Naira Gains Against Dollar at Interbank, BDC, Parallel Markets

By Adedapo Adesanya A milk-producing company, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria, helped the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange return to the green territory by 0.54 per cent on Wednesday, November 29. The firm improved its value by N3.50 in the midweek session to settle at N73.50 per share compared with the previous day’s closing price of N70.00 per share. It suppressed the 10 Kobo decline posted by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which ended lower at N17.00 per unit versus Tuesday’s value of N17.10 per unit. Consequently, the market capitalisation of the alternative stock exchange went up by N6.28 billion to

By Adedapo Adesanya The Supreme Court has ordered that the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes should continue to co-exist with the new banknotes beyond the earlier December 31, 2023, deadline. The apex court ruled on Wednesday that both old and new notes should continue to remain legal tender until the federal government puts a process in place for its replacement or redesign after due consultation with relevant stakeholders. The seven-man panel led by Justice Inyang Okoro gave the ruling following an application by the central government asking the court to grant an extension of time for old naira notes

By Adedapo Adesanya Equinor and Chappal Energies have entered into an agreement for the sale of Equinor Nigeria Energy Company (ENEC), which holds a 53.85 per cent ownership in oil and gas lease OML 128, including the unitized 20.21 per cent stake in the Agbami oil field, operated by Chevron. Speaking on the deal, Equinor’s senior vice president for Africa Operations, Ms Nina Koch, said Nigeria has been an important part of Equinor’s international portfolio over the past 30 years, noting that, “This transaction realizes value and is in line with Equinor’s strategy to optimize its international oil and gas

By Adedapo Adesanya  Angola, one of Africa’s top crude oil producers and a key member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has officially rejected the proposed production quota for the year 2024 and may even exit the group. This was signalled by Mr Diamantino Pedro Azevedo, Angola’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, confirming the nation’s decision and indicating a divergence from OPEC’s suggested allocations for both member and non-member countries. The announcement was made during the 26th OPEC+ Meeting on Thursday, where the organisation proposed 1.11 million barrels of crude oil per day production quota for

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has announced that Nigerians can expect over 2 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, to be supplied from mid-February to March. The company’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Mr Garba Deen Muhammad, in a statement on Monday, noted that the plan is part of its concerted efforts to sustain the supply of petroleum products nationwide. “Latest updates released on Monday show that NNPC Limited has a total of 1.805 billion litres of PMS stock, representing 805.35 million litres in all the land depots nationwide and 1,000.20

By Modupe Gbadeyanka There are strong indications that the number of microfinance banks in Nigeria will reduce by 44.4 per cent by the time the recapitalisation exercise of the sector by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is concluded in April 2022. This information was contained in a report on the Microfinance Industry in Nigeria released by a foremost research and credit rating agency in the country, Agusto & Co. A summary of the report made available to Business Post revealed that the over 900 microfinance banks operating in the country may be pruned to around 500 through consolidation activities

By Dipo Olowookere Investors are gradually building confidence in the domestic stock market again after enduring days of consistent negative trading due to macroeconomic issues like inflation and foreign exchange (FX) scarcity, among others. On Thursday, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited further expanded by 2.03 per cent on the back of renewed bargain hunting, especially in the financial and consumer goods sectors. Data showed that only the industrial goods space lost yesterday as it fell marginally by 0.01 per cent. The consumer goods, energy, insurance and banking counters improved by 0.76 per cent, 0.65 per cent, 0.35 per cent and

By Dipo Olowookere Notorious kidnap kingpin, Mr Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, also known as Evans, has pleaded guilty to the kidnapping charges brought against him by the Lagos State Government. Evans, who gave security operatives sleepless nights before he was eventually apprehended few months ago, was arraigned by the state government on Wednesday, August 30, 2017. At the Ikeja High Court in Lagos today, Evans did not waste time to say “I am guilty” when the charges were read to him. The suspect, represented by his counsel, Olukoya Ogungbeje, said he was guilty of the two-count charge of conspiracy and kidnapping slammed

By Dipo Olowookere Stockbrokers and persons working in the financial services sector in Nigeria may soon be mandated to declare their assets if moves to amend the Bank Employees Declaration of Assets (BEDA) Act 1986 succeeds. At the plenary on Tuesday, the Senate considered a bill to tamper with the 35-year old law to make it compulsory for bankers, stockbrokers, pension administrators to declare assets. Sponsor of the bill, Mr Sani Musa, in his lead debate, observed that with the creation of the Code of Conduct Bureau, which came into effect 13 years after the BEDA Act, the provisions in

By Dipo Olowookere The management of MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has confirmed securing an approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to offer financial services to millions of residents of the country. A statement signed by its scribe, Uto Ukpanah, on Wednesday, July 31, 2019, said the licence was obtained by its subsidiary, Yello Digital Financial Services limited (YDFS), so as to deepen financial inclusion in Nigeria. According to the statement, the telco will engage the services of its airtime dealers spread across the country to offer the financial services to consumers, while others would be recruited as agents.

By Dipo Olowookere The Zimbabwe Australia Alumni Association (ZAAA) will hold a workshop on Friday, September 30, 2016 in Harare, the country’s capital. The event is in collaboration with the Australian Embassy and it is a capacity building workshop for its members. This will be the first of such workshops to be held by ZAAA and the Australian Embassy. The theme of the workshop is ‘Industry Insights’ and will focus on building entrepreneurial skills and capacity. The programme will be facilitated by young, successful Zimbabweans including Chiedza Danha and Ellinah Chipumha (co-founders of Unplugged); Busi Bango (Executive Director, Empretec) and

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) has finally announced the new owners of Keystone Bank Limited. In a statement issued on Monday night, AMCON said the new owners of Keystone Bank are Sigma Golf Nigeria Limited and Riverbank Investment Resources Limited (the Sigma Golf–Riverbank consortium). “We are pleased to announce Sigma Golf Nigeria Limited and Riverbank Investment Resources Limited (the Sigma Golf–Riverbank consortium) as the new investors in relation to the acquisition of the entire issued and fully paid up ordinary shares of Keystone Bank Limited,” AMCON said. According to the statement signed by AMCON’s Head of