Economy
NCDMB Lauds INTELS Facility at Onne

By Dipo Olowookere
Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr Simbi Wabote, has commended INTELS Nigeria Limited for developing the Onne Free Zone into what he described as “a world class facility”.
Speaking shortly after touring the expansive Onne Free Zone in Rivers State on Friday, Mr Wabote also commended the various companies that have invested and are operating at the facility.
The NCDMB boss said, “First I want to thank the management of INTELS for organising this visit. We came here not just to visit INTELS but also to visit most of the companies operating within this facility.
“We have seen FMC, Pipe Coaters; we also saw GE, One Subsea, AOL Orwell and a couple of others. I can tell you that it is a very impressive facility: you have a lot of clients here.
He added, “What I see from discussion and interaction with them, I see this facility as world class. I believe they all want to remain within this facility to continue their business. Because I don’t think there is any other facility in this country that can match what you have here.
“Which for me is mind blowing, a lot of us do not know what is here; we hear about Onne, we hear about INTELS, our perspective of Onne and INTELS is completely different.
“We didn’t think it could even measure up to NPA in Apapa port and the other ports in Lagos. This is quite significant; given the number of companies you have here, given the marine activities that are ongoing here.
“I am sure 95% of your clients are in the oil and gas industry, which is very important because you are also operating within the Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone. So it is a no-brainer to know that most oil and gas companies want to be here.”
General Manager Legal of INTELS Nigeria Limited, Mr Mike Epelle, who led the team of top management staff that received the NCDMB boss, said INTELS remains fully committed to maximising, in a sustainable manner, the use of Nigerian human resources, materials, equipment and services in its operations without compromising the company’s values, quality, health, safety and environmental standards.
He said, “INTELS is resolute and committed to maximizing the participation of Nigerian businesses and local contractors in its operations in compliance with the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry Content Development Act, 2010.”
Mr Epelle also said that the leading oil and gas logistics giant takes all reasonable measures to meet requisite Nigerian Content levels in its operations.
“INTELS implements the job owners approved Nigerian Content Plan without compromising the intent of achieving the best overall value for the project in terms of price, quality, efficiency, delivery and operating parameters,” he said.
Also speaking, Head of Administration and General Services of INTELS Nigeria Limited, Mr Chibuisi Onyebueke, said the Onne Free Zone is a Federal Government facility developed and positioned by INTELS to play a major role in the development of the West African oil and gas industry, with a unique package of incentives and strategic advantages unrivalled throughout the rest of the sub-region.
He said the Oil and Gas Free Zones Act provides a wide range of incentives and other strategic benefits to investors operating within the Onne Free Zone, similar to those offered by other successful Free Zones throughout the world.
He listed some of the incentives to companies operating at the zone to include free port incentives, Customs incentives, immigration incentives, tax incentives and other benefits contained in Section 18 of the Oil and Gas Free Zone Act.
According to Mr Onyebueke, INTELS Nigeria Ltd operates in government-owned port facilities and Free Zones to provide comprehensive integrated logistics services to the oil and gas industry
Economy
OTC Securities Exchange Falls 1.31% as Key Stocks Decline
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three bellwether stocks weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.31 per cent on Monday, May 18.
This brought the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 54.71 points to 4,133.70 points from 4,188.41 points, and shrank the market capitalisation by N32.73 billion to N2.473 trillion from N2.506 trillion.
Yesterday, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc contracted by N12.45 to sell at N146.55 per share compared with last Friday’s closing price of N159.00 per share, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc declined by N2.34 to N70.00 per unit from N72.34 per unit, and NASD Plc lost 50 Kobo to trade at N34.50 per share versus N35.00 per share.
The trio overpowered the N5.56 gained Newrest Asl Plc. This stock ended the trading session at N61.15 per unit, in contrast to the previous session’s N55.59 per unit.
During the trading day, the volume of securities traded by investors slid by 56.1 per cent to 514,142 units from 1.2 million units, and the value of securities dropped 29.8 per cent to close at N17.4 million versus N29.8 million, while the number of deals jumped 12.5 per cent to 27 deals from 24 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 60.8 million units exchanged for N4.1 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.9 million units traded for N1.9 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units transacted for N1.2 billion.
