Economy
Nigeria’s Consumer Confidence Index Gains Five Points in Q4 2017
By Dipo Olowookere
A report released by Nielsen Africa has revealed that consumer confidence index in Nigeria gained five points to close at 122 in the fourth quarter of 2017.
Nielsen Africa, in its latest West Africa Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) figures made available to Business Post on Monday, disclosed that Ghana also showed positive performance with eight points gained to finish at 120 during the period under review.
The eight-point increase in Ghana’s latest Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) figures was attributed to a higher proportion of Ghanaians perceiving the state of their job prospects in the next 12 months to be ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’, which now stands at 69 percent, the highest level since quarter 1, 2014 and a nine percent increase from last quarter.
The sentiments around personal finances have also seen a one percent rise to 79 percent for those who feel the state of their personal finances would be ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’ in the next 12 months, contributing to the overall consumer confidence index in Ghana.
Recovery in the oil and gas sector, healthier agricultural production, and favourable monetary policies, have all contributed towards reinstating positive sentiment among Ghanaians.
Improving sentiment around employment prospects and personal finances is translating into larger and more favourable outcomes in consumption, with 48 percent consumers saying it is an excellent time to buy the things they want and need; a five percent rise from the previous quarter.
With consumers having had to keep their purse strings pulled tight for some time now, there is still concern on how far their cash will go.
Only 56 percent of Ghanaians have spare cash once they have covered their essential living expenses, a drop of two percent leading to a more cash-strapped sentiment.
On the other hand, consumer confidence in Nigeria is as positive as neighbouring Ghana with a three-percent increase in perceived job prospects for the next 12 months.
The biggest improvement, however, is in consumers’ personal finances with a nine percent increase in the number of Nigerians feeling positive that their finances will improve over the next 12 months.
This is supported with a parallel nine percent increase in Nigerians saying that they have spare cash in their pockets once they meet their essential living expenses.
Job prospects continue to improve, with sentiments moving up three percent to 65 percent, followed by an increase of four percent of Nigerians feeling that now is the time to purchase the things they need and want.
Food inflation and ever-present price pressures will continue to keep consumers on their toes when it comes to changing their basket mix and looking for further efficiencies in their consumer habits.
Commenting, Managing Director of Nielsen West Africa & Maghreb, Abhik Gupta, stated that, “The economic outlook in both Ghana and Nigeria is turning positive, spurred by a recovery in non-oil sectors, healthier agricultural production, favourable monetary policies, and a slight easing in inflationary pressures.
“This positive attitude is also seen in the consumer confidence level, which has risen quarter on quarter.
“Overall the economy is expected to inch forward in a positive direction, with growing optimism translating into consumption.”
Gupta said further that, “Nigeria has faced various challenges over the last two years including recessionary trends from mid-2016, and a rapidly rising inflation, however we are seeing steady recovery in job prospects and personal finances, bringing some relief to inflation and we expect further recoveries in both sentiment and consumption.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
Four stocks weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.46 per cent on Friday, May 9, bringing down the market capitalisation by N9.02 billion to N1.935 trillion from N1.944 trillion quoted at the preceding session, as the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 15.42 points to settle at 3,304.74 points, in contrast to the 3,320.16 points recorded a day earlier.
Central Securities Clearing Systems (CSCS) went down by N1.28 during the trading session to finish at N22.60 per share versus Thursday’s value of N23.88 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N1.00 to close at N40.03 per unit compared with previous closing value of N41.03 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc depreciated by 11 Kobo to end at N1.81 per share versus the previous session’s N1.92 per share, and UBN Property Plc shrank by 4 Kobo to trade at N1.96 per unit, in contrast to the N2.00 per unit it was sold in the preceding day.
However, the price of Impresit Bakolori Plc went up by 11 Kobo yesterday to close at N1.27 per share versus the previous day’s price of N1.16 per share.
