Economy
Nigeria to Reveal Real Owners of Oil Companies January 2020
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Efforts are currently being made to release identities of beneficial owners of oil and gas firms in the country by January 1, 2020.
The register containing this information is being compiled by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) in collaboration with the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
According to an acting Director at DPR, Mr Ahmad Shakur, the beneficial ownership register was more than 85 percent complete and should be ready latest by the end of this month.
NEITI defines beneficial owner as the natural person(s) who directly or indirectly benefits from, owns or controls the corporate entity. Its standard requires that countries must disclose their beneficial owners by January 2020 and recommends establishment of beneficial ownership register.
Mr Shakur, during a visit by the Executive Director of NEITI, Mr Mark Robinson, stated that the DPR and NEITI had been collaborating to deepen transparency in the nation’s oil and gas industry.
“To that extent, the DPR and NEITI have formed a committee that works together in order to make sure that the deadline of January 2020 for the realisation of that register of beneficial owners is met,” he added.
Shakur, who was represented by the agency’s Deputy Director, Health, Safety and Environment, Dr Musa Zagi, assured the agency of DPR’s continuous support.
The NEITI boss described Nigeria as one of the long-standing members of EITI, saying, “NEITI is one of the most capable and largest of the national secretariats that we have.”
He said, “In the EITI, we have a global standard and the global standard is how we measure progress in all our member countries. And Nigeria came out well in the last assessment when we came out with our validation on November 2018, and our board approved satisfactory progress which is the top ranking for Nigeria under the EITI.
“Now the top ranking is a very considerable achievement. It means that our indicators on transparency and accountability have been moving in the right direction.”
On beneficial ownership disclosure, he said, “That’s important for transparency if you reveal the real owners but also important in the struggle against corruption. Because if there are politically exposed persons who are identified as real owners of significant companies particularly those who secure contracts from government in the sector, that information becomes revealed in the public domain.
“So, it’s a very powerful tool and Nigeria is at the forefront of this effort. Very few countries have done it and you should be commended.”
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr Waziri Adio, said the organisation was working with the regulators to ensure beneficial ownership disclosure in the extractive sector.
He said, “We are working with the DPR in oil and gas and the Mining Cadastre Office in the solid minerals sector. There is a national commitment under EITI which is to have a register in place on or before January 1, 2020.
“We have also collected beneficial ownership information over time based on the audits that we are doing, ahead of the work we are doing with the DPR. So that is what we are going to unveil on December 12.”
Mr Adio added, “It is only those who are covered under NEITI’s audits that we are capturing; I guess that of DPR will capture everybody doing in the oil and gas space.”
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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