Naira Gains 15 Kobo Against Dollar at I&E, Loses 5 Kobo at Interbank

By Adedapo Adesanya The boards of insurance companies operating in the country have been charged by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to embrace the measures put in place to tackle the challenges of unpaid claims. The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Sunday Thomas, expressed worry over the number of outstanding claims in the sector despite efforts by the regulator to address the issue. Mr Thomas, who is also the chief executive of NAICOM, said the organisation, in collaboration with members of the Insurers’ Committee, has taken decisions and incepted measures designed to tame the menace of unpaid claims. Speaking at the

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil slumped by more than 2 per cent on Friday as traders showed scepticism about the depth of supply cuts by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) as well as concerns about sluggish global manufacturing activity. Brent crude went down by $1.98 or 2.45 per cent to close at $78.88 a barrel as the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped $1.89 or 2.49 per cent to sell for $74.07 a barrel. For the week, Brent posted a decline of about 2.1 per cent, while WTI lost more than 1.9 per cent.

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited commenced the first trading session in December 2023 on a bullish note, with a marginal growth of 0.08 per cent. Sustained buying pressure kept Nigerian stocks in the positive territory, extending the dominance of the bulls on Customs Street, though the turnover waned. Business Post observed that investors cherry-picked equities in the banking and the energy sectors during the session, leaving them rising by 1.14 per cent and 0.05 per cent, respectively. However, the insurance counter lost 1.10 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.08 per cent, and the industrial

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira put up a weak performance against the United States Dollar across the various segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Thursday. November 30, 2023, the last trading session of the month. In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) window, which is the official market, the Nigerian currency lost 0.1 per cent or 85 Kobo against the greenback during the session to settle at N832.32/$1 compared with the preceding day’s value of N831.47/$1. A slight strain in the supply of forex into the spot market was partly responsible for the weakening of the local

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Nigerians have been advised to take advantage of the registration/revalidation exercise of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to join the party. This advice was given by a chieftain of the APC, Mr Edwin Uhara, who noted that only the ruling party has the key to unlocking Nigeria’s potentials for greatness. The politician, who was a member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in the 2019 presidential election, stressed that it would be a great opportunity for Nigerians to join the “progressive party as the world is now evolving around progressive ideologies. In a statement, the young

By Dipo Olowookere Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State has approved the sum of N250 million as augmentation for local councils in the State to enable them pay their workers’ August 2016 salaries in full. Commissioner for Finance in the state, Mr Demola Banu, disclosed that the Governor approved the release of the money on his arrival from Abuja on Thursday evening. He said this followed the verification of the figures provided by the 16 council chairmen in the state and according to him, workers would start receiving the money as from today after all necessary documentations are completed. Mr

By Adedapo Adesanya The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reviewed its projection of Nigeria’s economic growth in 2023 to 2.9 per cent from 3.2 per cent it initially projected earlier this year. This was contained in a Washington-based lender report titled World Economic Outlook: Navigating Global Divergences released on Tuesday. At 2.9 per cent, the forecast aligns with that of the World Bank for Africa’s largest economy. The IMF also projected that the country’s economy would grow at 3.1 per cent in 2024, with the negative effects of high inflation on consumption taking hold. “The forecast for 2023 is revised

By Dipo Olowookere As part of its strategy to meet the new capital base requirement of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Cornerstone Insurance Plc is planning to issue bonus shares. At a meeting of the board of the company, it was agreed that shareholders should be issued new shares on the basis of 7 fresh shares for 30 held by them. However, this is a proposal and it would need the approval of the company’s investors at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). At the board gathering, which took place on Wednesday, July 22, 2020, members of the board also approved

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Entries for the 2019 edition of the annual National Essay Competition organised by the corporate social responsibility arm of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, UBA Foundation, have commenced. At a media launch to herald the competition in its ninth series last week, the CEO of UBA Foundation, Mrs Bola Atta, explained that the educational contest will provide an opportunity for students in secondary schools across the country to put in their entries and to win prizes in the form of educational grants to study in any university of their choice on the African continent. At

By Adedapo Adesanya In another round of projections, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has disclosed that Nigeria is heading towards its worst recession in over 30 years as it expects the nation’s economy to contract by 3.4 percent this year. This was disclosed by the Bretton Wood institution in its latest edition of the World Economic Outlook report released on Tuesday, April 14. The report cited by Business Post noted that the current COVID-19 pandemic will severely impact growth across all regions, but offered that in 2021, the Nigerian economy will rebound by as much as 2.4 percent. In the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Delegation of the European Union to Rwanda has signed off on a €10 million grant payment to the government of Rwanda. The grant will go towards the continued rehabilitation and maintenance of 200 kilometres of rural roads in Rwanda. The Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Rwanda Ambassador Michael Ryan remarked: “Rural roads provide the backbone of economic activity for nearly 80% of Rwanda’s citizens, most of who depend on farming and small scale commerce for their livelihoods. EU financial support has the ultimate objective of reducing poverty and improving living conditions for

By Ahmed Rahma Over 2,000 youth in Bauchi State would be trained in agriculture by the state government as part of efforts to empower them. Governor of the state, Mr Bala Mohammed, made this disclosure when he received the executives of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). According to Mr Mohammed, the beneficiaries would be chosen from all the local government areas of the northern state of the federation. He assured that more would be picked because his administration was determined to ensure that residents of the state are financially independent. “Right now, we are doing a programme where we