Nigerian Stock Market Hits 10-Year High as Market Cap Closes Above N15tr

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira put up a weak performance against the United States Dollar across the various segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Thursday. November 30, 2023, the last trading session of the month. In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) window, which is the official market, the Nigerian currency lost 0.1 per cent or 85 Kobo against the greenback during the session to settle at N832.32/$1 compared with the preceding day’s value of N831.47/$1. A slight strain in the supply of forex into the spot market was partly responsible for the weakening of the local

By Adedapo Adesanya A milk-producing company, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria, helped the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange return to the green territory by 0.54 per cent on Wednesday, November 29. The firm improved its value by N3.50 in the midweek session to settle at N73.50 per share compared with the previous day’s closing price of N70.00 per share. It suppressed the 10 Kobo decline posted by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which ended lower at N17.00 per unit versus Tuesday’s value of N17.10 per unit. Consequently, the market capitalisation of the alternative stock exchange went up by N6.28 billion to

By Adedapo Adesanya Equinor and Chappal Energies have entered into an agreement for the sale of Equinor Nigeria Energy Company (ENEC), which holds a 53.85 per cent ownership in oil and gas lease OML 128, including the unitized 20.21 per cent stake in the Agbami oil field, operated by Chevron. Speaking on the deal, Equinor’s senior vice president for Africa Operations, Ms Nina Koch, said Nigeria has been an important part of Equinor’s international portfolio over the past 30 years, noting that, “This transaction realizes value and is in line with Equinor’s strategy to optimize its international oil and gas

By Adedapo Adesanya The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) on Thursday asked Nigeria to produce about 1.5 million barrels of crude oil per day in 2024, lower than the 1.78 million barrels per day benchmark it proposed in the 2024 Appropriation Bill presented to the National Assembly on Wednesday for passage. The output ceiling was around 1.8 million barrels per day before it was cut down to 1.5 million barrels yesterday at the group’s virtual meeting, a huge blow to Nigeria’s revenue target for the fiscal year. OPEC had tasked three consultancies – IHS, Rystad

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Bank of Industry (BoI) on Friday launched a N1 billion solar energy fund for use by Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across the country. The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that the intervention fund aims at providing alternative and renewable energy for small businesses. Mr Waheed Olagunju, the Acting Managing Director of BoI, said at the ceremony that renewable energy would provide healthy and sustainable alternative to the use of harmful fossil fuels. Mr Olagunju said the solar project would afford beneficiaries long-term cost saving advantages, especially in the absence of reliable power supply. He

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Entries for the 2019 edition of the annual National Essay Competition organised by the corporate social responsibility arm of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, UBA Foundation, have commenced. At a media launch to herald the competition in its ninth series last week, the CEO of UBA Foundation, Mrs Bola Atta, explained that the educational contest will provide an opportunity for students in secondary schools across the country to put in their entries and to win prizes in the form of educational grants to study in any university of their choice on the African continent. At

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The rehabilitation and upgrade of the 5,000 capacity Onikan Stadium, near Tafawa Balewa Square Lagos Island, has been approved by the Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode. A statement issued on Sunday by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Steve Ayorinde, explained that the transformation is to make the stadium meet the expectations of a 21st century sporting facility and also in line with the new Onikan-Marina regeneration plan. The Commissioner further said the upgrade demonstrates government’s commitment to use sports as a potent tool for development and job creation; adding that the stadium, which is

By Adedapo Adesanya For the third straight trading session, the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed bearish on Thursday with a 0.29 per cent loss. At the market yesterday, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) depreciated by 2.15 points to wrap the session at 728.13 points compared with 730.28 points of the previous session. Also, the market capitalisation of the bourse decreased by N1.87 billion to close the day at N632.87 billion in contrast to N634.74 billion it ended on Wednesday. The poor performance of the exchange on Thursday was driven by the negative price movements in the shares of

By Dipo Olowookere Two contracts worth $1.5 billion have been signed by the Federal Government with the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation for the construction and modernisation of rail lines in different parts of the country. These are the Kano-Kaduna Segment 3 of the Lagos-Kano rail modernisation project with a contract sum of $1.68 billion, and the Calabar-Port Harcourt Segment 1, which extends to Onne Deep Seaport of the coastal rail project at a cost of $3.4 billion. According to the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, who signed on behalf of the FG, the segmentation of the same contract

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Budding singer, Okiemute Ighorodje, has been announced as winner of Project Fame West Africa Season 9. Ms Ighoredje beat five other finalists to clinch the coveted prize of the competition. The young lady is now N5 million richer and also now has an SUV to herself as part of the grand prize given to her as winner of the show. Also, she will be given a music contract worth millions of Naira. Ms Ighoredge defeated Elizabeth, Pere, Kitay, Winner and Dapo to emerge winner of the music talent hunt competition sponsored by MTN. She was unveiled on

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigeria LNG (NLNG) Limited and two of its officials are set to stand trial over alleged irregularities on a contract awarded to one of its contractors, Macobarb International Limited. For context, NLNG’s immediate past Managing Director, Mr Tony Attah, and General Counsel and Company Secretary, Akachukwu Nwokedi, were dragged to court by Macobarb International Limited, over alleged “criminal culpability in irregularities relating to a contract awarded to the contractor.” Managing Director of Macobarb International Limited, Mr Shedrack Ogboru, had complained before the court that Contract No.B130142PPI was awarded to his company for the sum of N95.47