By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The need for the continent to embrace shared ownership by scaling to remain competitive on the global market will be the focus of the Africa CEO Forum 2026, slated for May 14 and 15, in Kigali, Rwanda.

A statement from the organisers disclosed that the programme will task public and private leaders to commit capital, share risk and build transnational African ownership to secure the continent’s long-term prosperity.

This is because, as multilateralism is challenged, capital flows are reshaped, and leading economies leverage their corporate champions to project global influence.

The ability of Africa to rely on competitive, agile and internationally integrated corporate champions has become a defining corporate imperative. In this shifting global landscape, one lesson is clear: scale is no longer optional. It is the first line of defence.

To prepare the continent for this, the forum will bring together over 2,000 CEOs, investors, heads of state and public decision-makers from over 75 countries to discuss ways to achieve the scale necessary to compete, integrate and thrive in a fragmenting world.

This is because reaching the necessary scale will require more than removing physical and regulatory barriers. It will mean embracing a new mindset anchored in a new vision: shared ownership.

Business Post gathered that the event will explore three strategic levers to build continental scale: shared equity, shared infrastructure, and shared frameworks.

For the shared equity, the forum will look into how to unlock cross-border equity investment to create multinational African champions. Mobilise African institutional capital across markets to strengthen resilience and enhance long-term returns.

As for the shared infrastructure, participants will explore ways to design complementary infrastructure to integrate African value chains, champion transformative projects that serve regional, not merely national, needs and create truly connected markets.

Under the shared frameworks, they will brainstorm on how to harmonise standards, rules and regulations to boost investor confidence and enable the free flow of capital, goods and services. They will also discuss ways to build future-proof digital rails for health, education, agriculture and cross-border payments.

“If Africa wants to compete in a world defined by scale, it must move beyond economic patriotism and embrace a new model,” the president of Africa CEO Forum, Mr Amir Ben Yahmed, stated.

“Africa has the capital and the opportunity to grow and create quality jobs. What matters now is putting that capital to work at scale. That means building trust, sharing risk, and investing across borders,” the Managing Director of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Makhtar Diop, stated.

The Africa CEO Forum is organised by Jeune Afrique Media Group and co-hosted by IFC to gather leaders to connect policy and private investment, and to help shape Africa’s next phase of growth.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira returned from break with more pressure, losing 2.6 per cent or N35.38 against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, March 23, to trade at N1,388.38/$1 compared with last Wednesday’s closing price of N1,353.00/$1.

It was the same outcome for the Nigerian Naira against the Pound Sterling in the official market, where it tumbled by N58.36 to sell for N1,860.29/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,801.93/£1, and crashed against the Euro by N53.19 to N1,609.41/€1 from N1,556.22/€1.

Similarly, the domestic currency depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX counter by N8 yesterday to close at N1,371/$1 versus the previous rate of N1,363/$1, and in the black market, it depreciated by N5 to quote at N1,400/$1 versus N1,395/$1.

The projection for the Naira appears to be changing course as it edged towards consecutive weaknesses due to disruptions to global oil supply, which have increased volatility in energy markets, making investors jittery.

This is also causing outflow for international payments, as evidenced by Nigeria’s external reserves recording drops.

Regardless, Coronation Merchant Bank’s research subsidiary expects the Naira to trade within a relatively stable range in the near term, supported by sustained foreign portfolio inflows (FPI) and improved exporter participation in the FX market.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market saw the price of Bitcoin rise by 4.5 per cent to $70,827.12 after US President Donald Trump announced a five-day pause to airstrikes against Iranian energy infrastructure, citing “productive” diplomatic talks. Meanwhile, Iranian officials denied the existence of talks, but the crypto market largely brushed it off.

Solana (SOL) improved by 6.7 per cent to $91.66, Ethereum (ETH) expanded by 5.8 per cent to $2,157.56, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 5.7 per cent to $0.095, Cardano (ADA) jumped 5.2 per cent to $0.2630, Ripple (XRP) soared 4.2 per cent to $1.43, and Binance Coin (BNB) climbed 2.3 per cent to s$639.92.

However, TRON (TRX) dropped 2.8 per cent to $0.3049, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited resumed trading activity on Monday after a two-day break last Thursday and Friday for Eid al-Fitr.

At the resumption of trading of shares yesterday, investors embarked on profit-taking, crashing Customs Street by 1.07 per cent at the close of transactions.

The sell-offs were mainly in the banking, consumer goods and insurance sectors, which closed lower by 2.02 per cent, 1.13 per cent, and 0.16 per cent, respectively.

The trio made nonsense of the 0.31 per cent growth posted by the energy index and the 0.17 per cent increase recorded by the industrial goods counter.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 2,142.83 points to 199,014.02 points from last Wednesday’s 201,156.85 points, and the market capitalisation decreased by N1.376 trillion to finish at N127.750 trillion compared with the previous N129.126 trillion.

Consolidated Hallmark was the worst-performing stock for the day after it lost 9.64 per cent to close at N4.50, Deap Capital depreciated by 8.37 per cent to N5.91, GTCO declined by 8.18 per cent to N105.00, International Energy Insurance lost 7.67 per cent to trade at N2.77, and Nigerian Breweries slumped by 7.29 per cent to N70.00.

Conversely, Presco appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N1,871.20, Zichis improved by 9.91 per cent to N9.43, John Holt expanded by 9.70 per cent to N13.00, Premier Paints grew by 9.62 per cent to N25.65, and Sovereign Trust Insurance gained 8.74 per cent to settle at N2.24.

Market participants transacted 848.8 million equities worth N53.3 billion in 139,458 deals on the first trading session of this week compared with the 6.1 billion equities valued at N130.1 billion traded in 58,562 deals in the preceding trading day, indicating a spike in the number of deals by 138.14 per cent, and a shrink in the trading volume and value by 86.09 per cent and 59.03 per cent apiece.

UBA was the most active stock on Monday, with a turnover of 114.2 million units worth N5.5 billion. Wema Bank traded 112.0 million units valued at N2.9 billion, Access Holdings transacted 54.8 million units for N1.4 billion, Zenith Bank exchanged 38.2 million units worth N4.1 billion, and Zichis sold 32.2 million units valued at N272.6 million.