Naira Falls at P2P, Gains at I&E, Stable at Parallel Market

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a further rise of 0.55 per cent, extending its stay in the green territory to a fourth straight session on Thursday, November 7. This increased the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 4.81 points to wrap the session at 872.54 points compared with 867.73 points in the previous session, as the market capitalisation of the OTC exchange jumped by N6.52 billion to settle at N1.182 trillion, in contrast to the preceding trading day’s N1.176 trillion. The unlisted securities market ended the trading session with two price gainers, 11 Plc and

By Precious Olisa The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) have expressed their disappointment over the increasing exit of multinationals from the Nigerian market. The two organisations reacted to the planned exit of Procter & Gamble (P&G) from the country over economic headwinds. P&G announced its intention to close down its manufacturing operations in Nigeria and adopt an import-only business model due to the foreign exchange (FX) crisis in the country. This is coming some weeks after GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Sanofi, Unilever Nigeria, Equinor and others have also indicated their interest in quitting

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigerian crude output fell by 30,000 barrels per day to 1.43 million barrels per day in November, according to data from an S&P Global Commodity Insight. This was lower than the 1.46 million barrels produced in October by Africa’s largest oil producer and 312,000 barrels per day short of its 1.742 million barrels per day target in 2023. Angola, Africa’s second-largest oil producer, saw output drop 20,000 barrels per day to 1.13 million barrels per day, according to the survey, compared with its quota of 1.46 million barrels per day. The drops impacted the wider output of

By Adedapo Adesanya  The Nigerian Naira weakened by 17.9 per cent or N144.49 against the American Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Wednesday, December 6 as confidence waned in the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) ability to boost the market with enough foreign exchange (FX). Yesterday, the exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar closed at N951.22/$1 in the official market compared with the preceding session’s rate of N806.73/$1. This happened as the forex turnover slightly went down by 4.9 per cent or $7.05 million to $135.58 million from the $142.63 million reported in the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Leading electricity distribution company in Nigeria, Ikeja Electric Plc, has taken time to roll out its achievements despite challenges that characterised the power sector in 2019. In a statement, the energy firm said during the year, it recorded several milestones including the reduction in ATC&C losses, introduction of e-billing system and improved sustainable power through its bilateral agreements. Chief Operating Officer (COO) of IE, Ms Folake Soetan, was quoted as saying while giving highlights of the firm’s performance that a bold step was taken towards improved sustainable power through the bilateral initiative. According to her, the company

By Dipo Olowookere In order to improve circulation of N5, N10, N20, and N50, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has commenced the disbursement of the smaller Naira notes into the market. The injection kicked off on Tuesday at the Wuse Market in Abuja and the apex bank explained that the move was to improve the ease of doing business in the country and also to make the Naira notes readily available to citizens. Recently, there has been shortage of the smaller notes at the market. Also, Nigerians have had to deal with mutilated N100 notes, which the central bank

By Modupe Gbadeyanka In a bid to reposition the State Government for better performance, Rivers State Governor, Mr Nyesom Ezenwo Wike on Wednesday swore in 14 Commissioners. The Governor also swore in a new permanent secretary, Mrs Ibiware Ogolo. Performing the swearing-in, Mr Wike charged the commissioners to exhibit 100 percent loyalty. “We demand 100 percent loyalty. This work deserves total commitment. When you have the opportunity to serve the state, it is a rare privilege. Therefore, you have to be committed to service. “We are rebuilding the state because a lot went wrong during the immediate past administration of

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO) has reappointed Mr Omar Farouk Ibrahim as its Secretary General during the APPO Ministerial Council Session held in Luanda, Angola. It has been considered a move that will usher in a new era of growth across the continent’s hydrocarbon industry. With Mr Farouk bullish around the development and exploitation of Africa’s vast, untapped oil and gas resources to address growing energy poverty and drive socioeconomic developments since his first appointment as the Secretary General of APPO in January 2020, his reappointment has been touted as good news for the African continent

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Trading activities on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) remained bearish on Thursday amid sell-off by investors. For the fourth straight trading session this week, the market closed negative, going down by 0.49 percent at the close of business today, while the year-to-date gain settled at 13.29 percent with the market closing with 18 price risers and 26 price fallers. Business Post reports that Nestle was the heaviest price loser at the stock market on Thursday, shedding N70.20k of its share value to settle at N1,372.80k per share. It was also not a good day

By Dipo Olowookere A female lawmaker representing Cross River North Senatorial District, Mrs Rose Okoji Oko, has died at a United Kingdom medical facility. The second term Senator, who is Chairman, Senate Committee on Trade and Investment, was aged 63. She died after a battle with an undisclosed illness. A relative of the deceased, Mr Patrick Ikorgor Okoroji, who confirmed the unfortunate incident, said the first female representative from her senatorial district traveled to the UK for medical attention but succumbed to the disease on Monday night. “Heart broken to hear of the passing of my dear Cousin Senator Dr

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Group Managing Director of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, Mr Paul Gbededo, has assured shareholders of the company that his team will continue to work harder to deliver value for their investments. Mr Gbededo gave this assurance while reacting to the company’s performance in the full year, which ended on March 31, 2020. According to him, the management hopes to further implement the cost-reduction strategy, which has delivered positive results so far. “We will remain focused on increasing operational efficiency within the group as we continue to implement our accelerated cost optimisation plans across all businesses

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Last week, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) realised N500 billion from the sale of treasury bills via the secondary market. This amount realized by the apex bank from the OMO auction was enough to offset N476.21 billion T-bills which matured last Thursday. According to analysts at Cowry Asset, NIBOR fell for all tenor buckets amid sustained liquidity ease in the financial system – in line with their expectation. Specifically, NIBOR for overnight, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months tenor buckets fell w-o-w to 3 percent from 4.56 percent, 13.43 percent from 14.64 percent, 14.17 percent