Economy
Nigerian Economy is Truly Diversified—Ahmed
The federal government has expressed its commitment to continue to improve the diversification of the economy by steadily growing other sectors, particularly the commodities trading ecosystem.
The assurance was given by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, during the presentation of a Gold coin to her by the Lagos Futures and Commodities Exchange in Abuja over the weekend.
Mrs Ahmed expressed her pleasure at the presentation as she stated that it is one of the results of the federal government’s commitment to continuing to improve efforts at diversifying the economy.
“This is really pleasing for me because we have been trying to improve the diversification of the Nigerian economy. People say we need to diversify the economy, but the Nigerian economy is truly diversified.
“Our GDP today has a 6.4 per cent contribution from the oil and gas sector, so 94.6% of the Nigerian economy is from other sectors. One of the sectors that we have been trying to activate its full potential is the mining sector.
“The mining sector today is still very small, but that is on the side of the government. But in the private sector, and now I am glad in the states, there are very active mining activities that are taking place.
“Unfortunately, until now, we have not been getting the full value of the mining activities. Mining activities have been largely artisanal; there are a lot of participants that take out our minerals without reporting it, without government or even the miners getting full value for it,” she said.
The Minister stated that in a bid to get the full value of mining activities in the country, the President approved and set up the Presidential Gold Mining Scheme with the Solid Minerals Development Agency leading.
“They had set up a pilot that started from Kebbi State where they supported the artisanal miners to be able to practise better mining practices and also to off-take the minerals that they mine, and do some first-level refining. Then the Central Bank offtakes this and sends it out of the country for proper mining.
“The essence for us is to begin to hold our reserves in minerals like gold so that our reserves are not all in US dollars. We know what happens to US dollars and what can happen to them. We are beginning to have our reserves in gold,” Mrs Ahmed stated.
She disclosed that the scheme, even though it was started by the federal government, has seen refineries beginning to actually work in Nigeria, adding that there is one in Ilesha, Segilola, which was the first refinery that was licensed in Nigeria.
According to Mrs Ahmed, “This gold is now being mined in Nigeria, refined in Nigeria up to the point of producing billions and then off taken by the CBN and other organisations like the LCFE. They are also coming forward to facilitate the trading of gold in the commodities exchange in Nigeria. That’s what we want; we wanted to be able to activate the full circle. What was missing was the off taking; now, the off-take is being addressed, and this will help to drive demand.
“Once there is demand in the market end, the producers will be encouraged to produce more, there will be more employment, and we will begin to see more banks supporting this mining sector. Before now, the banks were not too interested in supporting the mining sector because of the long gestation period. The investment is actually worthwhile, and we will encourage these businesses to grow and produce more. I want to congratulate the LFCE for being the first of its kind in Nigeria to achieve this”.
The Minister congratulated the SEC for pushing the milestone and expressed the hope that more commodities exchanges will come up as a result. She, therefore, charged the SEC to enable these companies to be able to operate because it is needed in the market to drive the kind of volumes that Nigeria hopes to get.
In his remarks, the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Lamido Yuguda, commended the Minister and the federal government on their determination to bequeath a vibrant commodities sector.
He stated that, “LCFE is into a number of commodities, and gold is just one of them. They have worked hard in this gold sector. This gold is 100% Nigerian gold, mined and refined in Nigeria, and I am happy that we have your support in this. Thank you very much for making this possible; we appreciate all the guidance and support you have provided so far”.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of LCFE, Mr Akin Akeredolu-Ale, expressed appreciation to the SEC for all the regulatory support the commission has provided in recent times.
Mr Akeredolu-Ale stated that Nigeria is a commodities country but has a large potential that is untapped so far and solicited the support of the National Assembly in passing the Investments and Securities Bill, which e said will bring about massive development in the sector.
“I thank the SEC for pushing the Investments and Securities Bill because that is the legal and regulatory framework that is supposed to support the capital market and, by default, the commodities trading ecosystem.
“We are hoping that the bill is approved so that we are able to have a hold on the commodities space and the revenues that are slipping out of Nigeria. We need that bill passed to be able to function more effectively,” he added.
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market firmed up by 1.13 per cent on Friday as appetite for Nigerian stocks remained strong.
Investors reacted well to the 2026 budget presentation of President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly yesterday, especially because of the more realistic crude oil benchmark of $64 per barrel compared with the ambitious $75 per barrel for 2025. This year, prices have been between $60 and $65 per barrel.
Business Post observed profit-taking in the commodity and energy sectors as they respectively shed 0.14 per cent and 0.03 per cent.
But, bargain-hunting in the others sustained the positive run, with the consumer goods index up by 3.82 per cent.
