Naira Sells N427.25/$1 at I&E, N614/$1 at Parallel Market

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E), the Peer-to-Peer (P2P), and the black market arms of the foreign exchange (forex) market on Friday, September 29, as a turbulent third quarter ended. In the official segment, the local currency improved its value against the greenback by 2.6 per cent or N20.04 to close at N755.27/$1, in contrast to the preceding day’s N775.31/$1 amid a drop in the supply of FX into the system by 11.6 per cent or $16.73 million to $127.82 million from the $144.55 million published on Thursday. In the

By Adedapo Adesanya The oil market retreated on Thursday, as traders took profits after prices soared recently while the space worried that high interest rates may weigh on demand. During the trading session, Brent futures fell by $1.17 or 1.2 per cent to settle at $95.38 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) declined by $1.97 or 2.1 per cent to close at $91.71 per barrel. The market had reached a 10-month high as some traders worried high oil prices would stoke inflation, encouraging the US Federal Reserve and other central banks to persist with rate hikes.

By Adedapo Adesanya VFD Group Plc has been officially delisted from the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange months after the proprietary investment company revealed its intention to list its stocks on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited. The bourse on Thursday confirmed the development in a notice seen by Business Post. “Pursuant to the company’s request to delist from the NASD OTC Exchange, we wish to inform you that VFD Group PLC shares will be delisted with effect from the close of business (COB) today, Thursday, September 28, 2023,” the notice read. Last Friday, after three years of trading on the

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The Vice President, Mr Kashim Shettima, has said Nigeria is in dire need of foreign direct investment (FDI) more than ever before, tasking domestic and foreign investors to make Nigeria their investment hub because efforts are being made to formulate business-friendly policies. Mr Shettima, while speaking when he hosted the management of First Surat Group, as well as top management of MTN Nigeria at the presidential villa in Abuja, charged MTN Nigeria to facilitate and spearhead digital mobile money and digital education. He assured that President Bola Tinubu was willing to partner with various stakeholders in the

By Adedapo Adesanya The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has introduced a new tax administration solution called TaxPro-Max to ease tax compliance in the country. According to the Executive Chairman of the FIRS, Mr Muhammad Nami, in a public notice signed by Mr Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmad, the Director, Communications and Liaison Department, this initiative is part of efforts at modernising tax administration, a crucial goal since he assumed the helm of the tax body. “TaxPro-Max enables seamless registration, filling, payment of taxes and automatic credit of withholding tax as well as other credits to the taxpayer’s accounts, among other features.

By Adedapo Adesanya Not less than 13 organisations, whose pension liabilities to their employees have been established, have been made to pay N56.5 billion penalties. This information was revealed in a report released by the National Pension Commission (PenCom), which stated that the money was paid following the issuance of demand notices to defaulting employers. The pension sector regulator disclosed that the pension liabilities were established by the Recovery Agents (RAs) appointed for the sole purpose of compelling employers who do not remit pension deductions. The commission also stated that a total of N213 billion was recovered as principal contributions, adding

By Ebitonye Akpodigha President Muhammadu Buhari has applauded Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Ibe Kachikwu, for coming up with ideas to transform the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. Mr Buhari, in his address at the launch of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Roadmap tagged ‘The 7 Big Wins’ yesterday in Abuja, said the Minister has shown to be a round peg in a round hole. During his speech, the President noted that “Petroleum industry remains critical to the Nigerian economy of today and the future, despite our current challenges.” “The golden era of high oil prices

By Dipo Olowookere Angolan President, Mr José Eduardo dos Santos, has been urged not to a new media law until parliament revises provisions restricting the right to freedom of expression. According to the Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday, the law threatens freedom of speech in Angola and grants the government and ruling party expansive power to interfere with the work of journalists, and potentially to prevent reporting on corruption or human rights abuses. Parliament passed the Press Law on November 18, 2016, with minimal debate, together with a new Television Law, Broadcast Law, Journalists Code of Conduct, and statutes

By Adedapo Adesanya The 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to the American poet, Ms Louise Glück. According to the Nobel Committee on Thursday, Ms Gluck was awarded the prize for her “unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal.” She was born in 1943 in New York and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States. Apart from her writing, she is a professor of English at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. The Laureate made her debut in 1968 with ‘Firstborn’ and was soon acclaimed as one of the most prominent poets in American

By Dipo Olowookere A company belonging to General Electric, Baker Hughes, has been given the authority to provide turbomachinery equipment for four FLNG compression trains for BP’s Greater Tortue Ahmeyim natural gas project located in offshore Mauritania and Senegal. The award is second major contract for Greater Tortue development, expanding on BHGE’s contract for subsea production equipment. The Floating LNG facility is to provide nearly 2.5 million tonnes of LNG per annum and represents the first stage of a multi-phase project The award builds on a separate subsea production contract (http://bit.ly/2VNwXon) also received by BHGE in the first quarter for

By Ahmed Rahma In regards to federal government roads rehabilitated by five of the 36 states of the federation, the House of Representative has approved the request of President Muhammadu Buhari to refund the N148.14 billion (an equivalent of $389 million) used to carry out the projects by the respective state government. The approval for the refund was given on Wednesday during a plenary on the floor of the green chamber of the National Assembly. This was in concurrence with the Senate, which earlier granted Mr Buhari’s request for the refund on Tuesday after the Chairman Senate Committee on Local

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Issuers’ Portal (X-Issuer) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has been upgraded to further enhance the compliance and regulation experience of companies listed on the bourse. The X-Issuer is one of the exchange’s dedicated efforts to improve the level of services it provides to the market while enhancing its ability to compete effectively in the global marketplace. A statement issued by the NSE on Monday, July 6, 2020, stated that the enhanced X-Issuer, accessible via, https://ip.nse.com.ng, comes with modern layout, improved functionalities and new user-friendly features. Few of the new features include the Release Calendar Module