Economy
FX Pressure Pushes Naira Lower to N1,373/$1 at Official Market
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was a horrible day for the Nigerian Naira in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Monday, May 15, as its value further weakened against the United States Dollar.
In the black market window, the Naira lost N5 against the Dollar yesterday to sell for N1,390/$1 compared with the previous value of N1,385/$1, but at the GTBank forex counter, it remained unchanged at N1,383/$1.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), the Nigerian currency depreciated against the greenback by N2.66 or 0.19 per cent to sell for N1,373.70/$1 compared to last Friday’s rate of N1,371.04/$1.
Equally, it fell against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment by N9.05 to trade at N1,839.66/£1 versus N1,830.61/£1, and lost N5.42 on the Euro to close at N1,600.49/€1 versus N1,595.07/€1.
The performance of the local currency during the session indicates early worries despite all signals pointing to stability, amid improved Dollar sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with steady, higher oil receipts to bolster the nation’s reserves.
Activity at the market showed that turnover rose 57.3 per cent to $76.29 million on Monday from $48.49 million posted on Friday.
Over the weekend, S&P raised Nigeria’s credit ratings for the first time since 2012 and highlighted improved FX market liquidity and $10 billion turnover recorded in April 2026 as one of the major gains of the CBN-led FX reforms.
The agency said the liberalisation of the exchange rate has bolstered access to foreign currency and enabled a market-driven exchange-rate environment while supporting investor and consumer confidence.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish on Monday as investors monitored developments in the Iran conflict and weighed the impact of surging oil prices on inflation and US interest-rate expectations.
Ethereum (ETH) gained 0.7 per cent to trade at $2,134.10, Cardano (ADA) rose by 0.6 per cent to $0.2515, Solana (SOL) expanded by 0.3 per cent to $85.11, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped 0.2 per cent to $643.29, TRON (TRX) increased by 0.03 per cent to $0.3565, and Bitcoin (BTC) advanced by 0.02 per cent to $76,912.12.
On the flip side, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 1.5 per cent to $0.1044, and Ripple (XRP) decreased by 0.5 per cent to $1.38, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
Economy
Customs Street Opens Week Bearish With 0.05% Loss
By Dipo Olowookere
A marginal 0.05 per cent loss was recorded by Customs Street on Monday, as sell-offs by market participants remained.
This was driven by the desire of investors to book profits, having witnessed a significant price appreciation on the stocks in their portfolios.
Yesterday, bargain-hunting in the banking space, which resulted in the sector closing 0.17 per cent higher, could not prevent the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited from going down.
Data showed that the consumer goods segment lost 0.26 per cent, the insurance counter depreciated by 0.20 per cent, the industrial goods index shed 0.09 per cent, and the energy industry retreated by 0.03 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) eased by 126.09 points to 250,204.83 points from 250,330.92 points, and the market capitalisation contracted by N81 billion to N160.363 trillion from N160.444 trillion.
NCR Nigeria and Zichis declined by 9.99 per cent each to sell for N161.20 and N26.49, respectively, Industrial and Medical Gases shrank by 9.93 per cent to N38.10, Sovereign Trust Insurance depreciated by 9.86 per cent to N2.65, and DAAR Communications slipped by 9.78 per cent to N2.03.
On the flip side, Oando gained 10.00 per cent to finish at N51.70, University Press also rose by 10.00 per cent to N5.50, Deap Capital soared by 9.96 per cent to N5.96, May and Baker expanded by 9.94 per cent to N52.00, and Trans-Nationwide Express grew by 9.92 per cent to N7.76.
Yesterday, 800.5 million equities worth N37.1 billion exchanged hands in 87,096 deals compared with the 1.1 billion equities valued at N44.3 billion traded in 65,744 deals last Friday. This showed that the number of deals went up by 32.48 per cent, while the trading volume and value went down by 27.23 per cent and 16.25 per cent, respectively.
The most active stock on the first trading session of this week was UBA with a turnover of 65.0 million units worth N2.8 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 57.3 million units for N1.3 billion, Access Holdings sold 42.3 million units valued at N1.1 billion, DAAR Communications exchanged 36.7 million units for N81.8 million, and Secure Electronic Technology transacted 36.6 million units worth N33.0 million.
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