Economy
Nigeria, Benin, Niger Establish Joint Border Patrol
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria, the Benin Republic and the Niger Republic have set up a tripartite border patrol team that will check smuggling, irregular migration and other organised crimes committed across transnational lines as Nigeria begins the gradual opening of its land borders.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Mr Joseph Attah, on behalf of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Mr Hammed Ali, on Friday.
It was explained that the alliance will see Nigeria’s Operation Swift Response (OSR), which was launched in August 2019 and coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), transformed into Joint Border Patrol Team (JBPT) as part of a tripartite operation, comprising the three West African nations.
Giving a goodwill message to the transformed Operation SWIFT RESPONSE, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mr Babagana Monguno, applauded the unflinching commitment of the security operatives to the national assignment and urged them not to rest on their oars.
The NSA further stated that the joint patrols would be adequately administered and charged the operatives to display a high level of professionalism during the operation with their neighbouring counterparts.
He said this was because Nigeria has a widely acclaimed track record of security operations not just at the West African region level, but the world at large.
The customs also used the opportunity to warn that despite the decision to open its borders for commercial activities, it was not a greenlight for illegal activities to resume. It warned that import of items such as parboiled rice, frozen chicken, illicit drugs, among others remain prohibited.
The Nigerian government had in August 2019 closed its landed borders and the service noted that a year and four months into the operation, the smuggling of illicit drugs and proliferation of small arms and light weapons used to exacerbate Violent Extremism and Terrorism in some parts of the country have been significantly curbed.
The agency also noted that it seized a large number of prohibited items and arrested irregular migrants as the operation progresses.
The service revealed that, “As at January 5, 2021; 1,401 irregular migrants had been arrested while the total seizures were; 159,506.7 (50kg) bags of parboiled foreign rice; 10,447 bags of NPK fertilizer used for making explosives; 1,974 vehicles; 895 motorcycles; and 18,690.3 jerricans of vegetable oil, among other seized items. It was disclosed that the total monetary value of the apprehended items is worth N12.54 billion.
The statement noted that its priority remained to keep our borders safe from any inimical activity that will compromise the nation’s interest and thanked Nigerians and the business community for their continuous support.
By Dipo Olowookere
An energy company, 11 Plc, formerly known as Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, has joined the NASD over-the-counter (OTC) Securities Exchange.
The firm joined the NASD Exchange on Friday, June 18, 2021, after it voluntarily delisted its stocks on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last month.
Business Post gathered that when 11 Plc was admitted into the unlisted securities market, it was allotted the trading symbol, SD11PLC, and its securities were listed at N215 per unit.
Recall that in February 2021, Business Post reported that 11 Plc would trade its shares on the NASD platform after it exits the country’s main stock exchange.
The energy firm had explained that it was leaving the NGX to “focus on revenue generation, consider strategic opportunities, alliances and collaborations; and tremendously shift from regulatory, administrative, and financial reporting regulations that companies listed on the exchange must adhere to.”
Before leaving, it offered shareholders who intend to sell their stake in the firm N213.90 for each of the unit held by them, noting that this amount was reached because it was the price shares of the company were sold at the exchange six months preceding the notice of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of 2020, where the decision to delist was agreed.
At the close of business on Tuesday, February 9, 2021, shares of the company traded flat at N228 per unit. The firm had shares outstanding of 360,595,262 and a market capitalisation of N82.2 billion.
“The interest of dissenting shareholders shall be bought by the company for a consideration of N213.90 per ordinary share, being the highest price at which 11 Plc shares have traded, six months preceding the notice of the AGM at which the resolution to delist was deliberated, as provided by the rules of the NSE,” 11 Plc had said.
In a related development, the NASD OTC Exchange has also admitted Capital Bancorp Plc on its trading platform. The company also joined last Friday.
Capital Bancorp, which offers financial services, was given the trading symbol SDCBANCO and was listed at N3.83 per unit.