Further, the industrial goods space appreciated by 1.46 per cent, the banking counter improved by 0.08 per cent, and the insurance industry gained 0.04 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,694.33 points to 152,057.38 points from 150,363.05 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N1.080 trillion to finish at N96.937 trillion compared with Thursday’s closing value of N95.857 trillion.
A total of 34 shares ended on the advancers’ chart, while 24 were on the laggards’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
Austin Laz gained 10.00 per cent to close at N2.42, Union Dicon also jumped 10.00 per cent to N6.60, Tantalizers increased by 9.80 per cent to N2.69, Aluminium Extrusion improved by 9.78 per cent to N12.35, and Champion Breweries grew by 9.71 per cent to N16.95.
Conversely, Sovereign Trust Insurance dipped by 7.42 per cent to N3.87, Royal Exchange lost 6.84 per cent to trade at N1.77, Omatek slipped by 6.84 per cent to N1.09, Eunisell depreciated by 5.88 per cent to N80.00, and Eterna dropped 5.63 per cent to close at N28.50.
Yesterday, traders transacted 1.5 billion units worth N21.8 billion in 25,667 deals compared with the 839.8 million units sold for N32.8 billion in 23,211 deals in the preceding session, showing a surge in the trading volume by 76.61 per cent, an uptick in the number of deals by 10.58 per cent, and a shrink in the trading value by 33.54 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three stocks stretched the bearish run of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.21 per cent on Friday, December 19, with the market capitalisation giving up N26.01 billion to close at N2.121 billion compared with the N2.147 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropping 43.47 points to 3,546.41 points from 3,589.88 points.
The trio of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, and NASD Plc overpowered the gains printed by four other securities.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N6.00 to sell at N54.00 per unit versus N60.00 per unit, NASD Plc shrank by N3.50 to N58.50 per share from N55.00 per share, and CSCS Plc depleted by N2.91 to N33.87 per unit from N36.78 per unit.
On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc gained N1.01 to close at N13.00 per share versus N11.99 per share, Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 70 Kobo to N7.68 per unit from N6.98 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc added 39 Kobo to sell at N5.50 per share versus N5.11 per share, and IPWA Plc rose by 8 Kobo to 85 Kobo per unit from 77 Kobo per unit.
During the trading day, market participants traded 1.9 million securities versus the previous day’s 30.5 million securities showing a decline of 49.3 per cent. The value of trades went down by 64.3 per cent to N80.3 million from N225.1 million, but the number of deals jumped by 32.1 per cent to 37 deals from 28 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc finished the session as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units traded for N4.9 billion.
The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was still InfraCredit Plc with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira at the two major foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday as it suffered a heavy loss against the United States Dollar at the close of transactions.
In the black market segment, the Naira weakened against its American counterpart yesterday by N10 to quote at N1,485/$1, in contrast to the N1,475/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the GTBank forex counter, it depreciated by N2 to settle at N1,467/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,465/$1.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) window, which is also the official market, the nation’s legal tender crashed against the greenback by N6.65 or 0.46 per cent to close at N1,464.49/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,457.84/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency tumbled against the Euro in the spot market by N2.25 to sell for N1,714.63/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,712.38/€1, but appreciated against the Pound Sterling by 73 Kobo to finish at N1,957.30/£1 compared with the N1,958.03/£1 it was traded in the preceding session.
The market continues to face seasonal pressure even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is still conducting FX intervention sales, which have significantly reduced but not remove pressure from the Naira. Also, there seems to be reduced supply from exporters, foreign portfolio investors and non-bank corporate inflows.
President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented the government’s N58.47 trillion budget plan aimed at consolidating economic reforms and boosting growth.
The budget is based on a projected crude oil price of $64.85 a barrel and includes a target oil output of 1.84 million barrels a day. It also projects an exchange rate of N1,400 to the Dollar.
President Tinubu said inflation had plunged to an annual rate of 14.45 per cent in November from 24.23 per cent in March, while foreign reserves had surged to a seven-year high of $47 billion.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was dominated by the bulls but it continues to face increased pressure after million in liquidations in previous session over accelerating declines, with Dogecoin (DOGE) recovering 4.2 per cent to trade at $0.1309.
Further, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $1.90, Cardano (ADA) rose by 3.5 per cent to $0.3728, Solana (SOL) jumped by 3.4 per cent to $126.23, Ethereum (ETH) climbed by 2.9 per cent to $2,982.42, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 2.0 per cent to sell for $853.06, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 1.7 per cent to $88,281.21, and Litecoin (LTC) soared by 1.2 per cent to $76.50, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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