Economy
Nigeria Needs More Dangotes to Grow Economy, Create Jobs–FG
**As Dangote Donates 150 Vehicles to Police
By Dipo Olowookere
Chairman of Dangote Group as well as the Aliko Dangote Foundation, Mr Aliko Dangote, has been applauded by Federal Government for doing much to grow the nation’s economy and provide jobs for youths of this country.
Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, while speaking in Abuja yesterday at handing over of 150 fully kitted operational cars worth several hundreds of Naira to the Nigeria Police Force, urged other entrepreneurs in the country to emulate the Africa’s richest man.
Mr Osinbajo lauded the Dangote Foundation for the rare gesture and expressed the Federal Government’s appreciation to Mr Dangote for his untiring support to the government, adding that the donation of cars patrol cars to the Nigerian Police Force will help the Force at combating crimes across the country.
The Vice President described Mr Dangote as a rare entrepreneur who has done so much to grow the economy of Nigeria. He said the Government needs people like him to join hands with it to grow the economy and also provide jobs to the youth.
“There have been a lot of talks on private-public partnership, but as we can see Alhaji Dangote is walking the talk,” Mr Osinbajo said at the ceremony.
Government’s role, according to him, is to provide the enabling environment while the private sector should take advantage of the opportunities that abounds in the country to grow and develop the economy.
“The donation of 150 cars to the Nigerian Police Force is laudable and we thank Aliko Dangote Foundation for this rare gesture, that is characteristic of the person of Aliko Dangote. He has shown over the years to be an entrepreneur with a difference, a man that gives willingly to the poor,” he added.
Also speaking at the event, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Ibrahim Idris, said the donation was the single biggest donation ever by a private sector operator to the Police.
Mr Idris expressed the appreciation of the Police Force to the Aliko Dangote Foundation, with a promise that the cars will be well utilized for the purpose for which they were donated.
He urged Nigerians to go about their business lawfully, noting that the Police Force was now well equipped more than ever before to fight crime across the country. He assured that the Police Force will not disappoint Nigerians in the provision of adequate security across the country.
On his part, Mr Dangote explained that the gesture was informed by the fact that security was essential to economic development.
He said depending on how well the vehicles are maintained, his foundation may consider donating another batch of vehicles to the police.
“We are gathered here today to mark the formal handover of a total number of 150 GAC saloon cars to the Nigeria Police Force in order to help boost their operational efficiency. I am told that today marks the single biggest number of operational vehicles ever donated to the law enforcement agency by a private organisation.
“Considering the challenges government faces in meeting the entire needs of the populace for necessities like health, education and security, various Public Private Partnerships (PPP) initiatives have been developed. These are partnerships where the private sector collaborates with the public sector to provide services.
The Foundation, according to Mr Dangote, has been active in the four areas of Health, Education, Economic Empowerment and Disaster relief, and had expended upwards of N10 billion annually. This is in addition to the CSR efforts of our various business units.
While calling on other corporate organizations to rise up to the challenge of helping the security agencies in the country, Mr Dangote stated that his Foundation made a N50 million donation to the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, and built the Police Intelligence Hostel Complex in Kwara State, all of which are part of the collaborations by the Foundation.
“Today, we are deepening our intervention in security with the donation of these 150 fully kitted operational vehicles to the Police Force. These vehicles will support the Nigeria Police Force in surveillance, crime prevention and promote law and order,” he stated.
Chairman of the CIG Motors Nigeria Limited, Mr Diana Chan, commended the Dangote Foundation for the uncommon gesture to help the security agency and provide it with logistics to aid its operations.
He said the number of vehicles donated by the Aliko Dangote Foundation was unprecedented and that it has thrown the challenge to other private sector operators to come to the aid of the security agencies in the country.
Yesterday’s event was witnessed by top politicians including Governors, Ministers, business moguls and others.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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