Economy
Naira Falls to N505/$1 at Black Market After CBN Action
By Adedapo Adesanya
The unregulated segment of the foreign exchange (forex) market reacted to the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to discontinue the sale of FX to Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators from Tuesday.
At the end of its two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja yesterday, the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, surprisingly announced this action.
This put pressure on the Naira as fresh worries about the disruption of supplies to the market weighed in, causing the Nigerian currency to depreciate against the US Dollar at the black market by N1 to N505/$1 compared with the previous day’s N504/$1.
When a similar action was carried out five years ago, the Naira faced a huge depreciation and this move by the lender has heightened the possibility of history repeating itself.
According to Mr Emefiele, the central bank would only supply forex to banks henceforth, a decision that only balances the supply side and could see demand pressure push the exchange rate higher. This is because many will have to shift to other unregulated channels to source for forex.
Analysts had predicted that this scenario will play out for a while until the apex bank is able to normalise the situation through regular FX liquidity to the official channels it wants customers to access the hard currencies.
At the same parallel market yesterday, the local currency, however, remained flat against the Pound Sterling and the Euro, trading at N703/£1 and N592/€1 respectively.
A look at the Investors and Exchange (I&E) window showed that the Naira also depreciated against the greenback by 17 kobo or 0.04 per cent to sell for N411.67/$1 in contrast to the preceding session’s N411.50/$1.
Though the turnover remained slightly high, the value of transactions during the session depreciated by 17.1 per cent or $23.82 million to $115.67 million from $139.49 million recorded on Monday.
But at the interbank segment of the market, which is the official exchange rate window for the country, the value of the Naira to the Dollar remained flat at N410.16/$1 at the close of business on Tuesday.
As for the digital currency market, investors are beginning to show confidence in the assets as four of the seven tokens tracked by Business Post closed positive.
This followed the positive comments by an influential investor, Mr Elon Musk of Tesla, about one of the cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTC), which gained 8.5 per cent during the session to trade at N20,212,265.85.
Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.2 per cent to trade at N324.99, Dash (DASH) went up by 2.3 per cent to sell at N76,000.00, while Tron (TRX) improved by 0.9 per cent to N30.52.
On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 2.5 per cent to close at N1,136,380.00, Litecoin (LTC) dropped 0.9 per cent to trade at N67,438.98, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) slumped by 0.7 per cent to N513.99.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has retained Nigeria’s economic growth projections at 4.1 per cent for 2026 and 4.3 per cent for 2027, expressing confidence that ongoing macroeconomic reforms will continue to support the country’s recovery.
The projections, contained in the IMF’s July 2026 World Economic Outlook (WEO) Update titled “Global Economy in Crosscurrents of War and Technology”, remain unchanged from the forecasts released in April, despite mounting global uncertainties stemming from the conflict in the Middle East.
According to the report released yesterday, Nigeria’s growth outlook is being supported by improved macroeconomic stability and favourable terms of trade arising from its status as an oil-exporting nation.
However, the Bretton Woods institution warned that rising prices of essential goods could offset part of these gains by worsening poverty and food insecurity across the country.
The report stated that, “Nigeria is supported by improved macroeconomic stability and favourable terms of trade effects, though higher prices for essentials are expected to further aggravate poverty and food insecurity.”
Speaking during the IMF’s virtual briefing on the July 2026 World Economic Outlook Update for Sub-Saharan Africa and Nigeria, Division Chief in the IMF’s Research Department, Ms Deniz Igan, described Nigeria as one of the region’s stronger-performing large economies, noting that policy reforms have strengthened macroeconomic stability.
“Just to give you a sense, the two largest economies in the region, Nigeria is expected to grow at 4.1 per cent, quite stable, and this is supported by improved macroeconomic stability and favourable terms of trade, with Nigeria being an oil exporter,” Ms Igan said.
She, however, cautioned that inflationary pressures on essential commodities remain a major concern.
“At the same time, tighter prices, so there is some offset to that positive terms of trade effect because higher prices for essentials are expected to aggravate poverty and food insecurity,” she added.
The lender also retained Nigeria’s 2027 growth forecast at 4.3 per cent, as it noted that recent economic reforms are laying the foundation for sustained expansion despite persistent global headwinds.
For the global economy, the IMF projected growth to moderate to 3.0 per cent in 2026 from 3.5 per cent recorded in 2025, attributing the slowdown largely to the economic impact of the Middle East conflict, which is expected to offset part of the gains from the accelerating artificial intelligence-driven technology cycle.
For Sub-Saharan Africa, the IMF projected economic growth of 4.3 per cent in 2026 before improving to 4.5 per cent in 2027. The latest forecast represents a 0.1 percentage point upward revision from the Fund’s April outlook.
Ms Igan noted that the region had experienced broad-based economic recovery in 2025 before the outbreak of the Middle East conflict altered the growth trajectory.
“Let me start by noting that we actually had seen a broad-based pickup in growth in 2025 in the region. We had an acceleration of growth to 4.5 per cent.
“Now, the war obviously has clouded the outlook for 2026, and we are now projecting a softening of growth to 4.3 per cent in the region as a whole,” she said.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Presco Plc has concluded plans to establish operations in Ogun State as part of efforts to expand its footprint, boost earnings, and deliver more value to shareholders.
The news of the operations was announced by the Governor of Ogun State, Mr Dapo Abiodun, after he received a delegation from the company.
Presco is one of the leading integrated oil palm firms in Nigeria. It is listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
The Governor expressed his joy over the decision of Presco to situate its factory in the Gateway State.
He disclosed that the organisation has promised to have an initial investment of about $100 million in Ogun State, noting that this “validates the confidence investors continue to place in our administration’s deliberate policies aimed at creating an enabling business environment.”
According to him, beyond strengthening the state government’s agricultural transformation agenda, the project is expected to generate thousands of direct and indirect jobs, enhance food security, stimulate economic growth, and increase the state’s revenue.
“As we continue to implement our Building Our Future Together agenda, we remain committed to attracting strategic investments that will diversify our economy, create sustainable opportunities for our people, and reinforce Ogun State’s position as Nigeria’s preferred investment destination,” Mr Abiodun stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc led two others to evict the bears from the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Wednesday, July 8.
According to data, the unlisted securities exchange rebounded by 6.84 per cent during the session, thanks to the gains recorded by FrieslandCampina, Food Concepts Plc, and Geo-Fluids Plc.
During the trading day, FrieslandCampina recouped N12.57 to trade at N151.98 per unit versus Tuesday’s closing price of N139.41 per unit, Food Concepts Plc improved by 25 Kobo to N2.76 per share from N2.51 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc expanded by 18 Kobo to N2.55 per unit from N2.37 per unit.
As a result of these accumulations, the market capitalisation added N163.34 billion to close at N2.551 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N2.387 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) increased by 272.13 points to 4,250.20 points from 3,978.07 points.
The midweek trading data showed that the volume of securities dipped by 50.9 per cent to 158,933 units from 323,780 units, and the value of securities slipped by 31.9 per cent to N10.9 million from the preceding session’s N15.9 million, while the number of deals increased by 6.9 per cent to 31 deals from the previous session’s 29 deals.
When trading activities on the platform ended for the day, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units traded for N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 70.7 million units transacted for N4.9 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million.
