NASD Sustains Growth by 0.41% at Midweek

By Adedapo Adesanya The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has raised the alarm over alleged secret reintroduction of fuel subsidy payments by the federal government. In late May, after taking the oath of office, President Bola Tinubu announced the total removal of subsidy on petrol, which saw prices jump to over N600. The removal of fuel subsidy and the resulting increment in the pump of petrol by almost 300 per cent had quadrupled the inflation rate in the country and affected the purchasing power of Nigerians, especially the middle class and low-income earners. It was expected that as

By Adedapo Adesanya The new leadership of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) signalled no confidence to traders and investors as the Naira was further dealt a heavy blow at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) and the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) arms of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Monday, September 25, though it maintained stability against the United States Dollar in the parallel market. In the official market, the Naira lost 3.41 per cent or N25.49 against the greenback to finish at N773.25/$1 compared with last Friday’s closing rate of N747.76/$1, as the value of forex transactions went down by 58.3

By Adedapo Adesanya Crude oil prices settled gained almost one per cent higher on Tuesday as expectations of tighter supply outweighed worries that an uncertain economic outlook would hurt demand. Brent crude futures rose by 67 cents or 0.7 per cent to $93.96 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures increased by 71 cents or 0.8 per cent to $90.39 per barrel. Oil supply remains tight as Russia and Saudi Arabia have extended production cuts to the end of the year. Market analysts noted that oil supply is expected to underwhelm demand in the foreseeable future

By Adedapo Adesanya  Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has secured a $300 million loan from the Export-Import Bank of China (CEXIM) to drive increased trade finance and investment across the African continent, fostering economic growth and development. The infrastructure solutions provider on the continent announced the successful signing of the landmark agreement on the sidelines of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) Annual meetings in Egypt. The 3-year credit facility is a significant development in AFC’s long-standing relationship with CEXIM. The two institutions have collaborated since 2018, with AFC receiving $400 million in bilateral loans from CEXIM to date. According to

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) for Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria, Mr Boss Mustapha, has asked farmers in the country to prepare to return to their farms very soon. The PTF Chair, speaking during the daily press briefing on Friday in Abuja, stated that this became necessary to avert food crisis in the country at a time the nation was battling with health and economic crisis. According to him, the federal government, through the ministry of Agriculture, will make adequate arrangements to make things go smoothly for farmer. He said Nigeria must take full advantage

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria is working towards reducing the sum of $1.2 billion spent on the importation of fish into Nigeria annually, according to Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele. Mr Emefiele made this disclosure yesterday in Abuja during a parley with some state Governors and the media on the achievement of the agriculture sector so far in pushing Nigeria’s economic growth. According to the CBN chief, current fish production stands at 0.8 million tons, which doesn’t match the demand by Nigerians of 2.7 million tons, resulting in a deficit of 1.9 million tons. He

By Dipo Olowookere There was a significant drop in the money market rates in Nigeria at the first trading day of this week on Monday. The Open Buy Back (OBB) and the Overnight rates depreciated by about 15 percent. Specifically, while the OBB rate went down to 3.67 percent from 17.17 percent, the overnight rate dropped to 4.42 percent from 19.67 percent in the previous session. The decline occurred as system liquidity improved significantly to about 250 billion positive following inflows from FAAC Payments into the system. Analysts at Zedcrest Capital expect the rates to remain moderated, even as the

By Aduragbemi Omiyale A new International Termination Rate (ITR) for voice services paid by overseas telecom carriers for terminating international calls on local networks in Nigeria has been set at $0.045. The new ITR floor price was pegged by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and it takes effect from January 1, 2022, a statement issued on Monday by the Director of Public Affairs at NCC, Mr Ikechukwu Adinde, disclosed. According to the circular titled Determination of Mobile International Termination Rate, the rate is to be paid in US Dollar to enable Nigerian operators to receive an increasing rate in Naira

By Adedapo Adesanya President Muhammadu Buhari has urged multilateral agencies including the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB) and other partners to support the One Planet Summit initiative and activate the $19 billion pledge. He said the pledge, meant for the activities of the Pan African Great Green Wall Agency (PAGGW), would be utilized for land restoration, tree planting, development of climate resilience infrastructure and investments in small and medium-sized farms. The Nigerian president made the charge at a side event he convened at the ongoing UN Conference Of Parties, COP15 in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. According to a statement from

By Dipo Olowookere Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, on Thursday assured residents that the ongoing Lagos-Badagry Expressway expansion project would be completed before the end of 2019. The Governor, who spoke shortly after embarking on extensive inspection of ongoing projects across the state, said the project was a major economic catalyst for Lagos and therefore his administration was totally committed to seeing it through. Recalling that his recent visit to Denmark was to finalise plans with APM Terminals to fast-track the commencement of work on the $2.6 billion Badagry Deep Sea Port, Mr Ambode said it was important for

By Adedapo Adesanya With deep consideration to the COVID-19 pandemic on economic activities, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced extending deadline for the recapitalisation of microfinance banks (MFBs) in the country. This announcement was made in a circular with reference number FPR/DlR/GEN/ClR/07/054 entitled Re: Review of minimum capital requirements for microfinance banks in Nigeria. It read in parts, “The Central Bank of Nigeria has extended the deadlines for compliance with the revised minimum capital requirements for all categories of the MFBs by one year as follows: “The MFBs operating in rural, unbanked and under-banked areas (Tier 2) shall

By Dipo Olowookere Mr Reuben Abati, former spokesman to Mr Goodluck Jonathan, an ex-Nigerian President, has been released by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). His release came barely 24 hours after the EFCC allowed former Minister of State for Defence, Mr Musiliu Obanikoro, to go. Mr Abati was arrested on October 24, in Abuja and almost spent almost two weeks in the agency’s cell. He was detained for allegedly taking N50 million from former National Security Adviser (NSA), Mr Sambo Dasuki during the last administration. He was reportedly released on Friday night, while his bail is expected to