NGX Index Rebounds 0.28% Amid Cross Trades by Offshore Investors

By Dipo Olowookere The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said Nigeria’s revenue–to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio of about 9 per cent was too low to trigger the economic growth projected by President Bola Tinubu in his Renewed Hope Agenda. Addressing journalists at its last press briefing for 2023 on Thursday, the global lender said the administration of Mr Tinubu must boost the government’s revenue to have funds to achieve his goals. On May 29, 2023, Mr Tinubu took over from Mr Muhammadu Buhari, promising to jump-start the economy and work tirelessly to address food security, end hunger, eradicate poverty, create

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government has exempted imported Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and its equipment from the payment of customs duty and value-added tax (VAT), a move expected to result in a drop in the cost of cooking gas in the country and bring much-needed succour to Nigerians. This was disclosed by the Minister of Finance, Mr Wale Edun, in a letter (dated November 28, 2023) to the Special Adviser to the President on Energy; the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS); and the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). Recall that in 2019, the federal

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Naira weakened to a new low on the American Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, December 8, amid speculations that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has again devalued the local currency. In the previous trading session, there were reports that the exchange rate for clearing cargoes has been raised to N952/$1, sparking rumours that domestic currency would hit N1,000/$1 in the spot market. On the last trading session of the week, the Naira lost N255.98 or 30.4 per cent of its value on the greenback to trade at N1,099.05/$1

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a further rise of 0.55 per cent, extending its stay in the green territory to a fourth straight session on Thursday, November 7. This increased the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 4.81 points to wrap the session at 872.54 points compared with 867.73 points in the previous session, as the market capitalisation of the OTC exchange jumped by N6.52 billion to settle at N1.182 trillion, in contrast to the preceding trading day’s N1.176 trillion. The unlisted securities market ended the trading session with two price gainers, 11 Plc and

By Adedapo Adesanya The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Bola Tinubu to publish details of the N400 billion his administration claimed it saved from subsidy removal on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol. SERAP, in the letter dated July 1, 2023, and signed by SERAP deputy director, Mr Kolawole Oluwadare, urged him to “provide details of the plans on how subsequent savings from the removal of subsidy on petrol, including specific projects on which the funds would be spent, and the mechanisms that have been put in place to ensure that any such savings are

By Adedapo Adesanya It was a bad day for the Nigerian currency in the official market and the peer-to-peer (P2P) segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market segments on Wednesday as it depreciated against the US Dollar at the close of business. However, the Naira gained strength against the greenback in the black market yesterday for the second straight session this week. Data obtained by Business Post showed that the local currency gave up 67 Kobo or 0.14 per cent during the session in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window to trade at N463.00/$1 compared with the previous day’s rate

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed higher by 1.68 per cent, with banking equities driving the growth on the back of a strong appetite for them. The banking space significantly increased by 9.46 per cent in the last trading session of the week, with the consumer goods index growing by 0.89 per cent. They offset the losses posted by the other key sectors of the market, with the insurance counter falling by 0.74 per cent, the energy space declining by 0.33 per cent, and the industrial goods sector shedding 0.01 per cent. The All-Share Index (ASI) went

By Aduragbemi Omiyale Four additional millionaires have emerged in the Ecobank Super Rewards promo introduced due to popular demand by customers of the financial institution. The latest millionaires are Ikeanyi Ugwu representing FCT/Northern Region; Mr and Mrs Bidemi Adeboye, representing Lagos Region; Oghogho Ikede, representing Midwest and South West Region; and Theodore Scott-Emuakpor representing South East, and South-South Region. They won N1 million each in the Ecobank Super Rewards Scheme Season 2, a four-month campaign which ran between November 2021 and February 2022. It was gathered that a total of 800 customers won N25,000 weekly in batches of 50 per

**As Ajimobi Signs Anti-Land Grabbing Law By Modupe Gbadeyanka Forcible seizure of any landed property across Oyo State or an attempt to do so, otherwise known as land grabbing, has become a criminal offence that attracts a maximum of 15 years imprisonment or a fine of N500,000 or both. This is one of the provisions of the new Real Properties Protection Law, 2016, which the Governor, Mr Abiola Ajimobi, signed into law, at the Executive Council Chambers, in Ibadan, on Friday. The law is titled, “A law to protect the rights of property owners and prohibit forceful entry, illegal occupation,

By Dipo Olowookere Leader in cross-border and cross-currency money movement, Western Union, is rapidly deploying digital services across major regional economic hubs of Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, connecting them 24/7 to more than 200 countries and territories, including billions of consumer bank accounts. In the next few years, Western Union’s digital expansion plans include scaling to more than 200 countries and territories with emphasis on the mobile channel from which approximately 70 percent of Western Union’s digital transactions globally originate. In Asia, with Hong Kong already live, Malaysia, and Singapore will commence services over the next few

By Adedapo Adesanya Hyundai Motor Company has donated 27,000 personal protection equipment (PPEs) worth N35 million to Nigeria to assist front-line medical workers and the public in the fight against the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The contribution towards Nigeria includes 25,000 face masks and 2,000 protective suits to help the country combat the COVID-19. The donation was made to the Lagos State Government towards its COVID-19 Relief programme at an event presided by the Head, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Investments, Ms Solape Hammound. She said it was heartening to see positive stories of altruism by corporates and individuals reinstalling hope