By Adedapo Adesanya

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) foresees Nigeria’s economy closing the current year in positive growth up to 4 per cent.

This was disclosed by the president of the chamber, Mr Gabriel Idahosa, at the organisation’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday in Lagos.

The LCCI forecast builds up on recent gross domestic product (GDP) released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which points out that Nigeria’s economy grew 3.46 per cent in the third quarter of 2024.

The body said achieving faster recovery requires the fiscal and monetary sides of the economy to promote policies that would encourage private capital flows to the economy.

According to him, fiscal and monetary authorities need to develop a medium-term growth plan anchored on boosting local production, supporting ease of doing business and attracting private investment.

Mr Idahosa said the plan should also focus on developing infrastructure, business-friendly regulatory policies, economic diversification, and employment generation.

“Nigeria is presently confronted with a myriad of challenges including sustained double-digit inflation, a steadily rising debt profile, revenue mobilisation challenges and others.

“We have advocated for a well-coordinated synergy between the fiscal and monetary authorities in engagement with the private sector to navigate the uncertain economic terrain.

“We will continue to engage with government in creating an enabling business environment where the private sector is empowered to grow, create jobs and generate revenue for the government,” he said.

Addressing some economic indices, the LCCI president noted that the private sector was currently plagued with increased borrowing costs and a pressured foreign exchange market.

He said recent hikes in the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) had directly translated to higher interest rates, making it more expensive for businesses to access credit for working capital, expansion, and sustainability.

He said that rate hikes alone would not curb inflation without resolving the challenges of the real sector of the economy.

Mr Idahosa added that the country needed to diversify its exports by boosting local crude refining capacity production of petrochemical products and accelerating reforms in the and gas sector.

“The chamber looks forward to the sustained implementation of naira payments for crude oil sales to the Dangote refinery and other local refineries, which started on October 1, 2024.

“We urge the government to summon the courage to be consistent with the oil and gas sector reforms and implement the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) fully.

“We see the long-term gains of these reforms if they are implemented under a conducive regulatory environment,” he said.

Speaking on the projected N47.9 trillion 2025 budget presented recently by President Bola Tinubu, Mr Idahosa said the key parameters and assumptions on which the budget was proposed were too optimistic in the face of some economic and social indicators.

On her part, Mrs Chinyere Almona, Director General, LCCI, urged government to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive to enhance their productivity and contribute more meaningfully to the economy.

She noted that while the year was filled with very difficult reforms, businesses should stay the course on these reforms and things would improve.

Mrs Almona urged businesses to think of alternatives to improve efficiency, attract finance and be more productive, while hoping for the next year to be better.

She also called on authorities to focus on non-oil exports to attract more foreign exchange.

“When we talk of exports, we are not just talking of exporting raw materials but processing materials to command top dollar in the export market.

“At the chamber, we are looking for ways to improve our export and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) groups to improve their capacity and productivity to export more, ” she said.

By Adedapo Adesanya

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc pulled down the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.20 per cent fall on Thursday, December 5.

The bourse, as a result, lost N2.14 billion as the market capitalisation wrapped the session at N1.056 trillion compared with the N1.058 trillion it closed in the preceding session.

Equally, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 6.13 points to settle for the session at 3,013.41 points compared with 3,019.54 points recorded on Wednesday.

During the trading day, the price of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc went down by N1.10 to trade at N40.36 per share versus the N41.46 per share it ended at midweek.

Yesterday, the volume of shares bought and sold by the market participants significantly decreased by 99.9 per cent to 74,381 units from the 127.5 million units traded in the preceding session.

In the same vein, the value of securities transacted by investors on Thursday shrank by 95.4 per cent to N2.7 million from N58.2 million, as the number of deals depreciated by 75 per cent to five deals from the 20 deals recorded a day earlier.

Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units valued at N3.9 billion, Okitipupa Plc came next with 752.2 million units sold for N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc was in third place after trading 297.3 million units worth N5.3 million.

Despite its exit from the trading platform, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units worth N89.2 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.3 million units sold for N5.3 billion.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has shown that the Naira appreciated further against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, December 5 by N46.69 or 2.9 per cent to settle at N1,567.00/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,613.69/$1.

The value of the local currency has been improving since the CBN-backed Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS), which sets new guidelines for authorised Foreign Exchange (FX) dealers, became effective this month, boosting operational efficiency and transparency of the nation’s FX market commenced operation.

Since dealers are tasked with conducting due diligence, providing transparent pricing and offering market access through digital solutions, this has eliminated unnecessary pricing of the exchange rate.

The system offers spot-matching functionality to the interbank community for the US Dollar against other currencies. It allows anonymous orders to be placed into a central limit order book, which is displayed and matched with counterparty orders based on mutual trading limits and other parameters configured by each bank.

Yesterday, the domestic currency closed flat against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the spot market at N2,044.86/£1 and N1,691.31/€1, respectively.

Similarly, the value of the Nigerian currency remained unchanged against the US Dollar in the black market during the trading session at N1,705/$1.

In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin’s (BTC) price plunged by 3.7 per cent to $98,006.76 on Thursday after its rapid retreat from its new all-time high of around $100,000 a day earlier.

On Wednesday, it had surged past the $100,000 mark for the first time in its history, fueled by institutional demand, corporate accumulation, and heightened expectations of crypto-friendly policies under Mr Donald Trump’s presidency, which commences next month.

Also, Dogecoin (DOGE) fell by 0.5 per cent to sell at $0.4377 and Cardano (ADA) slid by 0.04 per cent to trade at $1.19.

However, Litecoin (LTC) gained 7.9 per cent to quote at $136.60, Solana (SOL) added 2.8 per cent to settle at $239.40, Ripple (XRP) increased by 2.5 per cent to $2.36, Ethereum (ETH) rose by 2.3 per cent to $3,913.11, and Binance Coin (BNB) climbed higher by 1.1 per cent to $729.50, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.