Economy

Nigeria’ll Save N8trn Yearly from Subsidy Removal, FX Unification—Oyedele

Published

2 years ago

17/01/2024

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria will save N8 trillion annually from the fuel subsidy removal and exchange rate unification policies, according to projections offered by the Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Mr Taiwo Oyedele.

Mr Oyedele said this whole speaking during a panel session at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry 2024 Economic Outlook and Budget Analysis held on Tuesday.

He said, “The Nigerian people made sacrifices as a result of the fuel subsidy removal of the government; that is N4 trillion savings a year. We did naira floatation. It is not perfect. We are also saving another N4 trillion. So we are having about roughly N8 trillion transferred from the private pockets of the people to the government.”

He said it was critical for the government to spend the amount saved from the two policies to ease the suffering of the average Nigerian.

President Bola Tinubu had last year instituted both policies as an avenue to raise the much needed revenue and to block funds been haemorrhaged by the policies.

“So, what we are saying to the government is can we be intentional in spending this N8 trillion to make sure that it impacts the people most positively? Starting with the multidimensional poverty, why is it that more than 133 million people in Nigeria are living in multidimensional poverty?” he quipped.

“These are the conversations we are having now. We want to build a platform where we can track how these monies are being spent,” he added.

“In the committee, we tried to look at the most pressing issues we face as a country — inflation, forex instability, lack of investments. One of our recommendations is for the government to suspend some taxes. We call them nuisance taxes because they frustrate people, and we can’t even see the money in government treasury.”

According to Mr Oyedele, there is an urgent need to create digital opportunities for the Nigeria’s growing youthful population because the country has enough capacity to generate $20 billion annually from the technology sector.

Mr Oyedele also said there was an urgent need to promote exports, including services and intellectual property.

“Before you start exporting goods, you can export services and intangibles,” he said.

He also said that out of the $20 billion diaspora remittances recorded in 2023, more than 90 per cent of the funds did not arrive Nigeria in foreign currencies because of existing loopholes which allow middlemen to divert the foreign currencies and pay the recipients of the funds in Naira.

“For example, just asking Nigerian companies and businesses to pay taxes in Dollars is about $3.5 billion annually, but we sat and thought about it, and wondered how the idea came about.

“How does it help us, that a Nigerian company will go to the market to go and look for the little Dollars that is in Nigeria so it can use it to pay the government of Nigeria? So, just amend the law and you will take that pressure away.”

Economy

OTC Securities Exchange Sustains Bullish Run With 1.18% Appreciation

Published

1 day ago

09/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended rallied by 1.18 per cent on Friday, May 8, its fifth in a row for this week.

During the session, the market capitalisation increased by N28.96 billion to N2.488 trillion from N2.459 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) jumped by 48.39 points to 4,158.77 points from the 4,110.38 points recorded a day earlier.

The growth witnessed yesterday was spurred by the gains recorded by six securities, led by 11 Plc, which chalked up N11.00 to sell at 221.10 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N210.10 per unit. FrislandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc added N10.26 to close at N132.98 per share compared with the previous day’s N127.06 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc rose by N2.82 to N75.90 per unit from N73.08 per unit.

In addition, Lighthouse Financial Services Plc appreciated by 7 Kobo to 86 Kobo per share from 81 Kobo per share, UBN Property Plc climbed higher by 5 Kobo to N2.25 per unit from N2.20 per unit, and First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc gained 2 Kobo to close at N2.32 per share, in contrast to the previous session’s N2.30 per share.

Conversely, Geo-Fluids Plc went down by 20 Kobo to N2.90 per unit from N3.10 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 5 Kobo to end at N16.95 per share versus N17.00 per share.

The volume of transactions for the session surged by 41.8 per cent to 528,891 units from 372,916 units, and the value grew by 11.4 per cent to N34.0 million from N30.4 million, while the number of deals slid by 7.4 per cent to 25 deals from 27 deals.

The most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion. Resourcery Plc occupied the second spot after trading 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and the third position was occupied by Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units sold for N1.2 billion.

