Economy
Nigeria’s Pension Assets Hit 16.76trn in H1 2023

By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has disclosed that pension assets increased to N16.76 trillion within the half-year period (six months) that ended in June 2023.
Mrs Aisha Dahir-Umar, the Director-General of PenCom, said this in Kano at the National Pension Commission/Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) Interactive Session on the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) for the Organised Private Sector (OPS) this week.
Represented by the Commissioner Administration, PenCom, Mr Faruk Aminu, the PenCom boss said that the figure was the total fund accruing from pension contributions in the country under the CPS as of the end of the third quarter of 2023.
She explained that the pension industry is one of the fastest-growing financial sectors in Nigeria.
According to her, at the end of the third quarter of 2023, the number of Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) under the CPS stood at 10 million and the size of the pension asset under management amounted to N16.76 trillion.
“The commission has continued to take giant strides towards ensuring the smooth implementation of the CPS through the revision of existing regulations and guidelines and the development of new ones,” the official said.
The PenCom DG urged employers to encourage their workers to transfer contributions from the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) to their retirement savings accounts (RSAs).
This, she said, is in compliance with the commission’s responsibility of supervising the transfer, following the enactment of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014.
“The commission is saddled with the responsibility of supervising the transfer of the NSITF contributions of employees into their respective RSAs under the CPS,” the PenCom official said.
She further assured the private sector that the commission would continue to ensure robust social dialogue with NECA in the interest of all stakeholders under the CPS.
She also said the commission would always support NECA to champion programmes that would ensure the successful implementation of the CPS in Nigeria.
Economy
Six Securities Raise NASD OTC Exchange by 0.99%

By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.99 per cent on Thursday, February 6, boosted by price appreciation in the six stocks.
The NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went up by 31.02 points during the trading session to 3,171.57 points, in contrast to the midweek’s 3,140.55 points, and the market capitalisation increased by N17.57 billion to close at N1.796 trillion compared with the previous day’s N1.779 trillion.
Okitipupa Plc added N8.44 to its value yesterday to finish at N93.30 per unit versus N84.86 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N1.78 to wrap the day at N23.78 per share compared with N22.00 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc went up by N1.24 to N17.49 per unit from N16.25 per unit.
Further, Mixta Real Estate Plc expanded by 15 Kobo to finish at N3.11 per share versus the preceding session’s N2.96 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc grew by N1.61 to N39.50 per unit from N37.89 per unit, and UBN Property Plc rose by 2 Kobo to close at N2.22 per share, in contrast to midweek’s N2.20 per share.
During the trading day, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors increased by 19.3 per cent to 12.0 million units from 10.1 million units, the value of securities soared by 5.1 per cent to N14.2 million from N13.5 million, and the number of deals surged by 152.9 per cent to 43 deals from 17 deals.
Impresit Bakolori Plc ended the session as the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 519.5 million units worth N504.3 million, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 6.2 million units valued at N245.0 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.3 million units sold for N44.8 million.
Also, Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 519.5 million units worth N504.3 million, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 42.4 million units sold for N12.9 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.3 million units valued at N44.8 million.
Economy
Naira Falls to N1,500/$1 at Official Market, Appreciates to N1,570/$1 at Black Market

By Adedapo Adesanya
For the fourth consecutive trading session, the value of the Nigerian currency, the Naira, depreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday by 0.06 per cent or N89 Kobo to trade at N1,500.65/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,499.76/$1.
However, the Naira improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N8.19 to sell for N1,859.98/£1 compared with Wednesday’s closing price of N1,868.17/£1, but against the Euro, the local currency depreciated by N1.77 to settle at N1,555.18/€1, in contrast to midweek’s value of nN1,553.41/€1.
At the black market, the local currency gained N20 against the greenback during the session to quote at N1,570/$1 versus the N1,590/$1 it was traded a day earlier.
In the cryptocurrency market, it was majorly red on Thursday due to profit-taking as the US Securities and Exchange Commission took the first step toward allowing new crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking the price of assets like Litecoin and Solana, as well as new ways of redeeming funds from existing crypto ETFs.
Meanwhile, companies took another step toward launching Ripple (XRP) ETFs in a further sign of the new crypto-friendlier administration at the agency.
Data indicated that Cardano (ADA) went down by 5.1 per cent to trade at $0.7169, Solana (SOL) slumped by 4.8 per cent to finish at $192.63, and Dogecoin (DOGE) depreciated by 4.5 per cent to sell at $0.2509.
In addition, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 4.3 per cent to close at $2,713.47, Ripple (XRP) weakened by 3.6 per cent to end at $2.36, Litecoin (LTC) retreated by 1.9 per cent to close at $103.95, and Bitcoin (BTC) dipped by 0.5 per cent to sell for $97,344.70.
However, the price of Binance Coin (BNB) went up by 0.4 per cent to trade at $579.91, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
Economy
Buying Pressure Buoys NGX All-Share Index by 0.10%

By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited witnessed continued buying interest from offshore and domestic investors on Thursday, strengthening the market further by 0.10 per cent at the close of transactions.
Data revealed that the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 105.26 points yesterday to 105,430.15 points from the preceding day’s 105,324.89 points, and the market capitalisation expanded by N65 billion to close at N65.287 trillion compared with the previous session’s N65.222 trillion.
Business Post observed that the market participants showed interest in equities across the key sectors of the exchange because of their prospects to yield better value later.
The insurance counter gained 0.63 per cent, the consumer goods index appreciated by 0.18 per cent, the energy index improved by 0.13 per cent, the banking space jumped by 0.09 per cent, and the industrial goods industry grew by 0.04 per cent.
Eterna chalked up 9.88 per cent to trade at N33.35, Cadbury Nigeria also gained 9.88 per cent to finish at N26.70, Fidson increased its value by 9.77 per cent to N19.10, UPDC rose by 9.77 per cent to N2.36, and Deap Capital soared by 9.38 per cent to N1.05.
On the flip side, Tripple G lost 9.72 per cent to end at N2.23, Golden Breweries receded by 8.91 per cent to N7.87, Veritas Kapital slumped by 7.81 per cent to N1.18, Caverton dipped by 5.53 per cent to N2.05, and Regency Alliance slipped by 4.05 per cent to 71 Kobo.
When the bourse closed for the session, there were 33 price advancers and 23 price decliners, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Yesterday, investors bought and sold 537.2 million shares valued at N23.0 billion in 15,450 deals versus the 1.1 billion shares worth N28.8 billion traded in 15,080 deals on Wednesday, representing a rise in the number of deals by 2.45 per cent, and a decline in the trading volume and value by 49.19 per cent and 20.14 per cent, respectively.
Access Holdings led the activity log with 61.6 million stocks valued at N1.7 billion, Sterling Holdings exchanged 50.2 million equities for N296.2 million, Zenith Bank traded 40.5 million shares worth N2.0 billion, FBN Holdings sold 38.8 million equities valued at N1.3 billion, and UPDC transacted 23.6 million stocks worth N54.4 million.
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