NBCC, FirstBank Partner To Drive MSME Growth

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 Adedapo Adesanya The return of the bears was averted at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Thursday by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which helped the alternative bourse close marginally higher by 0.03 per cent. This slight growth increased the value of the OTC exchange by N380 million, closing relatively flat at N1.165 trillion, as the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased by 0.27 points to end the day at 859.58 points compared with the previous day’s 859.31 points. During the trading day, the value of CSCS Plc went up by 8 Kobo to settle at N17.08

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria will accept and work with a production quota of 1.5 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2024 as the country aims to grow on the back of its oil resources, following a revision done by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+. According to a statement issued by the Press and Public Relations unit of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Thursday’s meeting of the 23-man group addressed crucial aspects, including the completion of assessments by independent sources (IHS, Wood Mackenzie, and Rystad Energy) on the projected production levels for Angola,

Cowry Asset The local currency further gained 0.09 percent against the Dollar last week at the Investors & Exporters (I&E) segment of the foreign exchange to close at N360.18 as foreign portfolio inflows rose amid increasing demand for fixed income assets. Also, the Naira/Dollar exchange rate at the parallel market appreciated by 0.28 percent to finish at N359/$. However, at the interbank segment of the market, the exchange rate remained unchanged at N356.92/$ amid weekly injections of $210 million by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) into the forex market via the Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) of which: $100

By Adedapo Adesanya The last trading day of last week at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended on a positive note after the major indicators recorded marginal gains. It was the second straight day the unlisted securities market was trading bullish as investors are beginning to show confidence in the market, which had been very wavy lately. At the close of transactions last Friday, the market capitalisation slightly improved by 0.01 percent or N70 million to settle at N501.14 billion in contrast to N501.07 billion it ended on Thursday,. In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI)

By Adedapo Adesanya Crude oil prices returned to the positive territory on Wednesday, boosted by another weekly draw in crude inventories in the United States which lifted investors’ hopes for some return in fuel demand. This development spurred the Brent futures to $1.05 or 2.1 per cent growth to trade at $51.13 per barrel and sparked the 2.21 per cent or $1.04 increase in the price of the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures to $48.06 per barrel. Yesterday, it was announced by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) that the US crude inventories fell by 562,000 barrels in the week

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Last week, the major market metrics on the trading floor of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) over-the-counter (OTC) market depressed further. Specifically, the Unlisted Securities Index (USI) went down by 1.63 percent as well as its market capitalisation. While the NASD USI closed at 664.38 points against its previous close of 675.43 points, the market capitalisation finished at N449.61 billion in contrast to N457.08 billion it ended in the last trading session. The top gainer at the market last week was Afriland Properties Plc, which appreciated 1.59 percent to settle at N3.20k against N3.15k it

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Group Executive/Head Investment Banking and Operations of FBNQuest Merchant Bank, Mr Patrick Mgbenwelu, has reaffirmed the commitment of the company to providing financial solutions to its clients. He gave this assurance while reacting to the naming of the firm as the winner of the Equity Deal of the Year category at the 2021 African Banker Awards. “FBNQuest remains committed to consistently providing financial solutions that will enable our clients to make a difference, and we are honoured to be recognized by the African Banker, which is a reflection of the quality of support we give our

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru, has disclosed that the state-oil firm has embarked on properly and professional exploration of all inland basins in the country including the Sokoto basin. According to him, the NNPC has already procured aeromagnetic data on the Sokoto basin from the Nigerian Geophysical Survey as well as awarded contract for the mapping and procurement of apt samples to further the understanding of the area. Dr Baru informed that the NNPC has contracted its subsidiary, Integrated Data Services Limited (IDSL), to carry out various geochemistry investigations

By Dipo Olowookere A supplementary appeal for an additional $9.5 million is needed to scale up activities in north-east Nigeria as a result of an unexpected surge in self-organized returns of Nigerian refugees since the beginning of the year, mainly from Cameroon, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has said. Many returnees stay in camps and displacement sites in precarious and overcrowded conditions. The situation is particularly difficult in the town of Banki, in north-east Nigeria, where many are forced to live outdoors and have limited access to drinking water, food and medicine, an official of the agency disclosed. “This is

By Adedapo Adesanya The number of apps installed across sub-Saharan Africa increased by 55 per cent in 2020 compared with 2019, a report by AppsFlyer, a global attribution leader, has disclosed. The organisation said in its report that over 30,000 different apps recorded more than 48 billion installations in the period under review. In the report, AppsFlyer’s mobile marketing analytics noted that COVID-19 forced more people to be on their mobile devices this year, especially because of lockdown and phone users found solace in apps that enabled them to shop, play games, keep fit, stream or indulge in social networking.