Nigeria Equity Market Opens Week with 0.73% Growth

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira closed mixed at the foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday, depreciating against the US Dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) segments and appreciating in the parallel market amid a new leadership at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). On Friday, the CBN announced the resumption of Mr Olayemi Cardoso as the next head of the apex bank, in an acting capacity pending his confirmation by the Nigerian Senate. He is taking over the role amid a worrying FX market, high inflation, and increased call to halt interest rate hikes which currently

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Mr Wale Edun, has said the country is unable to clear up to $6.8 billion of overdue forward payments in the foreign exchange market, noting that this is preventing the Naira from gaining stability. Speaking in an interview on Thursday, Mr Edun lamented that the country’s FX market is facing a serious liquidity crisis due to low flows. “The issue we have now is that the market is not liquid enough,” he said in an interview in New York, per Bloomberg. The Minister said that resolving the overdue contracts would allow the Naira

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed in the green territory after it chalked up by 0.37 per cent on Friday, September 22, as three securities finished on the price gainers’ chart and one stock closed in the price losers’ table. This raised the market capitalisation of the OTC Exchange by N4.24 billion to N1.143 trillion from the previous day’s N1.139 trillion, as the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) increased during the session by 3.00 points to finish at 808.95 points compared with Thursday’s 805.95 points. At the close of transactions, investors traded a total of 10.7

By Jerome-Mario Chijioke Utomi Despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent signing into law of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) on Monday, August 16, 2021, after years of back-and-forth movement, an Act which provides legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian petroleum industry and development of host communities, my recent ‘sojourn’ in the creeks of Niger Delta region, South-South geo-political zone, Nigeria, in the past one month or thereabout has strengthened my belief that nothing has changed. Aside from raising consciousness that the poor level of infrastructural and socio-economic development in the region is an indication of sustained poor management

By Dipo Olowookere On 2 December 2016, SBC, a joint venture between UK company Colas and local company SBI Uganda, formally presented its proposal for the Kabaale International Airport project to the Ministry of Works and Transport. The SBC team submitted its proposal to the Ugandan Minister for Works and Transport, Hon. Monica Azuba Ntege, in the presence of Uganda’s Attorney General, William Byaruhanga and the British Deputy High Commissioner Mary Shockledge. Following its submission of the proposal, SBC gave a brief presentation. The Kabaale International Airport project is expected to offer immediate benefits in facilitating the movement of materials

By Modupe Gbadeyanka About 100 desk officers have been trained by the Oyo State Community and Social Development Agency (CSDA) as part of activities to kick-start the Nigeria Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES). The one-day training, which is aimed at providing further clarity on the design and implementation arrangement of ND-CARES in the state, had participants from Ministries, Departments and Agencies, Local Government Areas and LCDAs within Oyo State. While delivering his keynote address, the Chairman, Oyo CSDA, Mr Babatunde Eesuola, said NG-CARES is aimed at reducing the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the state. He

By Dipo Olowookere The need for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country to increase online presence and grow sales using digital tools has been highlighted by Keystone Bank Limited. At a 5-day workshop held for small business owners, the lender stressed that the current global health crisis caused by COVID-19 has made it necessary to change the way things are done. “The widespread outbreak of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has impacted the world economy negatively and has led to a significant shift in customer needs and behaviour as well as a total overhaul of operating models of

By Dipo Olowookere The management of Ellah Lakes Plc, a company which specialises in fish farming, has confirmed that it would soon complete its restructuring exercise. According to a media release by the company, this exercise should be finalised before the end of March 31, 2019. “Ellah Lakes Plc intends to complete the restructuring exercise within the first quarter of 2019,” the statement signed by the Company Secretary, Mr Michael Ellah, said on Wednesday. It further said, “Following the September 27, 2018 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Ellah Lakes to approve a private placement and its business combination with Telluria

By Dipo Olowookere The growth recorded on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday was short-lived as the market fell by 1.40 per cent on Friday. At the last trading session of the week, the selloff in the shares of the big players in the industrial goods sector weakened the positive performance of other sectors. The counter depreciated by 4.55 per cent and it was the lone loser as the banking space grew by 0.52 per cent, the consumer goods index rose by 0.28 per cent, the energy space jumped 0.14 per cent, while the insurance counter

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.21 per cent depreciation on the first trading session of November on Tuesday. Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) Plc was the single malefactor as it declined by 40 Kobo to close the session at N13.50 per share compared with the previous day’s price of N13.90 per share. This reduced size of the unlisted securities market by N2 billion to N949.01 billion from the N951.01 billion it closed in the preceding session, and the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) lost 1.53 points to wrap the session at 720.91 points compared

By Adedapo Adesanya  Oil futures are expected to trade higher this week after the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia, and other allies agreed on Saturday to extend record oil production cuts until the end of July. This will prolong a deal that has helped crude prices double in the past two months by withdrawing almost 10 percent of global supplies from the market. Both benchmarks gained almost 18 percent last week, lifted by news of the output cuts extension and signs that fuel demand has increased over countries easing lockdowns. Following a week of discussions, OPEC and its