Economy
Nigeria: Economy, Reserves, Equities to Grow in 2018—Report
By Dipo Olowookere
Analysts at Capital Bancorp Plc have predicted a very positive year for Nigeria in 2018, saying the economy, foreign reserves and the stock market will record significant growth.
Speaking on Tuesday in Lagos at the presentation of its Economic Review and Outlook For 2018, Managing Director of Capital Bancorp, Mr Higo Aigboje, disclosed that the nation’s bourse would post 25 percent growth this year.
In 2017, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) increased by 42.3 percent, emerging the third best performing markets globally.
In its 70-page report, the firm said performance in 2018 would be hinged on stability of oil prices, effective management and improved liquidity of the foreign exchange market, improvement on the corporate earnings, significant focus on the non-oil sector to increase output and lower interest rate regime.
Mr Aigboje explained that effective synergy in the use of fiscal and monetary policies, government’s focus on the real sector of the economy, improved market participation by local investors and domestic institutional investors, efficient regulation of the market by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) are other factors that will help to sustain the market rally.
“Others are passage, passage of Petroleum Industry Bill, unbundling of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and listing of resultant companies and deliberate efforts aimed at encouraging more listing on the NSE company such as Telecom, Gencos among others,” Mr Aigboje said.
The capital market operator also disclosed that by the end of 2018, the nation’s external reserves will cross $48.50 billion.
He said this growth would be achieve if government does not irrationally increase its spending during the year especially in the second half of the year as the country begin to close in on the election period and the price of oil continues to firm up or remains stable at current level.
However, he warned that sudden rise in insecurity can trigger exit of the Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI), political instability owing to forthcoming general elections, sudden reversal in oil prices, an upturn in the yields of fixed income securities and failure in the banking sector, which may trigger a sell-off and cause further damage to the entire stock market.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc and Food Concepts Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.57 per cent on Thursday, November 13.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc dropped N5.95 to N54.00 per share from N59.95 per share and Food Concepts lost 3 Kobo to end at N3.50 per unit compared with the previous day’s N3.53 per unit.
In the ensuing melee, the market capitalisation lost N12.42 billion in value to close at N2.180 trillion compared with the N2.193 trillion it finished a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went down by 20.75 points to 3,644.61 points from 3,665.36 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors plunged by 99.5 per cent to 119,329 units from the previous day’s 22.1 million units, the value of securities slumped by 99.9 per cent to N1.9 million from N1.3 billion, and the number of deals depreciated by 26.3 per cent to 14 deals from 19 deals.
At the close of transactions, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc remained the most traded stock by value with a year-to-date sale of 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.3 million units transacted for N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.4 million units worth N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units traded for N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N419.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with the sale of 536.9 million units for N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Recent foreign exchange (FX) pressure on the Naira eased on Thursday as its against the US Dollar closed stronger in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N1.64 or 0.11 per cent to N1,441.44/$1 from the N1,443.08/$1 it was exchanged a day earlier.
Equally, the Nigerian Naira improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N2.44 to sell for N1,898.96/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,901.40/£1. However, it depreciated against the Euro by 99 Kobo to close at N1,674.96/€1, in contrast to Wednesday’s closing price of N1,673.97/€1.
At the GTBank forex counter, the domestic depreciated against the Dollar yesterday by N3 to settle at N1,450/$1 versus the preceding session’s rate of N1,447/$1, and in the black market, the exchange rate of the Naira to the Dollar remained unchanged at N1,455/$1.
The local currency is trying to claw back some losses recorded this week as unmet demand from thin US dollar supply has invited pressure across key segments.
However, positive signals like Nigeria’s gross external reserves rising by more than $30 million day on day to close at $43.427 billion as of November 11, 2025, gives the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) enough power to make significant intervention.
In recent weeks, the apex bank FX injection has been minimal and erratic due to increasing FX inflows from foreign portfolio investors and exporters. FX inflow into currency market has fallen from peaked of $1.37 billion to $899 million.
In the cryptocurrency market, there were significant declines on Thursday as short and long-term investors liquidated their positions. More than $1 billion in leveraged crypto positions were wiped out over 24 hours, with roughly $887 million coming from longs.
Ethereum (ETH) slumped by 10.9 per cent to $3,160.25, Solana (SOL) went south by 10.3 per cent to $140.65, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 9.6 per cent to $0.5146, Ripple (XRP) fell by 9.2 per cent to $2.27, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 8.2 per cent to $0.1620, Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 6.9 per cent to $96,351.91, Binance Coin (BNB) shrank by 6.1 per cent to $909.83, and Litecoin (LTC) went down by 5.4 per cent to $95.57, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil gained on Thursday as investors weighed concerns about global oversupply with looming sanctions against Russia’s Lukoil.
The price of the Brent crude grade chalked up 30 cents or 0.5 per cent to $63.01 a barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude increased by 20 cents or 0.3 per cent to $58.69 a barrel.
The US has imposed sanctions on Lukoil as part of its efforts to bring the Russian government to peace talks with Ukraine. The sanctions prohibit transactions with the Russian company after November 21.
According to JPMorgan, nearly a third of Russia’s current seaborne oil export potential is now stuck in tankers as the US sanctions upend crude flows and Russia’s top buyers, China and India, are still struggling to assess the implications of the sanctions.
“Russia’s oil exports are entering a new phase of disruption as sanctions targeting Rosneft and Lukoil are set to take effect, prompting its two largest customers — India and China — to sharply reduce their December purchases,” the Wall Street bank said in a note.
JPMorgan estimates that as many as 1.4 million barrels per day of Russian crude oil or nearly a third of its exporting potential are on tankers at present, amid re-routing and slowed unloading as buyers are hesitant following the US sanctions on Russia’s top oil producers and exporters, Rosneft and Lukoil.
Also, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed a larger-than-expected rise in US crude stocks, while gasoline and distillate inventories fell less than expected last week. Crude inventories rose by 6.4 million barrels to 427.6 million barrels in the week ended November 7, the EIA said.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said global oil supplies would slightly exceed demand in 2026, a further shift from the group’s earlier projections of a deficit.
It also said it expected the supply surplus next year because of wider production increases by OPEC+, a group of producers that includes OPEC members and allies like Russia.
The International Energy Agency (EIA) raised its global oil supply growth forecasts for this year and next in its monthly oil market report on Thursday, signaling a bigger surplus in 2026.
The US EIA also said in its Short-Term Energy Outlook on Wednesday that U.S. oil production is expected to set a larger record this year than previously forecast.
Global oil inventories will grow through 2026 as production increases faster than demand for petroleum fuels, adding to pressure on oil prices, the EIA added.
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