Economy
Nigeria’s Economy in Serious Crisis—Buhari
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Nigerians have been advised to tighten their belts by President Muhammadu Buhari as the nation’s economy is currently in bad shape.
Mr Buhari gave this advice last week when he held a meeting with governors of the 36 states of the federation in the Presidential Villa.
Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and Zamfara State Governor, Mr Abdulaziz Yari, who addressed newsmen after the meeting, said Mr President told his guests to redouble their efforts in addressing infrastructural deficiencies in their respective states.
“Mr President as usual, responded by telling us that the economy is in a bad shape and we have to come together and think and rethink on the way forward.
“Mr President talked to us in the manner that we have a task ahead of us. So, we should tighten our belts and see how we can put Nigerian economy in the right direction and how we can address the nation’s infrastructural decay,” the Governor said.
He added that, “All of us as leaders, especially those that are coming to the National Assembly and those coming back as governors and the President who will be re-elected, by God’s grace, we should not think that things are going to be easy; they are going to be harder than before. This was the message of Mr President.”
According to Mr Yari, they used the opportunity of the meeting to appreciate the President for facilitating the release of the Paris Club refunds to them without any discrimination.
“You will recall for those that have been around since 2015, so many issues were raised in budget support, bailout funds, Paris-London Club refund and infrastructure development funds.
“When Mr President came on board, 27 states out of 36 could not pay salaries some for 13, 12, 8, 5 months, respectively. During our first encounter with him, he told us that we have no business of being in power if we cannot do the basic, which is pay workers.
“So, he asked that we discussed how we could support those states that cannot pay salaries so that workers will be paid.
“Those in the position then came up with the idea of bailing out the states, so that they could pay the arrears. But paying the arrears was not enough, because the performance of the economy at that time could not sustain the current salaries, that was how he paid the London Paris Club in batches until we exited last month, the payment of London Paris Club has been lingering for the past 12 years. “We came here today to thank Mr President because in bailing out states, he did not discriminate along party lines, unlike in those days when you can only get audience with Mr President if you have long legs. So, we appreciate what he has done and we prayed for him that he will succeed to return for a second term.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Stanbic IBTC Nominees Limited has been commended for its critical role in the Nigerian capital market, especially for safely keeping non-pension assets.
For the past 30 years, the company has provided custody services in Nigeria, and to celebrate this milestone, it was honoured with a closing gong ceremony at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
The milestone reflects the institution’s longstanding contribution to investor confidence and the continued development of the nation’s capital market.
Welcoming the organisation to Customs Street, the chief executive of NGX, Mr Jude Chiemeka, commended its three decades of custody services, recognising the firm’s role in strengthening investor confidence and enhancing market safety.
He highlighted NGX’s continued investment in technology, which he said has enabled over 2.6 million active retail investors to trade on the platform.
“Technology continues to be at the heart of our strategy,” Mr Chiemeka said, noting that a vibrant and secure marketplace remains essential to investor participation.
In his remarks, the chief executive of Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mr Wole Adeniyi, thanked NGX for its continued partnership, saying, “We are thrilled to be here today, commemorating not just our journey, but also the remarkable progress made by the NGX.”
He noted that the collaboration between the two institutions has continued to drive innovation, product development and thought leadership across the industry.
“We are dedicated to raising standards within the industry as part of Standard Bank Group. Our focus remains driving the growth and development of Nigeria’s capital market. Indeed, Nigeria is our home, and we drive her growth,” he added.
The chief executive of Stanbic IBTC Nominees, Mr Babatunde Majiyagbe, reflected on the evolution of the business from the era of physical share certificates stored in fireproof vaults to today’s fully dematerialised market, where securities are held electronically.
“We started with holding custody of physical certificates, investing in vaults with fire and dust protection, so those certificates could be presented when needed,” Mr Majiyagbe recalled, noting that while the market has evolved significantly, the commitment to service excellence has remained unchanged.
“What has endeared a lot of investors to the market is that they are dealing with a reputable organisation like ours. We are high on good governance, and high on technology, making the process of investment in Nigeria easier,” he said.
Mr Majiyagbe added that Stanbic IBTC Nominees’ role goes beyond just attracting foreign portfolio investment (FPI) and capital.
“For us, it’s not just about FPI; but also about the value we have delivered over 30 years. Stanbic IBTC Nominees continue to be the eyes and ears of foreign and domestic investors in our market,” he stated.
