Connect with us

Economy

NCDMB Meets Stakeholders on Local Content Enforcement

Published

on

NCDMB NCI Fund

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

In a bid to galvanise collaboration with key stakeholders and ensure broad compliance with the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has organized a workshop with the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) and Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ).

The Board also held a separate workshop with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and other aviation stakeholders.

The workshop with NEPZA and LFTZ was held in Lagos recently, with the intent to create a modality for effective monitoring of expatriates deployed by oil and gas companies operating in free trade zones.

Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr Simbi Wabote, delivered the keynote address and underscored that Nigerian Content does not encourage Nigerianisation of the industry but promotes the domestication and domiciliation of value adding activities.

According to him, Nigerian Content implementation led to the establishment of two pipe mills in the country, five pipe coating plants, mega fabrication yards, engineering design houses and created over 30,000 direct jobs, with over 6 million training man-hours among other numerous achievements.

He added that the Board’s efforts also made significant impact in the free zones like the establishment of the SHI-MCI yard in LADOL and major fabrication projects executed at the Nigerdock FZE.  He underlined that “it is crucial for NCDMB, NEPZA and LFTZ to fashion out a suitable framework for managing expatriate deployment in the free zones to ensure that we achieve the full aspirations of government and enhance capacity utilization of oil and gas facilities within and outside the free zones.”

Mr Wabote affirmed that a framework will be developed to capture the approval process for expatriates deployed by such oil and gas facilities, outline a hitch free process to grant the Board access to free zones in other to conduct statutory performance reviews and assessment visits to oil and gas facilities and outline actions to encourage oil and gas companies to set up free zones.

In his remarks, Managing Director of NEPZA represented by the General Manager, Private Zones, Mr Muazu Mohammed Ruma, commended the Board for the initiative, assuring that NEPZA was ready to collaborate with the Board in the implementation of the Nigerian Content Act.

At a similar workshop with aviation stakeholders, the Board charged them to kick start the process of forming the Aviation Sectorial Working Group, which would operate as a member of the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum (NCCF), so they could address specific issues relating to their sector, especially with respect to capacity development and harnessing of opportunities in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

The group would also utilize the NCCF platform to develop action plans, timelines and strategy that would advance the aviation subsector of the oil and gas industry.

He listed compliance issues in aviation subsector to include expatriates deployment offshore and Nigerianisation of overdue expatriate positions by aviation companies

The Director, Planning, Research and Statistics Division, NCDMB, Mr Patrick Obah, who represented the Executive Secretary, also charged the aviation stakeholders to submit a proposal that would enable the Board to carry out categorization of players in the aviation service sector. Such categorization, he said, would ensure that companies that demonstrate local capacity and Nigerian Content Compliance are given first consideration in oil and gas opportunities.

The Director General of NCAA, represented by the Director General Aviation, Captain Ayodele Sasegbon thanked the Board for seeking to synergize with the aviation sector and promised the support of the agency towards development of the oil and gas industry. Major aviation companies participated in the workshop and they included Bristow Helicopters, Caverton Helicopters, Atlantic Aviation, Flying Doctors, Aero contractors, Heliserve, Taucan Aviation, Tropical Artics Logistics, Arik Air, Glory Airline Services and Anap Jets.

Modupe Gbadeyanka is a fast-rising journalist with Business Post Nigeria. Her passion for journalism is amazing. She is willing to learn more with a view to becoming one of the best pen-pushers in Nigeria. Her role models are the duo of CNN's Richard Quest and Christiane Amanpour.

Economy

FrieslandCampina Wamco, Three Others Raise NASD OTC Exchange by 1.41%

Published

on

OTC stock exchange

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed higher by 1.41 per cent on Friday, May 15, supported by four securities on the platform.

During the session, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc added N14.24 to its share price to sell for N159.00 per unit, in contrast to the previous day’s N144.76 per unit.

Further, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc appreciated by N1.34 to N72.34 per share from N71.00 per share, Geo-Fluids Plc improved its price by 4 Kobo to N2.94 per unit from N2.90 per unit, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc gained 1 Kobo to trade at 61 Kobo per share compared with Thursday’s closing price of 60 Kobo per share.

As a result, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rose by 58.20 points to 4,188.41 points from 4,130.21 points, and the market capitalisation soared by N34.82 billion to N2.506 trillion from N2.471 trillion on Thursday.