The most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis was GNI Plc with 3.4 billion units transacted for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 60.5 million units exchanged for N4.1 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units traded for N1.9 billion.

Economy

Demand for Dangote Cement, Others Lifts Stock Exchange by 2.10%

Published

1 day ago

09/05/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The local stock exchange reversed the previous day’s loss, with a 2.10 per cent surge on Friday as a result of demand for large-cap equities like Dangote Cement, First Holdco and others.

It was observed that apart from the insurance counter, which shed 0.37 per cent, every other sector closed higher yesterday.

The industrial goods index expanded by 7.26 per cent, the banking segment increased by 3.35 per cent, the consumer goods industry rose by 0.21 per cent, and the energy sector soared by 0.14 per cent.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited improved by 5,041.22 points to 244,775.83 points from 239,734.61 points, and the market capitalisation added N3.235 trillion to settle at N157.094 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N153.859 trillion.

The quintet of Neimeth, Cadbury Nigeria, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank, Mecure, and Dangote Cement led the advancers’ table on Friday, with 10.00 per cent growth each to quote at N9.90, N72.60, N3.52, N72.60, and N1,088.00, respectively.

On the flip side, the duo of UAC Nigeria and Industrial and Medical Gases lost 10.00 per cent each to sell for N171.00 and N42.30, respectively, as Eterna declined by 9.93 per cent to N33.55, Learn Africa slipped by 9.89 per cent to N8.20, and Deap Capital tripped by 9.69 per cent to N5.50.

The most active stock for the day was VFD Group, with a turnover of 102.9 million units valued at N1.1 billion. FCMB transacted 99.4 million units worth N1.1 billion, UBA traded 94.5 million units for N3.8 billion, Access Holdings exchanged 85.4 million units worth N2.0 billion, and Zenith Bank sold 46.5 million units valued at N5.8 billion.

At the close of trades, market participants traded 1.1 billion units worth N55.0 billion in 69,996 deals, in contrast to the 1.8 billion units valued at N72.2 billion transacted in 81,131 deals a day earlier, showing a crash in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 38.89 per cent, 23.82 per cent, and 13.73 per cent, respectively.

Economy

Naira Loses N5.54 Against Dollar at NAFEX

Published

1 day ago

09/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira fell against the US Dollar by N5.54 or 0.41 per cent to N1,361.39/$1 from N1,355.85/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, May 8.

The domestic currency also depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.50 to trade at N1,853.68/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,845.18/£1, and against the Euro, it lost N9.37 to sell for N1,602.63/€1 versus N1,593.26/€1.

However, at the GTBank FX desk, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the US Dollar yesterday by N3 to quote at N1,372/$1 compared with Thursday’s closing value of N1,375/$1, and at the parallel market, it traded flat at N1,380/$1.

Despite the volatile outcome of the local currency, it remained within the expected trading range, reflecting sustained FX stabilisation efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), supported by improved liquidity, stronger autonomous inflows, and better price discovery.

Traders point to further gains for the Naira into the coming week, thanks to Dollar supply from foreign investors, exporters ‌and oil companies, while demand is moderate. Nigerian yields are still attractive for foreign investors, serving as a basis for more (FX) flows coming to Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the country’s external reserves dropped by 3.4 per cent to $48.32 billion, from a 2009 high of $50.02 billion recorded on March 11.

In the cryptocurrency market, prices rallied after worries eased, following fresh US airstrikes in Iran that initially sparked a surge in oil prices and a broader risk-off move across crypto markets.

Bitcoin (BTC) added 0.8 per cent to sell at $80,212.54, Solana (SOL) gained 6.5 per cent to sell at $93.76, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 5.1 per cent to $0.2749, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 3.7 per cent to $0.1102, and Ripple (XRP) rose by 3.1 per cent to $1.42.

Further, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped 2.3 per cent to $650.16, Ethereum (ETH) expanded by 1.6 per cent to $2,315.48, and TRON (TRX) increased by 0.1 per cent to $0.3515, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.