, money laundering, and tax invasion, among others.
Nigeria is one of the largest peer-to-peer crypto markets in the world with Binance accounting for about 10 million Nigerian users.
A look at the black market segment of the forex market yesterday showed that the Nigerian Naira lost N20 against the greenback to quote at N1,625/$1 versus the preceding day’s rate of N1,605/$1.
As for the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) hit a fresh high of $69,0000 earlier in the session but it would later drop 1.7 per cent to close at $65,669.01, as Dogecoin (DOGE) crumbled by 9.4 per cent to $0.1642, and Cardano (ADA) weakened by 6.2 per cent to $0.7164.
Further, Ripple (XRP) dropped 5.8 per cent to trade at $0.6029, Litecoin (LTC) slumped by 4.9 per cent to $84.81, Binance Coin (BNB) went south by 4.6 per cent to $404.18, and Solana (SOL) declined by 2.7 per cent to $127.26, while Ethereum (ETH) gained 0.4 per cent to quote at $3,735.68, with the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remaining unchanged at $1.00, respectively.
Economy
First Holdco Lists N45bn Private Placement Shares on Stock Exchange
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Shares of First Holdco Plc worth N45.0 billion issued through a private placement have been listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
A circular issued by the Head of Issuer Regulation Department of the NGX Regulation Limited, Mr Godstime Iwenekhai, disclosed that the equities were admitted for trading at the stock market on Monday.
According to the notice, the additional shares brought for listing to rank pari passu with existing shares of the organisation were 1,021,334,544 units.
These stocks were sold to one of the company’s major shareholders at a unit price of N44.06, amounting to N45.0 billion.
The total issued and fully paid-up shares of First Holdco, as a result of this listing, are now 45,475,027,677 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.
“Trading licence holders are hereby notified that an additional 1,021,334,544 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of First Holdco Plc were on Monday, June 22, 2026, listed on the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange Limited.
“The additional shares listed on NGX arose from the company’s private placement of 1,021,334,544 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N44.06 per share.
“With the listing of the additional shares, the total issued and fully paid-up shares of First Holdco Plc have now increased to 45,475,027,677 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each from 44,453,693,133 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each,” the disclosure stated.
Economy
AA Rano, Nipco, Matrix, Others Secure Q3 Petrol Import Permits
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has approved fresh import licences for petrol and diesel for the third quarter of 2026 (July – September) to prevent potential supply shortages in the domestic market.
According to a report by global energy intelligence firm, Argus Media, the latest approvals were issued to major downstream operators amid declining fuel stock levels and concerns over reduced petrol production at the 700,000 barrels per day Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos.
The move comes as Nigeria continues to balance increasing local refining capacity with the need to guarantee adequate supplies of petroleum products across the country.
According to the Argus report, domestic firms, including AA Rano, AYM Shafa, Bono Energy, Nipco, Matrix Energy and Pinnacle Oil, received permits to import Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, during the July-September period.
The publication further reported that the same companies, with the exception of Nipco, were granted approvals to import Automotive Gas Oil, commonly known as diesel. The fresh approvals follow an earlier batch of petrol import permits issued by the regulator in May, covering about 720,000 metric tonnes.
Quoting a regulatory source, Argus noted that many of the companies granted the latest approvals were among those that had received permits in previous rounds. “These are some of the same ones that previously received the PMS permits,” the source was quoted as saying.
It was also claimed that AA Rano and Matrix Energy each received approvals to import 180,000 metric tonnes of petrol. AYM Shafa received approval for 120,000 metric tonnes, while Pinnacle Oil received a permit covering 150,000 metric tonnes.
For diesel imports, Argus reported that AYM Shafa obtained a permit for 60,000 metric tonnes, while Pinnacle secured approval for 45,000 metric tonnes. The report stated that the import approvals were issued only recently, after being delayed from an initial target date of June 15.
Economy
Three Securities Drag NASD OTC Market Down by 1.01%
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.01 per cent on Tuesday, June 23, dragging the market capitalisation down by N25.91 billion to N2.544 trillion from Monday’s N2.570 trillion. Also, the NASD Security Index (NSI) decreased by 43.17 points to 4,239.34 points from 4,282.51 points.
The triplet price losers were Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gave up N4.82 to trade at N75.00 per unit versus Monday’s closing price of N79.82 per unit. NASD Plc depreciated by N3.70 to close at N33.30 per share compared with the preceding day’s N37.00 per share, and Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc marginally lost 1 Kobo to sell at N21.41 per unit, in contrast to the previous session’s N21.42 per unit.
Tuesday’s trading data showed that the volume of securities traded by investors retreated by 35.9 per cent to 211,671 units from 330,034 units, and the value of securities fell by 82.9 per cent to N5.6 million from N32.7 million, while the number of deals doubled to 38 deals from 19 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 68.1 million units transacted for N4.7 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the trading day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million.
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