NDEP, CSCS Spur NASD Exchange to 1.35% Growth

By Adedapo Adesanya The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has cautioned Nigerians to be wary of fake Naira notes currently in circulation, vowing to prosecute those engaged in the illicit acts. The apex bank in a release signed by Mrs Hakama Sidi Ali, the acting Director of Corporate Communications, said the counterfeit notes have been spread by some individuals for transactions in food markets and other places where commerce takes place across the country, noting that this is a punishable offence. “The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to the circulation of counterfeit banknotes, especially

By Adedapo Adesanya  The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that the total value of the country’s merchandise trade experienced an increase of 1 per cent to $7.8 billion in August 2023 from the $7.72 billion that was quoted in July. This was disclosed by the apex bank in its latest monthly economic publication, where it disclosed that despite the rise month-on-month, Nigeria’s merchandise trade value in the period was almost 20 per cent lower compared to the value in August 2022 due to a significant decrease in import trade value. The total merchandise trade comprised an export trade

By Adedapo Adesanya Dangote Refinery is set to commence crude refining in the coming days as an OTIS Tanker, carrying 950,000 barrels of Agbami crude has reportedly set sail to Dangote’s offshore crude receiving terminal, Business Post has gathered. It is expected to arrive around 8 pm today, December 7, 2023. This development confirms expectations that the 650,000 barrels per day will commence operations before year-end and produce its first batch of petroleum soon after the company had initially announced that it would begin producing up to 370,000 barrels per day of diesel and jet fuel in October and gradually

By Adedapo Adesanya The President of the Dangote Group, the owners of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals plant, Mr Aliko Dangote, has said that following the purchase of 1 million barrels of Agbami crude grade from Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited (STASCO), it will be looking to ramp up its production in coming months. The 650,000 barrels per day capacity refinery is not expected to hit full capacity until 2025, but with a gradual ramping, it is expected that it will begin with begin producing up to 370,000 barrels per day of diesel and jet fuel. “We

By Dipo Olowookere Last week, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed the week on negative note, losing 0.39 percent to further trim the YtD returns to 8.4 percent. However, the market breadth remained positive with 33 price gainers and 24 price losers. The market sentiment remained much better than earlier sessions last week and there are strong indications that today, the huge renewed appetite for banking stocks will remain positive. Last week, UBA released its FY’17 results with top and bottom line up 20 percent to N462 billion and 9 percent to N79 billion. The lender proposed a final dividend

While global food supply chains may be starting to heal from the COVID-19 pandemic, food and agri-business, Olam International, underlines the importance of addressing the long-term wellness and operational resilience needs of those small-scale farmers in emerging markets who provide much of the world’s ingredients and raw materials. A survey undertaken by Olam in July of 2,400 of smallholder farmers growing cocoa, coffee, sesame, cotton and other crops in Africa and Indonesia, revealed that more than half were experiencing shortages in basic food and nutrition due to movement restrictions, food price increases and insufficient stocks at home. Ability to afford

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Customers of Emirates Airlines have been advised to plan their travel carefully this December, as departure numbers peak throughout the festive month, including over the UAE National Day and Christmas period. In a statement, the airline operator urged passengers to arrive at the airport up to 3 hours before a flight and take note of their boarding time to ensure they reach the departure gate on time. It noted that travellers could take advantage of a wide array of check-in and baggage drop options from Emirates City Check-In & Travel Store, to newly refurbished First and Business

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The overnight rate on Monday increased to 19.75 percent from 7.75 percent last Friday as a result of the sale of treasury bills by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through the open market operations (OMO) today. Also, the open buy back (OBB) rate grew at the close of business to 17.83 percent from 7.17 percent last Friday. At the market today, the central bank sold a total of N65.73 billion worth of treasury bills via the OMO to investors. Business Post reports that the treasury bills market was relatively quiet as market players continued to pour

By Dipo Olowookere Customers of Ecobank Nigeria have been assured of enjoying excellent services especially in the era of the new Managing Director/CEO of the lender, Mr Patrick Akinwuntan. Speaking at the flagging off the 2018 Customer Service Week at the Ikorodu branch of the bank on Tuesday, Mr Akinwuntan noted that the company will continue to ensure that the needs and aspirations of customers are met at all times. The bank chief described the 2018 Customer Service Week as a huge opportunity to say thank you and to celebrate customers of the bank. “This is another moment to celebrate

By Dipo Olowookere The board of Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN) Plc has decided to reward shareholders of the firm through the payment of dividend. The company’s highest decision making organ is proposing to pay shareholders a dividend of N1.50k per 50k ordinary share, subject to appropriate withholding tax and approval of the shareholders at the Annual General Meeting (AGN) scheduled for next month in Lagos. The firm said in a notice to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) that the dividend would only be paid to shareholders whose names appear in the Register of Members as at the close

One of South Africa’s leading coal producers, Exxaro, has partnered with Accenture to help digitally transform its business and unlock new revenue streams by managing the migration of its SAP solutions, and other centrally-run applications used by Exxaro business units, to Microsoft Azure. A statement disclosed that this supports Exxaro’s ambition to establish a secure, agile, cost-effective and scalable platform that will improve business processes and continuity. Accenture created a cloud transformation strategy for Exxaro that defined the business case for migration to a public cloud, a move, which offered the lowest total cost of ownership, improvements to core systems

By Modupe Gbadeyanka **Says Income Levels Down 30% The income levels of consumers in Nigeria are down by an average of 30 percent since March 2020, while job opportunities are fast disappearing, a survey has revealed. The study conducted by REACH Technologies, a Nigeria-based fintech, on behalf of FBNQuest, corroborates findings from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) COVID impact survey that consumers have fallen on harder times. Another sticking point is that consumption of non-essentials has been cut drastically, with respondents stating that they have reduced spending on higher value category items by about 22 percent since about three