Nigerian Stock Market Returns to Familiar Territory

By Adedapo Adesanya President Bola Tinubu is targeting to grow Nigeria’s economy by 3.76 per cent next year and moderate the country’s inflation to 21.4 per cent. Speaking at his first budget speech to lawmakers on Wednesday, President Tinubu also projected higher oil production and tax collection, noting that this will boost government revenues and cut down on reliance on borrowing to finance budget deficits. Nigeria plans on spending N27.5 billion in the 2024 fiscal year, with priorities on security, infrastructure and easing the high cost-of-living crisis. The country will borrow around N9 trillion and N18.5 billion generated from internally

By Adedapo Adesanya The return of the bears was averted at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Thursday by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which helped the alternative bourse close marginally higher by 0.03 per cent. This slight growth increased the value of the OTC exchange by N380 million, closing relatively flat at N1.165 trillion, as the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased by 0.27 points to end the day at 859.58 points compared with the previous day’s 859.31 points. During the trading day, the value of CSCS Plc went up by 8 Kobo to settle at N17.08

By Dipo Olowookere The last trading day of November 2023 on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a bullish note by 0.11 per cent on Thursday. Mild bargain-hunting in industrial goods equities like Lafarge Africa, supported by Airtel Africa, GTCO and other financial stocks left the market in the green territory at the close of business. Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 81.91 points to settle at 71,365.25 points compared with the preceding day’s 71,283.34 points, and the market capitalisation grew by N44 billion to N39.052 trillion from N39.008 trillion. Business Post reports that the

By Dipo Olowookere Fastest growing and innovative telecommunication company, Etisalat Nigeria, has announced the names of the three shortlisted authors for the 2016 edition of its pan-African flagship literary prize, the Etisalat Prize for Literature. Head of judges of this year’s edition, Helon Habila, disclosed that “in addition to originality of voice and literary excellence, our purpose was to also select a work that portrays an African sensibility.” The three shortlisted books are: Jacqui L’Ange (South Africa) The Seed Thief (Umuzi Publishers, South Africa); Jowhor Ile (Nigeria) And After Many Days (Kachifo Limited, Nigeria); and Julie Iromuanya (Nigeria) Mr &

By Dipo Olowookere Leicester City player, Ahmed Musa, has been quizzed by police in England over allegations bordering on assault on his wife, Jamila. The Nigerian international was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday after his team beat Sunderland 2-0 in an EPL match. According to Daily Mail, two plain-clothed policewomen arrived at the 24-year-old Musa’s five-bedroom home in Countesthorpe, Leicestershire and went away with him. At the station, he was questioned on the allegation and cooperated with the security officials. He was later released without charge. Last summer, Leicester City, after winning the English league, signed the Nigerian

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The share price of Jumia Technologies appreciated by 0.59 per cent or $0.10 at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Thursday to $17.10 per share after news of MTN Group exiting the company was reported. Bloomberg had claimed that one of the people in the know of the matter, who asked not to be identified because the plans were private, disclosed the telco wants to sell part or all of its $243 million interest in the Africa’s Amazon. In December 2013, MTN invested in Jumia Group and became a 33.3 per cent stakeholder in the e-commerce

By Dipo Olowookere The trio of Access Bank, GTCO and Fidelity Bank contributed 29.23 per cent and 24.23 per cent respectively to the total trading volume and value at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last week. According to data obtained by Business Post, investors bought and sold a total of 500.8 million shares of the banking stocks worth N7.5 billion in 3,603 deals in the week. The shares, especially for Access Bank and GTCO, attracted dividend investors, who are positioning themselves for the annual cash rewards of the duo. In the week, the market recorded a turnover of 1.7 billion

By Adedapo Adesanya The House of Representatives has called on the federal government to extend the current railway line in Apapa Port to Tincan and Ijegun ports in Lagos State. The call followed the adoption of a motion by Mr Oghene Egoh at Wednesday’s plenary in Abuja. Speaking on the motion, Mr Egoh noted that the Tincan Port is the second busiest port in Nigeria after the Apapa Port, stating that it has a storage capacity of 28,000 metric tonnes of grain. “The terminal handles wheat, maize and malt and could take delivery of about 4000 metric tonnes of grain

By Dipo Olowookere The board of FBN Holdings Plc has announced a change in the date of qualification date for the payment of the dividend proposed by the decision making organ of the company. Last week, the board of directors of FBN Holdings recommended the payment of a cash dividend of 26 kobo per share to shareholders of the company. It was disclosed that the dividend payment, which amounts to N9.3 billion, was for the 2018 financial year. The board had then disclosed that the qualification date for the dividend was April 22, 2019, while the register of shareholders would

By Dipo Olowookere President Muhammadu Buhari is already in the Gambia with other leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to have discussions with the country’s President, Mr Yahya Jammeh. The Nigerian leader arrived Banjul, the Gambia capital, on Friday ahead of the talks. The ECOWAS leaders hope to pressure Mr Jammeh to handover power to the President-elect, Mr Adama Barrow. Mr Buhari and his crew were supposed to be in the small West African country on Wednesday, but Mr Jammeh asked for the meeting to be pushed to today. If the talks become successful, Mr Jammeh

By Adeniyi Ogunfowoke You have dreamt about it. You can feel it and you are already making money from the enterprise you established, all in dreams. Reality dawns on you and you wish it your dream will become reality instantly. But that is not how it works. You have to work towards achieving your dreams especially if you hope to become an entrepreneur. But you are still lounging and dreaming. This may be due to some habits that you have imbibed over time and this can stop from bring your entrepreneurial dream to fruition. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel