NSE Accepts 5.97m Units of SIAML Pension ETF 40

By Adedapo Adesanya President Bola Tinubu is targeting to grow Nigeria’s economy by 3.76 per cent next year and moderate the country’s inflation to 21.4 per cent. Speaking at his first budget speech to lawmakers on Wednesday, President Tinubu also projected higher oil production and tax collection, noting that this will boost government revenues and cut down on reliance on borrowing to finance budget deficits. Nigeria plans on spending N27.5 billion in the 2024 fiscal year, with priorities on security, infrastructure and easing the high cost-of-living crisis. The country will borrow around N9 trillion and N18.5 billion generated from internally

By Adedapo Adesanya The boards of insurance companies operating in the country have been charged by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) to embrace the measures put in place to tackle the challenges of unpaid claims. The Commissioner for Insurance, Mr Sunday Thomas, expressed worry over the number of outstanding claims in the sector despite efforts by the regulator to address the issue. Mr Thomas, who is also the chief executive of NAICOM, said the organisation, in collaboration with members of the Insurers’ Committee, has taken decisions and incepted measures designed to tame the menace of unpaid claims. Speaking at the

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira put up a weak performance against the United States Dollar across the various segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Thursday. November 30, 2023, the last trading session of the month. In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) window, which is the official market, the Nigerian currency lost 0.1 per cent or 85 Kobo against the greenback during the session to settle at N832.32/$1 compared with the preceding day’s value of N831.47/$1. A slight strain in the supply of forex into the spot market was partly responsible for the weakening of the local

By Adedapo Adesanya The House of Representatives has pledged to stop international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the Niger Delta from divestment of their offshore assets without being accountable to the environment. The Chairman of the House of Reps Committee on Host Communities, Mr Dumnamene Dekor, said this during a technical session on the implementation of the Host Communities Development Trusts (HCDT), organised by Spaces for Change (S4C) with support from Ford Foundation. Mr Dekor raised the alarm that since the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act in 2021, host communities have not experienced any positive change, rather have remained

By Adedapo Adesanya Total direct diaspora remittances into Nigeria plunged 50.5 percent in February 2020 to $1.02 billion from $2.05 billion in January, the latest figures from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed. This was attributed to the early effects of the current global economy challenges caused by COVID-19. However, the apex bank revealed that Nigeria received $19.2 billion in total direct diaspora remittances between January and December of 2019. The data published by the regulator showed that the remittances rose by 70.6 percent when compared to $11.23 billion reported in 2018. The breakdown of CBN’s total direct remittances

By Dipo Olowookere A five-man panel of the Supreme Court led by Justice Dattijo Muhammad has unanimously upheld an appeal filed by the Senate President, Mr Bukola Saraki, over his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) bordering on alleged false declaration of his assets. At the ruling on Friday, the apex court dismissed the remnant three counts, declaring the evidence led by the prosecution as hearsay. In his lead judgment today, Justice Centus Nweze upheld Mr Saraki’s appeal and quashed the appeal filed by federal government. Justice Nweze agreed with the CCT that the evidence led by the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka An employee of Keystone Bank named Mrs Chinonye Okafoagu has been arraigned by the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) in Panti-Yaba, Lagos. The suspect was charged on Monday on a four-count charge of conspiracy, stealing, forgery and false modification of ATM data. Mrs Okafoagu, 33, was brought before Chief Magistrate A. O. Salawu of an Ebute-Meta Chief Magistrates’ Court. The accused was alleged to have stolen N3 million from an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) after tampering with it. It was said that the bank employee allegedly, without lawful authority, modified the ATM’s data and stopped

By Dipo Olowookere The board of Medview Airline Plc has resolved to offload two of its aircraft so as to pay part of its debts. This decision was reached at the meeting of the board of directors held on Thursday, July 23, 2020, via a video-conferencing application called Zoom. Business Post had earlier reported that the vital organ of the company was planning to gather to discuss the effect of the COVID-19 on its business and the entire aviation sector. “There will be a board of directors’ emergency meeting of Medview Airline Plc to be held virtually by Zoom on

By Adedapo Adesanya The bearish environment at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended last week with space recording the first weekly growth this year. This saw portfolios of investors growing by N7.57 billion in the week as a result of the 1.45 per cent appreciation the unlisted securities market achieved in the week. In view of this, the NASD OTC market capitalisation closed at N527.98 billion compared to N520.41 billion it finished at the previous week. Likewise, the NASD Security Index (NSI) moved up by 10.55 points to settle at 735.84 points as against the 725.29 points of the

By Dipo Olowookere The treasury bills market ended the week on a bearish note yesterday in the absence of any OMO auction by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). For some weeks now, the apex bank had embarked on an aggressive sale of treasury bills at the secondary market to soak excess liquidity from the financial system. At the market on Friday, a tighter system liquidity pressured yields on the NTB curve, with yields rising higher by 0.09 percent on the average across the NTB curve. According to Zedcrest Research, in the coming week, the CBN will likely resume its

By Dipo Olowookere The government of Zimbabwe has written an application seeking to re-join the Commonwealth of Nations, formerly known as the British Commonwealth. A statement issued by the Commonwealth Secretariat and distributed by APO Group confirmed this information. However, the Commonwealth said in the statement that to re-join, Zimbabwe must demonstrate that it complies with the fundamental values set out in the Commonwealth Charter, including democracy and rule of law plus protection of human rights such as freedom of expression. Business Post reports that Zimbabwe joined the Commonwealth on its independence in 1980, but withdrew from the organisation in

By Adedapo Adesanya The federal government has announced that the East-West Road would be completed and commissioned in the first quarter of 2022. The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr Godswill Akpabio, confirmed this at a tripartite meeting of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), and ex-militant leaders in Okochiri, Okrika Local Government of Rivers State. The meeting, according to the Minister, was geared towards remodelling the Amnesty Programme on how repentant militants can become entrepreneurs instead of depending on government-assisted stipends. Mr Akpabio said that the Niger Delta remains a priority in the President Muhammadu Buhari-led