Mr Majiyagbe added that the firm has also supported the development of market rules and safeguards, noting: “We have, over the years, advocated for growth, change, transformation and stability in our capability to provide services to domestic and foreign portfolio investors continuously.”
The deputy chief executive of Stanbic IBTC Bank and Chairman of Stanbic IBTC Nominees, Mrs Bunmi Dayo-Olagunju, said the next phase of growth will build on the institution’s legacy of trust.
“For 30 years, we’ve delivered growth, security, and client confidence. That’s why investors have stayed with us and why new business keeps coming.
“Our target for this new phase of growth is simple: build on that trust and ride the acceleration in Nigeria’s economic activity.
“With custody, settlement, capital raise, and advisory integrated on one platform, we’re not just a custodian. We’re an infrastructure. We look forward to building on that trust for generations to come, serving both local and international clients. Hopefully, we’ll have another 100 years of maintaining that trust with local and international markets,” Mrs Dayo-Olagunju said.
By Dipo Olowookere
The positive market breadth index recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited could not save it from further claws of the bears on Friday.
The major performance indicators, the All-Share Index (ASI) and the market capitalisation, depreciated by 0.03 per cent and 0.01 per cent, respectively.
The ASI was down by 78.58 points to 245,283.68 points from the previous day’s 245,362.26 points, and the market capitalisation receded by N14 billion to N158.326 trillion from Thursday’s N158.340 trillion.
Business Post reports that market participants traded 943.0 million equities valued at N46.7 billion in 55,480 deals compared with the 2.1 billion equities worth N230.8 billion transacted in 48,231 deals a day earlier.
This implied that the trading volume shrank by 55.10 per cent, the trading value reduced by 79.77 per cent, and the number of deals surged by 15.03 per cent.
An analysis of the sectoral performance showed that the consumer goods space crashed by 0.60 per cent and the energy index went down by 0.09 per cent.
However, the banking sector improved by 1.90 per cent, the insurance counter expanded by 0.75 per cent, and the industrial goods segment soared by 0.10 per cent.
There were 33 appreciating stocks and 29 depreciating stocks during the last trading session of the week and month of July, indicating bullish investor sentiment despite the poor outcome.
CAP lost 9.97 per cent to trade at N128.25, Veritas Kapital depreciated by 9.49 per cent to N1.43, Vitafoam Nigeria slipped by 7.70 per cent to N179.80, The Initiates dipped by 6.67 per cent to N28.00, and NAHCO crashed by 6.63 per cent to N155.00.
Conversely, Eterna gained 10.00 per cent to sell for N33.00, Consolidated Hallmark also grew by 10.00 per cent to N8.36, McNichols expanded by 9.52 per cent to N5.75, Honeywell Flour increased by 8.96 per cent to N18.25, and First Holdco chalked up 8.00 per cent to quote at N129.55.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its bullish run on Friday, July 31, by 0.99 per cent.
This raised the NASD Security Index (NSI) by 43.54 points to 4,431.71 points from 4,388.17 points, and lifted the market capitalisation by N26.13 billion to N2.659 trillion from N2.633 trillion.
The growth came amid a significant decline in the activity level, as the volume of securities decreased by 73.0 per cent to 690,990 units from 2.6 million units, the value of securities slid by 15.0 per cent to N75.0 million from the preceding session’s N88.3 million, and the number of deals contracted by 31.6 per cent to 26 deals from the 38 deals recorded a day earlier.
The most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis remained Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 76.6 million units exchanged for N5.5 billion.
The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was also GNI Plc, with the sale of 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.
Investor sentiment was bullish yesterday after a positive market breadth index triggered by five price gainers and two price losers, led by 11 Plc, which gave up N14.99 to close at N225.01 per share versus the previous day’s N240.00 per share, and MRS Oil Plc, which shed N14.55 to settle at N132.00 per unit versus N146.55 per unit.
However, Nipco Plc gained N41.50 to sell at N456.50 per share compared with the preceding session’s N415.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by N12.93 to N147.93 per unit from N135.00 per unit, Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc improved by N1.00 to N20.00 per share from N19.00 per share, CSCS Plc soared by 54 Kobo to N102.00 per unit from N101.46 per unit, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc jumped by 1 Kobo to 50 Kobo per share from 49 Kobo per share.
