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 Adedapo Adesanya
The United Arab Emirates has announced its decision to quit the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to focus on national interests.
This dealt a heavy blow to the oil-exporting group at a time when the US-Israel war on Iran had caused a historic energy shock and rattled the global economy.
The move, which will take effect on May 1, 2026, reflects “the UAE’s long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile”, a statement carried by state media said on Tuesday.
“During our time in the organisation, we made significant contributions and even greater sacrifices for the benefit of all,” it added. “However, the time has come to focus our efforts on what our national interest dictates.”
The loss of the UAE, a longstanding OPEC member, could create disarray and weaken the oil cartel, which has usually sought to show a united front despite internal disagreements over a range of issues from geopolitics to production quotas.
UAE Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei said the decision was taken after a careful look at the regional power’s energy strategies.
“This is a policy decision. It has been done after a careful look at current and future policies related to the level of production,” the minister said.
OPEC’s Gulf producers have already been struggling to ship exports through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow chokepoint between Iran and Oman through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies normally pass, because of threats and attacks against vessels during the war.
The UAE had been a member of OPEC first through its emirate of Abu Dhabi in 1967 and later when it became its own country in 1971.
The oil cartel, based in Vienna, has seen some of its market power wane as the US has increased its production of crude oil in recent years.
Additionally, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have increasingly competed over economic issues and regional politics, particularly in the Red Sea area.
The two countries had joined a coalition to fight against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis in 2015. However, that coalition broke down into recriminations in late December when Saudi Arabia bombed what it described as a weapons shipment bound for Yemeni separatists backed by the UAE.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc bested four price decliners on the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Monday, April 27. The alternative stock market opened the week bullish during the session with a 0.03 per cent uptick.
According to data, the security depository company added N2.61 to its share price to close at N76.26 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N78.87 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation of the platform increased by N820 million to N2.425 trillion from N2.424 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gained 1.38 points to finish at 4,053.97 points compared with the 4,052.58 points it ended last Friday.
The four price losers were led by NASD Plc, which slumped by N3.80 to sell at N34.70 per share versus N38.50 per share. FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc fell by N1.45 to N98.10 per unit from N99.55 per unit, Food Concepts Plc slid by 27 Kobo to N2.43 per share from N2.70 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc dipped by 9 Kobo to N2.91 per unit from N3.00 per unit.
The value of securities transacted by market participants went down by 82.0 per cent to N7.4 million from N41.3 million units, the volume of securities declined by 28.5 per cent to 319,831 units from 447,403 units, and the number of deals dropped by 34.1 per cent to 29 deals from 44 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units sold for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Also, GNI Plc was the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with a turnover of 400 million units worth N1.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The first trading day of the week in the currency market was bearish for the Naira in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, April 27.
Yesterday, it lost N5.80 or 0.43 per cent against the United States Dollar to trade at N1,364.24/$1, in contrast to the N1,358.44/$1 it was traded last Friday.
In the same vein, the Nigerian currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N13.70 to close at N1,847.72/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,834.02/£1, and slumped against the Euro by N11.56 to sell at N1,602.29/€1 versus N1,590.73/€1.
Also, the Nigerian Naira tumbled against the greenback during the trading day by N5 to quote at N1,385/$1 compared with the previous rate of N1,380/$1, and at the GTBank FX desk, it traded flat at N1,370/$1.
The poor performance of the domestic currency could be attributed to liquidity shortage at the official currency market on Monday, which came amid surging demand for international payments. At $76.50 million, interbank liquidity printed higher across 79 deals, up from the $43.572 million reported on Friday.
Nigeria’s gross external reserves declined to $48.45 billion amid a month-long decline in inflows, amid uncertainties in the global commodity market. The depletion of foreign reserves could be partly attributed to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s intervention in the FX market.
The market remains perturbed by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market, while boosters, including oil prices, continue to look rocky due to stalled discussions and unclear ceasefire negotiations between the US and Iran.
A look at the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) has been rejected near $79,000 three times in eight sessions, leaving the level as the de facto ceiling of its current trading range even as major cryptocurrencies trade lower over the past day. It lost 0.9 per cent to sell at $77,003.61.
Analysts say that upcoming US Federal Reserve policy decisions and top tech firms’ earnings this week could provide the catalyst to push bitcoin decisively above $80,000.
The market also continued to weigh Iran’s interim deal proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which failed to advance over the weekend. The White House said US officials were discussing the latest Iranian proposal but maintained “red lines” on any deal to end the eight-week war.
Solana (SOL) dropped 1.8 per cent to $84.25, Ripple (XRP) went down by 1.6 per cent to $1.39, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $2,290.00, Binance Coin (BNB) declined by 0.5 per cent to $625.18, and Cardano (ADA) fell by 0.2 per cent to $0.2480.
However, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 2.0 per cent to $0.1002, and TRON (TRX) appreciated by 0.2 per cent to $0.3242, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
-
Feature/OPED6 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism10 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz3 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking8 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy3 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking3 years agoSort Codes of UBA Branches in Nigeria
-
Banking3 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports3 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn