Economy
Nigeria Climbs to 131 on Ease of Doing Business Ranking
By Adedapo Adesanya
The World Bank on Thursday said Nigeria has moved up by 15 places to 131 on the Ease of Doing Business ranking to become one of the top 10 countries that improved the process of doing business.
Doing Business acknowledges the 10 economies that improved the most on the ease of doing business after implementing regulatory reforms. Apart from Nigeria, others that made the list were Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Togo, Bahrain, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, China, and India.
The ranking is based on quantitative indicators on regulation for starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.
Nigeria was previously ranked at the 146 out of the 190 countries assessed by the global financial institution.
In the report released today, the World Bank said, “Nigeria conducted reforms impacting six indicators, including making the enforcement of contracts easier, which placed the 200-million-person economy among the world’s top improvers.
“Only two Sub-Saharan African economies rank in the top 50 on the ease of doing business rankings while most of the bottom 20 economies in the global rankings are from the region.”
However, this was not the case with some other parts of the world, as the Bretton Woods Institution stated: “Sub-Saharan Africa still underperforms in several areas. In getting electricity, for example, businesses must pay more than 3,100 percent of income per capita to connect to the grid, compared to just over 400 percent in the Middle East and North Africa or 272 percent in Europe and Central Asia.
“When it comes to trading across borders and paying taxes, businesses spend about 96 hours to comply with documentary requirements to import, versus 3.4 hours in OECD high-income economies, and small and medium-sized businesses in their second year of operation need to pay taxes more than 36 times a year, compared to an average of 23 times globally.”
According to the World Bank, China and India made the top 10 list of governments that have done the most in the past year to improve the ease of doing business in their countries.
As for China, this would be the second time in a row it was making such a stride as it overtook France to take the 31st spot, while India climbed to 63rd based off the multiple economic reforms put in place by the Narendra Modi government.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira halted four consecutive sessions of depreciation on Thursday after its value improved against the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by 0.17 per cent or N2.63.
Data obtained from the FMDQ Securities Exchange showed that the Nigerian currency was traded on the greenback yesterday by N1,548.47/$1, in contrast to the preceding day’s rate of N1,551.10/$1.
However, it closed flat against the Pound Sterling and the Euro during the trading day at N1,904.43/£1 and N1,600.79/€1, respectively.
As for the parallel market, the Naira depreciated against the Dollar yesterday by N20 to settle at N1,6770/$1 compared with the N1,650/$1 it was transacted a day earlier.
As for the cryptocurrency market, there was continued appreciation ahead of the inauguration of the US President-elect, Mr Donald Trump, who favours digital assets.
The biggest gainer remained Litecoin (LTC), which chalked up 16.6 per cent to trade at $140.06 spurred by prospective Litecoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) which could see inflows of up to $580 million if investors adopt them at the same rate as Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs.
The possibility came into focus on Thursday as market participants began sizing up the likelihood that LTC might become the third crypto asset to get its ETF in the US, after BTC and Ethereum (ETH).
Ripple (XRP) jumped by 7.3 per cent during the trading session to close at $3.33, Cardano (ADA) added 6.5 per cent to its value to finish at $1.13, Solana (SOL) rose by 4.9 per cent to quote at $212.67, Dogecoin (DOGE) recorded a value appreciation of 1.6 per cent to sell at $0.3854, BTC grew by 1.6 per cent to settle at $101,346.11, and Binance Coin (BNB) went up by 0.9 per cent to end at $717.23.
On the flip side, ETH depreciated by 0.4 per cent to trade at $3,336.68, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil depreciated at the global market on Thursday amid plans to halt attacks on ships in the Red Sea as investors weighed strong US retail sales data.
Brent crude futures lost 74 cents or 0.9 per cent during the session to finish at $81.29 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures went down by $1.36 or 1.7 per cent to $78.68 a barrel.
Reuters reported that officials were expecting the Houthi militia to announce a halt in its attacks on ships in the Red Sea after a ceasefire deal in the war in Gaza between Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas.
Israel and Hamas reached a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal following 15 months of war.
Houthi has carried out more than 100 attacks on ships crossing the Red Sea since November 2023, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. They have sunk two vessels, seized another and killed at least four seafarers.
The attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to more expensive journeys around southern Africa for more than a year, making commodities like oil more expensive.
The US Secretary of State, Mr Antony Blinken, said the Gaza Strip ceasefire should start on Sunday as planned, despite the need for negotiators to tie up a loose end.
However, investors remained cautious about the possibility of a breach of the ceasefire deal.
Meanwhile, the US Commerce Department reported U.S. retail sales increased in December as households bought more motor vehicles and a range of other goods, pointing to strong demand in the world’s largest economy.
Support also came after US Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said inflation is likely to continue to ease and possibly allow the U.S. central bank to cut interest rates sooner and faster than expected.
Investors also continued to weigh the Biden administration’s latest round of sanctions targeting Russia’s military-industrial base and sanctions-evasion efforts, after earlier levying broader sanctions on Russian oil producers and tankers.
The market also continued to look forward to possible friction between Donald Trump and the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited appreciated by 0.09 per cent on Thursday on the back of renewed investor confidence on the local stocks.
The market had been under selling pressure since last Friday but things changed yesterday after bargain-hunting activities helped Customs Street record its first gain of this week.
Data showed that the industrial goods index gained 1.39 per cent, the banking space appreciated by 0.22 per cent, and the consumer goods counter expanded by 0.20 per cent.
However, the energy sector went down yesterday by 2.49 per cent, and the insurance industry depreciated by 1.27 per cent at the close of business.
When the market closed by 2:30 pm, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 87.11 points to 102,183.06 points from 102,095.95 points and the market capitalisation jumped by N53 billion to N62.310 trillion from N62.257 trillion.
Business Post observed that despite the growth during the session, investor sentiment remained bearish as the bourse finished with 26 price losers and 35 price gainers, implying a negative market breadth index.
Northern Nigerian Flour Mills improved its value by 10.00 per cent on Thursday to N54.45, Dangote Sugar soared by 9.91 per cent to N40.50, The Initiates rose by 9.80 per cent to N2.80, John Holt expanded by 9.80 per cent to N9.30, and Omatek grew by 9.76 per cent to 90 Kobo.
On the flip side, Livestock Feeds declined by 10.00 per cent to N5.40, Eunisell slumped by 9.97 per cent to N15.62, Neimeth tumbled by 9.83 per cent to N3.12, Regency Alliance lost 9.33 per cent to trade at 68 Kobo, and Honeywell Flour depreciated by 9.26 per cent to N9.21.
Yesterday, GTCO was the busiest equity with a turnover of 65.1 million units worth N3.8 billion, Universal Insurance traded 48.6 million units valued at N28.5 million, Fidelity Bank sold 45.9 million units for N802.8 million, Access Holdings exchanged 27.3 million units worth N668.1 million, and NASCON transacted 26.7 million units valued at N1.1 billion.
At the close of transactions, a total of 472.2 million equities worth N16.7 billion exchanged hands in 12,336 deals compared with the 435.5 million equities valued at N9.4 billion traded in 12,098 deals on Wednesday, showing an improvement in the trading volume, value and number of deals by 8.47 per cent, 77.66 per cent and 1.97 per cent, respectively.
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