The volume of transactions went down on Friday by 33.1 per cent to 231.6 million units from the 346.3 million units recorded a day earlier, the value of trades decreased by 31.3 per cent to N606.4 million from N882.8 million, while the number of deals increased by 256.3 per cent to 57 deals from 16 deals.
At the close of trading activities, Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 265.8 million units valued at N469.5 million, and Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units sold for N4.9 billion.
Similarly, Okitipupa Plc was the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 153.6 million units worth N4.9 billion, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 19.9 million units valued at N765.5 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 533.9 million units sold for N520.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira was relatively flat against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, May 9, though it marginally shed 0.2 per cent or 7 Kobo to settle at N1,609.64/$1, in contrast to the preceding day’s N1,609.57/$1.
Also, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the official market during the session, remaining unchanged at N2,145.48/£1 and N1,818.42/€1, respectively.
In the same vein, the value of the domestic currency to the Dollar remained unchanged in the parallel market yesterday at N1,625/$1, according to data obtained by Business Post.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it remained positive as President Donald Trump announced a comprehensive trade deal with the UK and the cumulative inflows into the spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) hit a record high above $40 billion.
According to market analysts, this has led to substantial liquidations of bearish short positions, or leveraged plays aimed at profiting from price losses. A position is liquidated or forced closed when the trader’s account balance falls below the required margin level, often due to adverse price movements. This leads the exchange to close the position to prevent further losses automatically.
Meanwhile, the US and China are said to be working on a trade deal but many are skeptical of a deal being reached this month.
Dogecoin (DOGE) appreciated by 7.6 per cent to sell at $0.2229, Litecoin (LTC) improved its value by 5.5 per cent to quote at $103.51, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 4.6 per cent to $663.22, and Solana (SOL) recorded a 3.6 per cent growth to sell at $171.52.
Further, the price of Ripple (XRP) went up by 1.4 per cent $2.37, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 0.8 per cent to sell for $2,366.49, and Cardano (ADA) gained 0.7 per cent to trade at $0.7952, while Bitcoin (BTC) went down by 0.3 per cent to $103,670.89, with the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) trading flat at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices closed almost 2 per cent higher on Friday as a US trade deal with the United Kingdom turned investors optimistic ahead of talks between top officials from the US and China.
Brent crude futures rose by $1.07 or 1.7 per cent to settle at $63.91 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures advanced by $1.11 or about 1.9 per cent to finish at $61.02 per barrel.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and chief trade negotiator Jamieson Greer will meet Chinese economic negotiator, Mr He Lifeng, in Switzerland to discuss containing the damaging trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.
US President Donald Trump on Friday said he expected there to be substantive talks this weekend and predicted US tariffs were likely to come down.
He said China should open its market to the US, and that an 80 per cent tariff on Chinese goods “seems right”
This comes a day after he announced a deal lowering tariffs on British car and steel exports, among other agreements with the United Kingdom.
China’s foreign ministry has decried what it calls abusive and bullying economic tactics and said China remains firmly opposed to what it calls an unsustainable approach to trade by the US.
Since taking office in January, President Trump has hiked the tariffs paid by US importers for goods from China to 145 per cent, in addition to those he imposed on many Chinese goods during his first term and the duties levied by the Biden administration.
China hit back by imposing export curbs on some rare earth elements, vital for US manufacturers of weapons and electronic consumer goods, and raising tariffs on U.S. goods to 125 per cent. It also imposed extra levies on some products including soybeans and liquefied natural gas.
Analysts estimates that lowering tariffs on China to 80 per cent would bring the overall effective import tax rate from all the tariffs imposed by President Trump so far to 18 per cent from around 22 per cent now.
Meanwhile, Chinese exports rose faster than expected in April while imports narrowed their decline, customs data showed on Friday, giving the world’s largest oil importer some relief ahead of the talks.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) oil output edged lower in April as production declines in Libya, Venezuela and Iraq outweighed a scheduled increase in output.
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