Nigerian Bourse Closes Flat as Market Struggles to Find Direction

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange weakened by 0.30 per cent on Tuesday, September 26 after Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc witnessed a decline in its closing price. This brought down the value of the unlisted securities market by N3.50 billion to end at N1.146 trillion versus the N1.149 trillion it ended a day earlier, as the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) dropped 2.48 points to end at 810.87 points compared with the previous day’s 813.35 points. The share price of CSCS Plc declined by 70 Kobo yesterday to settle at N17.50 per share, in contrast

By Adedapo Adesanya A foreign oil company, Equinor ASA, has chosen a little-known Nigerian company, Chappal Energy, as the preferred buyer of its stake in one of the country’s largest deep-water oil fields, Agbami. According to a report by Bloomberg on Monday, the Norwegian energy giant is trying to sell its 20.2 per cent interest in the Agbami field – joining other international producers such as Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil Corporation and Eni SpA in looking to offload assets in Africa’s biggest crude producer, Nigeria. In January, Equinor launched the sale of its stake in an offshore Nigerian oilfield, joining

By Dipo Olowookere The bears tightened their grip on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday, chopping off 0.34 per cent from the local bourse despite assurances from Mr Yemi Cardoso he would endeavour to ensure the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) restores its independence. Mr Cardoso was confirmed as the new CBN Governor by the Senate yesterday and he promised to formulate evidence-based monetary policies, a departure from his predecessor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, who was accused of romancing the President and coming up with trial-and-error policies. Business Post reports that investors were more interested in trimming their exposure to

By Adedapo Adesanya The new leadership of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) signalled no confidence to traders and investors as the Naira was further dealt a heavy blow at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) and the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) arms of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Monday, September 25, though it maintained stability against the United States Dollar in the parallel market. In the official market, the Naira lost 3.41 per cent or N25.49 against the greenback to finish at N773.25/$1 compared with last Friday’s closing rate of N747.76/$1, as the value of forex transactions went down by 58.3

By Dipo Olowookere As the G20 Summit prepares to officially kick off tomorrow, Friday, July 7, 2017, in Hamburg, Germany, demonstrators have stormed outside of the venue of the meeting to march against the United States President, Mr Donald Trump. The protesters are against the anti-globalisation stand of the American President. In May 2017, Mr Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Climate Accord, prompting outrage across the world. On Thursday evening, police in Germany clashed with the anti-globalisation protesters, using water canon to disperse them. Thousands of people converged outside the G20 Summit to register

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian government has granted regulatory approval for the R21/Matrix, the malaria vaccine developed by scientists at Oxford University to fight the disease in the country. This was announced by the Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration And Control (NAFDAC), Mrs Mojisola Adeyeye, during a press briefing on Monday. R21/Matrix-M has shown great success during its trials in Burkina Faso, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) threshold putting it at 75 per cent efficacy, while its effectiveness stood at 77 per cent when administered in three doses. According to the World Malaria Report,

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Managing Director of Asharami Synergy Plc, Mrs Moroti Adedoyin-Adeyinka, has said the emerging ‘downstream of the future’ will require a change in operating business model to accommodate a more integrated downstream value chain, service differentiation through technology and shift to importing cleaner fuel. Mrs Adedoyin-Adeyinka made this disclosure while speaking ahead of the OTL Africa Downstream Conference held in Lagos from October 29 to 31, 2018. According to her, the sector’s future would require increased Investments in Downstream Infrastructure, Regional and Pan-African Expansion Opportunities and Increased Integration along the Downstream Value Chain. Asharami Synergy Plc, a Sahara

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian tech ecosystem has been buzzing as President Bola Tinubu nominates one of its shining stalwarts, Mr Bosun Tijani, for ministerial appointment. President Tinubu, through his chief of staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, submitted a supplementary ministerial list comprising 19 individuals, including Mr Tijani, co-founder and CEO of Co-Creation HUB (CcHub), a leading tech and innovation hub on the continent with operations in Nigeria, Kenya and Rwanda. This has created positive reactions across the ecosystem, many who have lauded the decision as a positive for the budding sector, one of the most crucial sectors to the nation’s economy.

By Dipo Olowookere The Presidential Committee on Fertilizer Initiative (PCFI) has expressed satisfaction with the participation of Indorama Eleme Fertilizer & Chemicals Limited (IEFCL), Port Harcourt, in the programme aimed at supplying NPK fertilizer to farmers nationwide at cheaper cost. Chairman of the committee, Mr Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, who is also the Governor of Jigawa State made this statement on Saturday, February 4, 2017 when he visited the Indorama world-class fertilizer plant in the company of the President of the Fertilizer Producers & Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN), Mr Thomas Etuh, and the Managing Director of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment

By Dipo Olowookere A natural-gas-fired power generation facility located in Oyigbo, Rivers State, Afam Genco, otherwise known as Afam Power, has been handed over to Transcorp Plc. The energy company was transferred to Transcorp on Thursday after it was sold to the publicly quoted firm for N105.3 billion by the federal government. Both parties signed the Share Sale Purchase Agreement (SSPA) for the transaction at a ceremony held in at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo represented the federal government along with the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprise, Mr Alex Okoh, while the Chairman

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The management of NASD OTC Market has disclosed that it would commence the first review of securities listed on its platform. Last year, the market started a classification of NASD OTC admitted securities into categories that reflect the level of financial disclosure, adherence to corporate governance standards, dematerialisation of shares and liquidity of the 36 securities trading on the OTC Market. At the end of this exercise, 12 securities were ranked in the Blue Category, eight in the Pink Category, and 15 were in the Red Category. In a statement issued last Friday, NASD noted that in

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The city of Lagos is radiating as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals is to be commissioned today, Monday, May 22, 2023. President Muhammadu Buhari will lead other African leaders to inaugurate the facility, which has the capacity to process 650,000 barrels per day (bpd). A statement from Dangote Industries Limited disclosed that expected at today’s event are the President of Togo, Mr Gnassingbé Eyadéma; the President of Ghana, Mr Nana Akufo-Addo; the President of Senegal, Mr Macky Sall; the President of Niger Republic, Mr Mohamed Bazoum; and the President of Chad, Mr Mahamat Déby. In addition,