This brings the total number of companies on the trading exchange to 41. The OTC platform was created for securities that are not listed on any other securities exchange, providing a secure regulated platform for investors to trade on them.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Investors suffered a marginal loss of 0.01 per cent at the 24th trading week of 2021 on the floor of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange.
This reduced the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 0.07 points to close the week at 746.12 points in contrast to 746.19 points of the previous week.
Also, the market capitalisation of the unlisted securities ecosystem went down by N0.05 billion to N530.35 billion from N530.4 billion it closed in the preceding week.
The decline witnessed in the four-day trading week was buoyed by two equities; Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc and Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc.
NGX Group lost 3.1 per cent to close the week at N19.28 per unit compared with the previous N19.89 per unit, while CSCS went down by 0.01 per cent to close at N17.99 per share in contrast to N18.00 per share it ended the preceding week.
During the week, the volume of stocks transacted by investors decreased by 21.03 per cent to 11.8 million units from 14. 9 million units of the previous week, while the value of shares traded went down by 20.13 per cent to N240.4 million from N301.0 million recorded a week earlier, with the number of deals going down by 18.4 per cent to 124 deals from 152 deals of the previous week.
The most active security by value in the week was NGX Group with the sale of N205.1 million. It was trailed by CSCS Plc with N26.4 million, Nipco Plc with N8.4 million, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc with N497,202 and VFD Group Plc with N114,484.
Also, NGX Group was the most traded stock by volume last week with 10.3 million units. CSCS Plc traded 1.4 million units, VFD Group Plc exchanged 1.1 million units, Nipco Plc transacted 120,050 units, while UBN Property Plc traded 7,000 units.
On a year-to-date basis, investors have traded 395.4 million securities worth N8.6 billion in 2352 deals.
By Dipo Olowookere
Investment in equities in Nigeria shrank last week following the public holiday declared by the federal government last Monday to mark June 12 Democracy Day.
Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited showed that in the four-day trading week, investors only traded 981.2 million shares worth N10.4 billion in 15,001 deals as against the 1.1 billion shares worth N12.8 billion transacted in 17,854 deals the preceding week.
If not for the holiday, the turnover would have increased in the week as market participants traded an average of 245.3 million stocks worth N2.6 billion in 3,750 deals.
Business Post observed that Zenith Bank, Sterling Bank and Wema Bank accounted for 265.7 million units valued at N2.5 billion in 2,742 deals, contributing 27.08 per cent and 23.60 per cent to the total trading volume and value respectively.
Also, financial stocks accounted for 695.8 million units worth N5.2 billion in 8,616 deals, contributing 70.92 per cent and 49.86 per cent to the total trading volume and value respectively.
Consumer goods shares followed with 75.9 million units worth N1.2 billion in 2,263 deals, while conglomerates equities recorded 67.4 million units worth N367.3 million in 612 deals.
A total of 38 equities closed on the gainers’ chart in the week, higher than 35 equities of the previous week, while 25 stocks finished on the losers’ log, lower than 36 stocks of the preceding week, with 93 shares closing flat, higher than 89 shares of the prior week.
Berger Paints was the highest price gainer, appreciating by 14.93 per cent to trade at N7.70. Lasaco Assurance gained 10.29 per cent to sell for N1.50, Champion Breweries increased by 10.00 per cent to quote at N1.98, Morison Industries went up by 9.68 per cent to trade at N1.36, while Red Star Express gained 8.06 per cent to sell for N3.35.
On the flip side, UAC Nigeria closed the week with the highest week-on-week loss of 11.01 per cent to trade at N9.70.
Airtel Africa lost 10.00 per cent to close at N753.30, Abbey Mortgage Bank fell by 9.52 per cent to trade at 95 kobo, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance reduced by 9.46 per cent to 67 kobo, while Okomu Oil dropped 9.44 per cent to quote N105.50.
At the close of transactions for the week, the All-Share Index (ASI) and market capitalisation depreciated by 1.30 per cent to close at 38,648.91 points and N20.143 trillion respectively.
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