NIMASA Demands Tax Incentives for Maritime Sector

By Dipo Olowookere Profit-taking persisted at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Thursday, with Customs Street going down by 0.31 per cent on its return from a midweek break. The market closed its doors to traders on Wednesday due to the public holiday declared by the federal government to mark Eid-el Maulud, the birthday of Prophet Mohammed. Business Post reports that market participants did not take their minds off the pressing issues affecting the Nigerian economy, especially rising inflation, energy costs and the foreign exchange (FX) crisis. As a result, they liquidated their shares, leading to a negative market breadth

By Adedapo Adesanya Brent crude futures surged by 2.8 per cent or $2.59 on Wednesday to the highest settlement in 2023 at $96.55 per barrel after a steep drop in crude stocks in the United States compounded worries of tighter global supplies. The price of the US West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) climbed by 3.6 per cent or $3.29 to $93.68 as the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a crude oil inventory draw of 2.2 million barrels for the week to September 22 in the country. In the preceding week, the agency posted an inventory draw of 2.1 million

By Dipo Olowookere The domestic currency had a breather in the peer-to-peer (P2P) and the parallel market segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday, with its value strengthening against the Dollar at the two windows. This was supported by the ease in the forex demand pressure during the trading session, which had the official market, the Investors and Exporters (I&E) arm of the market, non-operational yesterday due to the public holiday observed in the country for Eid el Maulud. Many customers who may have needed FX for their transactions stayed back to enjoy the work-free day, easing off

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has accused 63 companies and agencies of government in 11 states of illegal occupation on the 5.4GHz frequency band in the country. The commission, which addressed a document to all the unauthorised users, said the 5.4GHz band spanning 5.430-5.725GHz frequency range has been licensed in Nigeria and stated that transmission of signals or use of equipment in any form on the band without a frequency license obtained from the NCC is illegal. In the document signed by NCC Director of Public Affairs, Henry Nkemadu, those discovered to be using the band in

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The inaugural listing of Nigeria’s $1 billion Eurobonds under its $1.00bn Global Medium-Term Note Programme is set to be admitted by the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange. This is in consolidation of the strategic and value-adding initiatives spearheaded by FMDQ in developing the Nigerian financial markets. Following a series of engagements by FMDQ on the importance of promoting and supporting economic development in the country through the opening of Eurobonds to the domestic DCM via the OTC Exchange’s platform, this welcome and laudable development, which market participants believe will set the pace for global competitiveness and invariably deepen

By Adedapo Adesanya The Kano State Government, through its COVID-19 taskforce technical committee, has introduced a home-based care program to reach people in remote areas as part of efforts to curtail the spread of the pandemic. This was made known in a statement from the state Primary Health Care Management Board and signed by its Information Officer, Mr Maikudi Marafa, on Saturday. According to the state Commissioner of Health, Dr Aminu Tsanyawa, who launched the program on Saturday, efforts have been made to curtail the second wave of the pandemic. The Commissioner stressed that health personnel had been trained and

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released foreign exchange to marketers to import into the country Automated Gas Oil (AGO), commonly called diesel. This information was disclosed in a statement issued by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The agency further said the apex bank has also approved the release of forex to oil marketers to bring Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK) into Nigeria. The NNPC noted in the statement that it would continue to import to supplement local refining to help reduce shortage in the supply of the products to consumers. The NNPC said it has

By Adedapo Adesanya Top Kenyan telecoms company, Safaricom, has it will delve into the technology solutions sector to offer new financial solutions to small businesses and farmers. According to the new CEO of the company, Mr Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom will also expand its operations to Ethiopia to explore the market in the Horn of Africa. Mr Ndegwa was named as the successor of Mr Bob Collymore, who died in July 2019. He noted that the future of the company would come from combining technology and innovation. Listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), Safaricom is one of the biggest companies

By Dipo Olowookere The sum of N27,000 was on Tuesday approved as the new minimum wage for workers in Nigeria by the National Council of State. This is N3,000 lower than the amount approved last month by a tripartite committee set up by federal government to review the wage. The council held its first meeting for 2019 today and was attended by key government officials as well as former presidents of the country, including Mr Olusegun Obasanjo, who criticised President Muhammadu Buhari via a letter on Sunday. However, after today’s meeting, Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr Chris Ngige, assured

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Last week, a fire incident occurred at the Aba, Abia State factor of Guinness Nigeria Plc, one of the brewery companies operating in the country. The inferno reportedly destroyed some properties at the premises. Though some investors and shareholders do not know the full extent of the damage or the remote cause of the inferno, the management of Guinness Nigeria has assured that the fire incident will not affect its performance and numbers. “While awaiting the outcome of an assessment of the incident, we do not expect any material impact to our numbers,” a statement signed by

By Dipo Olowookere Acting Director General of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Mary Uduk, has lamented the low level of compliance with corporate governance code in Nigeria. Speaking at a function in Lagos on Thursday, the SEC boss said some companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) lacked understanding of the SEC Code 2011, which talked about code of corporate governance for public companies in the country. According to SEC Code 2011, the rules were not intended to be rigid, but to “be viewed and understood as a guide to facilitate sound corporate practices and behaviour.” The code