During the session, the volume of trades went up by 180.8 per cent to 1.2 million units from 417,349 units, and the value of transactions increased by 29.8 per cent to N29.8 million from N23.2 million, while the number of deals fell by 22.6 per cent to 24 deals from 31 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the day as 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 valued at N1.9 billion.

GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.

Continue Reading

Economy

Profit-taking Sinks Nigeria’s Equity Market by 0.76% as Bears Take Control

Published

on

Nigerian equity market

By Dipo Olowookere

The bears overpowered the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday, sinking it further by 0.76 per cent when the closing gong was struck by 4 pm.

The nation’s flagship equity market was under selling pressure during the session, as investors booked profits after the shares witnessed price appreciation in the past trading sessions.

The energy sector was the most impacted, as it shed 4.43 per cent. The consumer goods index declined by 0.90 per cent, the banking counter decreased by 0.15 per cent, and the industrial goods sector lost 0.08 per cent, while the insurance counter gained 2.42 per cent, which was not enough to salvage the situation.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 1,912.19 points to 250,330.92 points from 252,243.11 points, and the market capitalisation moderated by 1.225 trillion to N160.444 trillion from N161.669 trillion.

Zichis was the worst-performing stock for the session after it gave up 9.97 per cent to close at N29.43, FTN Cocoa slipped by 9.95 per cent to N8.96, The Initiates slumped by 9.90 per cent to N32.30, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank tumbled by 9.88 per cent to N3.83, and International Energy Insurance dropped 9.71 per cent to trade at N2.79.

The best-performing stock was ABC Transport, which grew by 10.00 per cent to N6.27. May and Baker also appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N47.30, SCOA Nigeria surged by 9.98 per cent to N33.05, Trans-Nationwide Express expanded by 9.97 per cent to N7.06, and DAAR Communications jumped 9.76 per cent to N2.25.

Yesterday, investors traded 1.1 billion shares worth N44.3 billion in 65,744 deals compared with the 1.0 billion shares valued at N41.6 billion transacted in 74,822 deals a day earlier. This indicated a dip in the number of deals by 12.13 per cent, and a rise in the trading volume and value by 10.00 per cent and 6.49 per cent, respectively.

Chams was the busiest equity for the day, with 328.5 million units sold for N1.1 billion. UBA traded 61.6 million units worth N2.7 billion, First Holdco transacted 58.7 million units valued at N4.2 billion, Secure Electronic Technology exchanged 51.9 million units worth N45.0 million, and Access Holdings traded 51.8 million units valued at N1.3 billion.

Continue Reading

Economy

Naira Weakens to N1,371/$1 at Official Market

Published

on

Official FX Market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The last trading session of the week at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) ended on a negative note for the Naira on Friday, May 15, as it lost N15 Kobo or 0.1 per cent against the Dollar to trade at N1,371.04/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,370.89/$1.

However, it further appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment yesterday by N20.77 to close at N1,830.61/£1 versus Thursday’s value of N1,851.38/£1, and gained N7.91 against the Euro to settle at  N1,595.07/€1 versus N1,602.98/€1.

At the GTBank FX desk, the Naira lost N2 against the US Dollar during the session to sell at N1,383/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,381/$1, and at the black market, it remained unchanged at N1,385/$1.

The Naira is forecast to be broadly stable, supported by Dollar sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) amid steady, higher oil receipts, with the ‌market settling ⁠into a balance.

Policy direction is also expected to give the market some boost as the CBN said the new edition of the FX market guidelines will deepen liquidity, improve transparency and strengthen confidence in the country’s foreign exchange market.

According to the Governor of the CBN, Mr Yemi Cardoso, the update is due to changing global economic realities, domestic reforms and the need for a more coherent and forward-looking regulatory framework. According to him, the last edition of the FX manual was issued in 2018, making the latest review both timely and necessary.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market plunged into the red zone as rising bond yields hit risk assets across markets, while traders are increasingly betting the Federal Reserve may need to raise rates again. Rising energy prices and resurging inflation could force central banks back into tightening mode.

Cardano (ADA) shrank by 4.4 per cent to $0.2557, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 3.7 per cent to $0.1104, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 3.5 per cent to $1.41, Solana (SOL) crashed by 3.5 per cent to $87.81, and Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 3.4 per cent to $659.64.

Further, Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 2.6 per cent to $78,547.49, Ethereum (ETH) lost 2.1 per cent to quote at $2,209.19, and TRON (TRX) tumbled by 0.7 per cent to $0.3509, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.

Continue Reading

Trending