Naira Gains Strength on Better Oil Output

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Naira opened the week stronger on the American Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, December 4 as pressure eased amid continued foreign exchange (FX) liquidity squeeze in the market. In the official market, the Naira appreciated against the greenback by 9.6 per cent or N89.42 to settle at N837.77/$1 compared with last Friday’s closing price of N927.19/$1. Also, the Naira gained N172.53 against the Pound Sterling in the NAFEM segment of the market during the session to close at N1,031.57/£1 versus last Friday’s rate of N1,204.10/£1 and against the Euro,

By Adedapo Adesanya The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has revealed that a $1 billion facility would be used to provide insurance to more than 40 million farmers across the continent against severe impacts of climate change. Initially unveiled at the Africa Climate Summit held in Nairobi in September, the Africa Climate Risk Insurance Facility for Adaptation (ACRIFA) brings together governments, development agencies, the insurance sector and the private sector, said the president of the bank, Mr Akinwumi Adesina, while speaking during a side event at COP28 in Dubai. He said ACRIFA aims to mobilise $1 billion of concessionary financing,

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 started the first trading session in the last month of 2023 on a negative note after it depreciated against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), which is the official FX window, by 11.4 per cent or N94.87 on Friday, December 1, closing at N927.19/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s exchange rate of N832.32/$1. The December rush for forex contributed to the weakening of the domestic currency in the spot market yesterday, as the supply of foreign currency could not meet what customers needed. Data showed that the value of FX transactions recorded

By Dipo Olowookere News of a major shareholder in UAC of Nigeria Plc selling up to 40 million units of the company’s stocks recently has caused some raised eyebrows. Some members of the investing community who spoke with Business Post on the matter said trades like this by a key investor of a firm like UAC Nigeria call for concern. Last Wednesday, June 17, 2020, a “substantial shareholder” in UAC Nigeria, Blakeney LLP, freed its portfolio with 40 million units of the firm’s stocks. According to a notice from the organisation, the shareholder sold the equities at a unit of

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The legal action instituted against Seplat Energy Plc and its chief executive, Mr Roger Brown, by the federal government, has been withdrawn. The energy firm disclosed this in a statement issued on Thursday and signed by the chairman of the company’s board of directors, Mr Basil Omiyi. The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) had dragged Seplat before a Federal High Court in Abuja on behalf of the national government. The agency accused the organisation of breaching the country’s immigration law, forcing the Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, to revoke the visa and working permit issued to Mr

By Adedapo Adesanya Germany’s Ministry of Science has revealed that scores of art pieces from the former Kingdom of Benin would be officially repatriated to Nigeria by the German government on Wednesday, December 14. The reinstatement comprises 70 artefacts which, up until now, have been in the Linden Museum in Stuttgart but were looted from the Benin palace by the British during colonial times. There have been efforts in recent years to repatriate the Benin bronzes from Britain and Germany. The Benin Bronzes are a group of several thousand valuable metal plaques and sculptures which decorated the palace in the

By Bliss Okperan The House of Representatives has charged the federal government to establish a price control board to regulate the prices of food items, petroleum products and others in the country. The lower arm of the National Assembly advised the central government to take this action to tackle the rising inflation and cost of living in the country. Moving a motion on Thursday, Mr Hussaini Mohammed Jalo argued that the skyrocketing inflation and cost of living in the country was affecting citizens, who they represent at the lower chamber of the parliament. He blamed high cost of petroleum products

By Dipo Olowookere Leading pan African cement manufacturer, Dangote Cement, has maintained its strong hold in the Nigeria domestic cement market accounting for 65 percent of the Nigerian market volume, while other African plants’ volumes went up by 7.5 percent to 7.0 mta. In the past months, Dangote Cement has expanded its operations across Africa with the coming on stream of the 1.5 mta integrated cement plant in Mfila, Republic of Congo even as an acting chief executive officer has been appointed for the company. According to the unaudited results for the nine months ended September 30, 2017, the plant,

Residents of Lagos State have been urged to remain amidst the torrential rainfall witnessed in the State on Sunday, saying that necessary steps had been taken to avert any incidence of flood disaster in the metropolis. Commissioner for Environment in Lagos State, Dr Babatunde Adejare, in a statement on Sunday, disclosed that the State Government had in recent times carried out intensive tour of some flood prone communities to clear up blocked drainages and canals. Dr Adejare wondered why any right thinking person would be dumping refuse on water courses and drainages created for free flow of storm water, saying

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Customers of Stanbic IBTC Bank have been applauded for embracing a savings culture despite tough economic climes. This commendation was made recently at the live draw for the Reward4Saving Promo Season two held in Lagos, where 70 more customers who met the minimum saving criteria across seven regions were rewarded with cash prizes. The promo, launched in 2022, aims to encourage a savings culture among customers and reward the same habit. The campaign is open to all Stanbic IBTC Bank customers who have saved a minimum of N10,000 in their Stanbic IBTC Bank savings account for 30