NSE Clinches Employer of Choice Award

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The Vice President, Mr Kashim Shettima, has said Nigeria is in dire need of foreign direct investment (FDI) more than ever before, tasking domestic and foreign investors to make Nigeria their investment hub because efforts are being made to formulate business-friendly policies. Mr Shettima, while speaking when he hosted the management of First Surat Group, as well as top management of MTN Nigeria at the presidential villa in Abuja, charged MTN Nigeria to facilitate and spearhead digital mobile money and digital education. He assured that President Bola Tinubu was willing to partner with various stakeholders in the

By Dipo Olowookere No fewer than 15 Nigerian Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs) will share the N75 million set aside by a tech giant, Google, in the 2023 edition of Hustle Academy Fund. The initiative was introduced in 2022 to provide equity-free funds to small business owners to scale up their operations and support entrepreneurial growth in Nigeria. Entries for the exercise opened on Thursday, September 28 and will close on Thursday, October 12, 2023, and to be eligible, businesses must be Nigerian-founded, operating within Nigeria for 1-5 years, and have a clear and scalable business plan. They should have

By Adedapo Adesanya The oil market retreated on Thursday, as traders took profits after prices soared recently while the space worried that high interest rates may weigh on demand. During the trading session, Brent futures fell by $1.17 or 1.2 per cent to settle at $95.38 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) declined by $1.97 or 2.1 per cent to close at $91.71 per barrel. The market had reached a 10-month high as some traders worried high oil prices would stoke inflation, encouraging the US Federal Reserve and other central banks to persist with rate hikes.

By Dipo Olowookere The domestic stock market was down by 0.17 per cent on Wednesday after investors sold off shares in the mid and large-cap categories to book profit. The decline in the share prices of MTN Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries, Transcorp and others weakened the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited yesterday, outweighing the gains posted by Ardova, Zenith Bank, GTCO and others. Business Post reports that the consumer goods sector lost 0.49 per cent during the session, eroding the growth recorded by the energy, insurance, banking and industrial goods sectors. They respectively closed higher by 0.78 per cent, 0.51 per cent,

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The board of Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (NAHCO) has confirmed Godsmart Nigeria Limited as its new single largest shareholder. It was gathered that the firm acquired 16.7 percent stake in NAHCO’s shares at the stock market in an off-market transaction about two weeks ago. It was disclosed in a statement by NAHCO that this development has now led to a change in the structure in its board, with the two representatives of the selling shareholders, Mr Femi Olubanwo and Mr Christopher Oshiafi, resigning from the board. To fill the vacant positions, Godsmart Nigeria Ltd has nominated

By Dipo Olowookere The sum of N12.5 billion has been set aside by the Federal Government for the completion of the Zobe Regional Water Supply Project in Katsina State. The project had been abandoned for many years, but the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is from the state, partnered with the state government to complete the project. The project was revisited as a result of the determination of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources to complete all abandoned water projects. The Zobe Water Supply Project was first awarded in 1992 and abandoned by previous governments. The project when completed

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A campaign to help curb the spread of the global pandemic, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been launched by the Lagos State Government in collaboration with Jumia Nigeria. The contest is tagged #MyHandsAreSafe campaign and it is aimed at encouraging regular washing of hands which is a very potent tool in the fight to contain the spread of COVID-19. It was gathered that the campaign started on Monday, March 30, 2020 and residents of the city have been encouraged to participate in the online competition. According to the Chairwoman of Jumia Nigeria, Ms Juliet Anammah, “Jumia is very

By Dipo Olowookere The average yields of treasury bills at the secondary market went down on Wednesday by 0.05 percent to settle at 2.87 percent on the back of buying pressure witnessed at the session. It was observed that yields declined across most of the tenors monitored during the midweek trading day. An analysis of the day’s transactions showed that only the one-month maturity recorded a rise in yield. The bucket appreciated by 0.20 percent to 2.27 percent from 2.07 percent it closed on Tuesday. Yield on the three-month maturity fell by 0.25 percent to 2.15 percent to 2.40 percent,

By Adedapo Adesanya Amid the growing concern of continuous theft of crude oil in Nigeria, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited has said its existence in the country is being threatened. According to Mr Osagie Okunbor, the company’s managing director and country chair for Shell Companies in Nigeria, this has resulted in the shutdown of two of its major pipelines. Speaking at the just-concluded Nigeria Oil and Gas (NOG) Conference, he said oil theft was one of the reasons that Nigeria could not meet its quota of 1.8 million barrels a day instituted by the Organisation of the Petroleum

By Dipo Olowookere Last week, Japaul was the worst-performing stock on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, losing 23.68 per cent to close at 29 Kobo per share. It topped the chart containing 40 other price losers in the week, higher than 26 depreciating stocks of the previous week as the appetite for local equities continues to decline due to disappointing macroeconomic conditions. Courteville decreased by 21.43 per cent to 44 Kobo, University Press went down by 18.87 per cent to N1.72, PZ Cussons dropped 17.07 per cent to N8.50, while Honeywell Flour declined by 14.49 per cent

By Modupe Gbadeyanka No fewer than 10 million Nigerians will from May 29, 2019 to May 28, 2023 benefit from the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) put in place by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. This is one of the things the present administration has planned to do in its Next Level. The GEEP scheme was designed to provide financial support through micro-credit schemes to beneficiaries, which include petty traders, women cooperatives, youths, famers and agricultural workers. The financial support, according to a statement issued by Mr Laolu Akande, spokesman to the Vice President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo, will