NEC Tells CBN to Review Forex Policy

By Adedapo Adesanya  Nigeria’s economy, measured through its gross domestic product (GDP), witnessed a 2.54 per cent growth in the third quarter (Q3) of the year 2023. In a report published on Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the 2.54 per cent year-on-year growth in real terms in the third quarter of 2023 is higher than the 2.25 per cent recorded in the third quarter of 2022 and higher than the second quarter 2023 growth of 2.51 per cent. The bureau further said that the performance of the GDP in the third quarter of 2023 was driven mainly by

By Adedapo Adesanya  Oil prices fell on Friday as the release of some hostages in Gaza reduced the geopolitical risk premium and indicated that the Israel-Hamas tensions may not have much effect on the oil market. Brent crude futures depreciated by 84 cents or 1 per cent at $80.58 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped $1.56 or 2 per cent to close at $75.54. There was no settlement for WTI on Thursday owing to the US Thanksgiving holiday. Prices notched their first week of gains in over a month ahead of next week’s meeting of

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited is planning to grow its revenue to N4.5 trillion as it plans to end the importation of premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, by December 2024. The chief executive of the company, Mr Mele Kyari, while speaking on Thursday, said the nation would not need to rely on fuel from outside the country because its refineries would have been fully operational. Nigeria is currently revamping its four refineries to make the product available to residents of the country as it officially stopped the payment of subsidy on petrol

By Adedapo Adesanya Appreciation in the prices of three stocks saw the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed with a 1.36 per cent rise on Friday, November 24 despite efforts by two equities to bring down the market. Aradel Holdings Plc recorded a N79.20 appreciation to sell at N871.20 per share compared to the previous day’s N792.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc increased by N2.82 to close the day at N74.00 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N71.14 per unit, and UBN Property Plc jumped by 15 Kobo to finish at N1.65 per share, in contrast to the

By Dipo Olowookere Transactions on the trading floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) ended bullish on Wednesday after bargain hunters dealt a huge blow on bears terrorizing the market in the past two previous sessions despite the positive news of the appointment of an economic squad by President Muhammadu Buhari and the easing of inflation to 11.02 percent in August 2019 as announced by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday. The actions of investors in mopping up some value stocks trading at cheap prices led to the 1.00 percent appreciation printed by the market at the midweek

By Dipo Olowookere United States Secretary of State, Mr Mike Pompeo, has released the 18th annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. The report assesses the efforts of governments around the world to fight human trafficking, including in the United States. This year’s TIP Report notes the government of Ghana’s increased efforts to combat human trafficking in 2017, including implementing a national anti-trafficking plan, prosecuting and convicting an increased number of labour and sex traffickers, and increasing cooperation across anti-trafficking government agencies. Additionally, Ghana adopted procedures to identify and refer trafficking victims to necessary services and supported a range of anti-trafficking

Ecobank Nigeria has taken its digital product, EcobankPay Zone to the South East market with a launch at the popular Ariaria Market, Aba. Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwuntan while launching the product at the market said it will facilitate easy, secure and convenient transactions for merchants within Ariaria and other surrounding markets. The EcobankPay Zone is a digital payment hub enabling businesses within a location adopt Ecobank’s wide range of digital products for ease of payments for goods and services. “It is our determination to create ease of payment and boost economic activities most especially in a town like

By Cowry Asset In the just concluded week, the local currency depreciated w-o-w in most foreign exchange market segments. The Naira lost ground against the US Dollar at the Interbank, Bureau De Change segment and Parallel market segments by 0.37%, 0.55% and 0.82% to N325/USD, N364/USD and N370/USD respectively. This was despite injections by the CBN worth $413.5 million into the foreign exchange market of which $100 million was allocated to Wholesale (SMIS), $28 million was allocated to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, $260 million was released for sales in the retail window that took place last week, and $25.5

By Adedapo Adesanya The Anzisha Prize in partnership with African Leadership Academy and Mastercard Foundation is celebrating 10 African entrepreneurs whose transitions into entrepreneurship started before the age of 25. Drawn from six African countries, the 10 inspirational business leaders have been inducted into the Anzisha Prize Hall of Fame for 2020. The Hall of Fame features a diverse group of five female and five male entrepreneurs whose transitions from high school or university into entrepreneurship demonstrates the importance of starting early to shape entrepreneurial careers. The Hall of Fame 2020 honourees are entrepreneurs from various industries from South Africa,

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigerians have taken to social media to express their displeasure over the planned 5 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) to be charged by government from 2020 for buying items on the internet. This means from next year, those making online purchases in Nigeria would have to pay more. According to the chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Babatunde Fowler, government has not made a final decision on the matter yet, but plans are ongoing to charge customers VAT on purchases made electronically using their banks on e-commerce websites. Asides the payment on delivery option,

By Adekunle Abolaji The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has sacked the Board of Directors of First Bank of Nigeria and reinstated Adesola Adeduntan as the Managing Director. The apex bank also appointed new Directors comprising Dr Fatade Abiodun Oluwole, Kofo Dosekun, Remi Lasaki, Dr Alimi Abdulrasaq, Ahmed Modibbo, Khalifa Imam, Sir Peter Aliogo, and UK Eke (Managing Director) as Directors of FBN Holdings Plc. Remi Babalola was appointed as the Chairman. The reaffirmation of Adesola Adeduntan as the Managing Director of First Bank by the central bank is a strategic and bold decision aimed at stabilizing Nigeria’s financial sector.

By Lukman Otunuga Earlier, we discussed how rising inflation was a ticking time bomb and a growing threat to Nigeria’s fragile economic outlook. At 17.71%, the country’s annual inflation rate is certainly on a rise, thanks to soaring food and diesel prices. This month, it was reported that the main ingredient for making Akara jumped a whopping 32% in May while the price of peanut oil surged 47% in the same period. Such a development is bad news and could make this breakfast snack unaffordable for some. The inflation beast has now set its sights on transportation fares despite the