Nigeria’s Agricultural Exports Grow 0.44% to N280.87bn in Q2 2023

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.38 per cent on Friday, September 30, with N4.16 billion added to the value of the bourse, closing at N1.105 trillion compared with Thursday’s value of N1.101 trillion. The market witnessed the improvement a day after the shares of VFD Group were yanked off the trading platform, with the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) closing higher by 3.06 points to settle at 815.65 basis points versus the previous day’s 812.59 basis points. There were three gainers led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which improved by N1.31 to close at

By Adedapo Adesanya The prices of Brent futures and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures went down by about 1 per cent on Friday, due to macroeconomic concerns and sustained profit-taking. Data showed that Brent fell by 7 cents to $95.31 per barrel and WTI depreciated by 92 cents to $90.97. Prices rose about 30 per cent in the third quarter of the year helped by the production cuts by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+). This action squeezed global crude supply. Brent was about 2.2 per cent in the week and 27 per cent

By Adedapo Adesanya The cryptocurrency market witnessed an uptick on Wednesday, with Bitcoin (BTC) managing to stay above the $26,000 level even as the US Dollar index rose to a new year-to-date high. Data obtained by Business Post showed that the most valued crypto, BTC, posted a 0.7 per cent appreciation during the midweek session to trade at $26,408.37 in the last 24 hours. On the part of the second-most valued digital coin, Ethereum (ETH), it remained in the $1,600 mark and it improved its value yesterday by 1.6 per cent to sell at $1,610.94. At the trading session, the US

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A new report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has revealed that the retail sales landscape in Nigeria is dominated by open-air markets despite an increase in supermarkets, convenience stores, and other modern formats. In the survey, it was disclosed that over 600,000 small shops and open-air markets are in the country’s retail space, accounting for 97 per cent of national sales of food, beverages, and personal care products. The report The Future of Traditional Retail in Africa showed that African consumers on average continue to buy more than 70 per cent of their food, beverages, and

By Dipo Olowookere Providing an enabling environment for businesses and their associated activities to thrive remains a key goal of governments and indeed, a main driver of economic growth. It is for this reason and more that the Ease of Doing Business Reform lends itself a barometer to measure reforms, including but not limited to regulatory framework, government policies, security etc., that seek to make the business climate more conducive for business. It is in this vein that FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, having taken on the role of an advocate, providing relevant advice to government and regulators, as well as

By Adedapo Adesanya Digital payment entity, Mondia Pay, has announced that it will be onboarding a series of new clients in Nigeria as part of efforts to become the preferred digital payment solutions provider for telecommunications operators on the African continent. It revealed that Mondia Pay registered 5.3 billion transactions on its platform last year with telcos across the continent. A leader in digital platform services, Mondia Pay enjoys partnerships with operators in South Africa, Botswana, Liberia, Madagascar, Tanzania, Sudan, Guinee, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Senegal where it provides telcos with the best billing integration, bundling deals, user engagement and

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Analysts at FBNQuest Research have disclosed that investment flows into Nigeria need a major lift. In its daily Good Morning Nigeria posts, the FBNQuest Research said data released recently by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that direct, portfolio and other investment were again positive in the second quarter of this year. Investment flows are gross flows (ie those in the reporting economy before investment by Nigerian residents offshore). According to a chart released by the agency, portfolio flows peaked above $4 billion in Q2 2013, when Nigeria was still basking in the glow of its

By Adedapo Adesanya The Joint Venture (JV) consisting of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Shell, TotalEnergies and ENI has signed a multi-million dollars deal to supply 70 million standard cubic feet (scf) of gas to Dangote Fertilizer Company. The signing which took place at the ongoing Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES) was attended by the President of Dangote Group, Mr Aliko Dangote; Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari; Country Chair of Osagie Okunbor; and ENI representatives. The deals involving the JV of NNPC, Shell, ENI, and TotalEnergies will deliver 70million scf of gas daily to Dangote

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Lawmakers in the lower chamber of the National Assembly have expressed worry over the outrageous rise in the cost of diesel and cooking gas, launching an investigation into the cause. At the plenary on Tuesday, a member of the House of Representatives from Imo State, Mr Chike John Okafor, moved a motion to look into the matter, warning that “if the ugly trend of the increasing price of diesel is not checked, the multiplier effect will spell doom for Nigeria’s economy.” He stated that almost all businesses and households in Nigeria depend on diesel-powered generators as an

The board of directors of IHS Holding Limited, one of the largest independent owners, operators and developers of shared telecommunications infrastructure in the world and leader in EMEA by tower count, now has two new additions. The new appointees are Mr John Ellis (Jeb) Bush, who is the current President of Jeb Bush & Associates LLC, and Mr Nick Land, a chartered accountant, who retired as Executive Chairman of Ernst & Young LLP in 2006 following 36 years with the firm. Mr Bush joins the board of IHS as a Non-Executive Independent Director. He was the Governor of Florida between